Non-epileptic attack disorder (NEAD) is a disorder resembling epilepsy, but is caused by psychological processes rather than neurological disturbance. Approximately 15-30% of patients referred to specialist epilepsy centres have NEAD as opposed to epilepsy. Research into NEAD has largely focused on the differential diagnosis of NEAD and identifying risk factors, such as abuse and psychopathology. Whilst this is important, there remains a paucity of research exploring the processes involved in the development and maintenance of NEAD, which contributes to the lack of research investigating treatment effectiveness and prognosis. Furthermore, there remains a paucity of research investigating patient perceptions and experiences, despite such factors influencing prognosis. Subsequently, the current study used repertory grid methodology to explore the largely overlooked domain of how individuals with NEAD construe their world (i.e. how they perceive themselves, others and their disorder). Twelve individuals with a diagnosis of NEAD were recruited from a clinical neuropsychology department within North-West England. This study was an exploratory, cross-sectional study using the repertory grid technique to explore the participants' construals of themselves and others, including construals of their ideal self and self before NEAD. Based on personal construct theory, this method aimed to overcome some of the methodological limitations inherent within NEAD research, by minimising researcher bias, exploring implicit and explicit perceptions and exploring both individual and group perceptions.A case series of grids was presented. Individual and multiple analyses were used to explore participants' construct systems. A data driven approach enabled hypotheses to be developed from the individual grids, which were explored via a composite grid and SocioNet analysis. Despite some themes being identified, the findings revealed the uniqueness of the participants' ways of construing, including a lack of shared understanding amongst the participants. The participants were unhappy with their current self and no longer construed themselves to be the person they were before the onset of NEAD. They also construed themselves as being distinct and/or alienated from others, although some participants construed positive consequences as a result of their NEAD. Whilst most participants agreed with their NEAD diagnosis 'label', they were less accepting of the psychological factors that characterise the diagnosis. Finally, physical health difficulties were construed as being preferable to experiencing mental health difficulties. The findings were discussed in relation to previous research and theoretical implications were highlighted. Clinical implications were highlighted, particularly how the current diagnostic and treatment system for individuals with NEAD may threaten their self-identity. Methodological considerations and recommendations for future research were also suggested. The repertory grid technique was found to be a useful and effective method to investigate the subjective perceptions of individuals with NEAD.

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In software visualization, but also in information visualization in general, there is a great need for evaluation of visualization metaphors. To reduce the amount of empirical studies a omputational approach has been applied successfully, e.g., to graph visualization. It is based on measurable aesthetic heuristics that are used to estimate the human perception and the processing of visualizations. This paper lays a foundation for adopting this approach to any field of information visualization by providing a method, the repertory grid technique, to identify aesthetics that are measurable, metaphor-specific, and relevant to the user in a structured and repeatable way. We identified 25 unique aesthetics and revealed that the visual appearance of the investigated visualizations is mainly influenced by the package structure whereby methods are underrepresented. These findings were used to improve existing visualizations.

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In 2003, Winter, Watson, Gillman-Smith, Gilbert and Acton criticised the DSM-IV’s psychiatric conceptualisation of BPD, proposing a set of alternative descriptions based on Kelly’s (1955) Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) and diagnostic constructs. According to Winter et al. (2003), PCP offers not only a less “pre-emptive” stance towards BPD but is more clinically useful given its intrinsic implications for treatment. This correlational research study aimed to determine whether BPD symptomatology is associated with these proposed characteristics of construing. In addition, it was hypothesised that those with a belief that BPD was a part of their identity and untreatable would display higher levels of hopelessness. Ten participants with an existing diagnosis of BPD completed the following measures: a) Personal Construct Inventory (PCI; Chambers & O’Day, 1984); b) Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, Third Edition, (MCMI-III, Millon, 1994); and c) Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS; Beck & Steer, 1988). Participants were also asked to complete a repertory grid and a Likert Scale indicating the extent of their belief that: a) BPD is an intrinsic part of them; and b) BPD is a treatable condition. Two of the participants are presented as case examples. The most significant finding related to the hypothesis that greater BPD symptomatology would be associated with a higher degree of change in self-construction over time (‘slot-rattling’). Contrary to our prediction, similarity of construing of the elements ‘Me Now’ and ‘Me in the Past’ was correlated with greater BPD symptomatology. This may indicate a belief among participants that they are unable to change or may represent Kellian hostility. Construing one’s mother and father similarly to one’s therapist was associated with greater BPD symptomatology, as was construing one’s father and partner similarly, suggesting, as hypothesised, that those diagnosed with BPD tend to construe current relationships in the same terms as early relationships. Pre-emptive construing and poorly elaborated self-construction were also found to be associated with increased BPD symptoms as predicted. Content analyses performed on elicited constructs revealed that emotion regulation is the most salient area for participants. While the majority of participants considered that BPD was a part of their identity, most were uncertain as to whether BPD is treatable although these findings were not significantly correlated with levels of hopelessness. Participants’ feedback about their experiences of being diagnosed with BPD raises important ethical questions. Further hypotheses are generated based on the study findings and suggestions are made for a revision of the way in which psychological distress is conceptualized, with a particular emphasis on the utility of the PCP approach towards BPD. Clinical implications, limitations of the study and possibilities for further research are discussed.

Secondary hypothyroidism is caused by treatment for hyperthyroidism and is a chronic condition. After adequate treatment, people can continue to experience persistent physical and depressive symptoms. There is a lack of research into the psychological factors involved in the condition, such as how people adjust to hypothyroidism. The study used Kelly’s (1955) Personal Construct Theory to explore the way in which patients construe (appraise) themselves with hypothyroidism and how this relates to coping, depression and hypothyroid symptoms. Twenty participants were recruited from an endocrinology clinic and online, through thyroid support organisations. Participants completed a semi-structured interview called a repertory grid and self-report measures of coping (Brief COPE), depression (HADS) and hypothyroid symptoms (ThySRQ). Repertory grid measures were extracted such as distances between different views of the self. The results showed that how unfavourably the self now was viewed compared to self before a thyroid disorder was positively correlated with depression, dysfunctional coping and hypothyroid symptoms. Identification with a negative view of hypothyroidism was associated with poorer mental and physical health and with dysfunctional coping. Polarized (i.e. black-and-white) construing and tight (i.e. rigid) construing were significantly and positively related to depression scores. Tightness of construing was also related to the number of hypothyroid symptoms experienced. Dysfunctional coping was positively correlated with depression and hypothyroid symptoms. Those with a history of depression experienced significantly more hypothyroid symptoms. Exploratory multiple regression analyses uncovered that how unfavourably the person viewed themselves now compared with before any thyroid problem, hypothyroid symptom frequency and dysfunctional coping accounted for 82.9% of the variance in depression. This highlights the importance of understanding how people construe the experience of hypothyroidism and their coping strategies and therefore psychological interventions may be helpful. Limitations include a small sample size and a correlational design, whereby cause and effect conclusions cannot be drawn.

Continous improvements (ständiga förbättringar, framöver förkortat CI) har under senare år fått ett stort fokus inom svenska organisationer – först inom tillverknings-industrin och senare inom tjänstesektorn och offentlig sektor. Breddningen av verksamheter som fokuserar på dessa små, kontinuerliga förbättringar innebär också att det även är komplexa, kunskapsintensiva organisationer som använder sig av CI. Majoriteten av den forskning som utförts inom områden relaterade till CI gäller standardiserade och styrda arbetsuppgifter. Utifrån ett systemteoretiskt perspektiv har jag därför valt att studera hur arbetet med CI utformas i en kunskapsintensiv organisation. Hur förhåller sig utformningen av CI då jämfört med de ideal som finns i befintlig litteratur? Som metod för datainsamlingen har jag använt mig av repertory-grid som är en variant av halvstrukturerade intervjuer. Resultatet från den studerade organisationen och deras arbete med CI visar på en stor överensstämmelse med tidigare forskning. Det är dock några områden som avviker, framförallt när det gäller lärande och reflektion. I idealfallet är CI ett systematiskt, kontinuerligt och kumulativt arbetssätt som bygger på medarbetarnas engagemang. I en kunskapsintensiv organisation är det framförallt den kumulativa delen som inte uppfylls.

This study focused on the extent to which professional development can bring about changes in ministerial leaders' thinking and practice, and was based on a constructivist approach to learning. The study adopted a qualitative methodology to answer the three research questions: 1. To what extent can professional development assist ministerial leaders to change their thinking about themselves as leaders and their actual leadership practices? 2.What changes (if any) occurred in each of the participants' conceptions of ministerial leadership during a Ministerial Leadership Development Program (MLDP)? 3. To what extent did changes in participants' thinking about ministerial leadership affect their actual practice? There were nineteen participants in a Ministerial Leadership Development Program which was conducted between March and October 2000 by the Uniting Church in Australia (Queensland Synod). Data were gathered at the beginning and end of the MLDP and one year after its completion. The methods used to collect data were concept maps of 'effective leaders', repertory grids based on participants' views of 'effective' and 'ineffective' leaders, interviews and a survey. The concept maps and repertory grids were completed at the beginning and end of the MLDP. The interviews and survey were conducted one year after the program was completed. The interviews were conducted with a small group of the participants (five) and the survey was completed by lay leaders from the congregations where the nineteen participants were ministering. For each of the five interviewees a case was constructed using methodological triangulation and an interpretive approach. Triangulation of the three types of data (concept maps, repertory grids and interviews) enabled identification of important components of individuals' thinking and practice. The survey produced data on the perspectives of lay leaders, thus enabling comparison between the perspectives of the ministerial leaders and their lay leaders. The study found a variety of initial conceptions of effective ministerial leadership amongst the participants. Most of these conceptions were related to leadership skills and qualities. Very few participants demonstrated an understanding of the nature of effective ministerial leadership at the beginning of the program. However, during the MLDP, the conceptions of participants developed and by the end of the program most of them demonstrated a more holistic understanding of the nature of leadership, and particularly, the nature of Christian leadership. In relation to changes in leaders' practice, the study found that significant changes were reported as taking place in leaders' practice and most of this was linked to their thinking changing first. Many of these changes in practice were attributed to the encouragement leaders received in mentor groups. These reported changes in practice were also supported by data from the lay leaders' survey. Thus there was consistency in data from ministerial leaders' perspectives and from lay leaders' perspectives. Apparent trends across the cases included links between the leaders' feelings of self confidence and their capacity to lead effectively; the difficulties associated with following a minister who had a very different conception of effective leadership from his/her own; the unrealistic expectations some congregational members have of their ministers; and the difficulty of moving a congregation from one understanding of ministry to another. The results of this study have implications for pre-service education, continuing education, and the policy-making committees of the Synod, and suggest fruitful areas for further research. The results of the research are discussed in relation to relevant literature. Implications of the findings for the appropriate stakeholders are highlighted, and some ongoing issues for ministerial leadership are raised.

Univ., Diss.--Erfurt, 2007.

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