A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education by course-work and research report. Johannesburg, 1992 / This research report investigates the psychological dimensions in the learning and teaching of probability theory. It begins by outlining some problems arising from the author's own experience in the learning and teaching of probability theory, and develops a theoretical position using the Theory of Activity. This theory places education within the broad social context and recognises the centrality of affective aspects of cognition. [Abbreviated abstract. Open document to view full version]

M. Tech. Fine Arts / This dissertation will attempt to contextualise the notion of art created by individuals suffering from schizophrenia. These individuals include four non-westernised individuals. Artworks used in this dissertation were obtained, with permission, from a psychiatric facility on the East Rand. It is the aim of this dissertation to analyse the symbols that manifest in these artworks, symbols that manifest from the personal unconscious of collective unconscious. The symbols that manifest in these artworks will be analysed through the application of Jungian psychoanalytic theory as put forth by the 20th century analytical psychologist, Carl Gustav Jung. The Jungian theoretical propositions to be included in the argument include: Jung's view of the psyche (which is divided into ego, personal unconscious and the collective unconscious, which houses the main archetypes) as well as Jungian views on symbolism, and Jung's understanding of schizophrenia. This thesis attempts to show that the methodology that is used during the Jungian dream analysis can also be applied to the analysis of artworks created by schizophrenic individuals. Dream analysis, in this context, will be adapted to an analysis of visual symbols.

D. Tech. Fine and Applied Art / The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is an association between art making and the brain state known as flow, a construct defined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Links were sought between artists' perceived propensity to experience flow and quantified experimental data of the same art-making events. A predominantly psychological theoretical framework had to be created, contextual as well as conceptual, of historical and contemporary leanings that have formulated understandings of creativity and flow. These indicate that flow can trace its origins to concepts of human happiness and excellence, motivation, self-determination and peak experiences. These concepts illustrate that in pursuing intrinsic endeavours such as art making, a person is continuously engaged in reflectivity and deliberation concerning his or her actions and aims, which tend to be self-motivated or autotelic. In this study the autotelic and self-reflecting leanings of art making were found to be germane to flow. A key aspect for understanding the flow experience is Arne Dietrich's hypothesis of transient hypofrontality, described as enabling the temporary suppression of the analytical and meta-conscious capacities of the explicit system. In this study, transient hypofrontality was found to be germane to interpretations of flow and art making.

The aim of this study was to investigate the lived experience of forgiveness or unforgiveness in individuals who had been victims of violent crime. 6 participants who had experienced violent crime underwent an in-depth interview (Silverman, 2000) aimed at gathering descriptions of their life world with respect to their experience of forgiveness/unforgiveness. The method used to analyse the transcriptions was Giorgi's (1985) phenomenological method adapted slightly by Wertz (1985 as cited in Giorgi,1985). Findings indicated that the capacity to forgive is associated with the way in which individuals see themselves, others, their world and their perpetrators. Results were discussed with reference to the literature reviewed and an Object Relations Theoretical framework was introduced in order to explain and illuminate some of the findings. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed as well as recommendations for future research. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Early maternal loss and its effects on daughters’ development has generated interest internationally. Yet very few studies have been conducted within South Africa, even though the prevalence of South African children growing up with the loss of their mothers is on the increase particularly due to HIV and Aids. This field of study is particularly important as mothers play a significant developmental role in children’s wellbeing. This study focused on exploring NMMU female students’ perceptions of the effects of maternal loss before adolescence on their identity and intimacy development. A qualitative research approach was followed in order to gain in-depth understanding regarding these perceived effects. A purposive, non-probability sampling method was employed to select participants and semi-structured interviews were conducted with them to explore and describe their perceptions. Attachment theory was utilised to provide a theoretical understanding of the potential impact of such loss on identity and intimacy development. Erikson’s psychosocial development theory was employed to describe the nature of personal identity and intimacy. The role of mothers in the South African context is perceived to be of importance with much focus on daughters’ identity development. Childhood maternal loss for daughters was perceived to effect the identity formation of participants in the study. The majority of participants perceived not having been able to spend enough time with their biological mothers to have limited their self-exploration. The participants perceived that this loss also had an effect on their intimacy as it isolated them from their peers and available support systems due to the fear of experiencing losing a person again in their lives.

This study investigates the politics of homosexual visibility in dressing-up, cross-dressing and drag performances that take place in a small city in South Africa over a period of sixty years, beginning in the 1950s and the inception of apartheid policy, through the socio-political changes in the 1990s to the 21st century post-apartheid context. The study draws on Butler’s notion of performative resistance and adopts a Foucauldian genealogy to examine the conditions that make visibility possible and through which particular representations of homosexuality are articulated and read, or remain unread or misread. Information about dressing-up, cross-dressing and drag performance was obtained in interviews, from documentary evidence, and from audio-visual recordings of drag shows and gay and lesbian beauty pageant competitions. Semiotics and a Foucauldian approach to analysing discourse were used to interpret the written, spoken, and visual texts. In this study I argue that the state prohibition of homosexuality during apartheid meant that people could not admit to knowing about it, and this ‘not knowing’ provided a cover for homosexual behaviour in public. At this time, the threat of being identified was associated with police raids on private parties. In the 1990s, homosexual visibility was more viable than it had been in the past. However, the strategies that were adopted to negotiate public visibility at this time were tailored to appease normative sentiments rather than challenge them. I argue that, historically, race and gender have played a role in diminishing and exacerbating homosexual visibility and its politics. Addressing the potential for harm that is associated with homosexual visibility in the 21st century post-apartheid context, this study considers the circumstances in which invisibility is desirable.

This is a study in Critical Psychology which examines the psychological costs of one of the direct outcomes of political repression - the experience of being in hiding. The aims of the study can be depicted on two levels: it is first and foremost an attempt to provide a true account of the phenomenon of being in hiding. On a second level of equal importance it is an implicit and overt critique of the social order in which this phenomenon takes place. The psychological experience of being in hiding is examined and discussed in its proper socio-political context. Therefore, the theoretical part of the mini-thesis has a strong political bearing, focusing on the State, and extra-parliamentary opposition in South Africa. repression The empirical part of the mini-thesis explicates the psychological experience of being in hiding with the aid of the phenomenological method of investigation. Due to the lack of research on this or similar topics, it is discussed within the framework of the experience of a stressful life event. For the five subjects being in hiding was an extreme intervention which was imposed upon their existences and which brought about a qualitative transformation in the individual subjects mode of being-in-the-world - not only in terms of practicalities, but also on a deep experiential level. It was a phenomenon which touched on fundamental parts of their experience of themselves and their individual worlds and the way in which they actualized themselves. For them it essentially entailed a loss of relationships and roles which resulted in an experience of a measure of encapsulation or separation from the world of others . It was a profound, multi - dimensional disruption of the structure of the subject ' s existence which infused a rich emotional experience .

M.Ed. / Education in South Africa has entered into an era of radical changes and transformation. New policies regarding staffing and promotional requirements constitute but a few of the new developments. Despite these changes, however learners still fail, and their future in the labour market seems more and more bleak as teachers find less time under heavier workloads and in ever-larger classes to render them any assistance. In order to assist teachers in helping learners who have failed, it is necessary to lay down guidelines for them to follow. The principal aim of the present study is firstly to determine how failing is viewed by teachers and what measures of assistance are currently being taken in this regard. Secondly, the study is aimed at determining to what extent teachers are prepared to assist these learners and, lastly, at laying down guidelines from an educational-psychological perspective with respect to assisting failing learners. The study comprises a literature study and an empirical study. The literature study is focused on the failing learner and his/her experience of and reaction to failure, as well as on the teacher's role in educating the failing learner. The empirical study is carried out by means of a questionnaire and a statistical analysis of data. Results obtained indicate that teachers, regardless of their sex, years of teaching experience, qualifications, subject field and class size, recognise failing to be a problem at school and that they have a clamant need of guidelines that would assist them in helping failing learners. A need was also expressed for training in how to follow such guidelines.

M.Cur. (Nursing Education) / Within the formal teaching context of a nursing college it is essential that accountable basic professional preparation be offered to provide a comprehensive and fruitful feeding ground for the adolescent student nurse's development into an independent, professional practitioner with specific personal attributes. In her quest for knowledge and development the young, inexperienced nurse has a need for support. Meaningful support implies a concerted effort and involvement with the student on the part of the support givers. At a nursing college, from within a nursing didactic perspective, the support givers should focus on the nursing student as a unique individual in her totality. Opportunities should therefore be available and accessible, so that the student nurse can achieve professional growth and personal self-realization. Furthermore she should be able to assert herself in both these roles. It is therefore essential to achieve a balance between the demands of nurse training and a full and rich personal life. It is the untiring support received by the student nurse that enables her to develop a sound attitude to life and the human nature. This boosts her morale and promotes the development of skills in interpersonal relationships. Research was conducted at a Transvaal nursing college with nine affiliated hospitals. The purpose of the study was to assess the need of student nurses for support from within a nursing didactic perspective and to establish certain guidelines for the implementation of a support system at a nursing college. With the aid of a questionnaire, a descriptive and searching survey was undertaken amongst first and third-year student nurses. A data analysis revealed that student nurses do experience a need for a support system. The planning, organisation and implementation of such a system at a nursing college should however be co-ordinated in a team context by all support givers. Clear guidelines with specific goals have been formulated for the implementation of such a support system.

D. Ed. (Multiculturalism and Education) / This research will look at specific problem areas specifically pertaining to life skills which hamper the disadvantaged pupil in his development in the formal and non-formal educational sector of the school. with these identified factors, I aim to develop an acceptable information base for staff who have no in-service training as to how to assist, handle and participate with the sudden influx of disadvantaged pupils. This study is therefore aimed at gaining information to assist the teacher as well as the pupil. Reasons for the non-performance and thus the high failure rate, will also be noted in this study. One of the aims is to use pupil feedback extensively for the required information. My final aim is to illicit future research in this direction, thus assisting all parties.