This study focuses on the use of a bridging technique to overcome contact–making barriers in adolescents. Contact is regarded as an integral part of all human experiences, but barriers (also called contact boundary disturbances) often hinder effective contact–making with the environment. To overcome contact boundary disturbances, several model bridges were constructed prior to the study and these were used as a metaphor during the intervention phase with adolescents. The goal of the research was to determine whether a technique called “bridging” could overcome contact boundary disturbances in adolescents in therapy. The research was conducted from an existential–phenomenological Gestalt approach. Combined quantitative and qualitative approaches were followed and a single system experimental design, A–B–A–A, was applied. A total of 14 adolescent participants between the ages of 11 and 14 were purposefully selected from three different schools in the Gauteng Province, South Africa, as well as their parents and teachers. Quantitative data were collected from the pre–intervention assessment, the post–intervention assessment and a follow–up assessment where questionnaires were completed by the researcher for each of the adolescent participants. The follow–up assessment was done four weeks after the postassessment in order to determine the consistency of the intervention. These questionnaires were analysed according to the semantic differential scale, and raw scores were plotted on line and bar graphs in order to assess the contact skills and contact boundary disturbances in the participating adolescents. Qualitative data were collected through semi–structured interviews with parents and teachers and through therapeutic interventions with adolescents. The data were analysed using the Creswell spiral and the a priori and inductive coding approaches. Three main themes were identified which were contact boundary disturbances, personal emotional factors and behavioural factors. Quantitative and qualitative data results and findings were discussed in context, to the relevant literature. The findings of the data indicated that the bridging technique can be useful in working with adolescents in therapy to overcome contact–making barriers. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

This study focuses on the use of a bridging technique to overcome contact–making barriers in adolescents. Contact is regarded as an integral part of all human experiences, but barriers (also called contact boundary disturbances) often hinder effective contact–making with the environment. To overcome contact boundary disturbances, several model bridges were constructed prior to the study and these were used as a metaphor during the intervention phase with adolescents. The goal of the research was to determine whether a technique called “bridging” could overcome contact boundary disturbances in adolescents in therapy. The research was conducted from an existential–phenomenological Gestalt approach. Combined quantitative and qualitative approaches were followed and a single system experimental design, A–B–A–A, was applied. A total of 14 adolescent participants between the ages of 11 and 14 were purposefully selected from three different schools in the Gauteng Province, South Africa, as well as their parents and teachers. Quantitative data were collected from the pre–intervention assessment, the post–intervention assessment and a follow–up assessment where questionnaires were completed by the researcher for each of the adolescent participants. The follow–up assessment was done four weeks after the postassessment in order to determine the consistency of the intervention. These questionnaires were analysed according to the semantic differential scale, and raw scores were plotted on line and bar graphs in order to assess the contact skills and contact boundary disturbances in the participating adolescents. Qualitative data were collected through semi–structured interviews with parents and teachers and through therapeutic interventions with adolescents. The data were analysed using the Creswell spiral and the a priori and inductive coding approaches. Three main themes were identified which were contact boundary disturbances, personal emotional factors and behavioural factors. Quantitative and qualitative data results and findings were discussed in context, to the relevant literature. The findings of the data indicated that the bridging technique can be useful in working with adolescents in therapy to overcome contact–making barriers. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Le plissement dans les films minces sur un substrat plus mou a été largement observé dans la nature. Ces phénomènes ont suscité un intérêt considérable au cours de la dernière décennie. L’évolution en post-flambage d’instabilités morphologiques implique souvent de forts effets de non-linéarité géométrique, de grandes rotations, de grands déplacements, de grandes déformations, une dépendance par rapport au chemin de chargement et de multiples brisures de symétrie. En raison de ces difficultés notoires, la plupart des analyses non-linéaires de flambement ont recouru à des approches numériques parce qu’on ne peut obtenir qu’un nombre limité de solutions exactes de manière analytique. Cette thèse propose un cadre général pour étudier le problème de flambage de systèmes film/substrat de manière numérique : de la modélisation 2D ou 3D, d’un point de vue classique ou multiéchelle. L’objectif principal est d’appliquer des méthodes numériques avancées pour des analyses de bifurcations multiples aux divers modèles de film/substrat, en particulier en se concentrant sur l’évolution en post-flambement et la transition du mode à la surface. Les modèles intègrent la Méthode Asymptotique Numérique (MAN) comme une technique robuste de pilotage et des indicateurs de bifurcation qui sont bien adaptés à la MAN pour détecter une séquence de bifurcations multiples ainsi que les modes d’instabilité associés sur leur chemin d’évolution de post-flambement. La MAN donne un accès interactif aux branches d’équilibre semi-analytique, qui offre un avantage considérable en termes de la fiabilité par rapport aux algorithmes itératifs classiques. En outre, une stratégie originale de couplage non-local est développée pour coupler les modèles classiques et les modèles multi-échelles concurremment, où les forces de chaque modèle sont pleinement exploitées, et leurs lacunes surmontées. Une discussion sur la transition entre les différentes échelles est fournie d’une manière générale, qui peut également être considéré comme un guide pour les techniques de couplage impliquant d’autres modèles réduits. A la fin, un cadre général de modélisation macroscopique est développé et deux modèles spécifiques de type Fourier sont dérivés de modèles classiques bien établis, qui permettent de prédire la formation des modes d’instabilités avec beaucoup moins d’éléments et donc de réduire le coût de calcul de manière significative / Surface wrinkles of stiff thin layers attached on soft materials have been widely observed in nature and these phenomena have raised considerable interests over the last decade. The post-buckling evolution of surface morphological instability often involves strong effects of geometrical nonlinearity, large rotation, large displacement, large deformation, loading path dependence and multiple symmetry-breakings. Due to its notorious difficulty, most nonlinear buckling analyses have resorted to numerical approaches since only a limited number of exact analytical solutions can be obtained. This thesis proposes a whole framework to study the film/substrate buckling problem in a numerical way: from 2D to 3D modeling, from classical to multi-scale perspective. The main aim is to apply advanced numerical methods for multiple-bifurcation analyses to various film/substrate models, especially focusing on post-buckling evolution and surface mode transition. The models incorporate Asymptotic Numerical Method (ANM) as a robust path-following technique and bifurcation indicators well adapted to the ANM to detect a sequence of multiple bifurcations and the associated instability modes on their post-buckling evolution path. The ANM gives interactive access to semi-analytical equilibrium branches, which offers considerable advantage of reliability compared with classical iterative algorithms. Besides, an original nonlocal coupling strategy is developed to bridge classical models and multi-scale models concurrently, where the strengths of each model are fully exploited while their shortcomings are accordingly overcome. Discussion on the transition between different scales is provided in a general way, which can also be seen as a guide for coupling techniques involving other reduced-order models. Lastly, a general macroscopic modeling framework is developed and two specific Fourier-related models are derived from the well-established classical models, which can predict the pattern formation with much fewer elements so as to significantly reduce the computational cost