Bakalauro darbe analizuojama Antano Vaičiulaičio novelėje „Prelato vynas“ lokacija: veikėjai, laikas, erdvė. Iš kūrinio išrinkti 150 teksto fragmentai išanalizuoti taikant aprašomąjį, analizės, interpretavimo, skaičiavimo metodus. Išrinkti veikėjų įvardijimai suskirstyti į dvi grupes – vyrų ir moterų. Sudarytos ir išanalizuotos 7 nominacinės eilės vyrų bei 3 nominacinės eilės moterų. Išnagrinėjus pavyzdžius nustatyta, kad veikėjai įvardyti asmenvardžiais (Kazys, Albinas, Aldona, Stasė), bendriniais daiktavardžiais (vyras, sargas, vyrukas, pyplys, miegalius), rečiau – būdvardžiais (ilgesnysis, mažesnysis), asmeniniais (jis, ji), parodomaisiais (tas, anas, šitas) įvardžiais. Įvairiomis kalbos priemonėmis sukurti du ryškūs, realistiškai pavaizduotų veikėjų (Kazio ir Albino) paveikslai, spalvingi šalutinį vaidmenį atliekančių veikėjų (prelato, vikaro, policininko ir kt.) paveikslai. Išanalizavus kūrinyje rastus pagrindinių veikėjų Kazio ir Albino aprašymus galima pasakyti, kad juose sukurtas ne tik gana detalus veikėjų išorės vaizdas, bet ir išryškėja jų charakterio bruožai: Kazys – optimistas, siekiantis vadovauti, atkaklus, Albinas – linkęs nusileisti, paklusti, ramus, bailus. A. Vaičiulaičio novelėje „Prelato vynas“ vaizduojami įvykiai chronologiškai trunka dvi dienas, minimas vienas metų laikas – vasara. Išanalizuota novelės atvira (rugių laukas, pieva, sodas) ir uždara (kambarys, smuklė, kalėjimas) erdvė. Regimosiomis, girdimosiomis ir lytėjimo detalėmis kuriamas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In Bachelor’s thesis the author analyzes the location of the short story “Prelato vynas” by Antanas Vaičiulaitis: the characters, time and space. There were 150 fragments of text selected from the story and analyzed using descriptive, analytical, interpretative and calculating methods. The designators of characters were selected and divided into two groups: masculine and feminine. There were 7 nominal rows of masculine and 3 nominal rows of feminine designators composed and analyzed. After having analyzed the examples it was revealed that the characters were designated by personal names (Kazys, Albinas, Aldona, Stasė), nouns (man, watcher, bloke, shrimp, sleeper) and less frequently by adjectives (the taller one, the smaller one), personal pronouns (he, she) and demonstrative pronouns (this, that). Using various means of language there were two vivid, realistic pictures of characters (Kazys and Albinas) created as well as colourful pictures of secondary ones (prelate, vicar, policeman and others). The analysis of the descriptions of the main characters Kazys and Albinas found in the story shows that not only rather detailed picture of external appearance is given, but also their personal traits are revealed: Kazys is an optimist, striving to command, persistent, while Albinas is ready to succumb, obedient, calm and timid. The events depicted in the short story “Prelato vynas” by Antanas Vaičiulaitis last two days in a chronological order; the only season mentioned is summer... [to full text]

The study of character strengths is a relatively new area of research within the realm of positive psychology. Character strengths likely develop during childhood and therefore studying young children's capacities for talking about their perceptions of character strengths is important. This thesis sought to use children's voices and conduct an exploratory qualitative study into children's capacity to talk about perceptions of their own and others character strengths. The purpose of the research was two-fold, first, to create a developmentally appropriate methodology for obtaining children's perceptions of character strengths, and second, if children had the capacity to talk about character strengths, to discover how they did so. Seventeen five-and-a-half to six-year-old children participated in individual interviews at their school. After a review of the methodological issues involved with obtaining children's voices in research, four developmentally appropriate strategies utilising a story, puppets, a photo and direct interviewing strategies were created. The four strategies were tested in a pilot study, revised, and then utilised in the main study. The strategies created were found to be developmentally appropriate, and assisted children to varying degrees to talk about their perceptions. At least one character strength was able to be inferred from all children's responses. Affiliation, kindness and self-regulation were the most identified character strengths. Results indicated the children were on the cusp of developing their sense of self and the ability to verbalise their positive internal attributes. Differences in the way children talked about character strengths are discussed in reference to child development and the social nature of character strengths.

The thesis begins by exploring Stein’s autobiographical connections to the Jamesian concepts of bottom nature and habit, in an attempt to demonstrate that both, in the pen of Gertrude Stein, are as connected to classical virtue theory and the development of character as a moral state and characters as created persons within her creative oeuvre, as they are connected to psychological experiments in William James’ laboratory. In wading through what may seem to be muddy waters of Stein’s slippery definitions and circular sentences, the thesis shows that Stein uses the discourse of classical virtue theory to achieve her goal—breaking down clear barriers to the virtuous life as classically understood and subverting the very building blocks of Western thought generally. Lastly, “Melanctha: Each One As She May” will become a case study through which the thesis wrestles in detail with Stein’s complicated virtue and character project as she pulls virtuous action into a separate sphere from the virtuous person in order to explore what human nature is, or, as she says, “the whole thing about men and women that is interesting.”

This project report describes a supplement for character creation in a tabletop role-playing game “Dragons and Demons." The purpose of this project is to improve the character creation for the players’ trough the narrative elements such as character’s background story. The applied qualitative methods such as a test panel and a questionnaire were conducted for the evaluation of theories used during character creation and to get feedback on the supplement’s creative value for the players. The aim of the questionnaire was to see how the method for the character creation differs from the regular way of making a character for a tabletop role-playing game and if this idea improves user experience during the tabletop role-playing game. The results of the evaluation are based on answers from novice and experienced players, and conclude that the additional background story creates an insight into the character's past, which makes it easier for novice players to get quick started with character creation. The experienced players expressed that the supplement for character creation was more entertaining than the traditional way of making a character for a tabletop role-playing game.

The purpose of this study was to apply concepts of virtue and positive psychology to the understanding of well-being in gay and lesbian individuals. Ninety-two self-identified gay and lesbian university students between the ages of 18 and 30 completed an online research survey to assess their well-being and character strengths. Preliminary factor analysis revealed a two-factor virtue structure underlying the 24 character strengths as outlined by the Values In Action (VIA) inventory. Participants were grouped using cluster analysis, and discriminant analysis was then performed to differentiate between group membership based on virtue factors. Results suggest that individuals with high autonomy and low overall well-being score lower in interpersonal strengths than those with balanced well-being. As social support has been identified as a key factor related to well-being for this population, further attention is warranted to study the relationship between autonomy, interpersonal character strengths, and social support in this population. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This study examined the hypothesis that the moral personality is one in which moral knowledge structures are chronically accessible. A spontaneous trait inference cued-recall paradigm was employed. It was expected that those with chronically accessible moral knowledge structures (N = 61) would spontaneously encode virtue-content information differently than those with less chronically accessible moral knowledge structures (N = 77). High and low moral chronic accessibility participants were instructed to memorize sentences that contained virtue-content implications. Sentence recall was then cued by either virtuous dispositional terms or by words that were linked semantically to the sentences. Within the spontaneous processing condition, dispositional cues prompted twice as much recall as semantic cues among participants with high moral chronic accessibility whereas semantic cues prompted twice as much recall as dispositional cues among participants with low moral chronic accessibility. As predicted, within the deliberate processing conditions, there were no high/low moral chronic accessibility differences. These findings support the claim that the moral personality is usefully conceptualized in terms of the chronic accessibility of moral knowledge structures. / Department of Educational Psychology

Automatinis transporto priemonių registracijos numerio atpažinimas atlieka svarbų vaidmenį daugelyje programinių paketų, taikomų tiek valstybinėse institucijose, tiek ir privačiose kompanijose, kuriuose yra naudojamos įvairios atpažinimo algoritmų technologijos. Tačiau net ir dabar neįmanoma sukurti idealiai veikiančios sistemos, kuri palieka laisvę efektyviausių algoritmų paieškai. Šio tiriamojo darbo tikslas yra išanalizuoti alternatyvius automobilio numerio lokalizacijos ir kitų atpažinimo etapų algoritmus, jų efektyvumą bei adaptyvumą. Analizė atliekama juos realizuojant ir atliekant tyrimus su testiniais duomenimis bei iš jų gautais rezultatais. Iš realizuotos alternatyvių atpažinimo algoritmų sistemos gauti rezultatai parodė, kad kiekviena atpažinimo proceso grandis yra jautri įvairiems faktoriams, kurių kitimas lemia tarpinių bei galutinių rezultatų variaciją. / Automatic license plate recognition plays an important role in numerous applications and a number of techniques have been proposed for public institutions or private companies. However, even now it is impossible to design a perfect and operational recognition system. It still leaves a space for creativity and research of the most effective algorithms. The main objective of this dissertation is to analyze alternatives of licese plate localization and other stages of recognition, their efficiency and adaptability. Selected means of this research are such as implementation of algorithms, analysis of testing data and test results. Every stage of recognition process is extremely sensitive to different factors which determinate variation of transitional and final results. This was proven by analysis of alternative algorithms functionality.

Automatinis transporto priemonių registracijos numerio atpažinimas atlieka svarbų vaidmenį daugelyje programinių paketų, taikomų tiek valstybinėse institucijose, tiek ir privačiose kompanijose, kuriuose yra naudojamos įvairios atpažinimo algoritmų technologijos. Tačiau net ir dabar neįmanoma sukurti idealiai veikiančios sistemos, kuri palieka laisvę efektyviausių algoritmų paieškai. Šio tiriamojo darbo tikslas yra išanalizuoti alternatyvius automobilio numerio lokalizacijos ir kitų atpažinimo etapų algoritmus, jų efektyvumą bei adaptyvumą. Analizė atliekama juos realizuojant ir atliekant tyrimus su testiniais duomenimis bei iš jų gautais rezultatais. Iš realizuotos alternatyvių atpažinimo algoritmų sistemos gauti rezultatai parodė, kad kiekviena atpažinimo proceso grandis yra jautri įvairiems faktoriams, kurių kitimas lemia tarpinių bei galutinių rezultatų variaciją. / Automatic license plate recognition plays an important role in numerous applications and a number of techniques have been proposed for public institutions or private companies. However, even now it is impossible to design a perfect and operational recognition system. It still leaves a space for creativity and research of the most effective algorithms. The main objective of this dissertation is to analyze alternatives of licese plate localization and other stages of recognition, their efficiency and adaptability. Selected means of this research are such as implementation of algorithms, analysis of testing data and test results. Every stage of recognition process is extremely sensitive to different factors witch determinate variation of transitional and final results. This was proven by analysis of alternative algorithms functionality.

This study firstly explored whether individuals can identify character strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) depicted by characters in positive psychology movies. Furthermore, the study investigated whether their existing character strengths and well-being are augmented or developed through viewing these films. A mixed method design exploratory qualitative approach with a phenomenological design was followed where quantitative data were obtained with a two-group pre- and post-testing design with a retention test. Participants were assigned to an experimental (n=15, mean age= 28.67, SD age = 8.79) and control group (n=15, mean age = 25.67, SD age = 9.28). A self-developed strength questionnaire and five standardized scales, namely Mental Health Continuum – Short Form (MHC-SF) (Keyes, 2006); the General Psychological Well-being Scale (GPWS) (Khumalo, Temane, & Wissing, 2010); the Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky, 2008); Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (CSE) (Chesney, Neilands, Chambers, Taylor, & Folkman, 2006) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) (Kroenke & Spitzer, 2002), were administered to measure psychological well-being. Qualitative data were obtained through focus groups and questionnaires that were completed after the viewing of each film. Qualitative results suggest that participants were able to identify 22 of the 24 character strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) as depicted by characters in the movies. Furthermore, participants were able to relate to the characters and report how they use the depicted strengths in their own lives. ANCOVA‘s revealed a medium increase (Cohen‘s d- value = 0.47 - 0.74) in the strengths: open-mindedness, zest, kindness, leadership and modesty immediately after the intervention and a large increase (Cohen‘s d-value = 0.9) in humour immediately and a month after the intervention. A medium to large (Cohen‘s d = 0.45 - 0.87) decrease was found on the strengths perspective and forgiveness immediately after the intervention, and in authenticity, love; appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude and hope a month after the intervention. Social intelligence showed a decrease (Cohen‘s d-value = 0.46; 0.51) immediately and a month after the intervention. A medium increase (Cohen‘s d-value = 0.53 - 0.56) in general well-being and emotional well-being was found a month after intervention, while general coping efficacy and coping via support from friends and family showed this increase (Cohen‘s d-value = 0.53; 0.56) immediately after the intervention in the experimental group. A contradictory finding was, that social well-being showed a medium (Cohen‘s d-value = 0.72) decrease immediately after the intervention. Suggestions for further research include establishing preferable movies before intervention, the use of a standardized strength scale and another experimental group, with the absence of focus groups, so as to determine a more accurate effect of films / Thesis (MA (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

This study firstly explored whether individuals can identify character strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) depicted by characters in positive psychology movies. Furthermore, the study investigated whether their existing character strengths and well-being are augmented or developed through viewing these films. A mixed method design exploratory qualitative approach with a phenomenological design was followed where quantitative data were obtained with a two-group pre- and post-testing design with a retention test. Participants were assigned to an experimental (n=15, mean age= 28.67, SD age = 8.79) and control group (n=15, mean age = 25.67, SD age = 9.28). A self-developed strength questionnaire and five standardized scales, namely Mental Health Continuum – Short Form (MHC-SF) (Keyes, 2006); the General Psychological Well-being Scale (GPWS) (Khumalo, Temane, & Wissing, 2010); the Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky, 2008); Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (CSE) (Chesney, Neilands, Chambers, Taylor, & Folkman, 2006) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) (Kroenke & Spitzer, 2002), were administered to measure psychological well-being. Qualitative data were obtained through focus groups and questionnaires that were completed after the viewing of each film. Qualitative results suggest that participants were able to identify 22 of the 24 character strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) as depicted by characters in the movies. Furthermore, participants were able to relate to the characters and report how they use the depicted strengths in their own lives. ANCOVA‘s revealed a medium increase (Cohen‘s d- value = 0.47 - 0.74) in the strengths: open-mindedness, zest, kindness, leadership and modesty immediately after the intervention and a large increase (Cohen‘s d-value = 0.9) in humour immediately and a month after the intervention. A medium to large (Cohen‘s d = 0.45 - 0.87) decrease was found on the strengths perspective and forgiveness immediately after the intervention, and in authenticity, love; appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude and hope a month after the intervention. Social intelligence showed a decrease (Cohen‘s d-value = 0.46; 0.51) immediately and a month after the intervention. A medium increase (Cohen‘s d-value = 0.53 - 0.56) in general well-being and emotional well-being was found a month after intervention, while general coping efficacy and coping via support from friends and family showed this increase (Cohen‘s d-value = 0.53; 0.56) immediately after the intervention in the experimental group. A contradictory finding was, that social well-being showed a medium (Cohen‘s d-value = 0.72) decrease immediately after the intervention. Suggestions for further research include establishing preferable movies before intervention, the use of a standardized strength scale and another experimental group, with the absence of focus groups, so as to determine a more accurate effect of films / Thesis (MA (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.