Eating unhealthy foods and eating past satiety are inappropriate behaviors that promote obesity. The ability to effectively inhibit an inappropriate behavior is a key component of cognitive restraint and its impairment has been previously linked to obesity. In this study, a Go/No-Go fMRI task was completed by a cohort of adult women that had experienced initial weight loss followed by various levels of weight regain or continued weight loss. Region of interest fMRI analysis revealed that greater total weight loss was significantly related to decreasing activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus and the right superior frontal gyrus. These results suggest that as weight loss increases fewer cognitive resources are needed in order to maintain levels of inhibitory control. This cognitive efficiency, though only partially supported by better task performance, is supported by greater exercise. An analysis of resting state patterns of correlation between task-activated regions revealed a significant correlation between the right inferior frontal gyrus and the left middle temporal gyrus. The strength of this relationship was significantly correlated with increasing total weight loss and continued weight loss over time. Cognitive restraint was also associated with this fronto-temporal correlation and provides support for cognitive efficiency. Right inferior frontal gyrus was also correlated with left inferior frontal gyrus and this relationship was positively correlated with initial weight loss suggesting that fewer neurocognitive resources were required by those who were able to achieve greater initial weight loss.

Since the release of ‘Kind of Blue’ in 1959 by Miles Davis, various approaches to jazz improvisation have become more modal. Scales and their various modes has become a well-documented topic in music education. Through my own teaching I have noticed that learners do understand the theory and various applications of chord scales on harmonic structures but often fall short in the practical implementation on their instrument during improvisation. Lack of quick visualization of the various scale patterns by learners has proved to be more of a physical than musical issue. This leads to the research question: How do kinetically efficient actions and patterns interact to enable an improvising guitarist to navigate the fretboard most effectively? Pat Martino (1983) introduced a reduction concept where five master areas of activity based around minor patterns across the fretboard were identified. These five minor patterns were moved through various keys with slight fingering variations. Through my studies with John Fourie we explored the Martino reduction concept from a Dorian point of view. By recycling these Dorian patterns and application of a set of formulas, all seven modes of the major scale could be implemented in any key on the fretboard. Martino’s minor concept provided the foundation for this project, as well as further exploration under guidance of Johnny Fourie from 1998-2007. Five skilled participants performed various tasks from memory in the practical execution of master scale patterns and their intervallic formulas. Economy and efficiency were tested through vertical as well as horizontal movement across the fretboard by means of IPA, video recordings of semi-structured interviews and active research. This project finds that the standard tuning system of the guitar bids affordance to the improviser through implementation of a reduction concept with chunking of master scale patterns and their various intervallic applications. Through effective practice, repetition and practical application of these master scale patterns and intervallic formulas, effectivities become available during improvisation. It was found that the affordances of the instrument remain the same for various participants in the research undertaking, but their effectivities are variable and directly influenced by the participants’ individual perceptions and practical competencies. / Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology

La persévérance et l’abandon des étudiants universitaires, aussi appelé attrition, préoccupent grandement les universités. Ainsi, plusieurs ont décidé de mettre en place des interventions afin de favoriser la réussite et la persévérance de leurs étudiants. Cependant, peu de ces interventions ont fait l’objet d’évaluations systématiques. Ce type d’évaluation des pratiques est rarement effectué, même s’il est nécessaire pour distinguer les interventions efficaces de celles qui ne le sont que peu ou pas. À l’Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, une formation spécifique appelée « Atelier d’efficience cognitive » a été implantée dans le but d’aider les étudiants universitaires dans leurs études, par le biais de l’enseignement direct d’un ensemble de stratégies d’apprentissage. La présente recherche vise à vérifier le maintien à moyen terme des effets de cette intervention, «l’Atelier d’efficience cognitive », donné à l’UQAT, sur l’utilisation des stratégies d’apprentissage par des étudiants universitaires. Elle examine l’utilisation actuelle des stratégies d’apprentissage de ces étudiants universitaires, les effets du cours « Atelier d’efficience cognitive » sur l’utilisation ultérieure des stratégies d’apprentissage modifiées et/ou améliorées suite au cours et les commentaires généraux des étudiants concernant l’atelier en général et les stratégies d’apprentissage en particulier. En vue d’atteindre ces objectifs, un questionnaire a été élaboré et soumis à 47 étudiants ayant suivi le cours « Atelier d’efficience cognitive » entre l’automne 2010 et l’automne 2015. Des entrevues individuelles ont également été effectuées auprès de 15 étudiants parmi eux. Les données mixtes (quantitatives et qualitatives) ont été analysées à l’aide d’un logiciel spécialisé, ce qui a permis d’établir la pertinence des éléments rapportés dans l’analyse des résultats. Les résultats de cette recherche permettent d’observer une utilisation importante des stratégies d’apprentissage par les étudiants universitaires, autant les stratégies cognitives, affectives que de gestion des ressources. Il appert également que le cours « Atelier d’efficience cognitive » permet aux étudiants de modifier et/ou d’améliorer leurs stratégies dans le but de les rendre davantage efficaces et efficientes. Le cours aide aussi grandement les étudiants à améliorer leurs travaux et leurs études et, par le fait i même, améliore leur réussite. Enfin, les étudiants interrogés mentionnent leur grande appréciation de l’intervention et soulignent que le cours devrait être offert à tous les étudiants débutant une formation universitaire. / University students’ perseverance and dropout rate, also called attrition, cause great concerns to universities. Thus, many have decided to implement interventions to promote student success and perseverance. However, few of those interventions have been subject to a systematic evaluation. Such practical assessment is rarely performed, even if it is necessary to distinguish effective interventions from those that are a little, or not, effective. At the « Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue”, through a set of direct instruction learning strategies, specific course called " Workshop on Cognitive Efficiency" was established in order to help university students in their studies. This research aim is to evaluate the course, "Workshop on Cognitive Efficiency" mid-term effects preservation of the learning strategies by UQAT university students. It examines the current use of learning strategies of university students, the effects of the course "Workshop on Cognitive Efficiency" on the future use of modified learning strategies and / or improved resulting from the course, and general students’ comments regarding the workshop in general and the learning strategies more specifically. To achieve these objectives, a questionnaire was prepared and submitted to 47 students who have taken the course " Workshop on Cognitive Efficiency " between the fall of 2010 and the fall of 2015. Individual interviews were also conducted with 15 students among them. Mixed data (quantitative and qualitative) was analyzed using specific software, allowing to establish the relevance of the elements reported in the analysis. The results of this research show a significant use of learning strategies by university students, ranging from cognitive strategies, affective strategies, and resource management. It also appears that the course "Workshop on Cognitive Efficiency" allows students to modify and / or improve their strategies in order to make them more effective and efficient. The course also greatly helps students improve their work and studies and, thereby, improves their success. Finally, the students surveyed mention their great appreciation of the intervention, and they said that the course should be offered to all students beginning university studies.