The effectiveness of attention and working memory (A/WM) training programs in improving executive functions (EFs) is heavily debated. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy of a game-based process-specific cognitive intervention program (Dino Island; DI), on improving attention, working memory (WM), and pre-literacy skills in preschoolers. A secondary objective was to evaluate the feasibility of delivering DI intervention in community settings. Dino Island is an intervention program that consists of five hierarchically structured tasks that target attention and WM. The intervention also involves the teaching of metacognitive strategies to facilitate transfer effects to daily activities. The DI intervention was delivered to preschoolers (ages four to six years) during regular school days. Ten preschoolers were randomly assigned to either an active DI intervention group, or an educational games control group, with five participants in each group. All participants completed 12 hours of intervention over an eight to ten-week period. Children’s attention, EF and school readiness was assessed pre and post intervention using cognitive measures, rating scales and interviews. Non-parametric test results found significant changes in working memory for the DI intervention group (p = .03), however, results did not show significant gains in other abilities. A case study approach was then utilized to further explore outcomes for children in the DI intervention condition. The results suggest that DI training can potentially lead to gains in WM among preschool children, providing preliminary evidence of its efficacy within this age groups. DI is also feasible to be delivered within school settings during regular school hours. / Graduate

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. / The Working-Class Experience in Contemporary Australian Poetry Contemporary Australian poetry neglects its working-class voices. Literary journals rarely publish poetry that focuses on working-class life and there is little analysis of the poetics of class in contemporary Australian scholarship on poetry. It may well be argued that notions of class are outdated and no longer relevant in literary criticism; alternatively, working-class poetry might be seen to lack the kind of literary merit and linguistic innovation that invites scholarly review. It may even be the case that working-class poetry is seen as closer to propaganda than art. However, this thesis takes a different view. It argues that there is a strong and vibrant body of contemporary Australian working-class poetry that merits greater public attention and more incisive critical review. We need to know if and how this poetry builds on important Australian literary traditions; we need to evaluate whether working-class poets have earned a rightful place in the contemporary poetry field. We need a poetic for analysing the cultural discourse of the working class. Therefore, this thesis offers an analysis of the content and poetics of contemporary Australian working-class poetry and of the context in which it has been produced. It presents works that to date have been ignored or dismissed by the literary mainstream. It proposes that working-class poetry can be regarded as a distinctive genre of poetry, distinguished by its themes, use of language and authors’ intentions. It argues that working-class poetry is not unsophisticated but rather a specific expressive form that provides important insights into the ways in which class relations continue to reproduce inequalities. This argument is developed by reference to literature from the discipline of working-class studies in Australia and overseas. It is supported by the literature on class relations in Australia and there is also a small body of scholarship on working-class writing that contributes to the discussion. The main body of the thesis presents the work of individual working-class poets and provides detailed readings of their works that highlight the ways in which the poems exemplify the proposed category of working-class poetry. In short, this thesis creates a poetic for approaching the academic analysis of working-class cultural discourse. The conclusions I have drawn from my analysis of poetry and lyrics are that working-class poetry displays significant literary and artistic merit, and functions not only as a way for working-class people to express themselves creatively, but also provides a valuable insight into the ways in which class affects Australians on a daily basis. It is an important cultural achievement to give full and meaningful voice to disadvantaged Australians at a time of political and cultural upheaval where class cleavages and notions of identity are in a state of flux.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Kansas, Sociology, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 425-448). Also available on the Internet.

An increasing number of children care for themselves (self-care) while their parents are employed outside the home. A literature review suggested a connection between child care concerns and employed parents' increased stress, role overload, and lower productivity. This study evaluated the impact of an educational training program for families with children in self-care. Twenty-one rural families with children currently in self-care participated in this study. For most families, having children in self-care had little impact on factors which influence the parents' employment preformance. The treatment lowered the amount of time parents worried about their self-care children, but did not effect telephone use or the confidence level for parents and children. / Graduation date: 1991

The ‘belief bias’ effect is one of the most pervasive findings in the study of syllogistic reasoning. Here, participants respond “valid” to more believable than unbelievable conclusions, regardless of the actual validity of the conclusion. There is also an interaction characteristic of the belief bias effect, in that conclusion believability plays a greater role when conclusions are invalid than when they are valid. The experiments reported in this thesis had two goals: first, to determine how individual differences in working memory (WM) capacity influence belief bias in reasoning; and second, to indentify which WM systems are involved in syllogistic deductive reasoning. To this end, both experiments employed a dual task paradigm. In Experiment 1, participants remembered spatial arrays whilst reasoning through syllogisms in order to load the visuospatial sketchpad. Results demonstrated that performance on the secondary spatial memory task suffered when participants reasoned through syllogisms of which the validity and believability of conclusions were incongruent (i.e., “conflict” problems), indicating that reasoning through conflict problems utilized limited visuospatial WM resources. Also, only participants with high WM capacities showed the typical belief-bias effect, with greater effects of conclusion believability on invalid than on valid conclusions. This interaction was not present for low WM span participants, because they made greater errors on problems with invalid, unbelievable conclusions. In Experiment 2, participants remembered digit sequences whilst reasoning in order to load the phonological loop. Both of the major results from Experiment 1 were replicated. Accuracy on the secondary digit recall task was impaired when participants reasoned through conflict problems, demonstrating that limited verbal WM resources were directed toward reasoning. Again, only high WM span participant showed the interaction between conclusion validity and believability characteristic of the belief bias effect. Effects were additive for low WM span participants because they made more errors on invalid, unbelievable syllogisms. Results from both experiments demonstrate first, that both visuospatial and verbal WM resources are involved in syllogistic reasoning, and second, that individuals with different amounts of available WM resources demonstrate differential belief bias. These results are discussed in terms of the mental models and mental logic theories of reasoning and in terms of dual process accounts of reasoning.

The ‘belief bias’ effect is one of the most pervasive findings in the study of syllogistic reasoning. Here, participants respond “valid” to more believable than unbelievable conclusions, regardless of the actual validity of the conclusion. There is also an interaction characteristic of the belief bias effect, in that conclusion believability plays a greater role when conclusions are invalid than when they are valid. The experiments reported in this thesis had two goals: first, to determine how individual differences in working memory (WM) capacity influence belief bias in reasoning; and second, to indentify which WM systems are involved in syllogistic deductive reasoning. To this end, both experiments employed a dual task paradigm. In Experiment 1, participants remembered spatial arrays whilst reasoning through syllogisms in order to load the visuospatial sketchpad. Results demonstrated that performance on the secondary spatial memory task suffered when participants reasoned through syllogisms of which the validity and believability of conclusions were incongruent (i.e., “conflict” problems), indicating that reasoning through conflict problems utilized limited visuospatial WM resources. Also, only participants with high WM capacities showed the typical belief-bias effect, with greater effects of conclusion believability on invalid than on valid conclusions. This interaction was not present for low WM span participants, because they made greater errors on problems with invalid, unbelievable conclusions. In Experiment 2, participants remembered digit sequences whilst reasoning in order to load the phonological loop. Both of the major results from Experiment 1 were replicated. Accuracy on the secondary digit recall task was impaired when participants reasoned through conflict problems, demonstrating that limited verbal WM resources were directed toward reasoning. Again, only high WM span participant showed the interaction between conclusion validity and believability characteristic of the belief bias effect. Effects were additive for low WM span participants because they made more errors on invalid, unbelievable syllogisms. Results from both experiments demonstrate first, that both visuospatial and verbal WM resources are involved in syllogistic reasoning, and second, that individuals with different amounts of available WM resources demonstrate differential belief bias. These results are discussed in terms of the mental models and mental logic theories of reasoning and in terms of dual process accounts of reasoning.

Memory is an essential component for learning. Deficits in verbal short-term memory (STM) and working memory (WM) are thought to hinder language learning, reading acquisition, and academic achievement. The Children’s Memory Scale (CMS) is an assessment instrument used to identify memory and learning deficits and strengths in children ages five through 16. This study investigated the impact of culture and parent educational level (PEL) on student performance on the Children’s Memory Scale using the CMS standardization data. The major question addressed was: Will CMS subtest performance differ significantly between ethnic groups or as a function of PEL? The results of this study support a relationship between STM and WM performance and culture. Culture as defined by ethnicity minimally impacted student subtest performance on the CMS when PEL was taken into account. In contrast, PEL was significantly associated with student subtest performance within each ethnic group. Student subtest performance improved with each increase in PEL regardless of ethnicity. CMS subtest performance of Hispanic and African American students was most affected by PEL; however, no difference occurred in subtest performance by ethnicity or as a function of PEL for African American and Hispanic students on the Family Pictures subtest which examines visual and auditory memory processes through recall of everyday life tasks in meaningful context. Although statistical significance was found between CMS subtest performance and cultural factors, the effect sizes were mainly in the small range and variance was not specific to any one subtest. Larger effect sizes were found on verbal subtests which in previous studies have been found to be most impacted by quality of schooling and lower PELs. Mean score differences did not exceed one standard deviation with the exception of one subtest. The results of this study provide a better understanding of the effect of culture and PEL on memory and learning.

In this thesis, a novel fiber structure with advantages of high coupling efficiency, long working distance and better alignment tolerance has been presented. In this structure, the front-end of the singe-mode fiber (SMF) was spliced a graded-index fiber (GIF) with 50£gm core diameter. A hyperbolic-shaped lens was fabricated in the front-end of GIF. This novel fiber structure can increase the coupling efficiency of SMF effectively by using the wavefront-transfer characteristic of hyperbolic-shaped lens and the focusing characteristic of GIF. According to the simulation results, the optimized length of the GIF was 1160£gm. This novel fiber structure can reach to the coupling efficiency of 77% and working distance of 16£gm when the output power of laser diode was operated at 10mW and the radius curvature of lensed fiber was 12.74£gm. The lateral and longitudinal alignment tolerances of this fiber were 0.8£gm and 1.3£gm, respectively. In comparison with the conventional SMF lens, this novel fiber structure has longer working distance and better fiber alignment tolerance. Therefore, this structure can increase the package yield and reduce the fabrication cost for the application of laser module package.

Inaug.-diss.--Freiburg i. Br. / Lebenslauf. "Bibliographie": p. [219]-221.

Thesis (doctoral)--Rostock Universität, Mecklenburg. / "Die voliegende ... studie ... ist ein teil von einer grösseren arbeit über die deutch sozial poesie."--Vorwort. Includes bibliographical references (p. 2).