Denna uppsats har haft avsikten att studera hur NPC:ers agerande påverkar spelupplevelsen. NPC:er är de figurerna inom ett spel som inte är spelbara. Deras syfte är att skapa en trovärdig spelvärld och interagera med spelaren. Spelupplevelse innebär de känslor och tankar som spelare får under tiden de spelar. För att besvara uppsatsfrågan så studerades hur NPC:ers beteende påverkade spelarnas upplevelser genom observationer och enkäter. Under iakttagelserna så testades sex olika spel för att se hur deltagarna uppfattade NPC:ers olika agerande. Enkäten användes för att ge deltagarna utrymme att själva kunna tillföra sina egna tankar till hur de uppfattade de datorstyrda figurernas agerande. Överlag visade resultatet från både observationerna och enkäterna att det fanns delade meningar kring hur NPC:ernas agerande uppfattades. Testpersonernas uppfattningar skiljde sig åt både inom ett spel och mellan spelen. Samtidigt fanns det även beteenden som testgruppen hade samma åsikt kring. Exempelvis tyckte de flesta testpersoner att spelupplevelsen försämrades när NPC:erna inte försökte nå spelaren strategisk eller inte arbetade som en enhet. Uppsatsen visar att det är svårt att ta en fram en NPC som agerar på ett sätt som passar samtliga spelare. När ett nytt spel utvecklas läggs mycket fokus på att spelupplevelsen ska bli så bra som möjligt. Eftersom denna uppsats visar på att NPC:er har en inverkan på spelupplevelsen så är det viktigt att studera detta ämne vidare. / The purpose of this thesis is to analyze in what way the gaming experience for the gamer is affected by the NPC´s behaviour. NPCs are characters in a game that the gamer himself cannot control. The main purpose with adding NPCs into a game is to create a more realistic world and for them to interact with the gamer. Gaming experience is concerning the emotions and thoughts that the gamer has while playing the game. In order to be able to answer the questions posed in this thesis, questionnaires and observations was conducted to study how the NPCs behaviour affected the players´ gaming experience negatively or positively. During these observations, six different games were tested to see how the players reacted to the NPC´s behaviours and actions. The questionnaire was used as a tool for the players to be able to express their feelings and thoughts about the computer-controlled characters. The result from both the observation and the questionnaire shows that the participating people´s thoughts about the behaviours of the NPCs vary greatly. These differences could be found both concerning one specific game but also between games. On the other hand, there were specific behaviours that the participating people agreed upon. For example, a majority of the people thought that if NPCs did not try to get to the gamer in a more strategic way or if they did not work as a unit, lead to a negative gaming experience for the gamer. The conclusion of this thesis is that creating a NPC who has behaviour traits which suit all types of gamers is a very difficult task. The main focus of a new game in development is to create the best gaming experience possible for the gamer. This thesis shows the importance that the effect of the NPC´s behaviour has on the gaming experience and therefore it is a subject that is important to study more closely.

A recent line of inquiry has examined a specific question about how an observer's own experiences with actions may change how his or her brain processes those actions when they are subsequently observed. In short, how does prior experience with action affect the subsequent perception of others' actions? The current study investigated this question using electroencephalography (EEG) to test the hypothesis that receiving experience with an action would subsequently lead to different activation of sensorimotor cortex depending on the predicted consequences of observed actions. While EEG was recorded, three groups of participants watched video clips showing an actor lifting objects, and then each group received information about the sensorimotor properties (i.e., weight) of the objects. One group received extended sensorimotor experience with the objects (EE group), a second group received brief sensorimotor experience with the objects (BE group), and the third group read written information describing the objects' weights (semantic information, SI group). Following the experience, participants again viewed the video clips. Time-frequency analyses showed that for participants in the EE and BE groups, EEG during the observation of action was sensitive to the predicted sensorimotor consequences of the observed action. This was not found for the SI group. As well, all three groups showed increased alpha and beta suppression following experience. Overall, these results lead to two main conclusions: 1) experience with action facilitates subsequent neural mirroring processes, and 2) sensorimotor experience leads to differential activation of the sensorimotor cortex depending on the predicted consequences of observed action. / Psychology

No / The aim of this article is to describe a dialogical approach to inquiry that differs somewhat from those that are now influential in psychology, including Shotter's, Wertsch's, Hermans's and Hicks¿s. Although these authors have very usefully drawn attention to dialogical approaches to understanding experience, the academic style of their writing underplays their own responsivity as participants in these dialogues. Whereas some adopt an authoritative or Magistral genre in reporting dialogue with participants, others adopt an explicitly Socratic dialogue that nonetheless tends towards monologue. We suggest that these ambiguities and paradoxes can be traced to Dilthey and Gadamer and the debate associated with their work about the relative weight to be given to content and experience in interpreting dialogue. Furthermore, we use Bakhtin's classification of genres of dialogue to argue for the benefits of a Menippean genre of dialogue, based on imagination and ethics, both as a corrective to the tendency to monologue in Socratic and Magistral dialogues and as a contribution to our understanding of the possibilities inherent in dialogical inquiry. In particular, Menippean dialogue points us in the direction of inquiry as a personal and creative act that places voices (including the authorial voice) in contact with each other with the capacity to enrich and change each other.

The purpose of this investigation was to gain insights into the process of guiding reflection during an early field experience. Four preservice teachers' (PTs') reflection on teaching was guided by the Reflective Framework for Teaching in Physical Education (RFTPE) (Tsangaridou & O'Sullivan, 1994). Other reflective assignments included a reflective journal, video analysis, and peer observation/reflection. Data collection techniques included open-ended interviewing, reflective journals, videotape analysis, and field notes. In contrast to previous Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) research, the findings indicated PTs were able to focus on multiple aspects of teaching: technical, situational, and sensitizing. All four PTs demonstrated the ability to consistently describe, justify, and critique meaningful events that occurred in the teaching/learning environment. Furthermore, the PTs' views on the value of guided reflection by the RFTPE (Tsangaridou & O'Sullivan, 1994) and the reflective assignments suggest that they perceived the early field experience as meaningful for their professional growth and development as prospective physical education teachers. / Ph. D.

Previous research has demonstrated that augmented prenatal sensory stimulation can influence the emergence of normal or species-typical patterns of intersensory perception. For example, unusually early visual experience can produce a facilitative effect on subsequent postnatal perceptual responsiveness, while substantially augmented prenatal visual stimulation can interfere with early postnatal responsiveness. In constructing a link between early experience and neuronal plasticity, it has been established that unusual visual experience can produce measurable changes in post-synaptic structures, particularly dendritic morphology, in brain areas responsible for vision. In avian species, the brain area responsible for vision is the visual Wulst, thought to be analogous to the mammalian visual cortex. This study examined the effects of differing amounts of augmented prenatal visual stimulation on the plasticity of neurons in the visual Wulst and on subsequent postnatal visual responsiveness to maternal cues in bobwhite quail chicks. Results revealed that the pattern of neuronal organization and postnatal behavior was influenced by the amount of prenatal visual experience subjects were provided. Specifically, chicks exposed to 240 min of prenatal visual stimulation during the last 24 hr prior to hatching had neurons with significantly fewer spines/10 mm dendrite and displayed accelerated patterns of species-typical visual responsiveness. In contrast, chicks provided 900 min of prenatal visual stimulation had more complex neurons (including more spines, longer dendrites, and more branches) and failed to display normal species-specific visual responsiveness in the days following hatching. These results suggest that neuronal organization in the bobwhite Wulst proceeds in a selective fashion, molded by experience, and appears to influence early perceptual development and organization during the perinatal period / Ph. D.

Using autoethnography (Ellis, 2004), this study explores a female immigrant student's lived experiences in education in China, and in the United States. The theoretical framework of this study is critical autoethnography. In the study, I present my lived experiences in poems, narratives, and stories as the storied scholarship (Boylorn and Orbe, 2014). Through the study, I make sense of how a female non-traditional immigrant student navigated schooling in the complex social, cultural environment in the United States, and schooling experiences of my youth in China. I utilize the study to examine the deeper meaning of my story as an inquiry (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005; Richardson and St. Pierre, 2005). In doing so, to not only make sense of the complex lifelong experiences (Berger, 2004) of an immigrant student, but also to make connections with many other female immigrant students, and to bring new light to the understanding of their struggles, difficulties, and challenges. I use various literary styles and the metaphor of finding the voice in my writing to illustrate the process (Forber-Pratt, 2015; Luke, 2009). / Doctor of Philosophy

Parents with adolescents often find themselves caught in the stress and strain that normally accompanies this stage of life. It is when parents cannot meet the demands of troubled adolescents that they find themselves seeking family therapy. Most of what is reported about the process of therapy continues to be from the therapist's or reseacher's perspective. There has been an increased interest in what clients have to say about their experiences. The purpose of this study was to develop a detailed description of how parents of adolescents who attended family therapy in private practice settings viewed their experiences. Fifteen parents who had been to therapy with their adolescent were recruited by their therapist to be interviewed for this study. A multicase qualitative design and constructivist theoretical framework guided the investigation. The constant comparative analysis was used to develop four core categories that described the subtitles of parents' therapeutic experience. Five case stories illustrated the core categories and parents' quotes were used to further embellish the findings. The findings included parents' experiences prior to beginning therapy, during therapy as well as reflections in retrospect. The pre-therapy presentation, based on expectations and past experiences in treatment, affected the way parents initially approached therapy. A supportive therapeutic climate was necessary for parents to trust and become open to possibilities and do the hard work required to make changes. The story of their current experience was part of the family therapy process. Parents recognized changes and what they valued about their experiences in family therapy. / Master of Science

"The architectural experience silences all external noise, it focusses attention on one's very existence." - An architecture of the Seven Senses: Juhani Pallasma As I sat down thinking about this quote images of the courtyard of the Salk institute, the central reading area of the Library of Congress, Tadao Ando's Church on Water and light, the step wells of Adalaj in India, Peter Zumthor's Therme Vals came to my mind. I feel that the scale and being part of something larger than what man could create such as the sky, the ocean and an experience that appeals to the senses, one that is a perfect orchestration of the color of light, the pattern of shadows, the materiality of the wall, the feeling of warmth, the sound of waves, the reflection of the waters creates a sense of calm within. Drawing from my personal experiences, the thesis shall explore the above idea in a school of architecture with a public interface located along the waterfront. "Buildings should be monumental and spiritually inspiring." - Louis Kahn / Master of Architecture

Student affairs practitioners attempt to combine in-class and out-of-class learning. One example of this is first year residential programs. In these programs freshmen live together in one residence hall. Each program is different, but common characteristics include increased student staff, freshmen seminar, and increase programming on adjustment issues. This study examines one first year program (FYP) and attempts to determine the effects of the program on the academic success of the participants. Gender differences and ethnic differences were also examined. Academic success was defined as those elements of students' collegiate experiences that relate to retention and graduation. The instrument used in this study was based on a specific definition of academic success. Five hundred and thirty five students were asked to participate in the study, and a total of 249 usable instruments were returned, for a response rate of 48.44%. Of the 249 participants, 264 (49.35%) were in the FYP and 271 (50.65%) were not in the FYP. The non-FYP students lived in a variety of buildings on campus. There were significant findings in several areas of academic success. FYP participants had higher grades overall and completed more class credits. FYP students were more likely to understand academic policies and requirements. FYP students were more likely to complete all assignments before class and they were more likely to begin taking steps towards their career goals. Students in the FYP also reported higher levels of contact with faculty and higher attendance at university events. The FYP appeared to offer opportunities that enabled students to reach higher levels of academic success. / Master of Arts

Given that the focus of strategic management research is understanding the determinants of firm performance, and that product development capabilities have been shown to influence firm performance, the research question this dissertation attempts to answer is: what factors influence a firm's product development capabilities? Building on the resource based view and evolutionary theory, this dissertation proposes that firms leverage knowledge generating resources to modify or develop their routines. Firm level routines are theorized to influence the capabilities of the firm. This dissertation focuses on two firm-level product development capabilities: effectiveness and efficiency. Effectiveness refers to a firm's ability to develop desirable products and efficiency refers to the firm's ability to develop those products quickly. The knowledge generating resources this dissertation examines is the firm's prior experience in product development and the firm's relational resources pertinent to product development. Specifically, this dissertation develops theory on four types of experience: market niche, component technology, platform technology, and general product development. Additionally, theory is developed regarding the effects of platform relational resources, as well as the breadth and depth of co-developers a firm utilizes in the development of their products. Using the videogame development industry as the empirical context, few hypothesized relationships are statistically or substantively significant. Prior experience with component technologies lowered the effectiveness of a firm' product development capabilities, but were found to increase efficiency. In addition, older firms tended to create more desirable products despite controlling for the four types of experience which may suggest that the age of the firm contributes something to the firm's ability to create desirable products beyond specific types of experience. This dissertation makes contributions to the theory on how capabilities are developed and enhanced by introducing mechanisms regarding how firms can leverage knowledge generating resources to improve their capabilities. More specifically, this dissertation provides contributes to the product development literature as well as the literature on how experience and relational resources influence a firm's product development capabilities. / Ph. D.