The aim of the diploma thesis is to diagnostic levels of particular creative abilities in a selected group of population {--} pupils in the fifth grade. Theoretical knowledge is analyzed and compared in the first part. Particular creativity problems are briefly specified using specialized literature, e.g. Creativity barriers, Factors effecting creativity, Methods used for creativity development. Empiric part presents research description of individual levels in creative abilities. Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking were used as a main method of research. Effect of sex, class, school and its size on individual creativity parts was considered within the testing. A relative level of these parts was compared as well.

abstract: Incidental learning of sequential information occurs in visual, auditory and tactile domains. It occurs throughout our lifetime and even in nonhuman species. It is likely to be one of the most important foundations for the development of normal learning. To date, there is no agreement as to how incidental learning occurs. The goal of the present set of experiments is to determine if visual sequential information is learned in terms of abstract rules or stimulus-specific details. Two experiments test the extent to which interaction with the stimuli can influence the information that is encoded by the learner. The results of both experiments support the claim that stimulus and domain specific details directly shape what is learned, through a process of tuning the neuromuscular systems involved in the interaction between the learner and the materials. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Psychology 2013

A utilização do aço ASTM A 335 P91 tem sofrido um aumento considerável, especialmente em função da necessidade de materiais com maior resistência à fluência para aplicações em unidades de utilidades (geração de vapor) e de processo. Por ser um material de difícil soldabilidade, diversos problemas são enfrentados durante a construção das unidades e, posteriormente, durante manutenção, geralmente em função de problemas de soldagem oriundos da fase de fabricação e construção. As normas de projeto e construção utilizadas internacionalmente vêm sofrendo adaptações a fim de melhorar a utilização deste material, mas seus requisitos ainda apresentam importantes lacunas em relação às principais práticas recomendadas pela literatura técnica mais atual. Visando uma melhor utilização deste material, obtendo juntas soldadas com propriedades mecânicas e metalúrgicas mais consistentes, o presente trabalho foi desenvolvido avaliando-se a influência de parâmetros de soldagem energia de soldagem e temperatura de tratamento térmico pós-soldagem (TTPS) sobre as propriedades mecânicas e metalúrgicas, incluindo resistência à fluência, de juntas soldadas de aço ASTM A 335 P91. Foram testadas nove juntas soldadas, combinando três níveis de energia de soldagem com três temperaturas de TTPS. Os resultados obtidos indicam que é possível ter melhor controle sobre as propriedades deste material, desde que se opere com níveis mais restritos de energia de soldagem e maiores temperatura de TTPS, observando-se as limitações pertinentes, especialmente no que tange à temperatura crítica de transformação Ac1. / The use of ASTM A 335 P91 has been increased considerably specially because of the need for materials with higher creep resistance for power generation (nuclear and thermoelectric) and oil and gas processing applications. As this is a material with poor weldability, several issues are faced during construction of these unities, and later during maintenance usually associated with welding problems originated in the fabrication and construction phase. The design and construction codes most used worldwide are receiving important revisions targeting to enhance the use condition of this material but its requirements still show important lacks when compared to the main practices recommended by the more recent technical literature. Aiming a better usage of this material obtaining sound welded joints with more consistent metallurgical and mechanical properties, this work was developed assessing the influence of some welding parameters welding heat input and temperature of post-­weld heat treatment (PWHT) on the metallurgical and mechanical properties, including creep strength, of welded joints of ASTM A 335 P91 steel. Nine welded joints were submitted to testing, combining three different levels of welding heat input with three different PWHT temperatures. The results show that it is possible to have a better control over the properties of this material since it is used lower welding heat inputs combined to higher PWHT temperatures, taking care about the limitations regarding the critical transformation temperature Ac1.

Fluent performance has been described as the retention, endurance, stability, and application of the material learned. Fluent performers not only respond quickly during training, they also make many correct responses during training. The current study used a within-subject design to analyze the effects of increased response rates on Retention, Endurance, Stability, and Application tests. Number of correct responses and number of unprompted, correct responses in error correction procedures were yoked for individual participants across an Accuracy-plus-Rate training condition and an Accuracy-Only training condition. One participant scored better in tests that followed the Accuracy-Only condition. One participant showed results that slightly favor the Accuracy-plus-Rate training condition. The two participants whose response rates were successfully reduced in the Accuracy-Only condition performed better on all tests that followed the Accuracy-plus-Rate condition.

A functional definition of fluency describes performance frequency ranges that predict retention, endurance, stability, application, and adduction as outcomes of practice. This experiment assessed these outcomes after different training conditions using a within-subject design. Participants in an experimental group learned new skills in a condition with rate and accuracy criteria, then in a yoked, rate-controlled condition with the same number of prompted responses and correct trials in practice. Control group participants received training in consecutive conditions with rate and accuracy criteria. Performance of individuals in the control group demonstrated practice effects. Data obtained from participants in the experimental group showed similar performance across conditions. Considering efficiency, the condition with rate and accuracy criteria was superior.

The study investigated an organized semantic fluency task, (the Controlled Animal Fluency Task - CAFT) as a measure of executive functioning (EF) in adults, and the relationship with instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Participants (N = 266) consisted of a clinical sample (n = 142) utilizing neuropsychological assessment data collected at an outpatient psychological center, and a community sample (n = 124). The clinical sample was a heterogeneous mixed neurological group including a variety of health conditions and comorbid anxiety and depression. The CAFT Animals by Size demonstrated a significant positive correlation with Category Fluency (r = .71, n = 142, p < .001) , Animal Fluency (r = .70, n = 142, p < .001), and with other, established neuropsychological measures. The CAFT Animals by Size condition demonstrated a significant moderate negative correlation with IADL for the sample as a whole (r = -.46, n = 248, p < .001), and for the clinical sample (r = -.38, n = 129, p < .001), but not for the community sample. In a hierarchical regression analysis, CAFT Animal by Size explained additional variance in IADL (&#916;R2 = .15). In a hierarchical regression analysis predicting IADL with the control variables entered first, followed by Category Fluency, with CAFT Animal by Size entered last, CAFT Animals by Size did not make a significant additional contribution. A stepwise forward regression indicated Category Fluency, education, and Category Switching are better predictors of IADL than CAFT Animals by Size. Normative data for the CAFT were calculated separately for age groups and education levels. Simple logistic regression indicated CAFT Animal by Size was a significant predictor of clinical or community group membership. A second logistic regression analysis indicated the CAFT Animal by Size condition improved the prediction of membership in the clinical versus the community group, compared to the MMSE alone. Applications of the CAFT are discussed.

<p>The theory underlying L2 oral fluency has focused on cognitive processes, particularly proceduralization (Anderson, 1983; Levelt, 1989, 1999) and linguistic constructs, especially vocabulary and grammar (Segalowitz, 2010). Towell, Hawkins, and Bazergui (1996) argued that development of formulaic language enables automatic speech production. However, no research has studied the longitudinal development of L2 oral fluency concurrently with any of the following lexical variables: lexical frequency profile, formulaic language use, and MTLD (a measure of lexical diversity). The purpose of the present study is to clarify the process by which L2 oral fluency, syntax, and vocabulary develop concurrently.</p> <p>Data analysis involved three sequential phases: oral fluency analysis, lexico-syntactic analysis, and discourse analysis. Oral fluency measures were calculated using the transcribed oral test responses of 100 L1-Chinese EAP learners at the beginning and end of a required two-course EAP language and culture sequence at Purdue University. The task completed was a computer-administered, two-minute argumentative speaking task. This study included eight oral fluency measures: speech rate, mean length of speech run, articulation rate, phonation time ratio, mean length of silent pause, mean length of filled pause, silent pause frequency, and filled pause frequency. For the ten participants who made the largest percentage-wise oral fluency gains (in terms of the oral fluency variable associated with the largest effect size of gains), oral transcripts were analyzed to compute descriptive statistics for the three lexical variables mentioned above and three syntactic variables: coordinate clause ratio, dependent clause ratio, and words per T-unit. </p> Results indicated significant change in all oral fluency measures, except mean length of silent pause and mean length of filled pause. The largest gains were made in mean length of speech run. Of the linguistic variables, the largest longitudinal change was associated with coordinate clause ratio. Discourse analysis of the transcripts of large fluency gainers' pre-post responses suggested that large fluency gainers used coordinate clauses to build more sophisticated discourse models in the post-test response than they did in the pre-test response. Implications for L2 oral fluency theory, EAP pedagogy, and L2 oral assessment are discussed.

<div>This dissertation investigates three utterance fluency features and two vocabulary features of 409 speech samples from advanced intermediate and advanced L2 English speakers, who participated in the Oral English Proficiency Test (OEPT) between the year of 2009 and 2015. Among the 409 L2 English speakers, there are 80 L1 Hindi speakers rated as advanced intermediate, 32 L1 Hindi speakers rated as advanced, 286 L1 Mandarin speakers rated as advanced intermediate, and 11 L1 Mandarin speakers rated as advanced.</div><div><br></div><div>Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) was conducted and presented four different clusters among all the L2 English speakers. The four different clusters are: (1) Low Mean Syllables per Run (MSR), low Speech Rate (SR), very high Pause Rate (PR), medium Measure of Textual Lexical Diversity (MTLD), and medium percentage of words on the Academic Word List (AWL); (2) Medium Mean Syllables per Run (MSR), medium Speech Rate (SR), high Pause Rate (PR), low Measure of Textual Lexical Diversity (MTLD), and low percentage of words on the Academic Word List (AWL); (3) High Mean Syllables per Run (MSR), high Speech Rate (SR), low Pause Rate (PR), medium Measure of Textual Lexical Diversity (MTLD), and medium percentage of words on the Academic Word List (AWL); (4) Medium Mean Syllables per Run (MSR), medium Speech Rate (SR), low Pause Rate (PR), very high Measure of Textual Lexical Diversity, and very high percentage level of words on the Academic Word List (AWL).</div><div>Chi-square results show that L2 English speakers’ cluster membership is strongly associated with both their L1 background and level of L2 oral English proficiency. While most of the advanced intermediate L1 Mandarin speakers are in Cluster 1 and Cluster 2, the majority of the advanced intermediate L1 Hindi speakers concentrate in Cluster 3. A large number of advanced L1 Mandarin speakers and L1 Hindi speakers are also located in Cluster 3.</div><div><br></div><div>Twelve raters were invited to evaluate speech samples representative of the four clusters in terms of accent difference and listener effort. Twelve speakers were selected from the four clusters, whose speech samples have values of the five linguistic features closest to the cluster mean.</div><div><br></div><div>Multi-facet Rasch Measurement (MFRM) results show that L1 Mandarin speakers generally received lower ratings in accent difference and listener effort. The connection among fluency, vocabulary, and accentedness/listener effort, however, functions differently for L1 Mandarin speakers and L1 Hindi speakers. For advanced intermediate L1 Mandarin speakers, those who speak slower and use more diverse vocabulary and more academic words were evaluated to be less accented, meanwhile costing less listener effort. However, advanced intermediate L1 Hindi speakers were rated as less accented and cost less listener effort when they demonstrate higher fluency measures and lower vocabulary measures.</div><div><br></div><div>Advanced L2 English speakers, in contrary, received reverse rating results. The advanced L1 Mandarin speaker, who speaks faster and uses less diverse vocabulary and fewer academic words, was evaluated to be less accented and cost less listener effort. However, the advanced L1 Hindi speaker, who speaks slower and uses more diverse vocabulary and more academic words, was rated as less accented and cost less listener effort.</div><div><br></div><div>This dissertation reemphasizes that holistic rating rubric does not deny the existence of multiple linguistic profiles. Raters are sensitive to different combinations of fluency and vocabulary features even if they have been asked to use a holistic scale. In addition, L2 English speakers may adopt individual strategies to accommodate while delivering, which calls for further pedagogical attention.<br></div><div><br></div>

The authors suggest that students need to become physically as well as academically involved in their learning. In this light, there are procedures presented for having students make stick puppets that can be used in a variety of learning activities including, but not limited to, readers' theatre and story retelling. We propose that fables can provide a good foundation for developing activities featuring stick puppets, speaking and reading fluency oriented activities. We enncourage teachers and librarians to help make the puppets in order to incorporate first-hand knowledge of the procedures for their students.

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