Master of Arts - Psychology / A learning disability, by inhibiting learning, renders the scholastic years of a young child fraught with trying and frustrating experiences. Cases of learning disabilities that are being identified are however on the increase. Thus, with the prevalence rate growing and with the knowledge that learning disabilities in the areas of reading, writing and spelling account for a large majority of all diagnosed cases, it has become necessary to devise alternative teaching methods. The Targeted Revisualisation programme which is a high imagery based programme being one such programme that might ease the difficulties that such a child may experience. This research hence aimed to explore the link between mental imagery and memory and to further explore the effectiveness of the Targeted Revisualisation programme on reading, writing and spelling abilities of grade 4 children with learning disabilities. Using a primarily qualitative methodology, in particular the aggregative case-survey method, this aim was achieved. The sample - obtained from Japari Remedial School - constituted eight children in grade 4 who had been diagnosed as having learning disabilities in the areas the Targeted Revisualisation programme addresses. The sample strategy employed may thus be considered quota, non-probability sampling. The eight children in the sample were then assigned to either the experimental group - receiving tutoring using the programme - or to the contrast group that received traditional remedial tutoring, both of a six month duration. With the end analysis the sample illustrating that both groups benefited from their respective tutoring and that the Targeted Revisualisation programme proved an effective tool for the improving of reading, writing and spelling abilities of such children. Furthermore, it was found from this research that children with learning disabilities do use mental imagery as a learning aid for learning words and that there is indeed a strong link between mental imagery and memory.

The spectral separability of southern pines is a perplexing issue due to limited variance of spectral reflectance in species with similar morphological characteristics. Understory vegetation reflectance may exacerbate the ability to accurately identify various overstory tree species, specifically those of longleaf and loblolly pines in the southeastern US. In this study, identification of target level overstory crowns with varying degrees of understory vegetation cover based on fire return frequency was used to assess the role of understory reflectance on target crown species discernment. Seasonal variations of understory vegetation in late dormant and late growing seasons were compared for disparities in potential reflectance contribution from understory vegetation. Overall, the impact of understory vegetation was considered negligible in the spectral separability of longleaf and loblolly pines based on discriminant analysis results. Classification of WorldView-2 relative spectral profiles resulted in overall accuracies of 92% for dormant season and 96% for growing season imagery.

Hurricane Isaac’s landfall on the coast of Louisiana spawned a hydrological research project between Mississippi State University (MSU), the Northern Gulf Institute (NGI), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the Lower Pearl River Basin (LPRB). Unmanned aerial systems data collection missions were scheduled every two months in the LPRB. This research provides a comparison between Landsat-8 imagery and corresponding UAS imagery with regards to the four remote sensing resolutions: spatial, spectral, radiometric, and temporal. Near-infrared (NIR) imagery from each platform was compared by land-water masks and statistical comparisons. A classification method known as natural breaks with Jenks Optimization determined threshold values between land and water for each image. Land-water masks revealed substantial differences between areas of land and water in comparing imagery. The overall difference in average land and water percentages between the two platforms was 1.77%; however, a larger percentage was 20.41% in a single comparison.

Past research has indicated that motor imagery, or imagined movement, follows Fitts' law similarly to physical movement. Additionally, motor imagery has been shown to improve real motor performance in multiple contexts, showcasing a remarkable connection with real motion. The current study examines how the subject of motor imagery, imagining oneself, another person, or an object, impacts this faithfulness to real movement, specifically in following Fitts' law. Participants viewed 2D photos of a virtual environment with an "X", a humanoid, or a disc facing a gate at 6 distances and 4 widths for 24 combinations. Each combination was repeated twice randomly for 48 trials per condition, and conditions were presented in random order for a total of 144 trials. Results indicate that object-imagery does trigger motor imagery and follow Fitts' law, in contrast to prior research. However, further analysis showed that the function produced in the object condition was significantly different from both self and other, while self and other were not significantly different from one another. This was due to a higher index of performance value in the object condition, implying that participants assigned the object different abilities than the two human-centered conditions. These results indicate a difference related to biological, or perhaps human, motion, and future studies should further explore the impact of the subject and characteristics of the subject on motor imagery. Understanding these intricacies is crucial to refine and understand the benefits of motor imagery seen in multiple motor performance contexts.

No description available.

No description available.

Many have chosen to divide the world of fiction into literary and genre. I do not believe these have to be mutually exclusive. Writers such as Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, and Benjamin Percy note the importance of literary devices while simultaneously creating plots that elicit emotional responses from readers. It is my goal to accomplish the same, and bridge the gap between literary and genre fiction in my collection of short stories by using symbolism and imagery to create a sense of the foreboding.

Now, it is the purpose of this dissertation to present a study of the imagery in the poetry of Langston Hughes with special emphasis upon (1) its sources, (2) its types, (3) its functions, and, (4) its imprtance as a factor in evaluating Hughes' poetic contributions to society.

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) and Imagery have been utilized in psychological practices and treatment. VR has recently been the focus of research with treatments for post traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, and phobias, among other social and behavioral issues. VR allows the researcher to create realistic controlled environments in which they are able to manipulate the experiment. Imagery permits the individual to imagine and recall scenarios from their past in order to create a more personal environment. This experiment aimed to expand upon VR practices and treatment in regards to alcohol research. In this experiment, 70 participants, 39 females and 31 males, were exposed to two VR alcohol and two Imagery alcohol cue environments. Subject craving and psychophysiological measures were taken across all four scenes and all baselines. Overall, craving measures demonstrated that female nondrinkers developed higher cravings during Imagery. Conversely, male social drinkers demonstrated higher cravings during VR. This study supports the use of VR environments in the study of alcohol cue reactivity.

Introduction: Mental imagery (MI) has been shown to influence flexibility when used with treatments such as stretching. Currently, little evidence supports the efficacy of MI as an independent tool to increase flexibility. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to test if a guided mental imagery protocol could positively influence subject physical measures, including myofascial length, muscle tone and range of motion measures. Methods: Individuals with no history of lower limb injuries that would affect hamstring flexibility underwent initial measures, random assignment to a mental imagery or control group, and post-intervention measures. The imagery group followed a guided visualization of a hamstring stretch, and the control group remained still for the same amount of time. Independent T-Test, Dependent T-Test, and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze between-group differences, within-group differences, and group by time interaction, respectively. Results: 30 individuals enrolled in the study. No significant differences between groups at baseline were found for baseline demographics and ROM measures. No significant group by time differences were found between the two groups for any of the recorded measures. A posthoc power analysis showed a small effect size on the ANOVA test for knee extension. Discussion: Our evidence shows an acute MI-only protocol may not positively influence ROM measures. Future work should use familiarization periods, assess if imagery increases perceptions of flexibility, and utilize different musculature and stretches to see if visualization has a uniform influence globally.