Mate choice among males is relatively understudied, despite recent evidence supporting its ubiquity. Theory predicts male mate choice in response to variation in female quality, and male mating strategies that limit polygyny. However empirical research investigating these connections, particularly under natural conditions, is generally lacking. Using the Western black widow spider, Latrodectus hesperus, I investigated male mate choice, male investment, and the advantage of mating with females that differ in their potential to deliver fitness benefits to males via higher fecundity and/or reduced risk of sperm competition. Males were found to be preferentially attracted to larger, high-diet virgin females over females that were smaller due to a lower diet, or having been previously mated, or both. Through a three-year field study on females I found that males likely benefit from selectivity, as smaller, low-diet females often failed to deposit any egg sacs throughout the breeding season, likely due to their shortened web-site tenure and/or lack of bodily resources. I investigated the costs and benefits to male genital breakage in L. hesperus, a strategy typically assumed to result in male sterility while providing paternity protection. I found that genital mutilation in L. hesperus did not cause sterility and that males were capable of inseminating multiple females, likely because of the comparatively low amount of genital damage and the likelihood of the efficient placement of genital fragments. Evidence from double mating trials supported the efficacy of broken genital fragments as plugs, but first male sperm precedence was often maintained in cases where male genital breakage failed or fragments were positioned incorrectly, which occurred frequently. Together, these laboratory and field experiments contribute to a more complete view of mate choice.

Mate choice among males is relatively understudied, despite recent evidence supporting its ubiquity. Theory predicts male mate choice in response to variation in female quality, and male mating strategies that limit polygyny. However empirical research investigating these connections, particularly under natural conditions, is generally lacking. Using the Western black widow spider, Latrodectus hesperus, I investigated male mate choice, male investment, and the advantage of mating with females that differ in their potential to deliver fitness benefits to males via higher fecundity and/or reduced risk of sperm competition. Males were found to be preferentially attracted to larger, high-diet virgin females over females that were smaller due to a lower diet, or having been previously mated, or both. Through a three-year field study on females I found that males likely benefit from selectivity, as smaller, low-diet females often failed to deposit any egg sacs throughout the breeding season, likely due to their shortened web-site tenure and/or lack of bodily resources. I investigated the costs and benefits to male genital breakage in L. hesperus, a strategy typically assumed to result in male sterility while providing paternity protection. I found that genital mutilation in L. hesperus did not cause sterility and that males were capable of inseminating multiple females, likely because of the comparatively low amount of genital damage and the likelihood of the efficient placement of genital fragments. Evidence from double mating trials supported the efficacy of broken genital fragments as plugs, but first male sperm precedence was often maintained in cases where male genital breakage failed or fragments were positioned incorrectly, which occurred frequently. Together, these laboratory and field experiments contribute to a more complete view of mate choice.

[Truncated abstract]The overall aim of the research reported in this thesis was to develop and validate an instrument that would identify children among the general population at risk of self-harm. To achieve this, four separate yet interrelated studies were conducted. Study One, which sought to explore the risk factors of self-harm in children comprised a series of focus interviews with three paediatricians and 24 mothers of children who had self-harmed or who had verbalized self-harm ideation. The findings revealed that prior to the onset of self-harming or self-harm ideation these children reportedly manifested other problem behaviours that prompted their mothers to seek specialist advice from a paediatrician. The majority of these problem behaviours were characteristic of externalizing problems, either in the form of conduct problems, aggressive behaviours or impulsiveness. Conversely, some problem behaviours were characteristic of internalizing problems such as anxiety and depression. These findings provided valuable information which in addition to the current literature created the conceptual framework for the subsequent studies. Study Two incorporated the information obtained from Study One, along with that obtained from a review of existing instruments that measure self-harm or suicide, to develop a new instrument specifically designed to assess the risk of children in the general population developing self-harming behaviours. Initially, 159 items were generated and using the extant knowledge regarding the risk factors of self-harm as a guide, the items were categorized into risk factors of anxiety, depression, low self- ii worth, social difficulty, social withdrawal, helplessness, hopelessness, atypical cognition, emotional lability, impulsivity, self-harming ideation and self-harm. ... Study Four comprised four interrelated investigations, the purposes of which were to (i) examine the prevalence rates of self-harming ideation and self-harm among young school aged children in the general population; (ii) investigate differences of risk of self-harm between the referred group and community comparison group; (iii) examine the relationship between impulsivity and risk of self-harm in these children and, (iv) examine the relationship between executive function and risk of self-harm among these children. The results from these investigations revealed that approximately 3.5% of children aged between 6 to12 years in the general population manifest self-harming ideations and approximately 2.5% actually self-harm. No significant age or gender differences were found. Children that presented with a higher level of risk of self-harm also presented with a complex array of internalizing and externalizing problem behaviours. Furthermore, children who displayed significantly higher levels of hyperactive-impulsive symptomatology scored higher on the SHRAC instrument, as did the children who had higher levels of executive functioning impairment. The findings are discussed and interpreted in line with the current research literature and are used to make suggestions for future research.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Psychology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2007.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2009. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 229-243). Issued in print and online. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2005. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-124). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.N. (Clinical))--Victoria University of Wellington, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. A.) -- Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2006. / Production thesis: contains podcasts by the author. Includes bibliography.

This thesis explores what I call 'physical spectatorship' as it is generated by a group of films concerned with the mutilation of the human body. Focusing on the representation of mutilation on the screen and the physical responses this evokes, the thesis is organised around the study of a series of dynamic engagements that reconfigure the film-viewer relationship; these include: corporeal mimicry and the cinematic visualisations of mutilation; generalised anxiety and experimental use of sound; and the nausea generated by audio-visual techniques that both signify and locate the filmic gut in the viewer's body. Combining close textual analyses with theoretical approaches, this thesis draws upon psychoanalytic, phenomenological and feminist theories of film and spectatorship. Throughout the chapters, my argument builds upon the work of Vivian Sobchack and Laura Marks in order to interrogate further what might be meant by the notion of the embodied spectator. The chapters explore this notion, alongside that of the film viewer, to generate a dialogue with previous theorists of the cinematic spectator, including Christian Metz and Richard Rushton. Exploring through close textual analyses the specific filmic techniques that generate intense physical responses, this thesis argues that the mutilation film demands a rethinking of some of the key categories in theories of spectatorship. Extending across national cinemas and reaching beyond conventional generic distinctions, the mutilation film produces a visceral aesthetic that has yet to be analysed. Focusing on particular aspects of the mutilation film, such as the assault narrative sequence, use of extreme frequencies and haptic sounds and images, the thesis offers detailed readings of the following texts: Dans Ma Peau (Marina de Van, 2002), Irréversible (Gaspar Noé, 2002), Saw II (Darren Lynn Bousman, 2005) Saw III (Darren Lynn Bousman, 2006) Saw IV (Darren Lynn Bousman, 2007) Saw V (David Hackl, 2008) Saw VI (Kevin Greutert, 2009) Saw 3D (Kevin Greutert, 2010), Hostel (Eli Roth, 2005), À l'intérieur (Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, 2007), The Human Centipede: First Sequence (Tom Six, 2009) and The Human Centipede: Full Sequence (Tom Six, 2011).The analyses that form this thesis demonstrate the problems with separating notions of the 'spectator as textual construction' from that of the 'viewer as physically embodied'; yet these readings also indicate the necessity of continuing the task of conceptualising their interrelatedness, rather than simply using them interchangeably. The conclusion argues that the concept of physical spectatorship offers one way to understand how particular contemporary aesthetics have reconfigured the boundary between viewer and film.