Two instructional design features hypothesized to affect problem solving performance, problem format and contextual interference, were investigated. Problem format was manipulated by altering the format of worked examples to demonstrate a molar or modular solution. Contextual interference was manipulated by randomizing the order in which problem categories were studied. Participants studied worked examples from 5 complex probability categories and solved 11 novel problems. The modular problem format reduced study time and the workload during study and increased performance on the subsequent test. Greater contextual interference increased study time but had no effect on workload or test performance. Additionally, a regression analysis demonstrated that mental workload partially mediated the effect of problem format on test performance. A separate regression analysis did not demonstrate that working memory capacity moderated the effect of problem format on mental workload.

This study is based on the M-R environmental psychology model, and investigates if social element and contextual element of social-servicescape conceptual models can affect consuming emotions and behavior. Moreover, this study examines the role of cognitive appraisal and extends the M-R environmental psychology model to include both emotional states and cognitive appraisal as mediators of the social-servicescape and coping behavior relationships. It adopts scenario experiment manipulation method to understand how the social element and contextual element affect cognitive appraisal, consuming emotions and behavior of approach or avoidance. The finding of the research is as followed. 1. Social element and contextual element can affect consuming emotions. 2. Under the social-servicescape, contextual element can affect coping behavior, and this relationship will be mediated by consuming emotions. 3. Social element can affect goal congruence significantly. 4. Under the social-servicescape, consuming emotions and goal congruence can affect coping behavior significantly. 5. The relationship between social-servicescape and goal congruence can be mediated by consuming emotions.

This report examines the masculine gender norm of restrictive emotionality, in terms of its effects on mental health and its theoretical relationship to experiential avoidance. This norm has rarely been examined in the context of emotion research despite its similarity to experiential avoidance and emotion dysregulation constructs such as expressive suppression. After reviewing the psychological impact of restrictive emotionality, as well as how it may relate to other maladaptive processes, the report proposes an intervention to reduce adherence to this gender norm. Because traditionally masculine men are often averse to psychotherapy, a writing intervention is hypothesized to benefit this population. Specifically, a guided writing based in contextual reappraisal is posited to help men reduce psychological distress by reducing levels of restrictive emotionality and experiential avoidance. Contextual reappraisal is thought to help increase acceptance of one’s emotions, thus reducing the need to avoid or restrict emotional expression. A writing contextual writing intervention could benefit emotionally restrictive men by encouraging a non-evaluative stance toward vulnerable emotions while offering a private, non-threatening outlet for expression. / text

This thesis documents the fieldwork component of the archaeological survey, testing, and data recovery efforts associated with 41BX1753, a historic-age site located in downtown San Antonio, Texas. This paper details the project’s activities and results and provides feature and artifact descriptions. Furthermore, this work provides a contextual analysis of 41BX1753 based on the artifacts recovered and the archival record. In the report, I explore the social, political and economic relationships in San Antonio’s past through the study of the material and archival records associated with a single property and its residents. Examined within a greater historical context, these records are indicative of choices made by some of San Antonio’s most influential residents indicating a sense of identity and status, as well as strategies of adaptation and accommodation to ensure stability in the face of constant change. / text

My examination project during spring 2011 has been carried out in collaboration with DuoBad, a bathroom furniture company situated in Alsterbro, Småland. Their focus is to develop, manufacture and market bathroom furnitures with genuine craftsmanship. Through their partnership with some of the most influential manufacturers of quality bathroom products they can create an entirely new room to enjoy.I initiated the collaboration with DuoBad for the examination project and have not started from a specific task, but together with the company I have been focused on adding new thinking regarding storage in bathroom furniture.The goal with the project has been to, together with DuoBad, develop a conceptual set of bathroom furniture that provides new ways of storing.The project was a close collaboration with users where experience gained through contextual interviews became the main source of inspiration.The result of the project is a bathroom furniture serie called Mill. The name comes from the manufacturing technique of milling, which is the identifying form language of the product.

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When conducting a visual search task participants respond faster to targets embedded in a repeated array of visual distractors compared to targets embedded in a novel array, an effect referred to as contextual cueing. There are no reports of contextual cueing in audition, and generalizing this effect to the auditory domain would provide a new paradigm to investigate similarities, differences, and interactions in visual and auditory processing. In 4 experiments, participants identified a numerical target embedded in a sequence of alphabetic letter distractors. The training phase (Epochs 1, 2, and 3) of all experiments contained repeated sequences, and the testing phase (Epoch 4) contained novel sequences. Temporal contextual cueing was measured as slower response times in Epoch 4 than in Epoch 3. Repeated context was defined by the order of distractor identities and the rhythmic structure of the portion of the sequence immediately preceding the target digit, either together (Experiments 1 and 2) or separately (Experiments 3 and 4). An auditory temporal contextual cueing effect was obtained in Experiments 1, 2, and 4. This is the first report of an auditory temporal contextual cueing effect and, thus, it extends the contextual cueing effect to a new modality. This new experimental paradigm could be useful in furthering our understanding of fundamental auditory processes and could eventually be used to aid in diagnosing language deficits.

Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Research in cultural psychology suggests that East Asians are more likely than North Americans to be sensitive to contextual information. By contrast, much evidence suggests that even North Americans judgments are influenced by affective priming information, the effect of which can be seen as another type of contextual cue. However, the magnitude of such priming effect has not been tested in a cross-cultural context. Using the methodology of the affective priming paradigm, we conducted two studies, in which we manipulated (a) the timing of priming information (simultaneous vs. sequential) and (b) the type of affective information (background landscape vs. background human figures), in which European Canadians and Japanese judged either happy or sad facial expressions in the focal area of the scene. The results indicate that the two cultural groups are similar when contextual information is salient, but only Japanese remain sensitive to context with subtle cues.