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This thesis is a study of the rhetoric of newspaper rivalry, particularly under the pressures of image restoration and transformation. I use methods of critical discourse analysis to look at newspaper articles in Utah's two dominant newspapers, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret Morning News. I compare a sample of news articles from each paper in 2002 to a sample in 2003, when the Tribune was working to restore its image after a scandal involving two of its reporters, and the News was working to transform its image as it transitioned from an afternoon newspaper to a morning newspaper. Using rhetorical categories previously developed, as well as categories I developed myself, I counted the appearances of different types of rivalry rhetoric in the news articles from each year. I found that while certain categories of rhetoric fell from 2002 to 2003, other categories increased drastically. In general, the categories in the 2003 sample were much more polarized than in the 2002 sample. The most striking differences were in the categories of accusation, defense, and gloating. The News' use of accusatory rhetoric and the Tribune's use of defensive rhetoric increased considerably from 2002 to 2003. The News' use of gloating rhetoric increased largely from 2002 to 2003, whereas the Tribune's decreased significantly during the same time period. Much of these changes are attributed to the pressures of image restoration and transformation.

As an actor, it is absolutely imperative to resist the urge to pass judgment on the characters we portray. True, that as people, we sometimes judge ourselves, and deem our conduct as right or wrong, but usually after finding the justification in the action first. We understand why we do the things we do. Therefore, it is as important to find our character s point-of-view as well. When I was cast as Oliver de Boys in the Orlando Shakespeare Theater s mainstage production of William Shakespeare s As You Like It, I knew the biggest challenge before me was to avoid playing him as the villain. I had to discover the reasoning and the humanity behind his heinous actions. Most importantly, I had to try to understand why he would attempt to murder his brother Orlando. Growing up with three sisters whom I considered my best friends, I had no personal frame of reference for this extreme action. This thesis will examine the research and creation of Oliver de Boys. A thorough historical analysis will present the life of William Shakespeare, with specific focus on the relationship with his own siblings. Also included will be the production history of the As You Like It and the times in which it was written. Particular emphasis will be placed on the Elizabethan s preoccupation with primogeniture, the system of inheritance or succession by the firstborn, traditionally the eldest son ( Primogeniture 1). Finally, this section will contain a look at two literary figures that greatly influenced the evolution of Oliver: Saladyne, the eldest brother in Sir Thomas Lodge s Rosalynde, of which As You Like It is largely based on and Cain, the archetype of fratricide. The next chapter will explore Oliver s journey in As You Like It, from villain to lover to brother; ultimately, his conversion from evil to good. It will also document the director s concept for the production and his vision for the portrayal of Oliver. A comprehensive character analysis or character autobiography will examine the psychological motivations behind Oliver s actions, such as sibling rivalry, jealousy, resentment and greed. This thesis will culminate in a comprehensive rehearsal journal, which will document and address challenges, discoveries, failures and victories during the production process.

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Perceptual rivalry refers to visual phenomena that are characterised by alternations between different percepts, despite an unchanging sensory input. Two common types of perceptual rivalry are (i) reversible figures — two-dimensional stable images that when viewed, are perceived to switch between different interpretations, and (ii) binocular rivalry — the alternations in image dominance resulting from the presentation of conflicting stimuli, one to each eye. Several investigators have suggested that these rivalling phenomena are mediated by similar neural mechanisms. Such a view, however, has not only been inadequately substantiated, but has also yet to be assessed in the context of a directly testable neurophysiological model. Miller and Pettigrew have proposed a novel, high-level interhemispheric switch (IHS) explanatory model of binocular rivalry. This model conceptualises the perceptual alternations as being mediated by alternations between one hemisphere’s selected image and the other hemisphere’s selected (rival) image. To assess their hypothesis, caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS) was used. CVS is a simple, inexpensive, and non-invasive brain stimulation technique that unilaterally activates high-level attentional areas. In accordance with the IHS model, CVS was found to significantly affect predominance (the duration that one image is perceived relative to the other, within a given viewing period) during conventional binocular rivalry with horizontal/vertical gratings and with orthogonal oblique gratings. The present thesis therefore aims, through the use of CVS, to extend this IHS model of binocular rivalry to reversible-figure alternations and propose a general IHS model of perceptual rivalry. Chapter 1 provides a detailed literature review of the field within the context of comparing both perceptual rivalries. In Chapter 2, investigations are presented on two different reversible figures — the perspective-reversing Necker cube and the figure–ground reversing Rubin’s vase–faces illusion. In these experiments, CVS was found to significantly change observers’ predominance compared to their baseline predominance. These results demonstrate that interhemispheric switching also mediates the alternations of these visual phenomena, in addition to binocular rivalry, thereby extending the IHS model to one of perceptual rivalry in general. Moreover, the findings are interpreted in a cognitive neuroscience context, including a novel proposal of a forebrain framework for the IHS model. Chapter 3 presents CVS experiments that address the issue of percept–to–hemisphere selection and the reproducibility of CVS effects, following Miller’s initial work on two types of conventional binocular rivalry. In planned analyses, significant predominance changes were not found in horizontal/vertical rivalry, oblique rivalry and Necker-cube rivalry. In post-hoc analyses that accounted for study-design differences between Miller’s original experiments and the present experiment, CVS was again not shown to induce significant predominance changes in any of the rivalry types. Assessment of directional predominance changes following CVS appeared to suggest an arbitrary selection of percept–to–hemisphere in all rivalry types, although no firm conclusions could be drawn from the obtained data on this issue. Nevertheless, the experiments further extend upon Miller’s earlier work by examining the inter- and intra-individual reproducibility of CVS-induced effects on predominance. Such reproducibility was found to be low and potential reasons for this are discussed. The experiments in Chapter 4 examine a type of binocular rivalry in which dichoptic presentation of Díaz-Caneja stimuli yields rivalry among four different stable images: half-field rivalry between the images presented to the eyes, and coherence rivalry in which aspects of each eye’s presented image are perceptually regrouped into rivalling coherent images. Each of these rivalries was found to occur for about half the given viewing time. Furthermore, CVS significantly shifted the predominance of perceived coherent images (coherence rivalry) but not half-field images (eye rivalry). This finding suggests that coherence rivalry (like conventional rivalry according to previous experiments) is mediated by interhemispheric switching at a high level, while eye rivalry is mediated by intrahemispheric mechanisms, most likely at a low level. In addition, it is proposed that Díaz-Caneja stimuli induce ‘meta-rivalry’ whereby these discrete high- and low-level competitive processes themselves rival for visual consciousness. The current thesis thus presents a novel meta-rivalry model of multistable binocular rivalry. It also presents the first direct evidence that interhemispheric switching mediates reversible-figure alternations, thereby supporting a generalised IHS model of perceptual rivalry. It is argued that both models provide a parsimonious exploratory framework within which specific predictions can be made and readily tested. Finally, the findings of all experiments in the current thesis are summarised.

Perceptual rivalry refers to visual phenomena that are characterised by alternations between different percepts, despite an unchanging sensory input. Two common types of perceptual rivalry are (i) reversible figures — two-dimensional stable images that when viewed, are perceived to switch between different interpretations, and (ii) binocular rivalry — the alternations in image dominance resulting from the presentation of conflicting stimuli, one to each eye. Several investigators have suggested that these rivalling phenomena are mediated by similar neural mechanisms. Such a view, however, has not only been inadequately substantiated, but has also yet to be assessed in the context of a directly testable neurophysiological model. Miller and Pettigrew have proposed a novel, high-level interhemispheric switch (IHS) explanatory model of binocular rivalry. This model conceptualises the perceptual alternations as being mediated by alternations between one hemisphere’s selected image and the other hemisphere’s selected (rival) image. To assess their hypothesis, caloric vestibular stimulation (CVS) was used. CVS is a simple, inexpensive, and non-invasive brain stimulation technique that unilaterally activates high-level attentional areas. In accordance with the IHS model, CVS was found to significantly affect predominance (the duration that one image is perceived relative to the other, within a given viewing period) during conventional binocular rivalry with horizontal/vertical gratings and with orthogonal oblique gratings. The present thesis therefore aims, through the use of CVS, to extend this IHS model of binocular rivalry to reversible-figure alternations and propose a general IHS model of perceptual rivalry. Chapter 1 provides a detailed literature review of the field within the context of comparing both perceptual rivalries. In Chapter 2, investigations are presented on two different reversible figures — the perspective-reversing Necker cube and the figure–ground reversing Rubin’s vase–faces illusion. In these experiments, CVS was found to significantly change observers’ predominance compared to their baseline predominance. These results demonstrate that interhemispheric switching also mediates the alternations of these visual phenomena, in addition to binocular rivalry, thereby extending the IHS model to one of perceptual rivalry in general. Moreover, the findings are interpreted in a cognitive neuroscience context, including a novel proposal of a forebrain framework for the IHS model. Chapter 3 presents CVS experiments that address the issue of percept–to–hemisphere selection and the reproducibility of CVS effects, following Miller’s initial work on two types of conventional binocular rivalry. In planned analyses, significant predominance changes were not found in horizontal/vertical rivalry, oblique rivalry and Necker-cube rivalry. In post-hoc analyses that accounted for study-design differences between Miller’s original experiments and the present experiment, CVS was again not shown to induce significant predominance changes in any of the rivalry types. Assessment of directional predominance changes following CVS appeared to suggest an arbitrary selection of percept–to–hemisphere in all rivalry types, although no firm conclusions could be drawn from the obtained data on this issue. Nevertheless, the experiments further extend upon Miller’s earlier work by examining the inter- and intra-individual reproducibility of CVS-induced effects on predominance. Such reproducibility was found to be low and potential reasons for this are discussed. The experiments in Chapter 4 examine a type of binocular rivalry in which dichoptic presentation of Díaz-Caneja stimuli yields rivalry among four different stable images: half-field rivalry between the images presented to the eyes, and coherence rivalry in which aspects of each eye’s presented image are perceptually regrouped into rivalling coherent images. Each of these rivalries was found to occur for about half the given viewing time. Furthermore, CVS significantly shifted the predominance of perceived coherent images (coherence rivalry) but not half-field images (eye rivalry). This finding suggests that coherence rivalry (like conventional rivalry according to previous experiments) is mediated by interhemispheric switching at a high level, while eye rivalry is mediated by intrahemispheric mechanisms, most likely at a low level. In addition, it is proposed that Díaz-Caneja stimuli induce ‘meta-rivalry’ whereby these discrete high- and low-level competitive processes themselves rival for visual consciousness. The current thesis thus presents a novel meta-rivalry model of multistable binocular rivalry. It also presents the first direct evidence that interhemispheric switching mediates reversible-figure alternations, thereby supporting a generalised IHS model of perceptual rivalry. It is argued that both models provide a parsimonious exploratory framework within which specific predictions can be made and readily tested. Finally, the findings of all experiments in the current thesis are summarised.

Clusters are concentrations of companies that reached a critical mass and that produce together all elements of the value chain. This research will look at the Design Services Industry and its clusters. The forming of clusters will be illustrated by examples from The Netherlands and Taiwan. To structure the research an adapted model of the Porter’s diamond is used to analyze the two countries. Porter’s diamond discusses the microeconomic foundations of competition that influence and stimulate the forming of clusters. The four major components of the model are factor conditions, demand conditions, supporting and related industries and strategy, structure and rivalry. These components can be influenced by governments and chance. The adaptations to the model consist first of making the components of virtual clusters more explicit by mentioning elements that can be leveraged by information technology And second by adding attention to the attraction and retaining of talent. The Design services industry has a special need of talent which some also call the creative class. The analysis identified several differences between the two researched countries. These differences can be seen as opportunities for improvement by the design service industries in both countries. Keywords: Design, Cluster, Factor conditions, Demand conditions, Supporting and related industries, Strategy, Structure, Rivalry, Government, Chance, Information Technology, Talent, Creative class.

The dissertation examines the problem of temporally uneven information processing in the nervous system. We chose binocular rivalry and ambiguous figure perception for our research, as these phenomena are pronounced examples of cyclical processes in perception. Binocular rivalry and ambiguous figure perception are cases in perception, when the subjective perception every few seconds vacillates between alternative interpretations, while the physical stimulation remains constant. Our research examines the relationship between these perception alterations and millisecond-order cycles of information processing in the nervous system. We created special equipment to present visual stimuli intermittently (flickering) and examined, whether the flickering rate of the stimuli influences the temporal characteristics (mean dominance duration) of binocular rivalry and ambiguous figure perception. The results confirmed the relationship, but also highlighted the temporal instability of binocular rivalry dominance durations. / Disertacijoje nagrinėjama informacijos apdorojimo procesų nervų sistemoje laikinio netolygumo problema. Tyrimui pasirinkti akių konkurencijos ir dviprasmių figūrų suvokimo reiškiniai, ryškiai atspindintys suvokimo procesų cikliškumą. Akių konkurencija ir dviprasmių figūrų suvokimas yra reiškiniai, kuomet fiziniam stimului nesikeičiant, subjektyvus suvokimas kas kelias sekundes kaitaliojasi tarp alternatyvių interpretacijų. Tyrime nagrinėjamas šių sekundinių suvokimo ciklų ryšys su milisekundžių eilės informacijos apdorojimo ciklais. Sukurta speciali aparatūra, kuria stimulai į akis buvo pateikti mirksintys nustatytu dažniu, ir tikrinta, ar stimulų mirksėjimo dažnis lemia akių konkurencijos ir dviprasmių figūrų suvokimo laikines savybes (vidutinę dominavimo trukmę). Rezultatai patvirtino šį ryšį, tačiau taip pat nustatyta, kad akių konkurencijos vidutinei dominavimo trukmei yra būdingas laikinis nestabilumas – dominavimo trukmė gana didele amplitude kinta kelių minučių, valandos ir kelių parų eigoje.

Disertacijoje nagrinėjama informacijos apdorojimo procesų nervų sistemoje laikinio netolygumo problema. Tyrimui pasirinkti akių konkurencijos ir dviprasmių figūrų suvokimo reiškiniai, ryškiai atspindintys suvokimo procesų cikliškumą. Akių konkurencija ir dviprasmių figūrų suvokimas yra reiškiniai, kuomet fiziniam stimului nesikeičiant, subjektyvus suvokimas kas kelias sekundes kaitaliojasi tarp alternatyvių interpretacijų. Tyrime nagrinėjamas šių sekundinių suvokimo ciklų ryšys su milisekundžių eilės informacijos apdorojimo ciklais. Sukurta speciali aparatūra, kuria stimulai į akis buvo pateikti mirksintys nustatytu dažniu, ir tikrinta, ar stimulų mirksėjimo dažnis lemia akių konkurencijos ir dviprasmių figūrų suvokimo laikines savybes (vidutinę dominavimo trukmę). Rezultatai patvirtino šį ryšį, tačiau taip pat nustatyta, kad akių konkurencijos vidutinei dominavimo trukmei yra būdingas laikinis nestabilumas – dominavimo trukmė gana didele amplitude kinta kelių minučių, valandos ir kelių parų eigoje. / The dissertation examines the problem of temporally uneven information processing in the nervous system. We chose binocular rivalry and ambiguous figure perception for our research, as these phenomena are pronounced examples of cyclical processes in perception. Binocular rivalry and ambiguous figure perception are cases in perception, when the subjective perception every few seconds vacillates between alternative interpretations, while the physical stimulation remains constant. Our research examines the relationship between these perception alterations and millisecond-order cycles of information processing in the nervous system. We created special equipment to present visual stimuli intermittently (flickering) and examined, whether the flickering rate of the stimuli influences the temporal characteristics (mean dominance duration) of binocular rivalry and ambiguous figure perception. The results confirmed the relationship, but also highlighted the temporal instability of binocular rivalry dominance durations.