At the beginning of this work, recent studies had evidenced a tight link between serial order in verbal working memory and space processing. In a first study, we investigated the nature of this link. By discarding the possibility that it results from conceptual associations, our results favoured the idea that the representation of serial order is intrinsically of a spatial nature. This led us to hypothesize that a deficit of space processing should be accompanied by a deficit of serial order. To test this hypothesis, we investigated verbal working memory abilities in a group of brain-damaged patients with hemispatial neglect, a syndrome characterized by a deficit of spatial attention. We showed that these patients have a specific deficit for serial order, as they showed difficulties when judging the ordinal relations between memorized items, whereas they were able to judge the identity of these items. This deficit of serial order was related to hemispatial neglect severity and to posterior parietal lesions. We formulated the hypothesis that the link between serial order and space results from the overlap of brain networks subtending these cognitive processes, at the level of the posterior parietal cortex. To test this hypothesis, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to temporarily disrupt this area in healthy participants, with the prediction that TMS would induce a similar bias when judging the position of a landmark on horizontal lines (spatial task), and when judging the position of an item in memorized sequences (ordinal task). In line with previous studies, TMS induced a bias in the spatial task. However, contrary to our prediction, TMS over the same area in the same participants did not induce a similar bias in the ordinal task. / Doctorat en Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

News media play a key role in U.S. society, helping to inform members of the public as gatherers and reporters of information, as well as by serving as government watchdogs. In the ongoing search for and reporting of information, media professionals must be aware of how they report on crime by being cognizant of how they represent killers, victims, and their families, and by being aware of how they represent any gratifications those groups may receive from the media coverage. This study considers the interactions between serial killer Dennis Rader, investigators and media organizations, and how some of these groups may use the media as a tool to gratify or achieve their goals, as reported or represented in newspaper articles. This analysis will examine news stories concerning one of the most well-known serial killers in American society through a mixed-methods approach study that includes a qualitative thematic analysis and a limited quantitative content analysis.

The need to economically identify rare subjects within large, poorly-mapped search spaces is a frequently-encountered problem for social scientists and managers. It is notoriously difficult, for example, to identify "the best new CEO for our company," or the "best three lead users to participate in our product development project." Mass screening of entire populations or samples becomes steadily more expensive as the number of acceptable solutions within the search space becomes rarer. The search strategy of "pyramiding" is a potential solution to this problem under many conditions. Pyramiding is a search process based upon the idea that people with a strong interest in a topic or field tend to know people more expert than themselves. In this paper we report upon four experiments empirically exploring the efficiency of pyramiding searches relative to mass screening. We find that pyramiding on average identified the most expert individual in a group on a specific topic with only 28.4% of the group interviewed - a great efficiency gain relative to mass screening. Further, pyramiding identified one of the top 3 experts in a population after interviewing only 15.9% of the group on average. We discuss conditions under which the pyramiding search method is likely to be efficient relative to screening.

San Francisco 1987. Kerry O’Brien, a brilliant high school senior and social deviant, believes the Zodiac serial killer, long quiet after years of terrorizing the Bay Area, is trying to communicate with him. When the Zodiac appears to Kerry one evening, and conscripts Kerry to kill for him in exchange for Kerry’s beloved ex-nanny’s life, Kerry must decide whether to embrace his deviant nature or suffer the consequences. The lives of six other Bay Area dwellers intersect with Kerry’s: Sal Palmieri, a Catholic priest disillusioned by the origins of his faith; Joan Evenhouse, a Sister who longs for a human touch; Ellen Fischer, a jilted wife and painter determined to reclaim her art; Harry Fischer, a public finance attorney caught between Ellen and a beguiling young associate; Gabriel Fischer, a teenage obsessive-compulsive who has lost the will to live in the wake of a homosexual romance gone wrong; and Janet Fischer, a professional photographer on the brink of a career breakthrough whose life becomes complicated when an eccentric treasure seeker unexpectedly intrudes. THE BEAUTIFUL ONES GO FIRST explores the question of who watches over us, and if we are ever truly safe, even in our own skin.

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Thesis Representation of fat people in chosen media content is audience research based on perception of thickness, related to characters from three selected czech television series. Fat Studies was primary science literarture source for thesis theory and practical research part is using both, quantitative and qualitative methodology. Quantitative method of data collection were self-serviced questionnaire shared throught internet. Qualitative method used half- structured personal interviews. Thesis is trying to answer, if there is existing correlation between thickness (body constitution) of character and popularity based on character personality. This correlation was statisticaly confirmed only for characters, which are considered strongly obese. Not for any other type of characters. Another findings confirmed, that there is strong positive correlation between popularity of personality and character attractiveness.

Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / L. Susan Williams / Studies on fear of crime demonstrate that fear of rape controls women’s lives by altering emotions and behavior, though how women construct rape discourse through social networks has not been examined. Further, studies tend to dismiss stranger rape because of its rarity compared to acquaintance rape, but this study argues that research must begin where women are. This study looks to women’s voices to articulate how they talk about fear of rape; specifically, it examines responses to a serial rapist at work in a college town. Framed by feminist methodology, this study establishes the influence of fear on women’s lives and the role of women’s social networks in disseminating information, constructing strategies, and changing behavior as it relates to a local serial rapist. The study utilizes a multi-method approach to quantify levels of fear in the community and to document qualitatively women’s responses to knowledge about the serial rapist. Two surveys, content analysis of local newspapers, and interviews support this research. In particular, group interviews conducted in two environments – campus face-to-face groups and online virtual groups – provide opportunities for young women to voice concerns and report behavioral changes related to the serial rapes. The research demonstrates that women are concerned about insufficient information from formal sources and want more accurate reporting. Women depend heavily on informal networks for information, but it is often incomplete and/or inaccurate and may actually intensify fear. As documented in earlier research, women focus on stranger rape to the neglect of the more common acquaintance rape and tend to strategize in individual terms rather than recognize structural issues. A major finding of this research is that young women actually perceive a change in their own identity as they try to manage fear of rape. However, women’s social networks and, in particular, the increasingly popular online networks, provide a forum from which to try out strategies, build collective discourse, and, in turn, develop greater group consciousness among young women. From the experiences of women in this study, several policy implications are offered for managing fear, including education about the more likely threat of acquaintance rape.

Cette thèse a pour objectif l’exploration de la dimension sociale des odeurs. Les travaux déjà menés en sciences humaines et sociales montrent que le rapport que les individus et les groupes entretiennent avec les odeurs leur permet de se situer et d’être situés dans un contexte donné. L’intérêt porté à l’ancrage de cet objet sensoriel dans la vie affective des groupes ainsi qu’à sa matérialisation notamment au travers des processus de communication nous conduit à traiter la diversité des connaissances qui en résulte à l’aune de l’approche des représentations sociales. Nous interrogeons les dynamiques inhérentes aux représentations sociales que les groupes ont des odeurs tout autant que les effets que ces dernières ont sur les pratiques et sur les relations sociales. Les liens réciproques existant entre le « senti » d’une part, le « nommé », le « classé » et le « représenté » d’autre part sont ainsi mis à l’étude. Notre plan de recherche se centre sur la conduite de treize focus groups (N=63). Dans ce cadre, nous avons répliqué la technique de la reproduction sérielle (Bartlett, 1932) avec des matériaux odorants. Les groupes ont également collectivement partagé plusieurs expériences olfactives. Enfin, ils ont débattu de leurs rapports aux « odeurs en société ». Les résultats montrent que les groupes reconnaissent et reconstruisent l’odeur par le biais d’une centration collective sur ses sources potentielles. Celles-ci activent à leur tour des attributions, des contextes, et des souvenirs prenant la forme d’un réseau de représentations jugé pertinent par les groupes pour matérialiser l’objet sensoriel. Aussi, une logique de l’ambiguïté caractérise les relations des groupes aux « odeurs sociales ». Ils entretiennent une pluralité de proximités et d’implications à leur encontre, dépendamment des points de perspectives à partir desquels ils se situent. Notre recherche souligne également la négociation collective dont font l’objet les phénomènes représentatifs associés aux odeurs. Elle rend compte des différents visages de ces phénomènes en lien avec les significations qu’ils ont pour les groupes. En s’inscrivant dans la continuité des études menées sur la pensée sociale, cette thèse apporte de nouvelles réflexions s’agissant de l’étude conjointe du social et du sensible. / The present thesis aims to explore the social dimension of odours. Past literature in the field of social and human sciences demonstrated that the relation individuals and groups engage in with odours allow them to self-situate and be situated in a specific context. This work focuses on the diversity of knowledge resulting from the anchoring of this sensorial object in the affective life of groups, as well as from its materialization through the communication processes, with a social representation approach. We investigate the dynamics of groups’ social representations concerning odours, as well as the effects that these have on social practices and relations. The reciprocal connections between the « perceived » on one hand, and the « named », « classed » and « represented » on the other hand are thus central to this study. Thirteen focus groups (N=63) have been carried out for this research, using the technique of serial reproduction (Bartlett, 1932) with odorous stimuli. The groups also shared several olfactory experiences. In the end, participants discussed about their relation to the « odours in society ». Results show that the groups recognized and reconstructed an odour by collectively focusing on its potential sources. These sources activated attributions, contexts and memories structured in a network of representations considered pertinent by the groups to materialise the sensorial object. Moreover, the relations of participants with « social odours » are characterised by an ambiguity. This aspect is indeed defined by a plurality of proximities and implications that the groups have when relating to « social odours », depending on the perspective they adopt when encountering them. The present research highlights the collective negotiation of the representational phenomena associated to odours, and explains the plurality of facets of these phenomena depending on the meaning they have for the groups. In continuity with past studies on social thinking, this manuscript offers new insights concerning the joint study of the social and the sensorial and sensitive.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted

Procedural learning abilities have been shown to be deficient in children who meet criteria for Developmental Dyslexia (DD) and those who meet criteria for Specific Language Impairment (SLI; Lum et al., 2010; Menghini et al., 2006). Further, grammatical understanding has been linked to implicit sequence learning abilities across SLI and typically developing children (Lum, 2012). The present study examined implicit sequence learning, measured by the Serial Reaction Time Task (SRTT), in children who met criteria for DD with or without SLI. Implicit sequence learning was modeled using multi-level growth models of initial reaction time and learning slope across the repeated sequences of the SRTT. We further examined the predictive contributions of grammatical understanding, vocabulary abilities, phonological awareness, and diagnostic groups on implicit learning performance on the SRTT. Results showed language abilities and diagnostic group did not relate strongly to rates of implicit learning.