The purpose with the examination is to examine a preschool head and three teachers experiences and opinions of whether the tablet can be used to support childrens linguistic development and social interactions in preschool. To answer the purpose we will use these questions of issue: What is the purpose with tablets and how are they used in preschool activity? What pros and cons do the teachers see with tablets? How do the teachers resonate about the use of tablets to develop childrens language skill and social interactions? What type of social interaction occurs when children use the tablet? We have used interviews and observations as our methods. We interviewed three teachers and one preschool head in the capital city of Sweden. They all have a positive attitude towards the use of tablets in preschool. The observations was performed on the same preschools where the interviews took place, there were five observations in total. We can establish from the study that the tablet supports cooperation when multiple children actively participate in an activity and when a teacher is present and supportive the language is further promoted. The theories that are processed in the exam are the sociocultural theory and the multimodal perspective for learning. They are relevant and useful to answer the exams purpose and questions at issue. With the out-set that teaching is a communicative act we choose these two theories.

This study examined several aspects of the anxiety program described in the Clark and Wells' (1995; Clark, 2001) cognitive model of social phobia, and provided information about the relationship between some of these variables. This study also examined the effect of social appraisals on cognition, affect, and self-protection. Positive and negative interpersonal appraisals were manipulated in 42 patients with social phobia and 42 community control participants. Participants then engaged in a social interaction with a confederate based on the reciprocity self-disclosure paradigm. Participants completed measures of cognitive appraisal, focus of attention, recall, affect, and self-disclosure. Personnel completed similar measures. Results revealed that, consistent with the cognitive model, individuals with social phobia displayed more self-focused attention, more negative affect, and more selfprotective behaviours, i.e. were less self-disclosive, than non-phobic control participants. There were no differences on the recall measure. The results suggested that it was possible to manipulate social appraisals. Interestingly, the largest discrepancy between participants with social phobia and controls occurred for self-disclosure in the positive social appraisal condition. The results also provided some clarification about the temporal sequence among the components of the anxiety program, and the role of self-focused attention in social phobia.

Background: People diagnosed with psychosis are often described as introvert, isolated and with little or no ability to create and maintain social relationships. While every angle of a phenomena is valid and important, we believe that the first-person perspective provides the only direct access to the diagnosed persons’ feelings and experiences. Aims: The aim of this study is to explore how a few people diagnosed with psychosis describe their experiences of social interaction. Method: This study is conducted in a Grounded Theory manner. An analysis has been performed on interviews made with five individuals, all diagnosed with a psychosis diagnosis. Results: The main result of this study is that the self-image is a core factor in the individuals experiences of, and initiative to, social interaction. The social interactions are linked to the individuals own relation to their diagnosis in a dynamic process where all components affect each other in the creating of the self-image. Conclusion: This study concludes that people diagnosed with psychosis is no different than other people when it comes to dreaming and longing for functional social relationships, but that they have some difficulties in actually finding them due to both social stigma and a poor self-image.

This study presents a series of empirical tests of two influential theoretical perspectives on the industrialization and modernization of polyethnic societies. On the one hand, the functionalist perspective predicts that cultural diversity and pluralism will decline, that group inequalities will decrease, and that communal conflict should become less likely over time. The communal competition perspective, on the other hand, predicts that cultural diversity and pluralism will not necessarily wither away, that group inequalities will not inevitably be reduced, and that communal conflict is a possibility at any point in time. / Hypotheses derived from these two perspectives are tested using survey data on French-English relations drawn from the 1970-71 Quebec Social Movements Study. Part of the thesis is an update and replication of the benchmark study of Roseborough and Breton (1971). / The study provides an examination of the structure of the belief system of a segmented society, and contributes to a systematic assessment of the relative utility of the two theoretical perspectives for an understanding of social change in plural societies.

No description available.

This research project attempted to test assumptions about the development of private speech' and its relationship to attentional modes of engagement, and task performance. Results showed an ontogenetic trend from audible, externalised types of private speech to less audible, more internalised forms, consistent with Vygotsky's assumption that private speech undergoes a curvilinear course of development. Use of on-task private speech was accompanied by greater task attentional focus in the form of motor and looking behaviourial modes of engagement and a reduction in non-attention behaviour and successful performance in problem-solving. "The relation of word to thought, and the creation of new concepts is a complex, delicate and enigmatic process unfolding in our soul." (Tolstoy, 1903, 143, in Vygotsky, 1986) / Thesis (M.A.) - University of Natal, Durban, 2000

This study investigates the patterns of language use among a selected group of Chinese students in a Chinese Heritage Language school in urban Montreal, Quebec. Observation and interview are used as tools for the inquiry. Language socialization and social identity theories provide a framework for the data interpretation. Classroom interactions are examined in terms of the patterns of language use between teachers and students, students to teachers, and students to students. The emergent findings in the study suggest that teachers use mainly Chinese when addressing students and students use mainly Chinese when addressing their teachers. However, the patterns change when students are addressing each other. French and English are preferred in their peer to peer social interactions. As 'Chinese language' is a broad term, covering several different regionalects and dialects, it is taken into consideration that the students' home language may be very different from the standard language, Mandarin, which is taught at the school. In addition, the age of arrival to Canada, the desire for peer recognition and identification with the mainstream culture, and the forces of socialization as factors which affect the children's language use and their maintenance of their mother tongue are examined. Finally, the concept of speech community, a sociolinguistic concept, is applied to the discussion of how the patterns of those Chinese children's language use are shaped and may be interpreted.

Studiens syfte var att beskriva och analysera hur ungdomar anser att sociala medier påverkar identitet och socialt samspel ungdomar emellan. Genom en fokusgruppsintervju har ungdomar kommit till tals och sinsemellan fått chansen att diskutera frågor kring sociala mediers påverkan på såväl, beteenden och delaktighet, som självbilden. Resultatet ger en bild av att sociala medier riskerar att få konsekvenser på ungdomarnas självbild och interaktion. Främst då fokus hamnat på att via sociala medier förmedla och upprätthålla bilden av sig själv som den perfekta, med dyr livsstil och sunda levnadsvanor. Vilket ungdomarna anser problematiskt, stressfullt och ångestladdat, den negativa påverkan är dock bara en sida och de sociala medierna framstår som viktiga arenor i ungdomars liv. / The purpose of this essay was to describe and analyze the impact social media has on youths identity and social interaction from a youths perspective. We used a method of qualitative interview, by letting youths discuss the issue in a group, with consideration to our questions about behavior, participation, and self-image. The results showed that the respondents saw an impact on youths identity and social interaction. In social media youths wants to show themselves as perfect, with an expensive lifestyle and healthy habits. The participants saw this as a problem, causing stress and anxiety, the negative affection is on the other hand only one side of it all, and social media is of great importance in the life of youths.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which employees attempt to gain information about the relationship they have with their immediate supervisor. Uncertainty level and gender were predicted to be related variables. Prisbell and Andersen's uncertainty measurement scale, revised Baxter and Wilmot relational information-seeking tactics, and an original information-seeking frequency scale were utilized to examine 50 emergency service personnel on uncertainty level, frequency of information-seeking effort, and specific tactic utilization. Pearson product-moment correlations revealed no significant relationship between amount of uncertainty and frequency of information-seeking. Utilization of t-tests revealed no significant difference by gender in the frequency of information-seeking. The MANOVA results indicated no significant differences in the specific tactic utilization of males and females. However, Chi square values and univariate analyses identified the public presentation, joking, and hinting tactics as being used significantly more by males than females. It was recommended that research be continued in the area of working relationships. / Department of Speech Communication

This study utilized a pluralistic approach to examine self-concepts and social comparison processes of students entering the Indiana Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Humanities-a residential program for high school juniors and seniors. Following the Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect (BFLPE) theory it was hypothesized that, as students compared themselves to a homogeneous, high-ability group, their academic self-concepts would decrease. Social self-concepts, however, were hypothesized to increase due to being with "equal peers."The Self Description Questionnaire III was used to measure students' academic and social self-concepts prior to arrival at the Indiana Academy, during the first week of the fall semester, and during the first week of the spring semester. Sixty-seven students participated in all three data collections.Repeated measures analysis indicated that academic self-concepts (Mathematics, Verbal, and Problem Solving) decreased dsignificantly from summer to fall to spring. Overall Academic self-concept decreased for all students between summer and fall, but only students with a history of prior rigorous education experienced a significant decrease from fall to spring.Analysis of social self-concept indicate that Opposite Sex Relationship scores did not change significantly over time. Same Sex Relationships, however, decreased significantly from fall to spring for students with a prior history of rigorous education.The second part of the study consisted of interviews with sixteen students. Interviews were conducted during the first two weeks and around the ninth week of the fall semester. Emerging from this data were four themes: No mention of social comparison processes; Recognition that the BFLPE already occurred; Recognition that the BFLPE would occur and mindset/cognition would change; and Recognition that the BFLPE would occur but no anticipation of change in self-concept was noted.Exploratory examination suggests the possibility of sex differences-only females failed to mention social comparisons, more females mentioned change in mindset or cognition, all but one of the students in the "No change anticipated" category were male. While both sexes were similarly affected by the change in social comparison and decrease in self-concepts, the qualitative data suggests that differences in thought processes may exist. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services