O principal objetivo do trabalho foi comparar brincadeiras, conflitos e provocações de meninos e meninas de quatro a cinco anos de idade, pertencentes a dois grupos culturais: um de uma grande metrópole (São Paulo) e outro de uma pequena comunidade praiana no litoral norte de Estado de São Paulo (Ubatuba). As crianças foram observadas em atividade livre no pátio escolar. Em relação ao brincar, os principais resultados encontrados foram: as crianças de São Paulo se envolveram mais em brincadeiras simbólicas do que as ubatubanas e essas, mais em jogos de regras e em brincadeiras de contingência social do que as paulistanas; os meninos participaram mais de brincadeiras de contingência física do que as meninas e elas se envolveram mais em atividades de contingência social do que seus colegas. Predominaram as provocações de caráter não verbal entre as crianças ubatubanas. Os episódios de zombaria tenderam a ter conseqüências interacionais positivas em ambos os grupos, apesar de terem gerado também algumas reações negativas. As crianças de ambos os grupos apresentaram número equivalente de episódios de conflito, embora sua duração tenha sido maior entre as meninas de São Paulo. A principal causa de conflitos nos dois grupos culturais foi a disputa por brinquedos e a maior parte dos desenlaces teve caráter afiliativo. As crianças ubatubanas apresentaram táticas mais simples e diretas e as paulistanas, estratégias mais diversificadas e verbais de enfrentamento das situações conflituosas. Na discussão dos resultados, destaca-se a importância da configuração dos grupos de brincadeira e de dimensões culturais mais amplas como estilos de criação e códigos de comunicação , evidenciando-se a relevância de estudos interculturais para o avanço na compreensão do comportamento infantil / The major goal of the study was to compare play, conflicts and teasing in four to fiveyears- old children of two cultural groups: one from a big city (São Paulo), and another from a small seashore community (Ubatuba, São Paulo State). Children were observed in free play periods at school yard. The main findings concerning play were: São Paulos children engaged in more pretend play than seashores children, and these ones showed greater participation in games with rules and in social contingency play; boys engaged in more physical contingency activities than girls, while girls participated in more social contingency play than their male peers. Non-verbal teasing prevailed in seashore children, and teasing episodes had more frequent positive interational outcomes, although negative consequences were also found in the two groups. Children from both cultural groups presented equivalent number of conflicts and engaged in more same-sex disagreements, but the number of conflict turns was greater among São Paulos girls. Possession of objects and toys was the main conflict reason. Seashore children presented more simple and direct conflict strategies, and São Paulos children, more diversified and verbal tactics of conflict management. Contend resolutions had a predominantly affiliative character in both groups. In the discussion of data, play group configuration, as well as broader cultural dimensions such as rearing styles and communication codes , are emphasized, showing the importance of cross-cultural studies for advances in understanding childhood behavior

Les situations de contact interpersonnel participeraient à la construction d’un sens basique du soi durant l’enfance, et de nos représentations de soi tout au long de la vie. Bien que l’on retrouve cette hypothèse de manière répandue dans la littérature, elle n’a été que très peu investigué expérimentalement. Cette thèse teste cet effet potentiel chez l’adulte. Deux études combinant mesures électrophysiologiques et comportementales montrent une augmentation d’une forme minimale de conscience de soi –des informations afférentes provenant du corps– suite à un contact social. Cet effet est reproduit dans 3 modalités sensorielles (contact social visuel, auditif et tactile). Une 3ème étude en magnétoencéphalographie teste l’effet d’un contexte de contact interpersonnel multisensoriel accru (vs réduit), entre un expérimentateur et des participants, sur la connectivité fonctionnelle des réseaux cérébraux dits de repos, et sur le contenu des pensées des participants. Nos résultats mettent en évidence une augmentation des processus cérébraux et cognitifs orientés sur le soi sous une forme hautement intégrée, associée à une diminution des processus sensoriels orientés sur l’environnement extérieur, à la suite d’un contact social accru. Dans l’ensemble, nos résultats suggèrent que le contact social améliore plusieurs facettes de la représentation de soi, aussi bien des aspects corporels, que des aspects plus haut-niveau et intégrés du soi narratif. Nos interactions sociales tout au long de la vie pourraient ainsi induire un contexte cérébral et cognitif centré sur un soi multifacette qui favoriserait la conscience de soi, et la construction d’un sens de l’identité incarné et situé. / Situations of interpersonal contact could contribute to the construction of a basic sense of self during childhood and to self-representations through lifespan. Although this hypothesis is widespread in the literature, the effect of social contact on self-awareness has been rarely been investigated experimentally. The aim of this PhD thesis is to investigate such an effect in human adults. In two studies combining electrophysiological measurements and behavioural responses, we show an enhancement of a minimal form of self-awareness – i.e. of the afferent information arising from the body – following social contact. This is reproduced across three sensory modalities (visual, auditory and tactile social contact). In a third study, we use magnetoencephalography to test the effect of an increased (vs reduced) multisensory interpersonal contact context between an experimenter and participants, on the functional connectivity of resting-state networks and on the participants’ thought contents. Our results revealed an enhancement of self-oriented cognitive and brain processes in a highly integrated form, associated to a decrease in externally oriented sensory processes, as a result of the social context of increased interpersonal contact. Together, our results suggest that social contact enhances multiple facets of self-representation, including basic bodily aspects of a minimal self, as well as higher level and integrated aspects of a narrative self. Our social interactions throughout lifespan may thus induce a cerebral and cognitive context centred on a multifaceted self, which would foster self-awareness and the construction of an embodied and embedded sense of identity.

The purpose of this study was to compare expressive communication, receptive communication, and socialization achievement in 18- to 34-month-old ELD toddlers to the same skills in normally-speaking children. The questions this study sought to answer were, how do the three skill areas in ELD toddlers compare with the same skills in normal toddlers?, will ELD subjects evidence specific profiles of deficits involving not only expressive but receptive and social skills as well? and, within the ELD subjects will two subgroups emerge, one group having poor expressive skills only, and a second group having deficits in addition to expression.

Thesis (M.A. (Media Studies)) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / Social Networking Sites (SNS) are quickly becoming some of the most popular tools for social interaction and information exchange. This study investigates the benefits and risks of social networks by comparing two schools in Capricorn district namely Sekitla High School and Capricorn High School. Through increased internet and media literacy – ensuring all young people develop the skills to critically understand, analyse and create media content – these challenges can overcome and risks mitigated in a way that ensures the many benefits of SNS can be realised. The results reveal great significant difference in the online activity patterns between men and women. Girls tend to be in great danger than the boys. There is a disparity between the genders in terms of their attitudes, behaviours, and needs. Therefore the study concludes that there are certain risks in social networking and they can be overcome if the learners are more willing to help their teachers and parents by disclosing any information that can be a threat to them and their education by mainly using social networks for educational purposes. Key words; Gender, social networks, internet, benefits, risks, learners

Thesis (M.A. (Media Studies)) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / Social Networking Sites (SNS) are quickly becoming some of the most popular tools for social interaction and information exchange. This study investigates the benefits and risks of social networks by comparing two schools in Capricorn district namely Sekitla High School and Capricorn High School. Through increased internet and media literacy – ensuring all young people develop the skills to critically understand, analyse and create media content – these challenges can overcome and risks mitigated in a way that ensures the many benefits of SNS can be realised. The results reveal great significant difference in the online activity patterns between men and women. Girls tend to be in great danger than the boys. There is a disparity between the genders in terms of their attitudes, behaviours, and needs. Therefore the study concludes that there are certain risks in social networking and they can be overcome if the learners are more willing to help their teachers and parents by disclosing any information that can be a threat to them and their education by mainly using social networks for educational purposes. Key words; Gender, social networks, internet, benefits, risks, learners

Faculty of Education. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 243-286)

Children and young people with ADHD often experience social difficulties, which are associated with poor psychological, behavioural, and academic outcomes. As yet, underlying mechanisms of poor social functioning are unknown. The social functioning of fifty-two children (M = 14.13 years) who had been diagnosed with ADHD four years previously and their matched controls were assessed using several measures: the ratings of parents/guardians and teachers, and children's self-reports; a conversation task; the Otago Social Dilemma Test. Analyses were conducted for the whole sample plus a Socially-Impaired subgroup (clinically significant social problems), and a Persistent-ADHD subgroup (continued to meet DSM-IV ADHD criteria). First we compared the social functioning of children in the ADHD group with that of children in the control group by analysing the questionnaire responses of parents/guardians, teachers, and children's self-reports. Children in the ADHD group and Socially-Impaired sub-group were rated as experiencing more social problems and having fewer social skills than control children, across all informants. Children also estimated their own popularity, and despite experiencing social difficulties, no differences in children's popularity ratings were observed between children in the ADHD group and control group. Given that children in the ADHD group showed social difficulties, we investigated whether these deficits were driven by children's conversation skills. Children engaged in a 15-minute conversation with an adult confederate. The frequency of conversation skills were coded and analysed. Across all groups, ADHD children asked more questions, were less likely to offer extended information in response to a question, and were more likely to make at least one unco-operative statement. The number of extended verbal responses accounted for a significant amount of the variance in participants' social skills. Overall, however, the conversations of children with and without ADHD were remarkably similar. It appears, therefore, that it may be language style that influences social difficulties. Next we investigated a second mechanism that might account for social difficulties observed in children with ADHD; social problem solving skills. Children completed the Otago Social Dilemma Test, which involved viewing vignettes of social dilemmas and generating possible solutions to these problems. Children in the ADHD group provided poorer descriptions and showed less understanding of the problems portrayed. Although the ADHD participants were able to generate a similar number of solutions to the social problems as the children in the Control group, they made poorer decisions about what was the 'best solution'. ADHD participants' choice for best solution significantly added to a model of their social problems, even after IQ and severity of inattentive symptoms had been added. Taken together, the present study supports research showing that children with ADHD experience social difficulties, but they may lack insight into the effect of their behaviour on their status among peers. Children's conversation and their problem solving abilities may be factors influencing poor social functioning. Interventions that focus on teaching children to recognise social cues and generate appropriate solutions to social dilemmas may be beneficial.

<p><strong>Bakgrund: </strong>Social fobi är en sjukdom där personen har en irrationell rädsla för situationer där personen kan bli iakttagen och bedömd av andra. Rädslan kan vara så stark att det kan vara outhärdligt att vistas i samma rum som andra. <strong>Syfte: </strong>Syftet med studien var att belysa hur det är att leva med social fobi. <strong>Metod: </strong>Studien är en allmän litteraturstudie som baserades på femton kvantitativa artiklar och en självbiografisk bok. Artiklarna var publicerade efter år 1995. Enheter som svarade på syftet identifierades och sammanställdes till resultatet. <strong>Resultat: </strong>Personer med social fobi har en lägre livskvalitet. Personer med social fobi räds sociala interaktioner och anses utstråla mindre värme än andra personer. Under samtal upplever personer med social fobi ångest, de nedvärderar sitt eget uppförande då de är fokuserade på sitt eget uppträdande, vilket leder till en negativ självbild. Kognitivbeteendeterapi har visat sig vara en effektiv behandlingsmetod för att behandla social fobi. <strong>Slutsats: </strong>Livskvaliteten hos personer med social fobi är reducerad och självkänslan är ofta låg. Ångest uppstår vid social interaktion. KBT ger goda behandlingsresultat för personer med social fobi. Det är viktigt att sjukvårdspersonalen bemöter personen med social fobi på ett positivt sätt för att främja relationen.</p> / <p><strong>Background: </strong>When suffering from social phobia people experience an irrational fear of being observed and judged by others. The fear can be so powerful that being in the same room with other people is unbearable. <strong>Aim: </strong>The aim of the study was to illustrate what it is like to live with social phobia. <strong>Methods: </strong>The study is a general literature study based on fifteen quantitative articles and one autobiography. Articles were published after the year of 1995. Unites responding to the aim were identified and assembled into a result. <strong>Results: </strong>Person with social phobia has a reduced quality of life. They fear social interaction and are perceived by others to emit less warmth than other people. During conversation persons with social phobia experiences anxiety, they underestimate their own performance when being excessively focused on their own behaviour. This leads to a negative self image. Cognitive behavioural therapy has shown to be an effective treatment of social phobia. <strong>Conclusion: </strong>The quality of life is reduced in social phobia and the self-esteem is often low. Social interactions result in anxiety. Cognitive behavioural therapy yields effective results for social phobia. Positive treatment from health care staff is of high relevance to promote the relationship.</p>

<p>The present dissertation is concerned with the social organization of emotions in talk-in-interaction. Conversation analytic procedures were used to uncover the practices through which participants in social interaction convey, understand, enact, and utilize emotions that are made relevant to the interaction. The central aim is to describe such practices and the contexts in which they are deployed, and to link emotions to the social actions that they perform or contribute to performing within situated activities. Conversation analytic work has generally not addressed emotions explicitly for reasons discussed in the dissertation, and a second aim was therefore to test the applicability of conversation analysis to emotion research, to theoretically bring together separate fields of inquiry, and to discuss advantages and limitations of a talk-in-interactional approach to emotions. Furthermore, the analytic approach to emotions is restricted to displays and orientations that are made relevant by participants themselves.</p><p>Data consists of video recordings of six graduate school seminars at a large university in the United States, as well as interviews with all 22 participants. From the analyses, three themes emerged; "frustration", "embarrassment", and "enjoyment", and within each, an assortment of practices for doing emotions were found. Frustration was primarily located in the context of violations of activity-specific turn-taking norms. Embarrassment was found to do multiple interactional work; for example, in contexts of repair, teasing, and culturally delicate matters. Enjoyment was found to be collaboratively pursued between and within institutional activities; for example, through reported speech dramatizations, utilization of activity-transitional environments, and playful 'mock' emotions. Timing of gaze aversion, laughter, and gestures were also found to be key to the display and perception of emotions.</p><p>The findings indicate that emotion displays can be viewed as transforming a situated action, opening up alternative trajectories for a sequences-in-progress, and also function as actions in themselves. Furthermore, it was concluded that conversation analysis is indeed a fruitful empirical route for understanding emotions and their role in social interaction.</p>

<p>This dissertation presents a new theoretical solution to the sociological <i>problem of observability</i>: the question of the extent to which and by what means individuals "observe" or infer mental states of other individuals, thereby sharing knowledge with them. The answer offered here states that the social situation of <i>dialogue</i> permits a speaker to use utterances to compel a hearer to generate specific and expectable assumptions about some of the speaker's intentions and beliefs.</p><p>In order to show precisely why and how dialogue possesses this capacity, the dissertation proceeds deductively. Dialogue is defined as a situation where interlocutors (1) are <i>compelled to overhear</i> what the respective other is saying, (2) apply <i>socially shared semantic rules</i> to decode utterances into private cognitive representations, and (3) act <i>as if </i>they expect that any utterance they make will be met with a <i>reply of acceptance </i>rather than a reply of rejection. It is demonstrated that the bilateral operation and anticipation of these constraints allows the hearer of an utterance to make a systematic guess at the intentions and beliefs that led its speaker to produce it.</p><p>Drawing on the works of H. Paul Grice, the dissertation shows that the hearer's guess becomes systematic by focusing on an <i>underlying informative intention</i>. It corresponds to the intention the speaker could anticipate<i> </i>the hearer would ascribe to him. By means of this expectable imputation, the hearer arrives at an <i>adequate </i>explanation of what social goal the speaker's utterance was meant to achieve.</p><p>The treatise concludes by analyzing the specific conditions under which a minimum sequence of three turns leads to <i>mutually ratified shared knowledge</i>. Whereas the status of merely shared knowledge is fundamentally precarious, mutually ratified shared knowledge is mutually recognized to be mutually known and, therefore, constitutes a societal solution to the problem of observability.</p>