abstract: Visual attention (VA) is the study of mechanisms that allow the human visual system (HVS) to selectively process relevant visual information. This work focuses on the subjective and objective evaluation of computational VA models for the distortion-free case as well as in the presence of image distortions. Existing VA models are traditionally evaluated by using VA metrics that quantify the match between predicted saliency and fixation data obtained from eye-tracking experiments on human observers. Though there is a considerable number of objective VA metrics, there exists no study that validates that these metrics are adequate for the evaluation of VA models. This work constructs a VA Quality (VAQ) Database by subjectively assessing the prediction performance of VA models on distortion-free images. Additionally, shortcomings in existing metrics are discussed through illustrative examples and a new metric that uses local weights based on fixation density and that overcomes these flaws, is proposed. The proposed VA metric outperforms all other popular existing metrics in terms of the correlation with subjective ratings. In practice, the image quality is affected by a host of factors at several stages of the image processing pipeline such as acquisition, compression, and transmission. However, none of the existing studies have discussed the subjective and objective evaluation of visual saliency models in the presence of distortion. In this work, a Distortion-based Visual Attention Quality (DVAQ) subjective database is constructed to evaluate the quality of VA maps for images in the presence of distortions. For creating this database, saliency maps obtained from images subjected to various types of distortions, including blur, noise and compression, and varying levels of distortion severity are rated by human observers in terms of their visual resemblance to corresponding ground-truth fixation density maps. The performance of traditionally used as well as recently proposed VA metrics are evaluated by correlating their scores with the human subjective ratings. In addition, an objective evaluation of 20 state-of-the-art VA models is performed using the top-performing VA metrics together with a study of how the VA models’ prediction performance changes with different types and levels of distortions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2016

Submitted by ARTHUR BERNARDINO DOMENE SENA null (arthur.bernardino@hotmail.com) on 2018-03-22T16:27:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_completa_ARTHUR_2018.pdf: 1313376 bytes, checksum: 59fa83aacef36ca6af993b481db78cf5 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Aparecida Puerta null (dripuerta@rc.unesp.br) on 2018-03-23T13:25:35Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 sena_abd_me_rcla.pdf: 1250950 bytes, checksum: f243b3a0b45ddd05231ac7c0ff0eed86 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-23T13:25:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 sena_abd_me_rcla.pdf: 1250950 bytes, checksum: f243b3a0b45ddd05231ac7c0ff0eed86 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-19 / Atualmente a sociedade conta com diversos tipos de tecnologias (redes sociais; televisivas; filmográficas; smartphones, etc.) que fazem parte da realidade cotidiana da sociedade contemporânea. O acesso ou falta de acesso às mesmas pode gerar diversos tipos de influência na subjetividade humana (individual e/ou coletiva). Sendo assim, o objetivo do presente projeto foi investigar a influência da tecnologia sobre a subjetividade humana. Participaram do estudo 22 integrantes de diversos grupos de capoeira, de ambos os sexos, com no mínimo 4 anos de prática, contemplando todas a posições hierárquicas da capoeira. O tipo da pesquisa foi qualitativa, com entrevistas semi-estruturada (presencialmente) e netnográfica (via questionários online do Google Formulários) nos casos de impossibilidade de encontro para a coleta de dados. Os dados foram analisados a luz da pesquisa qualitativa e trabalhados segundo a análise de conteúdo proposta por Bardim (2011) e Richardson (2007). Os resultados mostraram que de fato as Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação interferem na expressão da cultura e na subjetividade dos capoeiristas diariamente. Sendo assim, com as mudanças sociais e de postura dos capoeiristas entre si e também com os não praticantes da arte da capoeiragem, houve uma nova maneira de se entender essa luta. Logo, a capoeira sai da marginalidade e passa ser socialmente e artisticamente aceita, bem como retratada como algo belo, compreendida como um patrimônio cultural brasileiro e um bem imaterial da humanidade. Assim, mestres, contramestre, formados professores e alunos passam a valerem-se das redes sociais virtuais, das TIC como um todo para expressarem e incentivarem um estilo de vida, de modo a movimentar um mercado consumidor de filmes, música, história, ensino/aprendizagem. Enfim, de marginalizados e oprimidos, a subjetividade dos capoeiristas tornou-se empreendedora e internacional na busca de praticantes para as academias do Brasil e do mundo. / Nowadays the society has several types of technologies (social networks, television, movies, smartphones, etc.) that are part of daily reality of contemporary society. Access or lack of access to them can generate different types of influence on human subjectivity (individual and / or collective). Thus, the objective of this project was to investigate the influence of technology on human subjectivity. Twenty-two members of various capoeira groups of both sexes participated in the study, with at least 4 years of practice, including all capoeira hierarchical positions. The type of research was qualitative, with semi-structured interviews (in person) and netnographic (via online questionnaires from Google Forms) when there was no chance of a meeting for data collection. The data were analyzed through a content analysis proposed by Bardim (2011) and Richardson (2007). The results shows that in fact the Information and Communication Technologies interferes in the culture expression and in the subjectivity of the capoeiristas daily life. Despite of the social and posture changes of the capoeiristas among themselves and also not practitioners of the art of capoeira, there was another way of understanding this fight. Therefore, capoeira left marginality and became socially and artistically accepted, as well as represented beautifullly, understood as a Brazil’s cultural heritage and world heritage. Thus, masters, contramestres, formados professores and alunos take advantage of virtual social networks, ICT in general to express and encourage a lifestyle, in order to move a consumer market, music, history, teaching / learning. Finally, from the marginalized and oppressed, the subjectivity of the capoeiristas had become entrepreneurial and international through the demand of looking for practitioners to the brazilian academies and around the world.

The impact of thermal stress on psychological performance has been the subject of considerable research attention. However, the effects of heat on performance are poorly understood. The literature yields inconsistent results, reflecting methodological shortcomings in previous research, particularly with regard to the definition of the independent variable. Investigators have focused on heat stress per se to the neglect of the participants' thermal physiological response. In addition, investigators have typically tested small samples, and have relied on a limited range of performance measures of unknown sensitivity. Few theoretical accounts of performance during thermal stress have been proposed, and these are poorly elaborated. The principal aim of this research programme was to elucidate the effects of heat on psychological performance. Emphasis was placed on defining the independent variable in terms of physiological strain. Performance was measured using a comprehensive range of sensitive tasks. In the first and second experiments, an innovative water immersion technique was used to control thermal strain precisely. The principal effect of heat strain observed in these experiments was an increase in the speed of performance, without variation in accuracy. This effect was attributed to an increase in nerve conduction velocity associated with raised body temperature. The duration of immersion in the second experiment was fifty percent longer than that in the first, but little variation in performance with the duration of heat strain was evident. In light of the limited external validity of the immersion experiments, subsequent investigation focused on the effects of more realistic sources of thermal strain. A survey of military personnel indicated that occupational exposure to thermal stress is perceived to impair some cognitive and psychomotor functions. The final experiment measured performance during prolonged exposure to heat stress in a climatic chamber. The results indicate that the performance changes observed in the immersion experiments generalize to conditions involving exposure to more realistic sources of heat strain

The study of subjective well-being an interdisciplinary field that borrows from and contributes to disciplines such as psychology, economics, philosophy, and related fields due to the positive effects correlated with high subjective well-being. Cross cultural examinations of well-being help expand the knowledge base of subjective well-being, however, if current measures fail to take into account cultural variances in subjective well-being it undermines the validity of subjective well-being as a construct because western understandings of well-being are not as generalizable to other cultures as seems to be assumed by some measures. This essay provides an examination of popular measurements of subjective well-being and an analysis of the way they could interact with cultural differences in constructs related to subjective well-being.

abstract: The present study aimed to advance the current understanding of the relation between disability and subjective well-being by examining the extent to which different facets of subjective well-being (life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect) change before and after disability onset, and the extent to which age and type of disability moderate such changes. Multiphase growth-curve models to prospective longitudinal survey data from Waves 1-16 of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey (N = 3,795; mean age = 50.22; age range: 16-99; 51% women). On average, life satisfaction remained relatively stable across the disability transition, whereas positive affect declined and negative affect increased the year surrounding disability onset; in the years thereafter, neither positive affect nor negative affect returned to pre-onset levels. Individuals who acquired disability in old age were more likely to report sustained declines in subjective well-being than were individuals who became disabled in midlife or young adulthood. Psychological disability was associated with the strongest declines across each indicator of subjective well-being at disability onset but also greater adaptation in the years thereafter. The findings provide further evidence against the set-point theory of hedonic adaptation and for a more moderate viewpoint that allows for processes of adaptation to vary based on the outcome examined, the type of stressor, and individual characteristics. The discussion focuses on possible mechanisms underlying the moderating roles of age and type of disability. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2019

No abstract available. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Participants in extreme sports have usually been studied from a risk perspective. The present study seeks to move away from this preconception and aims to study the emotional subjective experience. A qualitative methodology with phenomenological-hermeneutic design was used taking as a tool conversational systems. The informants were 8 extreme athletes belonging to the same group. Extreme sports included were: Mountain climbing, rappelling, bungee jumping, and mountaineering. The results indicate that fear is a generator of freedom, it can be useful, it is rewarding and it is also a promoter of personal transformations. This research gives theoretical value to the reason for involvement in extreme sports.

Thesis advisor: Margaret Lombe / Thesis advisor: Oscar Alfonso Martínez Martínez / The influence of cultural participation (in this study, attendance, engagement, and consumption in cultural and artistic activities) on the subjective well-being of victims of crime has not been thoroughly studied. Considering the increasing incidence of crime in Mexico, for policymakers and practitioners, it is necessary to understand the strategies and adaptations that persons utilize in response to crime victimization and the effects of this on their subjective well-being. With data from the 2012 Self-reported Well-Being Survey (BIARE, n=10,654) and through a generalized structural equation modeling analysis, the main purpose of the dissertation is to understand whether cultural participation can moderate or mediate the effects of victimization on individuals’ subjective well-being. Results from the study show an overall positive influence of the cultural participation activities on the subjective well-being of victims of community and structural violence (but not of domestic violence), because, for those who reported higher levels of cultural participation, the probability of better subjective well-being was higher. This has implications for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners in the improvement of the general quality of life of crime victims / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

Co-creation is centered on the idea of the consumer as a creator of value, interacting with a company to "co-create" value. As the concept of co-creation gains popularity among many industries, it is receiving increased attention from researchers. Although many topics are being researched with this new topic, one of the essential missing links is what outcomes can be expected from participation in co-creation. By identifying the relationship between co-creation, satisfaction, and subjective well-being, service providers can change strategies and implement a platform for creating unique experiences, allowing tourists to become more physically and emotionally engaged. An online survey using panel data from a commercial firm was used to gather 561 completed questionnaires. Co-creation, satisfaction, level of involvement, and subjective well-being were measured using different scales which have been adapted from previous works which are discussed in the literature review. The analysis consisted of several steps including a profile of respondents based on descriptive statistics, a simple correlation analysis of all the summated variables, and simple correctional analyses which looked at the relationships between co-creation and satisfaction, co-creation and subjective well-being, and satisfaction and subjective well-being. This study contributed to the growing body of knowledge in understanding the perceived value of tourism experiences by establishing a theory based empirical link between co-creation and subjective well-being via satisfaction. This aspect of tourism experiences had not yet before been empirically demonstrated. / Master of Science

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