Visual storytelling has come a long way since primitive man began creating colorful, narrative cave paintings. In this new age of technology, motion pictures have become a prevalent medium for visual storytelling throughout the developed world. Filmmakers have the added advantage of being able to create more and more fantastic settings and stories with the introduction of computer generation images (CGI). They also gain a fine degree of control over the visual elements of the final product. The ultimate goal, though, has always been the same: to create a visual story with a distinct mood that will captivate the viewing audience. In film, the first shot of a scene, known as the establishing shot, is used not only to set the time and place of the story, but also introduce the mood. This thesis involves the study of establishing shots from five contemporary films to determine how to manipulate specific visual elements that promote mood, specifically a dark and ominous mood. Through this study, an original computer generated establishing shot will be created that successfully communicates a similar dark mood. The visual analysis used to achieve this goal can be adapted to various other genres of film and can serve as a guide for future artists to create comparable work.

Socioeconomic status and Aboriginal cultural status are believed to be key risk indicators of mental health status in youth.<p>The main purpose of the study was to explore the role of Aboriginal cultural status as an independent risk indicator associated with depressed mood after controlling for other covariates; including socioeconomic status. <p>Methods<br> A population based cross sectional survey was used. Every student in grades 5-8 in Saskatoon was asked to complete a short self-report questionnaire in their classroom in February of 2007. Depressed mood was measured with a validated depression scale (CES-D-12).<p>Results<br> In total, 4093 adolescents completed the study questionnaire. For youth whose parents were of Aboriginal cultural status, the prevalence rate of moderate or severe depressed mood was 21.6% in comparison to 8.9% for youth whose parents were Caucasian (RR=2.43; 95% CI 1.92-3.08).<p> In the final adjusted multivariate logistic regression model, moderate or severe depressed mood was more likely to be associated with female gender (OR=1.665; 95% CI 1.179-2.352), having low self esteem (OR=3.185; 95% CI 2.084-4.870), feeling like an outsider at school (OR=3.364; 95% CI 2.386-4.743), being bullied within the past year (OR=1.879; 95% CI 1.278-2.761), alcohol usage (OR=2.518; 95% CI 1.730-3.666), high levels of anxiety (OR=22.171; 95% CI 14.170-34.960), suicide ideation (OR=3.734; 95% CI 2.502-5.572), being hungry some or most of the time (OR=2.071; 95% CI 1.357-3.162) and parents having a lower education status (OR=1.503; 95% CI 1.066-2.120). Although Aboriginal cultural status was strongly associated with moderate or severe depressed mood after cross tabulation and stratification, Aboriginal cultural status was not associated with higher levels of depressed mood after full adjustment for other covariates in the final multivariate model (OR= 1.132; 95% CI 0.682-1.881).<p>Conclusions<br>The results demonstrate that Aboriginal cultural status has a more limited and statistically non-significant association with moderate or severe depressed mood in youth after controlling for other covariates. There is a need to transfer the results of this research to the Saskatoon community to allow policy makers and the public at large to know that prevention of disparity in mental health is possible because the determinants of mental health (i.e., education) are now modifiable (in comparison to Aboriginal cultural status).

Although forgetfulness is a common and naturally occurring phenomenon, research suggests that it can be intentionally induced using several experimental paradigms. For some individuals, the ability to forget negative thoughts, images, or memories is problematic. That is, the inability to forget may be a source of significant psychological distress (e.g., post-traumatic stress, obsessive-compulsiveness, and depressed mood) that contributes to the maintenance of symptoms of various mental health disorders. The schema-activation hypothesis from Becks (1987) Cognitive Theory of Depression suggest that memories should be more readily brought to mind because they are more readily available through associated activation. Thus, negative memories may be difficult to inhibit (forget), for individuals who are depressed compared to non-depressed counterparts. <p> Indeed, suppression effort (the intentional mental effort to not think about something) often leads to an increase in the very cognitive content targeted for forgetting. For individuals who experience depression or dysphoria, suppression is not effective because the negative cognitive content, which is the hallmark the depressed mood state only serves to maintain or exacerbate the mood state. This raises the question of whether there are alternatives to suppression-like paradigms that may be more efficacious for those who are dysphoric or depressed. Investigating the efficacy of induced-forgetting of negative memories may provide researchers and clinicians with additional avenues to explore the therapeutic potential of induced forgetting as an intervention or preventive strategy in combating depressed mood states. <p>The purpose of the present study was threefold: first, this study examined whether individual differences (e.g., mood state) in a persons ability to call to mind (remember) negative self-relevant memories would affect memory generation time. Second, the implications of differences in mood for the efficacy of two experimental forgetting paradigms Directed Forgetting (DF) and Retrieval Induced Forgetting (RIF) were explored. Finally, individual differences in mental control (i.e., perceived mental controllability, mental control strategies, and rumination as a coping response) were examined in terms of their ability to predict who would be better at remembering and forgetting. <p>University students (N = 103) with high and low levels of symptoms of dysphoria were asked to generate a set of 32 negative memories using cue words. After rating their memories for clarity and negative valance, each set of memories was subject to either a Directed Forgetting or Retrieval-Induced Forgetting procedure. Participants also completed self-report measures of mental control and rumination. Individuals who were dysphoric were similar to those who were non-dysphoric in the amount of time it took to generate a set of 32 negative memories. These results failed to support the tenets of the Schema Activation Hypothesis of Becks (1967) Cognitive Theory of Depression. Subsequent analysis revealed that the act of generating negative memories was mood-inducing, which may have negated the effect of mood on generation time. In terms of the effect of mood on induced-forgetting paradigm efficacy, the analysis yielded several null findings. The insufficient power prohibited the ability to detect small effects. <p>Dysphoric individuals evidenced deficits in forgetting for the directed-forgetting but not the retrieval-induced forgetting paradigm, but only when separate analysis of individual paradigms was undertaken. In this case, the effect of mood on forgetting approached significance for the directed-forgetting paradigm but not the retrieval-induced forgetting paradigm. This suggests that inducing forgetting for those who are dysphoric is more likely to be successful if there is no instruction to forget. Finally, it was predicted that poor perceived mental control, a tendency to ruminate, and the use of mental control strategies would correlate with induced-forgetting. Results suggest that individuals who perceive themselves as poor at controlling mental content, and ruminate about their internal experience of sadness are impaired on recall of negative autobiographic memories when asked to forget them. In contrast, mental control variables were not related to the degree of forgetting using retrieval-practice methodology. The results of this study have implications for future research designed to further explore the therapeutic value of induced-forgetting, particularly for the RIF paradigm. That is, the presence of a retrieval-induced forgetting effect for those who are dysphoric could prove to be a beneficial coping strategy to combat unwanted negative memories. It may be important to study the longitudinal value, as well as explore the potential benefits for other psychologically distressing phenomena in which negative memories are a part (e.g., post-traumatic stress). That cognitive factors, such as mental control and ruminative coping, do not share a relationship with degree of forgetting in the RIF paradigm also bodes well in demonstrating a possible therapeutic advantage for RIF compared to DF. Researchers are advised to consider mood and mental control variables in terms of their potential effects on forgetting paradigm efficacy when selecting their methodology in studies of intentional forgetting. This is particularly important when using a university sample of participants. It is often the case with experimental research, that a university sample is used. Given the higher rates of dysphoria and self-reported depressive symptoms that tend to typify university students and therefore, may be higher than in community-based samples, researchers are cautioned to consider the implications of dysphoria on research outcomes when testing induced-forgetting paradigms.

According to folk psychology, instrumental music regularly elicits emotions in listeners. Philosophers and psychologists such as Kivy, Konecni and Zangwill have questioned the existence of these musically elicited emotions, arguing that instrumental music elicits moods or aesthetic judgments rather than emotions. I defend the folk psychological position against these skeptics. The first chapter sets up the debate surrounding musically elicited emotions, while chapters two and three defend the thesis that instrumental music elicits emotions against the critics’ arguments. Chapter four outlines the implications of this defense for a variety of fields.

Socioeconomic status and Aboriginal cultural status are believed to be key risk indicators of mental health status in youth.<p>The main purpose of the study was to explore the role of Aboriginal cultural status as an independent risk indicator associated with depressed mood after controlling for other covariates; including socioeconomic status. <p>Methods<br> A population based cross sectional survey was used. Every student in grades 5-8 in Saskatoon was asked to complete a short self-report questionnaire in their classroom in February of 2007. Depressed mood was measured with a validated depression scale (CES-D-12).<p>Results<br> In total, 4093 adolescents completed the study questionnaire. For youth whose parents were of Aboriginal cultural status, the prevalence rate of moderate or severe depressed mood was 21.6% in comparison to 8.9% for youth whose parents were Caucasian (RR=2.43; 95% CI 1.92-3.08).<p> In the final adjusted multivariate logistic regression model, moderate or severe depressed mood was more likely to be associated with female gender (OR=1.665; 95% CI 1.179-2.352), having low self esteem (OR=3.185; 95% CI 2.084-4.870), feeling like an outsider at school (OR=3.364; 95% CI 2.386-4.743), being bullied within the past year (OR=1.879; 95% CI 1.278-2.761), alcohol usage (OR=2.518; 95% CI 1.730-3.666), high levels of anxiety (OR=22.171; 95% CI 14.170-34.960), suicide ideation (OR=3.734; 95% CI 2.502-5.572), being hungry some or most of the time (OR=2.071; 95% CI 1.357-3.162) and parents having a lower education status (OR=1.503; 95% CI 1.066-2.120). Although Aboriginal cultural status was strongly associated with moderate or severe depressed mood after cross tabulation and stratification, Aboriginal cultural status was not associated with higher levels of depressed mood after full adjustment for other covariates in the final multivariate model (OR= 1.132; 95% CI 0.682-1.881).<p>Conclusions<br>The results demonstrate that Aboriginal cultural status has a more limited and statistically non-significant association with moderate or severe depressed mood in youth after controlling for other covariates. There is a need to transfer the results of this research to the Saskatoon community to allow policy makers and the public at large to know that prevention of disparity in mental health is possible because the determinants of mental health (i.e., education) are now modifiable (in comparison to Aboriginal cultural status).

Although forgetfulness is a common and naturally occurring phenomenon, research suggests that it can be intentionally induced using several experimental paradigms. For some individuals, the ability to forget negative thoughts, images, or memories is problematic. That is, the inability to forget may be a source of significant psychological distress (e.g., post-traumatic stress, obsessive-compulsiveness, and depressed mood) that contributes to the maintenance of symptoms of various mental health disorders. The schema-activation hypothesis from Becks (1987) Cognitive Theory of Depression suggest that memories should be more readily brought to mind because they are more readily available through associated activation. Thus, negative memories may be difficult to inhibit (forget), for individuals who are depressed compared to non-depressed counterparts. <p> Indeed, suppression effort (the intentional mental effort to not think about something) often leads to an increase in the very cognitive content targeted for forgetting. For individuals who experience depression or dysphoria, suppression is not effective because the negative cognitive content, which is the hallmark the depressed mood state only serves to maintain or exacerbate the mood state. This raises the question of whether there are alternatives to suppression-like paradigms that may be more efficacious for those who are dysphoric or depressed. Investigating the efficacy of induced-forgetting of negative memories may provide researchers and clinicians with additional avenues to explore the therapeutic potential of induced forgetting as an intervention or preventive strategy in combating depressed mood states. <p>The purpose of the present study was threefold: first, this study examined whether individual differences (e.g., mood state) in a persons ability to call to mind (remember) negative self-relevant memories would affect memory generation time. Second, the implications of differences in mood for the efficacy of two experimental forgetting paradigms Directed Forgetting (DF) and Retrieval Induced Forgetting (RIF) were explored. Finally, individual differences in mental control (i.e., perceived mental controllability, mental control strategies, and rumination as a coping response) were examined in terms of their ability to predict who would be better at remembering and forgetting. <p>University students (N = 103) with high and low levels of symptoms of dysphoria were asked to generate a set of 32 negative memories using cue words. After rating their memories for clarity and negative valance, each set of memories was subject to either a Directed Forgetting or Retrieval-Induced Forgetting procedure. Participants also completed self-report measures of mental control and rumination. Individuals who were dysphoric were similar to those who were non-dysphoric in the amount of time it took to generate a set of 32 negative memories. These results failed to support the tenets of the Schema Activation Hypothesis of Becks (1967) Cognitive Theory of Depression. Subsequent analysis revealed that the act of generating negative memories was mood-inducing, which may have negated the effect of mood on generation time. In terms of the effect of mood on induced-forgetting paradigm efficacy, the analysis yielded several null findings. The insufficient power prohibited the ability to detect small effects. <p>Dysphoric individuals evidenced deficits in forgetting for the directed-forgetting but not the retrieval-induced forgetting paradigm, but only when separate analysis of individual paradigms was undertaken. In this case, the effect of mood on forgetting approached significance for the directed-forgetting paradigm but not the retrieval-induced forgetting paradigm. This suggests that inducing forgetting for those who are dysphoric is more likely to be successful if there is no instruction to forget. Finally, it was predicted that poor perceived mental control, a tendency to ruminate, and the use of mental control strategies would correlate with induced-forgetting. Results suggest that individuals who perceive themselves as poor at controlling mental content, and ruminate about their internal experience of sadness are impaired on recall of negative autobiographic memories when asked to forget them. In contrast, mental control variables were not related to the degree of forgetting using retrieval-practice methodology. The results of this study have implications for future research designed to further explore the therapeutic value of induced-forgetting, particularly for the RIF paradigm. That is, the presence of a retrieval-induced forgetting effect for those who are dysphoric could prove to be a beneficial coping strategy to combat unwanted negative memories. It may be important to study the longitudinal value, as well as explore the potential benefits for other psychologically distressing phenomena in which negative memories are a part (e.g., post-traumatic stress). That cognitive factors, such as mental control and ruminative coping, do not share a relationship with degree of forgetting in the RIF paradigm also bodes well in demonstrating a possible therapeutic advantage for RIF compared to DF. Researchers are advised to consider mood and mental control variables in terms of their potential effects on forgetting paradigm efficacy when selecting their methodology in studies of intentional forgetting. This is particularly important when using a university sample of participants. It is often the case with experimental research, that a university sample is used. Given the higher rates of dysphoria and self-reported depressive symptoms that tend to typify university students and therefore, may be higher than in community-based samples, researchers are cautioned to consider the implications of dysphoria on research outcomes when testing induced-forgetting paradigms.

Visual storytelling has come a long way since primitive man began creating colorful, narrative cave paintings. In this new age of technology, motion pictures have become a prevalent medium for visual storytelling throughout the developed world. Filmmakers have the added advantage of being able to create more and more fantastic settings and stories with the introduction of computer generation images (CGI). They also gain a fine degree of control over the visual elements of the final product. The ultimate goal, though, has always been the same: to create a visual story with a distinct mood that will captivate the viewing audience. In film, the first shot of a scene, known as the establishing shot, is used not only to set the time and place of the story, but also introduce the mood. This thesis involves the study of establishing shots from five contemporary films to determine how to manipulate specific visual elements that promote mood, specifically a dark and ominous mood. Through this study, an original computer generated establishing shot will be created that successfully communicates a similar dark mood. The visual analysis used to achieve this goal can be adapted to various other genres of film and can serve as a guide for future artists to create comparable work.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. David Pargman, Florida State University, College of Education, Department of Educational Psychology & Learning Systems. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 17, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

This study was designed to address several issues related to PMS. One purpose was to compare women who say they have PMS with those who say they do not have PMS and to compare women diagnosed with PMS with those not diagnosed as having it. Forty-eight women and 11 men (included for comparison) who had a mean age of 34 years, were not students, and met other screening criteria, volunteered to keep daily charts for 120 days (prospective daily data). They did not know the menstrual purpose of the study. Each participant's daily reports were examined individually for PMS patterns according to strict criteria, and they were accordingly assigned to one of five groups. Only six women (12.5%) met the diagnostic criteria for premenstrual syndrome, but 62.5% said they had PMS. Fourteen women and 2 men (randomly assigned to menstrual cycles), 28% of the total sample, had diagnosable "downs" in other phases. The greater proportion of diagnosable downs in phases other than the premenstrual phase calls into question the appropriateness of a singular focus on PMS rather than on general cyclicity in adults' day-to-day experiences. Indeed, 74% of all participants in this study(including 73% of the men) had one or more diagnosed cyclic patterns in at least one of the three (menstrual, day of week, lunar) cycles studied. Participants also recalled (retrospective data) their menstrual (women only), weekday, and lunar moods. When prospective and retrospective data were compared, analyses revealed that participants may have used menstrual and day of week stereotypes to assist in their recall. Both parametric (normative) and nonparametric (idiographic)analyses were conducted, with sometimes contrasting results. These contradictions and their implications are discussed. It was concluded that it may be inappropriate to refer to a premenstrual syndrome, that the proposed inclusion of Late Luteal Phase Dysphoric Disorder (LLPDD) in the Psychiatric Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM) is questionable, and that more needs to be known about healthy cyclical changes before conclusions about unhealthy cyclic changes can be drawn.