Participation in physical activity throughout the lifespan is critical to good health and well-being. The literature indicates a link between perceived athletic competence and participation in activity. This pilot study investigated the link between participation in a survival swimming program and self-perception in six domains in twenty youth participants. The Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985) was used to determine whether or not the participants had any changes in their self-perception after taking part in the program. The results showed no significant difference between the two trials. Discussion noted sample size and acquisition as difficulties. Future research possibilities are suggested in the area of perceived choice in activity, perceived competence with regards to success or failure in the program, and different aspects of motivation to participate.

My interest in studying neurodegenerative models of illness lies primarily in the need to define human personhood over the progressive and often irreversible experience of dementia. Here, I analyze, challenge, and ultimately move beyond purely functional theories of personhood, which are necessarily exclusive in their reduction of the human person to a mere demonstration of capacity (for rationality, self-consciousness, suffering, or otherwise) that is inversely proportional to neuropathology. Bringing to the fore important contributions from both secular philosophical thought and the Abrahamic faith traditions, I argue that functional perspectives neglect the psychosocial, spiritual, and biographical dimensions of personhood, which must be described in reference to both historical and concurrent life experiences. Accounting for these features requires the promotion of social environments that are ideal for the maintenance or preservation of this sense of "person" and calls for the treatment of patients with dementia based on personhood and inherent dignity. / My thesis, as an analysis of this debate in the interdisciplinary field of bioethics, brings together philosophy, medicine, law, and the Abrahamic faith traditions to establish guidelines toward a more integrative definition of personhood in the context of the evolving and interactive experiences of degenerative dementia.

As a relatively "new" genre, the short story has received little attention compared to other forms like the novel. Some attempts to define the genre approach it comparatively and systematically---an effort to distinguish the short story from other forms, or to distinguish between different kinds of short fiction. This essay instead proposes a "cluster" of elements that tend to characterize the short story, as derived from the romantic, impressionist, realist, modern, and postmodern traditions. Edgar Allan Poe's notion of "unity of effect" provides a critical standpoint to discuss these features. Poe's concept of unity also partakes in the essay's discussion of the self and the text. Questions of the self are often present in the short story, and the fragmentation of identity often parallels the short story's formal and stylistic fragmentation. The stories in this collection present characters in varying states of crisis, as they negotiate the boundaries of the self, or otherwise question what the "self" means.

This study explored the self-perception of psychological empowerment in a classroom setting. Specifically, the purpose of this research was to determine if the self-perception of psychological empowerment was related to perceived control and academic achievement in a population of university students. Subjects consisted of 24 students between the ages of 22 and 37. The majority of the subjects were enrolled in a diploma program in the Faculty of Education at McGill University. These students had all completed a previous university degree and were working towards teacher certification. / The primary methods of data collection consisted of an empowerment survey, a locus of control measure specific to achievement goals, and an interview with two key informants from the sample. / Results indicated that those students who perceived themselves to be empowered (Y Emp) reported a significantly more external locus of control than those students who did not perceive themselves to be empowered (N Emp). Descriptive data from the empowerment survey and the interview suggested that there were mitigating circumstances which were of direct concern to the sample and which might account for the results. The findings offer tentative support for the context specific nature of empowerment as predicted by empowerment theory. / Consideration is given to the diverse ways that empowerment can be conceptualized and the implications of this for a student population. Some suggestions for further research are offered.

Implicit self-esteem is the automatic and unconscious component of self-esteem, which is generally not correlated with more traditional measures of explicit self-esteem. The goal of the research presented in this dissertation was to test a cognitive model of implicit self-esteem. Drawing from interpersonal theories of self-esteem and from theories of evaluative learning, I hypothesized that implicit self-esteem is developed through repeated exposure to pairings of the self with interpersonal rejection or acceptance, leading to unconscious and automatic self--rejected or self--accepted cognitive associations. I tested this theory using a computer-based conditioning task designed to enhance implicit self-esteem through the repeated pairing of self-relevant information (e.g., first name, birthday) with interpersonal acceptance (i.e., photographs of smiling faces). Support for this hypothesis was found in four studies. Overall, participants who completed the computer-based conditioning task generally had higher scores on the self-esteem Implicit Associations Test compared to participants in a control condition. Furthermore, the conditioning task had no effect on explicit self-esteem scores, providing support for the distinct nature of implicit self-esteem relative to explicit self-esteem. Finally, exploratory analyses showed that contingency awareness was not needed for evaluative conditioning to occur. These findings support the proposed cognitive model of implicit self-esteem and provide a novel computer-based conditioning task for enhancing implicit self-esteem.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-157). / Microfiche. / v, 157 leaves, bound 29 cm

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Texas at Dallas, 2007. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-116)

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-75). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-62).

Thesis (M.T.S.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1995. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [58]-63).