Trovärdighet inom fiktiva världar är något som många strävar efter, men hur kan vi uppnå den känslan?  Inom film och litteratur används begreppet verisimilitude för att definiera ett verks sken av sanning eller verklighet och därmed även dess förmåga att framstå som trovärdig. Härstammat från Platons och Aristoteles mimesis, det vill säga imitation av naturen, utvecklades termen verisimilitude för att ge fiktiva verk möjligheten att undersöka och pröva hur de kan bli mer trovärdiga. För att nå trovärdighet pekar begreppet på hur väl åskådaren kan relatera verket till verkligheten, för om detta förekommer, kan verket genast bli mer trovärdigt.  Begreppet verisimilitude används främst inom fiktiva verk för film och litteratur, men det finns väldigt lite forskning om detta inom spelmediet. Vi anser att verisimilitude kan ha värde inom denna medieform för att ge speldesigners en bättre uppfattning om hur de kan designa spel mot trovärdighet. Med hjälp av Anneli Lehtisalo och hennes studier av filmen Runon kuningas ja muuttolintu har vi byggt upp en förståelse över verisimilitude och dess bruk inom filmmediet. Vi har även med hjälp av Kamal Bhatt och hans text Believability in computer games (2007) undersökt hur trovärdighet inom spel urskiljer sig från andra medieformer och vilka kvalitéer ett spel behöver för att vara trovärdiga. Med dessa förståelser har vi sedan i en gestaltning designat en fiktiv spelmiljö med verisimilitude som ett designperspektiv. Med detta menar vi bidra med en grund för hur en kan designa spelmiljöer mot trovärdighet. / Believability within fictional worlds is something many strive for, but how does one go about to achieve it? Movies and literature use the concept of verisimilitude to define a work of fiction’s appearance of being true or real and with this, also define how believable it is. Originating from Plato and Aristotle's term mimesis, which refers to the imitation of nature, the term verisimilitude developed into its current form to be used as a way of analysis to better understand how believability may be achieved. To do this, the term points to how well an audience can relate the fictional world to our own world, for if this is done well, it instantly becomes more believable. The term verisimilitude is mostly used within the works of movies and literature and as such, there is very little research to be found in relation to its use in video games. We argue that the incorporation of verisimilitude within video game design can prove to be a valuable tool to aid in how we design towards more believable worlds in video games. We will in this bachelor thesis inquire the help of Anneli Lethsalos studies on verisimilitude within movies and genres build an understanding of how verisimilitude is used within the films.We also inquire help from Kamal Bhatts studies on believability within computer games to research how believability in video-game differ from other mediums and what qualities a game needs in order to be seen as believable.  With this newfound understanding we then set out to design our own game environment with verisimilitude as a design perspective. With this we hope to establish a ground to how one can design around believability in video-games.

Busca compreender o conto El Otro, de Jorge Luis Borges. Para tanto, efetua sua análise formal; acrescida pelo exame de um corpus secundário. Uma vez que a narrativa apresenta dois personagens autobiográficos, sendo o jovem similar e estranho à produção deste autor, é necessário comparar tal personagem à obra borgeana de juventude, no tocante ao realismo, engajamento, biografismo e ultraísmo. Verifica que o Borges de 1918 a 1920 não exibe tais concepções literárias, exceto pelo ultraísmo. Na segunda etapa juvenil, entre 1921-1928, encontra ultraísmo, biografismo e alguns pontos de contato, com elementos do realismo. Contudo, observa a existência de realismo, engajamento, biografismo e ultraísmo no contexto literário argentino dos anos vinte. Os três primeiros rasgos estão especialmente ligados ao grupo boedista. No entanto, como o conto alude ao Modernismo, entende-se que não só o Realismo, mas toda a geração de vinte é contemplada na figura do personagem mais novo. Na leitura do conto, entende que as personagens produzem um diálogo entre a obra borgeana e a geração argentina dos anos vinte, na qual, o jovem Borges da realidade fica incluso. A matéria sob o diálogo, tanto nas estruturas quanto na temática, consiste de uma série de questionamentos ao realismo. Essas representações também podem ser lidas enquanto duas atitudes fundamentais diante da arte literária. Entende-se que em Nota sobre Walt Whitman há uma oposição aos postulados boedistas, no tocante ao biografismo. Como a segunda etapa juvenil apresenta concepções biografistas, verifica que este ensaio de 1932 (a Nota) assinala uma mudança. Por isto, propõe que a polêmica Boedo-Florida foi um momento importante para a transformação ocorrida entre a obra juvenil e a obra madura. Em seu Prólogo, Domingos F. Sarmiento: Facundo, encontra objeções ao realismo e ao engajamento. Nos pressupostos, foi destacado que o autor começa um combate aos postulados realistas na década de trinta. Uma vez que o prólogo é escrito em 1974, compreende-se, que através de seus ensaios, o autor está em constante diálogo com o realismo. Interpreta em La Postulación de la Realidad a divisão borgeana entre dois modos de fazer literatura: o clássico e o romântico. Com isso, entende-se que estes modos literários genéricos, propostos neste ensaio, possuem um paralelo com os modos derivados das personagens e estruturas do conto analisado. Ao mesmo tempo, percebese que o modo realista / romântico (expressivo) está ligado à obra juvenil, ao passo que o modo clássico (alusivo) é associável à obra borgeana da maturidade. Ademais, no conto, El Milagro Secreto, encontra uma das técnicas clássicas, gerando alta verossimilhança (efeito buscado pelas obras românticas). Igualmente esta é uma técnica recorrente em algumas obras realistas. Assim, o uso dos detalhes circunstanciais representa um ponto de contato entre a obra borgeana e o realismo. No entanto, concluise que a utilização deste recurso ainda pode ser vista como uma crítica a esta estética. / This dissertation tries to understand El Otro, a short story by Jorge Luis Borges. In order to achieve this goal, we make an analysis of it and of a secondary group of texts. As the narrative has two autobiographical characters, and the youngest of them seems different from the author and his first books, it is necessary to compare this character with this authors youth works (essays) in relation to realism, engagement, tendency to look for relations between literature and the authors life (called biographism in this paper), and ultraism. The first chapter confirms that the young Borges (1918-1920) does not present these characteristics in his evaluation of literature, except for ultraism. In a later period of his youth (1920-1928), there is ultraism and biographism and some relations with the realistic way of literary construction. However, there were realism, engagement, biographism and ultraism in the Argentine literary context of the twenties. The three first can be associated with the writers in the Boedo group. However, the story alludes to Modernism too; so it is possible to understand that the young character in the short story is related to the generation of Argentine writers in the twenties. The reading of the short story shows that it produces a dialog between the borgesean literature and the Argentine writers of the twenties, including the young Borges. The dialog and the narrative resources reveal that realism is criticized. These two representations can be read as two generic ways to deal with literature. So, it is possible to state, that in Nota sobre Walt Whitman, there is an opposition to the way boedists dealt with biographism. As Borges second youth period does not present biographism, we affirm that this essay captures a transformation. Therefore, we can confirm that the controversy between the groups, Florida and Boedo, may have been an important moment between Borges youth books and his well known works. In his preface Domingos F. Sarmiento: Facundo, new objections to realism and engagement can be found. In the first chapter it is asserted that Borges fights realism since the thirties. Thus, if the preface was written in 1975, we can assert that this authors critical texts are in dialog with realism. The essay La Postulación de la Realidad shows the borgesean classification of literature: the classical way and the romantic way of writing. Thus, we verify the existing parallel between this essay and the short story analyzed. This text shows that the romantic way has a connection with the second period of Borges youth works, while the classical way is related to his mature works. Other borgesean short story, El Milagro Secreto, uses one of the classical techniques to generate verisimilitude, but this is a technique commonly used by realists too. Therefore, this story shows that there is a contact point linking the borgesean works and realism. This same technique keeps a final objection to realism.

The empirical testing of theories is an important component of research in any field. Yet despite the long history of science, the extent to which theories are supported or contradicted by the results of empirical research remains ill defined. Quite commonly, support or contradiction is based solely on the "reject" or "fail to reject" decisions that result from tests of null hypotheses that are derived from aspects of theory. Decisions and recommendations based on this forced and often artificial dichotomy have been scrutinized in the past. In recent years, such an overly simplified approach to theory testing has been vigorously challenged in the past.Theories differ in the extent to which they provide precise predictions about observations. The precision of predictions derived from theories is proportional to the strength of support that may be provided by empirical evidence congruent with the prediction. However, the notion of precision linked to strength of support is surprisingly absent from many discussions regarding the appraisal of theories. Meehl (1990a) has presented a logically sound index of corroboration to summarize the extent to which empirical tests of theories provide support or contradiction of theories. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of this index of corroboration and its behavior when employing path analytic methods in the context of social science research. The performance of a multivariate extension of Meehl’s Corroboration Index (Ci) was evaluated using Monte Carlo methods. Correlational data were simulated to correspond to tests of theories via traditional path analysis. Five factors were included in the study: number of variables in the path model, level of intolerance of the theory, correspondence of the theory to the ‘true’ path model used for data generation, sample size and level of collinearity. Results were evaluated in terms of the mean and standard error of the resulting multivariate Ci values. The level of intolerance was observed to be the strongest influence on mean Ci. Verisimilitude and model complexity were not observed to be strong determinants of the mean Ci. Sample size and collinearity evidenced small relationships with the mean value of Ci, but were more closely related to the sampling error. Implications for theory and practice include alternatives and complements to tests of statistical significance, a shift from comparing findings to the null hypothesis, to the comparison of alternative theories and models, and the inclusion of additional logical components besides the theory itself. Lastly, an alternative conceptualization of the multivariate corroboration index is advanced to guide future research efforts.

Includes vita. / Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 158 pages. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: The empirical testing of theories is an important component of research in any field. Yet despite the long history of science, the extent to which theories are supported or contradicted by the results of empirical research remains ill defined. Quite commonly, support or contradiction is based solely on the "reject" or "fail to reject" decisions that result from tests of null hypotheses that are derived from aspects of theory. Decisions and recommendations based on this forced and often artificial dichotomy have been scrutinized in the past. Such an overly simplified approach to theory testing has been vigorously challenged in the past. Theories differ in the extent to which they provide precise predictions about observations. The precision of predictions derived from theories is proportional to the strength of support that may be provided by empirical evidence congruent with the prediction. / ABSTRACT: However, the notion of precision linked to strength of support is surprisingly absent from many discussions regarding the appraisal of theories. In the early 1990s, Meehl presented an index of corroboration to summarize the extent to which empirical tests of theories provide support or contradiction of theories. This index is comprised of a closeness component and an estimate of precision. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of this index of corroboration and its behavior when employing path analytic methods in the context of social science research. The performance of a multivariate extension of Meehl's Corroboration Index (Ci) was evaluated using Monte Carlo methods by simulating traditional path analysis. Five factors were included in the study: model complexity, level of intolerance, verisimilitude, sample size and level of collinearity. Results were evaluated in terms of the mean and standard error of the resulting multivariate Ci values. / ABSTRACT: Of the five central design factors investigated, the level of intolerance was observed to be the strongest influence on mean Ci. Verisimilitude and model complexity were not observed to be strong determinants of the mean Ci. The lack of sensitivity of the index to the other design factors led to a proposed alternative conceptualization of the multivariate corroboration index to guide future research efforts. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:12:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Parcial_MarcosAL_DISSERT.pdf: 504349 bytes, checksum: 84d22a00f8a96e4c0fda3ede615e8317 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-09-08 / This research brings into focus the relationship between the work Rhetoric, from Aristotle, and the conceptions of ethics and practical wisdom of the philosopher from Stageira. Accordingly, it attempts to show that Aristotle's Rhetoric was produced to guide the construction and orientation of oratory passions of the Greek man, setting it as a reference for practices aimed at social ordering of the polis. In other words, the Aristotelian Rhetoric, designed by the author as the study of what is persuasive in every speech, is not composed with the meaning of persuasion at any cost, in another sense it is conceived by Aristotle as a useful knowledge for the improvement eupraxic (the good act in accordance with the fair and true). This research finds that such work has been prepared by Stagirite a time of strong social transformations and upheavals in ancient Greece: The skepticism expanded, with each person wanting to live their own businesses, and especially in Athens, a city that served as intellectual and political reference, there was a lack of collective spirit. In this tumultuous social environment, Aristotle, with a culture of Greeks eager Trusted reviews and socially shareable in the field of verisimilitude, sought with his Rhetoric, contributing to the development of ethics and political science; referrals for legal and organization of inter-social relations in varied environments, including seeking to provide knowledge about human passions and emotional status of active citizens in deliberative meetings / Esta pesquisa p?e em foco as rela??es entre a obra Ret?rica, de Arist?teles, e as concep??es acerca de ?tica e de sabedoria pr?tica desse mesmo autor. Nesse sentido, procura mostrar que Arist?teles produziu a Ret?rica a fim de nortear a constru??o orat?ria e a orienta??o das paix?es do homem grego, configurando-a como referencial de pr?ticas voltadas para a ordena??o social da p?lis. Em outras palavras, a Ret?rica aristot?lica, concebida pelo autor como sendo o estudo do que ? persuasivo em cada discurso, n?o ? composta com o significado de persuas?o a qualquer custo, pois, noutro sentido, ? idealizada pelo fil?sofo como um saber ?til ao aprimoramento da eupraxia (o bem agir em conformidade com o justo e o verdadeiro). A presente investiga??o considera que tal obra foi elaborada pelo Estagirita numa ?poca de fortes transforma??es e agita??es sociais na antiga Gr?cia: o ceticismo se expandia, com cada indiv?duo querendo viver para os seus pr?prios neg?cios e, principalmente em Atenas, uma cidade que servira como refer?ncia Intelectual e pol?tica, havia uma car?ncia do esp?rito coletivo. Nesse tumultuado ambiente social, Arist?teles, contando com uma cultura de gregos ansiosos por opini?es confi?veis e socialmente partilh?veis no campo da verossimilhan?a, buscou, com a sua Ret?rica, contribuir para o desenvolvimento da ?tica e da ci?ncia pol?tica; para os encaminhamentos judiciais e a organiza??o das inter-rela??es sociais em ambientes variados, inclusive procurando proporcionar o conhecimento sobre as paix?es humanas e o equil?brio emocional dos cidad?os atuantes em encontros deliberativos

Busca compreender o conto El Otro, de Jorge Luis Borges. Para tanto, efetua sua análise formal; acrescida pelo exame de um corpus secundário. Uma vez que a narrativa apresenta dois personagens autobiográficos, sendo o jovem similar e estranho à produção deste autor, é necessário comparar tal personagem à obra borgeana de juventude, no tocante ao realismo, engajamento, biografismo e ultraísmo. Verifica que o Borges de 1918 a 1920 não exibe tais concepções literárias, exceto pelo ultraísmo. Na segunda etapa juvenil, entre 1921-1928, encontra ultraísmo, biografismo e alguns pontos de contato, com elementos do realismo. Contudo, observa a existência de realismo, engajamento, biografismo e ultraísmo no contexto literário argentino dos anos vinte. Os três primeiros rasgos estão especialmente ligados ao grupo boedista. No entanto, como o conto alude ao Modernismo, entende-se que não só o Realismo, mas toda a geração de vinte é contemplada na figura do personagem mais novo. Na leitura do conto, entende que as personagens produzem um diálogo entre a obra borgeana e a geração argentina dos anos vinte, na qual, o jovem Borges da realidade fica incluso. A matéria sob o diálogo, tanto nas estruturas quanto na temática, consiste de uma série de questionamentos ao realismo. Essas representações também podem ser lidas enquanto duas atitudes fundamentais diante da arte literária. Entende-se que em Nota sobre Walt Whitman há uma oposição aos postulados boedistas, no tocante ao biografismo. Como a segunda etapa juvenil apresenta concepções biografistas, verifica que este ensaio de 1932 (a Nota) assinala uma mudança. Por isto, propõe que a polêmica Boedo-Florida foi um momento importante para a transformação ocorrida entre a obra juvenil e a obra madura. Em seu Prólogo, Domingos F. Sarmiento: Facundo, encontra objeções ao realismo e ao engajamento. Nos pressupostos, foi destacado que o autor começa um combate aos postulados realistas na década de trinta. Uma vez que o prólogo é escrito em 1974, compreende-se, que através de seus ensaios, o autor está em constante diálogo com o realismo. Interpreta em La Postulación de la Realidad a divisão borgeana entre dois modos de fazer literatura: o clássico e o romântico. Com isso, entende-se que estes modos literários genéricos, propostos neste ensaio, possuem um paralelo com os modos derivados das personagens e estruturas do conto analisado. Ao mesmo tempo, percebese que o modo realista / romântico (expressivo) está ligado à obra juvenil, ao passo que o modo clássico (alusivo) é associável à obra borgeana da maturidade. Ademais, no conto, El Milagro Secreto, encontra uma das técnicas clássicas, gerando alta verossimilhança (efeito buscado pelas obras românticas). Igualmente esta é uma técnica recorrente em algumas obras realistas. Assim, o uso dos detalhes circunstanciais representa um ponto de contato entre a obra borgeana e o realismo. No entanto, concluise que a utilização deste recurso ainda pode ser vista como uma crítica a esta estética. / This dissertation tries to understand El Otro, a short story by Jorge Luis Borges. In order to achieve this goal, we make an analysis of it and of a secondary group of texts. As the narrative has two autobiographical characters, and the youngest of them seems different from the author and his first books, it is necessary to compare this character with this authors youth works (essays) in relation to realism, engagement, tendency to look for relations between literature and the authors life (called biographism in this paper), and ultraism. The first chapter confirms that the young Borges (1918-1920) does not present these characteristics in his evaluation of literature, except for ultraism. In a later period of his youth (1920-1928), there is ultraism and biographism and some relations with the realistic way of literary construction. However, there were realism, engagement, biographism and ultraism in the Argentine literary context of the twenties. The three first can be associated with the writers in the Boedo group. However, the story alludes to Modernism too; so it is possible to understand that the young character in the short story is related to the generation of Argentine writers in the twenties. The reading of the short story shows that it produces a dialog between the borgesean literature and the Argentine writers of the twenties, including the young Borges. The dialog and the narrative resources reveal that realism is criticized. These two representations can be read as two generic ways to deal with literature. So, it is possible to state, that in Nota sobre Walt Whitman, there is an opposition to the way boedists dealt with biographism. As Borges second youth period does not present biographism, we affirm that this essay captures a transformation. Therefore, we can confirm that the controversy between the groups, Florida and Boedo, may have been an important moment between Borges youth books and his well known works. In his preface Domingos F. Sarmiento: Facundo, new objections to realism and engagement can be found. In the first chapter it is asserted that Borges fights realism since the thirties. Thus, if the preface was written in 1975, we can assert that this authors critical texts are in dialog with realism. The essay La Postulación de la Realidad shows the borgesean classification of literature: the classical way and the romantic way of writing. Thus, we verify the existing parallel between this essay and the short story analyzed. This text shows that the romantic way has a connection with the second period of Borges youth works, while the classical way is related to his mature works. Other borgesean short story, El Milagro Secreto, uses one of the classical techniques to generate verisimilitude, but this is a technique commonly used by realists too. Therefore, this story shows that there is a contact point linking the borgesean works and realism. This same technique keeps a final objection to realism.

Few studies have investigated the credibility of computer simulations, from the user’s perspective. This thesis tackles the credibility question, construed as inextricably linked to the judgments of actors who deal with simulations. The theoretical part of this work consists in a typology of credibility-related judgments pertaining to various media . This analysis leads to the development of a judgment construct applying specifically to interactive simulation, and based on the notion of verisimilitude, the quality of appearing true or real. The empirical part is an exploratory study that investigated the perceptions of potential users of a simulation-based learning environment (the VPLab). This study aimed to show the pertinence of verisimilitude in examining credibility discourse, and to explore themes for future research. Its specific objectives were to uncover: (1) users’ preoccupations and representations relating to the VPLab’s verisimilitude, (2) the cues enabling users to make judgments about the VPLab, and (3) the roles played by such cues in the expression of judgments. Following a qualitative and descriptive approach, the investigation included in-depth interviews with thirteen university science students. As part of the results, several varied research themes were developed and the complex nature of user verisimilitude judgments was highlighted. Furthermore, connections appeared between these judgments and individual traits of users, such as prior use of certain computer applications. The influence of various aspects of the environment on its verisimilitude was also considered. ----- [Version française] ---->>>> Peu d’ouvrages traitent de la crédibilité des simulations informatiques, du point de vue de leurs utilisateurs. Ce mémoire examine cette question sous l’angle des jugements de divers acteurs concernés par ces technologies. Son volet théorique définit une typologie de jugements associés à la crédibilité de divers media et propose un concept de jugement propre aux simulations interactives, fondé sur la notion de vraisemblance. Son volet empirique consiste en une étude exploratoire des perceptions des utilisateurs potentiels d’un environnement d’apprentissage fondé sur la simulation (le laboratoire virtuel de physique). Cette étude visait à démontrer la pertinence du concept de jugement de vraisemblance dans l’analyse de discours traitant de crédibilité, et à explorer des pistes de recherche future dans ce domaine. Les objectifs spécifiques de l’étude étaient de mettre au jour (1) les préoccupations et représentations des utilisateurs à l’égard de la vraisemblance de l’environnement, (2) les repères sur lesquels ils s’appuient pour poser des jugements et (3) les rôles que jouent ces repères dans ceux-ci. L’approche qualitative et descriptive retenue s’appuyait principalement sur des entrevues en profondeur auprès de treize étudiants universitaires. L’étude a permis d’explorer de nombreux thèmes de recherche inédits; ses résultats ont mis en relief le caractère complexe des jugements et fait apparaître des relations entre ces derniers et des caractéristiques des utilisateurs, telles que leurs antécédents en matière d’usage d’applications informatiques. L’influence de divers éléments ou caractéristiques de l’environnement sur les jugements a également été examinée.

Early written Shona narratives like Solomon Mutswairo's Feso [Thorn; name of main character, 1982] evince fantasy since they emanated from folktales, a genre that abounds in this element. Contrary to this, Charles Mungoshi attempts to portray life faithfully in Makunun'unu Maodzamwoyo [Brooding breeds despair, 1977], Ndiko Kupindana Kwamazuva [How time passes, 1975] and Kunyarara Hakusi Kutaura? [Is silence not a form of speech? 1983]. This study attempts to show how this realism manifests itself in the components that constitute each of the works: setting, plot, characterisation, theme and style. Mungoshi's characters, for instance, are not one-sided supernatural beings who perform fabulous acts. Instead, they have strengths and limitations like people in everyday life. Their actions and speech are consistent with their social backgrounds. By injecting realism into the Shona narrative, Mungoshi has contributed towards its development. Due to this realism, the works deserve the label "novels" as opposed to "romances". / African Languages / M.A. (African languages)

Early written Shona narratives like Solomon Mutswairo's Feso [Thorn; name of main character, 1982] evince fantasy since they emanated from folktales, a genre that abounds in this element. Contrary to this, Charles Mungoshi attempts to portray life faithfully in Makunun'unu Maodzamwoyo [Brooding breeds despair, 1977], Ndiko Kupindana Kwamazuva [How time passes, 1975] and Kunyarara Hakusi Kutaura? [Is silence not a form of speech? 1983]. This study attempts to show how this realism manifests itself in the components that constitute each of the works: setting, plot, characterisation, theme and style. Mungoshi's characters, for instance, are not one-sided supernatural beings who perform fabulous acts. Instead, they have strengths and limitations like people in everyday life. Their actions and speech are consistent with their social backgrounds. By injecting realism into the Shona narrative, Mungoshi has contributed towards its development. Due to this realism, the works deserve the label "novels" as opposed to "romances". / African Languages / M.A. (African languages)

This dissertation critically appraises some ofChauke's literary works within a semiotic approach especially in terms of colours of the spectrwn. In this study the spectrum is reganled as a replica or symbol of man's various filcets of Jife. Analyses of the representations of "Life is a Spectrum" have been made in tenns of psychological and symbolic &.cets. Cbauke's narrative s1yle in delineating characters and milieus sketching received attention in the discussion. The cunent scenario in education and politics as well as socio-economic issues have also been dealt with. This study has revealed that Chauke is an author who dmws readers very close to his works that serve as mirrors of their lives. It bas been established that Chauke is an outstanding writer who uses real situations and events that are relevant to people•s life in this contempotaty situation. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)