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Ever since the camera was invented people have been using it as a tool to reflect and record the world around them. Photographic images have great potential to investigate different social practices and phenomena in the world. Photography, in its own right, is an extremely large area of study. Despite its relatively short history, photography has undergone a broad and complex evolution since it was invented in 1840. This paper does not aim to cover the comprehensive history of the development of photography in its many facets, it aims however to concentrate on a specific area of what has come to be termed visual sociology and the potential of the still photographic image as a primary tool within the field. Visual sociology is a marginal, experimental area of sociology, it is a field which has not been given due consideration by many sociologists due to its unscientific nature and one which remains unfamiliar to many social documentary photographers. This paper traces the history of visual sociology and explores its roots and links with social documentary photography. It explores the established methods of visual data collection that are utilised within the field of visual sociology. It also explores a further sub-discipline, urban sociology and the role of the image in investigation of urban phenomena. The resulting practical component of this research is an extensive urban photographic investigation shot over the period of one month in the city of Tokyo. The resulting series of images exist as a type of photographic visual map of ‘city creatures’ ubiquitous in the urban environment. The series aims to constitute as a visual, cultural survey about an aspect of social life within the Japanese urban context.

This thesis examines hybrid novels – novels in which graphic devices like photographs, drawings and experimental typography are integrated into the written text. Within hybrid novels, word and image combine to create a text that is neither purely written, nor purely visual. Although not new, hybrid novels are increasingly appearing in commercial publishing, and increasingly recognised as an insufficiently explained phenomenon by both literary critics and academics. Book reviews and essays show that readers and critics accustomed to conventional novels can find hybrid novels perplexing. They ask: What are these images? What are they doing in novels? How does one ‘read’ them? These questions point to the need for new approaches to the analysis and critique of hybrid texts, approaches that account for the interplay between words and images. This thesis proposes that Visual Communication Designers – those versed in both the verbal and the visual – offer useful analytical tools and critique for the study of hybrid texts. So the research asks: How could a designer’s particular knowledge of wordimage interplay explain the function of graphic devices in hybrid novels? A preliminary study of fifteen hybrid novels develops: criteria for identifying hybrid novels; a typology of graphic devices in hybrid novels – photographs, illustrative elements, unconventional typesetting, ephemera and diagrams; and a set of analytical tools to critique the effectiveness of the graphic devices in hybrid novels. Then, a primary study uses the analytical tools to critique the graphic devices in three exemplar hybrid novels: Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Steven Hall’s The Raw Shark Texts and Dave Egger’s You Shall Know Our Velocity. This thesis is practice-led in that an issue identified through my design practice led to the research, and analytical and critical tools derived from practice are applied as research methods. The research also draws upon a theoretical framework from the emergent field of Visual Studies, where scholars call for the interdisciplinary study of hybrid texts in a critically acute and widely accessible way. Finally, this thesis is itself a hybrid text; a combination of graphic devices and writing form parts of the argument.

Human performance in object recognition changes with practice, even in the absence of feedback to the subject. The nature of the change can reveal important properties of the process of recognition. We report an experiment designed to distinguish between non-specific task learning and object- specific practice effects. The results of the experiment support the notion that learning through modification of object representations can be separated from less interesting effects of practice, if appropriate response measures (specifically, the coefficient of variation of response time over views of an object) are used. Furthermore, the results, obtained with computer-generated amoeba-like objects, corroborate previous findings regarding the development of canonical views and related phenomena with practice.

The goal of my final creative project was to receive instruction in the area of the visual arts, create a body of work that would be displayed in an art gallery or other appropriate setting, and emerge publicly as an artist. This goal was important to me for two reasons. The first reason was that for many years I had suppressed my own need to create and express myself through art for various reasons: lack of instruction and fear of stepping out of the box and expressing myself creatively. My final creative project has led to an awakening of my ability to express myself through my artwork and make personal connections with my paintings. Focusing on the basic elements of art in my instruction and integrating this new knowledge into each of my paintings has produced a great deal of personal growth as an artist. The second reason this goal was important to me was that integrating the fine arts into the curriculum of the public schools has always been a priority. Teaching visual arts to the students in my regular education classroom was something I have strived for, yet I felt I lacked the skills needed to teach it well. This project resulted in the realization that I was an artist who could produce works of art pleasing to others and myself as well. In addition to addressing my lack of personal art and development as an artist, I also resolved the problem of having the skills and knowledge to bring quality art instruction into the classroom. While this creative project has been focused primarily on my own artistic development, my students will reap the benefits of my growth for years to come.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Helene Intraub, Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Eric Eslinger, School of Education. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Computer Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-124). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL:http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss&rft%5Fval%5Ffmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss:MQ99405

Thesis (M. Ed.)--Kutztown State College. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2745. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-79).

The way in which subjects of different ages copy a complex design gives an indication of the relative levels of visual perception and the related developmental trend of overall cognitive development and left-right hemispheric functioning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of severe to profound hearing loss on the above perceptive abilities. The subjects were chosen from the Oregon State School for the Deaf in Salem and ranged in age from 8 to 17. Additional personal characteristics were documented: sex, degree of hearing loss, age of onset of deafness, cause of deafness, other handicapping conditions, and handedness. The subjects were asked to first copy the Rey-Osterreith Complex Figure and then reproduce it from memory. Scores were derived from the graphic strategies used to initially start both reproductions, complete the initial drawing, and from the accuracy and error measurements. The hypotheses were formulated which allowed cross-tabulations between each of the scores and each of the personal characteristics. The results were subjected to chi-square tests, the Kruskal-Wallis H test, and two- and three-way analyses of variance. Differences were significant at the p < .10 level. The age of the subjects proved to be the most significant factor in the study. The youngest group used adult strategies to complete the drawing, but with more errors than would be expected from adults. Loss of efficiency was noted with the 11-13 year old group and then the expected trend of increased sophistication in perception with advanced age proved true for the three older age groups. It was suggested that the early dependence on vision in lieu of auditory stimulation was responsible for the early strengths of the youngest group. Also right-handed subjects used more complex graphic strategies than did the left-handed subjects. This finding was expected based on other studies concerning cerebral assymetries relative to handedness. The sex of the subject, however, had no main effect on the results. Some interactions among variables were noted. There were no significant differences relative to age, onset, degree of hearing loss, etilogy, or other handicapping conditions. / Graduation date: 1985