The purpose of this study was to examine the use and effect of figurative language discourse in examples of expert therapy. More specifically, one of the main reasons for conducting this study was to describe figurative language discourse, its production, use, and potential effects on the therapeutic relationship and client experiencing. Training videos were selected and transcribed using criteria for selection of examples of expert therapy. Fifty-six excerpts, each two-minutes in length, were taken from the transcribed therapy sessions and used for the analyses. One set of raters was trained to identify instances of figurative language and make ratings of shared theme. Another set of raters was trained to use the Experiencing Scales and the Working Alliance Inventory on the transcribed excerpts. Analyses were conducted to investigate the frequency of use and relationship between therapist and client figurative language dialogue. Results indicated that the majority of figurative language used in examples of expert therapy is metaphoric in nature. Additionally, it was found that the majority of figures of speech were frozen in meaning or were commonly used. A small percentage of figures of speech were shared conceptually between the therapist and the client. Regarding the shared figurative language, a statistically significant difference between therapists and clients with regard to their production of shared figurative language was found and indicates that use of shared figurative language by expert therapists may be a subtle and indirect way in which therapeutic alliance is initially established as well as maintained. It may also represent how expert therapists follow content of the therapy session. In addition, a regression analysis conducted to determine if there is a relationship between shared figurative language and ratings of therapeutic alliance did not meet statistical significance. Overall, the results of this study provide preliminary findings with regard to what type of figures of speech expert therapists use and give a clear direction in terms of the next direction for research. Additionally, this experiment provides direction for the type of methodology that should be utilized in future research.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-71).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 46-48).

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1991.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 46-48). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-71). Also available in print.

O crescente número de pessoas que utilizam a Web e sua vasta quantidade de conteúdo têm motivado especialistas em computação a investigar e acompanhar a experimentação desses usuários. Podese observar que um grande número de usuários que adere ao uso da Internet é o das pessoas com meia-idade, de 40 a 59 anos, e os idosos com idade superior a 60 anos. Trata-se de um público interessado e potencialmente pró-ativo para usufruir das possibilidades que a Web proporciona a cada dia. No entanto, barreiras que dificultam o acesso à informação são naturalmente encontradas com o avançar da idade. Dificuldades como a perda parcial ou total da visão, a redução de precisão dos movimentos, e a diminuição de memorização dos passos a serem realizados são alguns exemplos dessas barreiras. Para superar as dificuldades apresentadas pelos usuários, estudos têm sido realizados visando minimizá-las, de maneira geral. Seus resultados encontram-se sintetizados em normas / orientações a serem seguidas visando proporcionar melhor usabilidade e acessibilidade para toda diversidade de usuários. Nesse contexto, na presente pesquisa, investiga-se quais dessas normas junto com os padrões para a criação de websites que disponibilizam conteúdos proporcionam melhor adequação para atender à demanda das pessoas com idade mais avançada. Assim, foram estudados diferentes tipos de menus de navegação que disponibilizam as subnavegações conforme a necessidade do usuário (no inglês conhecido como menus drop-down) com diferentes propriedades e avaliado qual menu e suas propriedades apresentavam melhores resultados, entre eles, foi verificado o tempo de uso do menu e o número de erros cometidos para uma determinada tarefa. Conclui-se que, menus com melhores contraste e um tempo mediano de resposta ao realizar a interação, apresentaram melhores resultados / With the constant number of people who use facilitated through the use of the Web and its vast amount of content, have motivated computer specialists to investigate and monitor the trial of those users. It may be noted that a large number of users joining the Internet use is that of people aged mature (middle-aged, 40 to 59 years, and the elderly aged 60 years). It is a potentially interested public and pro-active to enjoy the possibilities that the Web provides each day. However, barriers to access to information are found naturally with advancing age, difficulties as the partial or total loss of vision, reducing accuracy of movements, and decreased retention of steps to be performed are some examples of these barriers . To overcome the difficulties presented by the users, studies have been conducted in order to minimize them in general. Their results are summarized in standards / guidelines to be followed in order to provide better usability and accessibility for the whole range of different types of users. In this context, the present study, we investigate which of these standards along with standards for the creation of websites that provide content provide better adaptation to meet the demand of people with older age. Thus, we studied different types of navigation menus that provide the subnavegações as needed by the user with different properties and evaluated their properties which menu and had better results, among them was found the time to use the menu and the number of errors for a particular task. It can be concluded that menus with better contrast and a median time of response to make the interaction, showed better results

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / 1 fold. map in pocket.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Also available in print.