2,840 research outputs found
The 'true use of reading' : Sarah Fielding and mid eighteenth-century literary strategies.
No full textPhDThe aim of this thesis is to explore, by examining her life and
works, how Sarah Fielding (1710-68) established her identity as an author.
The definition of her role involves her notions of the functions of
writing and reading.
Sarah Fielding attempts to invite readers to form a sense of ties
by tacit understanding of her messages. As she believes that a work
of literature is produced through collaboration between the writer and
the reader, it is an important task in her view to show her attentiveness
toward reading practice. In her consideration of reading, she has two
distinct, even opposite views of her audience: on the one hand a familiar
and limited circle of readers with shared moral and cultural values and
on the other potential readers among the unknown mass of people. The
dual targets direct her to devise various strategies. She tries to
appeal to those who can endorse and appreciate her moral values as well
as her learning. Her writings and letters testify that she is sensitive
to the demands of the literary market, trying to lead the taste of readers
by inventing new forms.
The thesis opens with an overview of Sarah Fielding's career,
followed by a consideration of her critical attention to the roles of
reading. I go on to examine the narrative structures and strategies
she deploys, with a particular emphasis on her use of the epistolary
method. The following chapter deals with her attention to the reading
of the moral message tangibly embodied in her educational writing. It
is followed by an analysis of the activity which earned her a reputation
as a learned woman. Various as the forms of her works are, they invariably
reflect her attempt to balance herself between the two demands of
inventiveness and familiarity
Cognitive reserve proxies do not differentially account for cognitive performance in patients with focal frontal and non-frontal lesions
Full text linkObjective: Cognitive reserve (CR) suggests that premorbid efficacy, aptitude and flexibility of cognitive processing can aid the brain’s ability to cope with change or damage. Our previous work has shown that age and literacy attainment predict the cognitive performance of frontal patients on frontal-executive tests. However, it remains unknown whether CR also predicts the cognitive performance of non-frontal patients.Method: We investigated the independent effect of a CR proxy, NART IQ, as well as age and lesion group (frontal versus non-frontal) on measures of executive function, intelligence, processing speed and naming in 166 patients with focal, unilateral frontal lesions, 91 patients with focal, unilateral non-frontal lesions and 136 healthy controls.Results: Fitting multiple linear regression models for each cognitive measure revealed that NART IQ predicted executive, intelligence and naming performance. Age also significantly predicted performance on the executive and processing speed tests. Finally, belonging to the frontal group predicted executive and naming performance while membership of the non-frontal group predicted intelligence.Conclusions: These findings suggest that age, lesion group and literacy attainment play independent roles in predicting cognitive performance following stroke or brain tumour. However, the relationship between CR and focal brain damage does not differ in the context of frontal and non-frontal lesions. <br/
Sarah Fielding: Satire and Subversion in the Eighteenth-Century Novel
No full textThis study of Sarah Fielding (1710―68) is an original contribution to Fielding scholarship that has a dual purpose: to support those who are striving to re-introduce her to the modern literary landscape in an effort to restore her eighteenth-century literary standing, and to firmly establish Fielding as an early feminist writer. It is argued here that throughout her oeuvre Fielding challenged prevailing traditions that denied women a choice, particularly in education, employment and marriage. These themes are also considered in the political treatises of Mary Astell (1666―1731) and Mary Wollstonecraft (1759―97), who are now widely recognised as feminist writers.
It is further argued that Fielding’s subversion in fiction of the English patriarchal system is underscored by her unorthodox performance in the literary arena. This is fully explored alongside her use of sentimentalism as a literary tool with which she challenges her seemingly inhumane society. Fielding’s interest in ‘the Labyrinths of the Mind’ (in modern terms, human psychology) will also be addressed as will her placement in the history of feminism and her placement in the sentimental novel tradition. Fielding’s performance as a literary critic will be compared with the few female authors who, like her, dared to publish literary criticism during her writing career. Accordingly, extracts from Fielding’s novels and her two critical pamphlets will be thoroughly examined.
An updated biography of Fielding that is also included here will provide evidence for a further claim, that her fiction is autobiographical in part. A comprehensive account of Fielding’s performance as a literary critic forms the final chapter of this work. It is the first full-length examination of her contribution to the genre and includes an appraisal of her recently unearthed critical pamphlet entitled A Comparison Between the Horace of Corneille and The Roman Father of Mr. Whitehead (1750) that is yet to be formerly attributed to her. Ultimately this study of Fielding will go far beyond what has previously been written about this remarkable eighteenth-century author, particularly regarding her feminist activity
Editorial: Intra- and Inter-individual Variability of Executive Functions: Determinant and Modulating Factors in Healthy and Pathological Conditions
Full text linkExecutive functioning generally refers to the ability to organize thought and action based on intentions and goals, especially in novel, complex or difficult situations. Executive functioning is a multifaceted psychological construct that may be depicted as a set of related but separable high-level cognitive abilities, possibly supported by the prefrontal cortex and implemented by larger brain networks (Miyake et al., 2000; Shallice and Burgess, 1996 but see Duncan et al., 1997). Many models exist that emphasize commonalities or differences among various executive functions (EF). While the number and type of EF that exist remain a topic of debate, most authors would agree that EF show high intra- and inter-individual variability in terms of their cognitive and behavioral manifestations.
But what are the determinant and modulating factors that might explain the variability across EF? Do neuro-anatomical or neuro-functional factors and/or the environment influence EF? The overall goal of our research topic was to provide a forum to explore the contributions of different research groups investigating intra- and inter-individual variability in EF. We welcomed empirical, theoretical and meta-analytical work involving both clinical and healthy human populations. We were impressed by the number of authors who did indeed rally to our call; our research topic resulted in contributions from 187 authors and 39 published articles. At the time of writing, our research topic has resulted in an impressive 62,809 total views and 5,728 article downloads. We hope after reading these articles, you will be more sensitive to the various factors that contribute to intra- and inter-subject variability in EF and will be inspired to consider these when studying EF in both healthy and pathological conditions.
What follows is a brief overview of the contributions to our research topic. We aim to highlight some of the key influences on EF variability, and some of the interesting questions to emerge from these articles that we hope will encourage and influence future research. We appreciate that this editorial cannot fully do our research topic justice in terms of the breadth and depth of topics/questions included and so we encourage you to read further the contributions that these articles offer to the research area of EF
SPSBrazil Survey 2019 - DATASET
No full textSPSBrazil Survey 2019
Ass. Prof. Dr Sarah Berens (corresponding author)
University of Innsbruck
e-mail: [email protected]
Franziska Deeg
Cologne Center of Comparative Politics - University of Cologne
e-mail: [email protected]
The survey was conducted by IBOPE between July 26th to August 12th 2019 in Sao Paulo State.
The project is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – project number 374666841 – CRC 1342
cite as:
Berens, Sarah and Deeg, Franziska (2022) SPSBrazil Survey 2019, [Harvard Dataverse DOI
Multisensory integration of social information in adult aging
Full text linkEfficient navigation of our social world depends on the generation, interpretation and combination of social signals within different sensory systems. However, the influence of adult aging on cross-modal integration of emotional stimuli remains poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of this PhD thesis is to
understand the integration of visual and auditory cues in social situations and how this is associated with other factors important for successful social interaction such as recognising emotions or understanding the mental states of others. A series of eight experiments were designed to compare the performance of younger and older adults on tasks related to multisensory integration and social cognition. Results suggest that older adults are significantly less accurate at correctly identifying emotions from one modality (faces or voices alone) but perform as well as younger adults on tasks
where congruent auditory and visual emotional information are presented concurrently. Therefore, older adults appear to benefit from congruent multisensory information. In contrast, older adults are poorer than younger adults at detecting incongruency from different sensory modalities involved in decoding cues to deception, sarcasm or masking of emotions. It was also found that age differences in the processing of relevant and irrelevant visual and auditory social information might be related to changes in gaze behaviour. A further study demonstrated that the changes in behaviour and social interaction often reported in patients post-stroke might relate to problems in integrating the cross-modal social information. The pattern of findings is discussed in relation to social, emotional, neuropsychological
and cognitive theories
A critical analysis of the plays of Sarah Daniels.
Full text linkAs one of the forerunners of 'second wave' feminist playwriting, Sarah Daniels has for the
past fifteen years been one of Britain's most prolific writers for the stage. This thesis is the
first to offer a detailed critical analysis of all her published plays along with a developmental
account of her career. My approach throughout is text-based and non-prescriptive,
although I do at certain points indicate where Daniels reflects or voices differing feminist
perspectives. I also consider, beginning in Chapter Three, the critical reception and
'gendered' reviewing the playwright has received over the years.
The thesis is organised into five chapters with an Afterword. Chapter One, the
Introduction, offers an overview of Daniels' career as well as certain key characteristics of
her work. In Chapter Two I analyse the early plays, Ripen Our Darkness, The Devil's
Gateway and Neaptide, and consider in particular how they reflect, along with other
women's playwriting at the time, certain ideals of the Women's Liberation Movement.
Chapter Three is devoted entirely to Masterpieces, Daniels' most controversial and, on
many levels, successful play to date. Chapter Four is an analysis of the 'history plays',
Byrthrite and The Gut Girls. In addition to giving voice to women traditionally silenced in
and by history, these plays (especially Byrthrite) also echo particular strands of modern
feminist debate. Chapter Five examines Daniels' plays of the 1990s (Beside Herself, Head-
Rot Holiday and The Madness of Esme and Shaz) with their central theme of 'women and
madness'. This is also a fitting theme with which to conclude the thesis as it brings together
and expands on the most significant motif running throughout the playwright's work. In the
Afterword I consider the effect of Esme and Shaz's critical reception on Daniels, as well as
her current 'work in progress'. Finally, the two Appendices provide a chronological table of
Daniels' productions and a list of subsequent professional productions as well as awards
Pavlidis et al_Nat Comms_Data source
No full textData in support of publication: Cervical epithelial damage promotes Ureaplasma parvum ascending infection, intrauterine inflammation and preterm birth induction in mice. Nature Communications (manuscript accepted)Pavlidis, Ioannis; Spiller, Owen B; Sammut Demarco, Gabriella; MacPherson, Heather; Howie, Sarah E M; Norman, Jane E; Stock, Sarah J. (2019). Pavlidis et al_Nat Comms_Data source, [dataset]. University of Edinburgh. Clinical Sciences. https://doi.org/10.7488/ds/2719
Effects of Age on Cross-Modal Emotion Perception from Gait Information
No full textEffective interpretation of social situations relies on the combination of emotional information from multiple sources. It is evident that older adults find the identification of emotions from facial expressions more difficult than younger adults, which could be explained by different theories such as positivity effects, cognitive decline, and neuropsychological differences in the brain. However, minimal research has been conducted on the influence of healthy adult aging from multimodal emotional information. Hunter et al., (2010) revealed that older adults benefit from the presentation of congruent, cross-modal emotional information. The current study aims to develop this finding by looking at age effects in cross-modal emotion recognition from facial expressions and gait information (Montepare, 1987). The study consisted of 37 adults, 19 young and 18 old and compared their abilities on emotion identification through the presentation of two unimodal conditions (facial expressions and gait information) and a cross-modal condition comprising of both modalities. The results indicated that older adults did not differ from younger adults in their ability to identify emotions from faces however they differed when identifying emotions from gait information. Furthermore, it is clear from the results that older adults benefit from the presentation of congruent cross-modal information but are impaired when identifying emotions from incongruent information
Cognitive Estimation in Non-demented Parkinson's Disease
Full text linkObjective: The Cognitive Estimation Test (CET) is widely used in clinical and research settings to assess the ability to produce reasonable estimates to items that individuals would not know that the exact answer (e.g., "How fast do race horses run?"). We examined the performance of non-demented Parkinson's disease (PD) patients on the CET, because previous studies reported heterogeneous results about possible cognitive estimation impairments in PD. We also examined whether PD patients improve their performance if given the chance to reconsider their initial CET responses. Methods: Thirty non-demented idiopathic PD patients and 30 healthy controls matched in age, gender and years of education performed the two parallel forms of Italian CET. The estimation scores for initial and final responses as well as the number of times individuals changed their answers were examined. Additional neuropsychological tests, evaluating intellectual, frontal executive, speed of processing, naming and arithmetical abilities, were also administered. Results: The PD group were not significantly poorer than healthy controls at estimating the answers to items on either CET versions. Moreover, PD patients did not significantly differ in their initial and final responses or number of response changes. Performance on the CET was significantly related to performance on a global measure of executive function, processing speed and arithmetic. However, PD patients were impaired compared to controls on the component involving mainly, but not exclusively, length-related estimations. Conclusions: Non-demented PD patients have mild impairments in cognitive estimation ability, which may depend on the estimations they are required to provide
- …
