Skills for Creativity in Graphic Design: Testing the relationship between visualisation, written comprehension, and graphic design creativity

This thesis explores the relationship between skills, creativity and domain. It is situated within an evolving topic of design creativity; an emerging field that interfaces between creativity research, which has often occurred in the field of psychology, and design research often associated with the fields of engineering, art and design. Through five interconnected studies, and the domain of graphic design as the basis for experimentation, the research culminates in testing the relationship between creative output and skills considered important for competent performance in graphic design. How to assess graphic design creativity in a manner credible to both the creativity research and design research community has been a core challenge for this thesis. The method selected - the Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT) - before this thesis had yet to be used as a reliable measure of graphic design creativity in experimental research. For this reason, three of the studies were directed at establishing the reliability of the CAT. • One undertook the first systematic literature review of the CAT in design research; • a second tested the assumption that a graphic design CAT would show acceptable levels of inter-rater reliability (as researchers had found in other domains of design); • a third focused on optimising the CAT to measure graphic design creativity. Additionally, given the wide range of graphic design competencies available, a conceptual framework was developed to prioritise those most important, and suitable, for experimental study. Two were identified (mental visualisation, and written comprehension) and each was tested for its relationship to graphic design creativity. Where other researchers have suggested or found a relationship, in this study, no significant correlations could be evidenced for either mental visualisation or written comprehension with creative output. Such a finding is likely counter-intuitive to many in art and design, thus, the implications of this study impact upon debates within design creativity research, design education, and graduate skill gaps for the Creative Industries

Typographic Legibility for Retinitis Pigmentosa Readers

Although numerous papers have been written on the subject of legibility, there appears to be a lack of research into the relationship between printed matter and visual impairment in this context. The research aim of this thesis is to conduct a comprehensive study on the reading performance of those suffering from a particular impairment, namely Retinitis Pigmentosa and to identify typographic considerations that would improve this performance. The work confirms the importance of specially designed material and the need for specific guidelines to ensure optimum legibility for particular eye deficiencies

Synergistic associations of cognitive and motor impairments with functional outcome in covert cerebral small vessel disease

Background Cognitive and motor impairments are the key clinical manifestations of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), but their combined effects on functional outcome have not been elucidated. This study investigated the interactions and mediating effects of cognitive and motor functions on instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and quality of life in older individuals with various degrees of white matter hyperintensities (WMH). Methods Participants of the Helsinki Small Vessel Disease Study (n = 152) were assessed according to an extensive clinical, physical, neuropsychological and MRI protocol. Volumes of WMH and gray matter (GM) were obtained with automated segmentation. Results Cognitive (global cognition, executive functions, processing speed, memory) and motor functions (gait speed, single-leg stance, timed up-and-go) had strong interrelations with each other, and they were significantly associated with IADL, quality of life as well as WMH and GM volumes. A consistent pattern on significant interactions between cognitive and motor functions was found on informant-evaluated IADL, but not on self-evaluated quality of life. The association of WMH volume with IADL was mediated by global cognition, whereas the association of GM volume with IADL was mediated by global cognition and timed up-and-go performance. Conclusion The results highlight the complex interplay and synergism between motor and cognitive abilities on functional outcome in SVD. The combined effect of motor and cognitive disturbances on IADL is likely to be greater than their individual effects. Patients with both impairments are at disproportionate risk for poor outcome. WMH and brain atrophy contribute to disability through cognitive and motor impairment.Peer reviewe

Dynamic assessment of the effectiveness of digital game-based literacy training in beginning readers: a cluster randomised controlled trial

In this article, we report on a study evaluating the effectiveness of a digital game-based learning (DGBL) tool for beginning readers of Dutch, employing active (math game) and passive (no game) control conditions. This classroom-level randomized controlled trial included 247 first graders from 16 classrooms in the Netherlands and the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. The intervention consisted of 10 to 15 min of daily playing during school time for a period of up to 7 weeks. Our outcome measures included reading fluency, phonological skills, as well as purpose built in-game proficiency levels to measure written lexical decision and letter speech sound association. After an average of 28 playing sessions, the literacy game improved letter knowledge at a scale generalizable for all children in the classroom compared to the two control conditions. In addition to a small classroom wide benefit in terms of reading fluency, we furthermore discovered that children who scored high on phonological awareness prior to training were more fluent readers after extensive exposure to the reading game. This study is among the first to exploit game generated data for the evaluation of DGBL for literacy interventions

Power of lower extremities and age were the main determinants on the agility test for adults in a cohort of men aged 66-91 years

Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Objective: To evaluate the relationship between agility and personal factors, muscle strength and power, mobility, self-reported balance and physical activity among older men. Methods: Agility was measured by using the Agility Test for Adults (ATA). We studied 100 Finnish male former elite athletes (endurance n = 50; power n = 50) and 50 matched controls aged 66 to 91 years (mean age 75.5 years). The associations between agility and other variables were similar between three groups; thus, multiple linear regression analyses were done by using the pooled data of the participants. Results: On the basis of multiple linear regression analyses, combination of age (p = .02), self-reported Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale (ABC scale), jumping height (p = .001) and self-rated health explained 26% of the variance in execution time of ATA (R-2 = 0.26; p = .000002) among elderly men. Conclusion: Power of lower extremities and age were the main determinants of the results of ATA in a cohort of men aged 66-91 years. From a clinical point of view, power of lower extremities measured by test demanding explosive power plays an important role to maintain or enhance capacity of agility.Peer reviewe

Deep phenotyping and genomic data from a nationally representative study on dementia in India

The Harmonized Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia for the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI-DAD) is a nationally representative in-depth study of cognitive aging and dementia. We present a publicly available dataset of harmonized cognitive measures of 4,096 adults 60 years of age and older in India, collected across 18 states and union territories. Blood samples were obtained to carry out whole blood and serum-based assays. Results are included in a venous blood specimen datafile that can be linked to the Harmonized LASI-DAD dataset. A global screening array of 960 LASI-DAD respondents is also publicly available for download, in addition to neuroimaging data on 137 LASI-DAD participants. Altogether, these datasets provide comprehensive information on older adults in India that allow researchers to further understand risk factors associated with cognitive impairment and dementia.Peer reviewe

Urgent Geriatric Outpatient Clinic - Easy Access to Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment for Older Home-Dwelling Persons Living with Frailty

Background: Emergency departments (ED) are not designed to meet the complex medical and social needs of older people. An easy access Urgent Geriatric Outpatient Clinic (UrGeriC) was started in order to provide rapid and more appropriate care and assistance for frail older people struggling to manage at home.Methods: Participants were older Finnish home-dwelling citizens who had presented themselves in August 2015 to Turku City Hospital UrGeriC (n = 76) or ED of Turku University Hospital (n = 216) and who were discharged home.Results: UrGeriC patients were older (85.7 +/- 5.4) (mean age +/- SD) than ED patients (83.3 +/- 5.3) (p .001). No significant differences were found in staying at home four weeks (unadjusted OR 1.69 [95% CI 0.62-4.62], p = .305; adjusted 1.42 [0.50-4.01], p = .507) or one year (unadjusted 1.53 [0.69-3.41], p = .295; adjusted 1.51 [0.65-3.50], p = .339) after discharge between UrGeriC and ED patients.Conclusions: According to our preliminary results, UrGeriC could be a suitable way to support the home care of multimorbid geriatric patients struggling to live at home. Copyright (C) 2019, Taiwan Society of Geriatric Emergency & Critical Care Medicine

Cross-sectional examination of 24-hour movement behaviours among 3-and 4-year-old children in urban and rural settings in low-income, middle-income and high-income countries : the SUNRISE study protocol

Introduction 24-hour movement behaviours (physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep) during the early years are associated with health and developmental outcomes, prompting the WHO to develop Global guidelines for physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years of age. Prevalence data on 24-hour movement behaviours is lacking, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). This paper describes the development of the SUNRISE International Study of Movement Behaviours in the Early Years protocol, designed to address this gap. Methods and analysis SUNRISE is the first international cross-sectional study that aims to determine the proportion of 3- and 4-year-old children who meet the WHO Global guidelines. The study will assess if proportions differ by gender, urban/rural location and/or socioeconomic status. Executive function, motor skills and adiposity will be assessed and potential correlates of 24-hour movement behaviours examined. Pilot research from 24 countries (14 LMICs) informed the study design and protocol. Data are collected locally by research staff from partnering institutions who are trained throughout the research process. Piloting of all measures to determine protocol acceptability and feasibility was interrupted by COVID-19 but is nearing completion. At the time of publication 41 countries are participating in the SUNRISE study. Ethics and dissemination The SUNRISE protocol has received ethics approved from the University of Wollongong, Australia, and in each country by the applicable ethics committees. Approval is also sought from any relevant government departments or organisations. The results will inform global efforts to prevent childhood obesity and ensure young children reach their health and developmental potential. Findings on the correlates of movement behaviours can guide future interventions to improve the movement behaviours in culturally specific ways. Study findings will be disseminated via publications, conference presentations and may contribute to the development of local guidelines and public health interventions.Peer reviewe