The clearest mirror : the science of laughing and crying

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2009.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-48).There are few things as familiar to us as the experience of laughing and crying. Studying the two emotional expressions side to side is a way to see our species anew. A way of linking what we share with other mammals to that which sets us apart from all other species. Pulling laughing and crying onto center stage in all their theatrical glory creates a scene of which philosophers and anthropologists have long dreamt: a vision that is uniquely human. Laughing and crying are in many ways physiological and psychological opposites, but these complex behaviors are not exact reversals of the same bodily processes. Nor have researchers told me that they are connected in any biologically relevant way. But zooming out of narrow scientific definitions, digging into our evolutionary history, focusing on the disorders of laughing and crying, looking to the stage where actors and actresses come alive through their tears, there emerges a puzzle of psychology, neuroscience, evolutionary theory, and neurology slowly snapping together.by Genevieve M. Wanucha.S.M.in Science Writin

The thrill of the fight - sensuous experiences of boxing - towards a sociology of violence

This thesis employs ethnographic methods to examine lived experiences of sports violence, particularly, the ways in which action in, and around, a boxing ring can be psychologically and physically significant. Crucial in this regard is the social conditioning of such experiences. Here, norms and values that dominate the framing of sports violence are informed by participants assumptions based on traditional understandings of gender and class. In this way, social processes associated with masculine identities and the working classes inform what was considered possible, permissible and pleasurable. It is contended that phenomenologically informed accounts of such pleasurable experiences of violence remain relatively underrepresented within research examining sports participation. The central focus of this thesis is to provide such an account within a boxing environment. As such, the observations and interviews presented in what follows contribute to the sociological study of sports violence in particular and violence more generally. Alongside this substantive dimension, there are also conceptual, theoretical and methodological contributions that can inform future sociological study in the area and more broadly. Specifically, the contention that experiences of sports violence tend to contain a mimetic dimension and a figurational or processes sociological interpretation of such experiences, are empirically evaluated. The naturalisation of biological interpretations of masculinity as a popular means of explaining and justifying acts of violence is explored. The embodiment of social processes, including masculinity, is theorised using figurational sociology, specifically employing the interconnected concepts of habitus, figuration and established/outsider relations. Methodologically, notions of insider / outsider knowledge are reconceptualised using Elias discussions of involvement/detachment. The sports violence masculinity complex is proposed as a means of conceptually framing the social processes that contour the pleasurable experiences of conducting, and being the target of, violence. This overarching frame is linked to local factors that also impinge upon the gym space. With these social fault lines explored, a phenomenologically sensitive account of sports violence is presented. In this way, it is hoped that some of the theoretical pitfalls of other, arguably asociological, examinations of emotion and sensation are avoided. Using field notes and interview extracts a wart and all picture of gym life is painted. Particular attention is paid to sensuous experiences of working the bag and sparring. Here, significant physical markers and emotional expressions are detailed. Inside and around the ring, men learned the techniques and tactics of mimetic violence. These experiences enabled a socially conditioned, controlled decontrolling of emotional controls and the elicitation of physical sensations that generally remain off limits during the relative emotional and physical staleness of their work-a-day lives. It is contended that the experiences detailed within this thesis and the theoretical frame used to interpret them can inform future work examining sports violence and violence more generally

Holding Things Together (And What Falls Apart...) Encountering and Dramatising Austerity with Women in the North East of England

A group of women in the North East of England; all mothers, all out of paid work or in low waged temporary employment; women getting on and getting by amidst austerity. But what does austerity become for these women? How does it surface and register in their everyday lives through a series of fragmented encounters? Together, we developed a fictional play to explore what austerity becomes in the midst of other things. Encounters ranged from the un-dramatic to the almost intense and evental, from an empty flowerbed at the end of the street to service closure and a loss of support. In our play we tried to make a story of austerity through these and other disparate encounters, but the plot kept falling apart. Our attempts to dramatize austerity using theatre-as-method revealed its multiplicity and incoherence. As austerity differently met and co-constituted the lives of women in a supposedly shared demographic, it disrupted opportunity for collective experience, so that even austerity was not related to or lived as a common object. Although moments of stubborn conviviality continued in and between the lives of women, austerity became present as an intensification of existing processes of precaritisation that engendered forms of fracturing and dissonance. This disrupted women’s energy and opportunity to flourish through existing forms of attachment to one another, to family life and to other forms of unpaid care. The thesis, like our play, tells a story of how for these women fragments of austerity act in the midst of other things, and of how encounters with austerity move between the dramatic and the ordinary, the personal and the generic, the situation and the event. And in that context, the thesis and the play explore what, for these women, holds together and what falls apart

Joyful by nature : approaches to investigate the evolution and function of joy in non-human animals

This work was supported by Grant #0333 from the Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF) and a Brian Mason Technical Trust Fund grant to X. J. N. and A. H. T.The nature and evolution of positive emotion is a major question remaining unanswered in science and philosophy. The study of feelings and emotions in humans and animals is dominated by discussion of affective states that have negative valence. Given the clinical and social significance of negative affect, such as depression, it is unsurprising that these emotions have received more attention from scientists. Compared to negative emotions, such as fear that leads to fleeing or avoidance, positive emotions are less likely to result in specific, identifiable, behaviours being expressed by an animal. This makes it particularly challenging to quantify and study positive affect. However, bursts of intense positive emotion (joy) are more likely to be accompanied by externally visible markers, like vocalisations or movement patterns, which make it more amenable to scientific study and more resilient to concerns about anthropomorphism. We define joy as intense, brief, and event-driven (i.e. a response to something), which permits investigation into how animals react to a variety of situations that would provoke joy in humans. This means that behavioural correlates of joy are measurable, either through newly discovered 'laughter' vocalisations, increases in play behaviour, or reactions to cognitive bias tests that can be used across species. There are a range of potential situations that cause joy in humans that have not been studied in other animals, such as whether animals feel joy on sunny days, when they accomplish a difficult feat, or when they are reunited with a familiar companion after a prolonged absence. Observations of species-specific calls and play behaviour can be combined with biometric markers and reactions to ambiguous stimuli in order to enable comparisons of affect between phylogenetically distant taxonomic groups. Identifying positive affect is also important for animal welfare because knowledge of positive emotional states would allow us to monitor animal well-being better. Additionally, measuring if phylogenetically and ecologically distant animals play more, laugh more, or act more optimistically after certain kinds of experiences will also provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the evolution of joy and other positive emotions, and potentially even into the evolution of consciousness.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Code, Nudge, or Notice?

Regulators are increasingly turning to means other than law to influence citizen behavior. This Essay compares three methods that have particularly captured the imagination of scholars and officials in recent years. Much has been written about each method in isolation. This Essay considers them together for the first time in order to generate a novel normative insight about the nature of regulatory choice. The first alternative method, known colloquially as architecture or “code,” occurs when regulators change a physical or digital environment to make undesirable conduct difficult. Speed bumps provide a classic example. The second method, libertarian paternalism or “nudging,” refers to leveraging human bias to guide us toward better policy outcomes. For instance, the state might attempt to increase organ donation by moving to an opt-out system because people disproportionally favor the status quo. Finally, mandated disclosure or “notice” requires organizations to provide individuals with information about their practices or products. Examples include everything from product warnings to privacy policies. These methods feel more distinct than they actually are. The timely example of graphic warnings on cigarettes illustrates how hard it can be to characterize a given intervention and why categories matter. The issue— which was headed for the Supreme Court—turned on whether the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) intended for the warnings to change smoker behavior or merely to provide information. The FDA abandoned the intervention when it became clear the “warnings” were really about driving down smoking. Indeed, whether regulators employ code, nudge, or notice, they almost always have a deeper choice between helping citizens and hindering them. This Essay argues that regulators should choose “facilitation” over “friction” where possible, especially in the absence of the usual safeguards that accompany law

Playful interactions: A critical inquiry into interactive art and play

My practice-based doctoral research explores how I, as an artist, can create conditions and possibilities for playful interaction in and around interactive artworks. Using practice- based research methods four artworks were created, presented and examined in relation to my research questions concerning play. The three key research questions were:1] How do the properties and affordances of materials and technologies foster play and interactions?2] How can artists conceptualise physical participation and play in interactive artworks? 3] What kind of play takes place in and around interactive artwork?My inquiry focused on the development of a model for making playful and interactive artworks and the creation of a vocabulary of play, which demonstrates the different kinds of play initiated through my practice and research. The model provides alternative ways to think about the role of play within interactive art and consists of a series of tangible making gambits for eliciting playful interactions from the audience. The model will be useful for future interactive artists, as well as other fields concerned with the creation of playful experiences. Underpinning my process of creating playful experiences were methods of observation of the participants’ interactions, which were used in order to enable change and improvement of the artworks throughout the research process.I argue that by employing a sculptural approach to interactive art, using the visual arts tradition of working with the properties of materials and affordances of technology, an invitation to play was created. I propose that to focus on the material’s affordance, rather than on interactive systems, provides additional ways to create interactivity. I also suggest that by understanding technology as a sculptural and embodied material we can move the focus from the technology to what the art does and says. In this sculptural playful interactivity audience members are allowed and encouraged to touch and physical and immersive participation is invited. I explored the body as a particular mode of interaction that can bridge the divide between doing and looking in the gallery, developing theories of the playful body and how audiences connect through play. I argue that the combination of sculptural, captivating interfaces, where the artwork reacts reliably, enables the audience to develop play mastery and become fully engaged. These playful interactions invite people to be curious and seek to engage audiences into dialogue, thereby opening up the possibility for play. Play is an essential pre-condition for the emergence of possibilities and, as such, it is the flexible structure by which meaningful interaction can arise. These interactions are not about our relation to technology but rather about new ways of experiencing culture. In this context interactive art is part of a wider change in contemporary art, where artists are creating culture to be experienced rather than consumed

Anxieties and dilemmas relating to breaks in the therapeutic relationship with children whose relationships in early infancy were reported to have been emotionally unstable and traumatised: A systematic study of child psychotherapy with a young child who had suffered early abuse and neglect

The present study is a psychoanalytic single case study; the intended aims of which were: a) to perform a systematic exploration of core features of the therapeutic relationship with children who have suffered early abuse and neglect; b) to investigate possible links between such core features and breaks; and c) to contribute to the development of a transparent and systematic methodology for the psychoanalytic case study by application of rigorous qualitative research methodology. The clinical research data was case-file material from a concluded child psychotherapy case as well as transcripts from interviews with the six years old child’s birth and foster parents, conducted 2 ¾ years after the end of therapy. The case material was analyzed in three different steps; at each step principles for transparent data selection and analytic strategies developed: 1) Inductive analysis highlighting four relational themes as central in the first 24 therapy sessions. 2) Deduction of empirical consequences from the central themes as distilled by the inductive analysis; the resulting predefined themes subsequently studied in notes from 4 consecutive Christmas break-sets, each consisting of 2 before-break sessions, 2 after-break sessions, and 2 no-break sessions. Christmas breaks chosen as the potentially most agonizing break of the year, especially for children in care. 3) Finally, the same predefined themes were studied with regard to how they appeared in reports from the child’s various caregivers from infancy through her day-to-day life during and after therapy. The inductive part of the study identified four relational themes characterizing the interaction and dialogue between therapist and child. A subsequent deductive analysis convincingly showed breaks a convenient way to highlight core features of the therapeutic process; suggesting the child’s reactions to breaks to be a good indicator of change. Conspicuous links between breaks and the eruption of hostile parental and sibling figures in the mind seemed especially pertinent as well as characteristic difficulties of symbol formation in before-break sessions. The completed data analysis strongly corroborated Hinshelwood’s assumption that the relational themes found to be central in the therapeutic relationship would also permeate the child’s past and current relationships (1991a). With regard to the research method, the detailed results concerning breaks and the similarity of relational themes inside and outside therapy seem to confirm the value of systematic integration into the psychoanalytic single case study of inductive-deductive analytic principles from the qualitative research methodology of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. This combination of methods led to unexpectedly rich insights; it may be of special importance in the development of psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic theory through single case studies

The Promise and Purpose of Love and Belonging in Shaping the Spiritual Destiny of Sixth Graders

The consilience of interpersonal neurobiology and theology is the template for the viscidity of faith throughout one’s lifetime. The congruence of disciplines conclude that what is experienced and believed before the age of thirteen determines how one will live their life. The loss of connection to parents at home and adults within the faith community, is cultivating isolation, loneliness, and the loss of love and belonging in each emerging generation. Chapter One introduces the deprecating beliefs that are practiced during the first twelve years of one’s life that ultimately lead young believers away from homes and communities of faith and in many cases to reject the gospel of Jesus Christ. Chapter Two explores what it means to be a person. Through the lens of ontology and scripture, Yahweh’s kind intentions and divine purposes for imago Dei are discovered anew, showing that love and fidelity in the home and within the faith community are imperative for faith to thrive and endure. As breakthroughs in neuroscience reveal what the mind is and how it develops and grows, Chapter Three explores how interpersonal neurobiology and theology are aligned toward the common goal of one’s health and overall development. Chapter Four looks at the promise of a nurturing secure attachment. Beginning in utero, the mother first, and then the loving presence of other caregivers, leads to the health and wellbeing of a child. Sadly, far too many children struggle as teens and adults because of the devastating effects of early childhood trauma. Chapter Five shows how empathy can be acquired, even late in life. It also celebrates the gift of passion that God has graced each person with and shows how passion is key to one’s faith. It also explores the benefits of play developing the brain and emerging mind. Finally, the unique neurobiological and theological design of the first twelve years of one’s life uniquely makes the sixth-grade year the epicenter of promise and destiny. Chapter Six emphasizes specific ways that homes and the faith community can love and lead children toward a lifetime of faith

Food and eating in fiction since 1950 with particular reference to the writing of Angela Carter, Doris Lessing, Michele Roberts and Alice Thomas Ellis.

PhDEating is a fundamental activity. What people eat, how and with whom, what they feel about food, what they do or do not want to eat and why - even who they eat - are of crucial significance in any reading of human behaviour. In this thesis, I consider the diverse and complex uses of food and eating in fiction since 1950, especially that written by women. I argue both that food and eating carry much of the meaning of a novel or story and that the acts of cooking, feeding and eating depicted are inseparable from issues of power and control: individually, interpersonally, culturally, politically. My discussion centres on the writing of Angela Carter, Doris Lessing, Michele Roberts and Alice Thomas Ellis. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory, sociology, anthropology, Foucault, Bakhtin and others, the thesis aims to construct an interdisciplinary perspective which both resists reductive interpretations and emphasises the centrality, complexity and diversity of food and eating in literature in our culture. I begin with an examination of the ambiguities of maternal feeding and nurturing, moving on to explore the links between appetite, eating and sexuality. I explore cannibalism and vampirism as manifestations of oppression, but also as indicating insatiable emptiness and transgressive appetite. The body itself is crucial, and my argument considers the paradox of not eating as control/enslavement, also tracing self-starvation as a positive route towards wholeness and connection. The last part of my argument focuses on social eating, examining conventions, rituals and food itself in connection with power relations, and finally considers how we might truly speak of food and eating in the context of society as a whole