An investigation of relationships between Approach Motivation, Attentional Bias to Positive Stimuli, and Hypomanic Personality

Underpinned by the Behavioural Approach System (BAS) dysregulation theory of bipolar disorder (BD), five studies were conducted in non-clinical samples to; refine the measurement of state Approach Motivation (AM); measure minor increases in AM; and then finally, to investigate how this relates to attentional biases for emotional stimuli. Study 1 attempted to clarify the phenomenology of state AM and revealed four separable factors that emerged from pooled AM questionnaire items. These structures loosely mapped on hypothesized components of the BAS (Depue & Iacono, 1989) that pertain to; cognitive elements of approach motivation (feeling determined and inspired); an energized, activated state; an affective structure relating to positive mood and outlook; and finally to feelings of excitement. Studies 2 and 3 investigated the validity of the four derived factors and their parent scales against a reward-oriented laboratory induction, a psychophysiological marker of AM, and a test of the discriminative power. The validity results suggested that the most well-established of the scales, the PANAS-PA, slightly outperformed the other measures by showing the greatest response to an AM induction. A second aim was to explore the substructure of a valid measure of mania risk - the hypomanic personality scale (HPS: Eckblad & Chapman, 1986) – in relation to AM responsivity. Unexpectedly, individuals who endorsed unpredictable and changeable moods (mood volatility) displayed elevated sympathetic arousal in response to control task. On this basis, and with a view to exploring the role selective attentional processes as a mediator of AM dysregulation that is relevant to bipolar disorder, study 4 and 5 utilised PANAS-PA to replicate a bi-directional congruency-effect found in the literature between elevations in AM and attentional information-processing biases to reward-related stimuli. Results in general did not support a causal influence of AM on attentional biases, nor did the attempted manipulation of attentional biases affect downstream AM. However, there was evidence that within a stratified sample of participants who reliably responded to the AM and control conditions, those at greater risk to mania exhibited an attentional bias for both positive and negative stimuli, relative those at lower risk to mania

The Perception of Emotion from Acoustic Cues in Natural Speech

Knowledge of human perception of emotional speech is imperative for the development of emotion in speech recognition systems and emotional speech synthesis. Owing to the fact that there is a growing trend towards research on spontaneous, real-life data, the aim of the present thesis is to examine human perception of emotion in naturalistic speech. Although there are many available emotional speech corpora, most contain simulated expressions. Therefore, there remains a compelling need to obtain naturalistic speech corpora that are appropriate and freely available for research. In that regard, our initial aim was to acquire suitable naturalistic material and examine its emotional content based on listener perceptions. A web-based listening tool was developed to accumulate ratings based on large-scale listening groups. The emotional content present in the speech material was demonstrated by performing perception tests on conveyed levels of Activation and Evaluation. As a result, labels were determined that signified the emotional content, and thus contribute to the construction of a naturalistic emotional speech corpus. In line with the literature, the ratings obtained from the perception tests suggested that Evaluation (or hedonic valence) is not identified as reliably as Activation is. Emotional valence can be conveyed through both semantic and prosodic information, for which the meaning of one may serve to facilitate, modify, or conflict with the meaning of the other—particularly with naturalistic speech. The subsequent experiments aimed to investigate this concept by comparing ratings from perception tests of non-verbal speech with verbal speech. The method used to render non-verbal speech was low-pass filtering, and for this, suitable filtering conditions were determined by carrying out preliminary perception tests. The results suggested that nonverbal naturalistic speech provides sufficiently discernible levels of Activation and Evaluation. It appears that the perception of Activation and Evaluation is affected by low-pass filtering, but that the effect is relatively small. Moreover, the results suggest that there is a similar trend in agreement levels between verbal and non-verbal speech. To date it still remains difficult to determine unique acoustical patterns for hedonic valence of emotion, which may be due to inadequate labels or the incorrect selection of acoustic parameters. This study has implications for the labelling of emotional speech data and the determination of salient acoustic correlates of emotion

A Study of Accomodation of Prosodic and Temporal Features in Spoken Dialogues in View of Speech Technology Applications

Inter-speaker accommodation is a well-known property of human speech and human interaction in general. Broadly it refers to the behavioural patterns of two (or more) interactants and the effect of the (verbal and non-verbal) behaviour of each to that of the other(s). Implementation of thisbehavior in spoken dialogue systems is desirable as an improvement on the naturalness of humanmachine interaction. However, traditional qualitative descriptions of accommodation phenomena do not provide sufficient information for such an implementation. Therefore, a quantitativedescription of inter-speaker accommodation is required. This thesis proposes a methodology of monitoring accommodation during a human or humancomputer dialogue, which utilizes a moving average filter over sequential frames for each speaker. These frames are time-aligned across the speakers, hence the name Time Aligned Moving Average (TAMA). Analysis of spontaneous human dialogue recordings by means of the TAMA methodology reveals ubiquitous accommodation of prosodic features (pitch, intensity and speech rate) across interlocutors, and allows for statistical (time series) modeling of the behaviour, in a way which is meaningful for implementation in spoken dialogue system (SDS) environments.In addition, a novel dialogue representation is proposed that provides an additional point of view to that of TAMA in monitoring accommodation of temporal features (inter-speaker pause length and overlap frequency). This representation is a percentage turn distribution of individual speakercontributions in a dialogue frame which circumvents strict attribution of speaker-turns, by considering both interlocutors as synchronously active. Both TAMA and turn distribution metrics indicate that correlation of average pause length and overlap frequency between speakers can be attributed to accommodation (a debated issue), and point to possible improvements in SDS “turntaking” behaviour. Although the findings of the prosodic and temporal analyses can directly inform SDS implementations, further work is required in order to describe inter-speaker accommodation sufficiently, as well as to develop an adequate testing platform for evaluating the magnitude ofperceived improvement in human-machine interaction. Therefore, this thesis constitutes a first step towards a convincingly useful implementation of accommodation in spoken dialogue systems

Smart Pain Assessment tool for critically ill patients unable to communicate: Early stage development of a medical device

Critically ill patients often experience pain during their treatment but due to patients’ lowered ability to communicate, pain assessment may be challenging. The aim of the study was to develop the concept of the Smart Pain Assessment tool based on the Internet of Things technology for critically ill patients who are unable to communicate their pain. The study describes two phases of the early stage development of the Smart Pain Assessment tool in a medical device development framework. The initiation Phase I consists of a scoping review, conducted to explore the potentiality of the Internet of Things technology in basic nursing care. In the formulation Phase II, the prototype of the Smart Pain Assessment tool was tested and the concept was evaluated for feasibility. The prototype was tested with healthy participants (n=31) during experimental pain, measuring pain-related physiological variables and activity of five facial muscles. The variables were combined using machine learning to create a model for pain prediction. The feasibility of the concept was evaluated in focus group interviews with critical care nurses (n=20) as potential users of the device. The literature review suggests that the development of Internet of Things -based innovations in basic nursing care is diverse but still in its early stages. The prototype was able to identify experimental pain and classify its intensity as mild or moderate/severe with 83% accuracy. In addition, three of the five facial muscles tested were recognised to provide the most pain-related information. According to critical care nurses, the Smart Pain Assessment tool could be used to ensure pain assessment, but it needs to be integrated into an existing patient monitoring and information system, and the reliability of the data provided by the device needs to be assessable for nurses. Based on the results of this study, detecting and classifying experimental pain's intensity automatically using an Internet of Things -based device is possible. The prototype of the device should be further developed and tested in clinical trials, involving the users at each stage of the development to ensure clinical relevance and a user-centric design.Älykäs kipumittari kommunikoimaan kykenemättömille kriittisesti sairaille potilaille: Lääkinnällisen laitteen varhainen kehittäminen Kriittisesti sairaat potilaat kokevat usein kipua hoidon aikana, mutta potilaiden kivun arviointi on haastavaa tilanteissa, joissa potilaan kyky kommunikoida on alentunut. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli kehittää toimintakonsepti esineiden internet -teknologiaan perustuvalle Älykkäälle kipumittarille, joka on suunniteltu kriittisesti sairaille potilaille, jotka eivät kykene kommunikoimaan kivustaan. Tutkimuksessa kuvataan Älykkään kipumittarin varhaisia kehitysvaiheita lääkinnällisen laitteen kehitysprosessin mukaisesti. Aloitusvaiheessa I toteutettiin kartoittava kirjallisuuskatsaus, jossa selvitettiin esineiden internet -teknologian mahdollisuuksia perushoidossa. Muotoiluvaiheessa II testattiin laitteen prototyyppiä ja arvioitiin laitteen toimintakonseptin toteutettavuutta. Prototyypin testaukseen osallistui terveitä koehenkilöitä (n=31), joille tuotettiin kipua. Kipualtistuksen aikana mitattiin kipuun liittyviä fysiologisia muuttujia ja viiden kasvolihaksen aktivoitumista. Muuttujat yhdistettiin koneoppimismenetelmällä kivun ennustemalliksi. Lisäksi teho-osastolla työskentelevät sairaanhoitajat (n=20) arvioivat fokusryhmähaastatteluissa laitteen toimintakonseptin toteutettavuutta. Kirjallisuuskatsauksen tuloksista käy ilmi, että esineiden internetiin perustuvien innovaatioiden kehittäminen perushoidon tukemiseen on monipuolista mutta se on vielä alkuvaiheessa. Älykkään kipumittarin prototyyppi osoittautui lupaavaksi kokeellisen kivun tunnistamisessa ja sen voimakkuuden luokittelussa, saavuttaen 83 %:n tarkkuuden kivun luokittelussa lievään tai kohtalaiseen/voimakkaaseen. Lisäksi todettiin, että viidestä mitatusta kasvolihaksesta kolme antoi merkittävintä tietoa kivun tunnistamiseen ja voimakkuuteen liittyen. Sairaanhoitajat näkivät potentiaalia Älykkään kipumittarin käytössä potilaiden kivun arvioinnissa teho-osastolla. Laite tulisi kuitenkin integroida käytössä olevaan potilastietojärjestelmään, ja laitteen tuottamien tietojen luotettavuus tulisi olla hoitajien arvioitavissa. Tulosten perusteella esineiden internet -teknologiaan perustuvan laitteen avulla on mahdollista tunnistaa ja luokitella kokeellisen kivun voimakkuutta automaattisesti. Laitteen prototyyppiä tulee jatkokehittää ja testata kliinisissä tutkimuksissa. Tulevat käyttäjät tulee ottaa mukaan jokaiseen kehitysvaiheeseen laitteen kliinisen merkityksen ja käyttäjälähtöisen muotoilun varmistamiseksi

Contextual complexities shaping primary teachers' pedagogical practices with digital technologies: An interpretive phenomenological study in the Maldivian ESL context

Literature on digital technology (DT) integration has revealed a range of complexities around DT use for teaching and learning. Previous research suggests that frequent DT use does not necessarily lead to the pedagogically purposeful use of DTs for student learning. However, the literature overlooks the impact the various contextual and subject content factors may have when exploring teachers’ technological pedagogical practices. This thesis examines teachers’ practices with DTs in relation to the subject content and multilevel context within which teachers’ practices are situated. My study’s context is that of primary education in Maldivian urban and rural schools, with a specific focus on how teachers use DTs in teaching English as a second language (ESL). I also examine the influence of national, school, classroom, and teacher-level factors at play on the participant primary teacher group. The research questions guiding my study are: 1. What impacts do DT use have on ESL pedagogical practices of primary teachers in two Maldivian schools? 2. What contextual factors affect teaching and learning English with and through DTs in two Maldivian schools, and do they differ across schools? 3. What interplay of factors influence Maldivian primary teachers’ DT use in their English lessons? Adopting an interpretive phenomenological research design meant I could capture the lived experience of nine (four urban and five rural) primary teachers in two Maldivian schools over 8 months. Data collected through lesson observations, postobservation conversations, lesson plans, semistructured interviews, mini surveys and field notes helped in understanding their practices, beliefs, and attitudes about using DTs in ESL lessons. Additionally, other data collected from mini surveys and postobservation conversations with students of the participant teachers, plus interview data and school documents that principals and IT staff provided, helped my understanding of the multilevel contextual factors that influenced teachers’ DT use for teaching and learning. The findings indicate that an important reason for using DTs was as an attention grabber, perhaps as a set induction, video explanations, form-focused instruction (FFI), and exam-format listening. These findings were examined in relation to the SAMR model to ascertain the pedagogical level of DT use teachers usually applied. The findings also point to the national, school, and classroom factors affecting primary teachers’ practices with DTs in ESL lessons, and these are addressed fully in the Discussion and Conclusion chapters. At the national level, the two factors that have a potential influence on teachers’ DTs use include the development and promulgation of a national educational ICT policy and teacher education, the focus of which needs to move from developing teachers’ technological knowledge to pedagogical applications of tools. While technology leadership and DT-based professional learning and development were factors at the school level, access to DTs and technical support were classroom-level factors that significantly influenced participant teachers’ decisions around DT use. Apart from these external factors, internal or teacher-level factors such as teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and existing pedagogical practices shaped their practices with DTs when teaching English. This study has contributed to the literature by identifying primary teachers’ ESL pedagogical practices with DTs. For one thing, it fills a significant gap in TPACK research which often considers TPACK to be subject-independent. My research, therefore, contributes by showing the connection between technology, pedagogy, and subject-specific content (English language). Another contribution is the use of classroom observation data to capture teachers’ DT use, as DT integration literature predominantly uses self-reported data. My research also contributes to a TPACK-in-Context framework (Figure 2.4) adapted from the TPACK framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) to provide a contextually situated understanding of primary teachers’ DT use in ESL lessons. Additionally, the NVivo-enhanced Spiral QDA process (Figure 3.7) I adapted from Seidel’s (1998) qualitative data analysis (QDA) model contributes to understanding the nonlinear, recursive, and iterative nature of the qualitative data analysis process. Finally, my illustration of the complex interplay of factors affecting the pedagogical use of DTs (Figure 5.2) contributes to the understanding of the relationships between TPACK (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), TAM (Davis, 1989), and SAMR (Puentedura, 2012), three dominant models/frameworks in DT literature

Attending responding becoming : a living-learning inquiry in a naturally inclusional playspace

Traditional scientific paradigms emphasise writing in the third person, effectively marginalising the subjective perspective of the researcher. Many systems thinking, cybernetics and complexity approaches are better in this regard, as they involve systemic interventions where the relationships between the researcher and other participants really matter. Writing in the first person therefore becomes acceptable.In this Thesis (and a partner document coupled with it), I have explored how to reincorporate subjective empiricism into my systemic intervention practice. This has brought forth many unanticipated contributions. These take the form of new frameworks, concepts and approaches for systems and complexity practice, emerging from my engagements with myself and others, as well as from reflections upon those engagements.However, the content of my reflections and ‘becomings’ are not all that represent my doctoral contribution; there is also the form of my representation(s), as well as the emergent nature of the process through which they have come to be. I have drawn from Gregory Bateson’s use of metalogues: where the nature of a conversation mirrors its content – e.g. getting into a muddle whilst talking about muddles! Intuitively, I grasped the importance of metalogue in what I was attempting, and found myself coining the term metalogic coherence. Without fully appreciating what this might mean in practice, I groped my way into undertaking and documenting my research in ways that I believed would be metalogically coherent with the complexity-attuned principles to which I was committing. In sum, and key to appreciating what unfolds in the narrative, is recognising this Thesis and its partner document as metalogically coherent artefacts of naturally inclusional, complexity-attuned, evolutionary research.To fully acknowledge the different ways of knowing that have flowed into my inquiry, I have written in multiple voices (called statewaves, for reasons to be explained in the thesis). I found myself shifting from one voice to another as I explored and expressed different dimensions of what I was experiencing and discovering.In addition, I have made liberal use of hyperlinks, so both documents are far from linear. They are more akin to a mycorrhizal network, interlinking flows of ideas and sensemaking, all of which can be accessed and experienced differently, depending on each reader’s engagement with and through it.The thesis and its partner document are part of a composite submission that contains both poetry and artwork (visual depictions and animations of the ideas). These elements, along with the more conventional academic text, are augmented by penetrating reflections on my personal motivations, guided by a narrator signposting the streams as they flow into and between each other. All of my being has been implicated and impacted by this endeavour. When insights and new ‘becomings’ emerged flowfully during my practice, my joy was reflected in my narrative; as indeed were my pain, doubts and reinterpretations associated with ideas that were difficult to birth. I present all this in my submission, without retrospective sanitisation or simplification. In so doing, I am keeping faith with the principle that I remain at the heart of my research, and cannot be extracted from it without doing violence to the metalogical coherence that gives it meaning

Considerations in designing a cybernetic simple 'learning' model; and an overview of the problem of modelling learning

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Learning is viewed as a central feature of living systems and must be manifested in any artifact that claims to exhibit general intelligence. The central aims of the thesis are twofold: (1) - To review and critically assess the empirical and theoretical aspects of learning as have been addressed in a multitude of disciplines, with the aim of extracting fundamental features and elements. (2) - To develop a more systematic approach to the cybernetic modelling of learning than has been achieved hitherto. In pursuit of aim (1) above the following discussions are included: Historical and Philosophical backgrounds; Natural learning, both physiological and psychological aspects; Hierarchies of learning identified in the evolutionary, functional and developmental senses; An extensive section on the general problem of modelling of learning and the formal tools, is included as a link between aims (1) and (2). Following this a systematic and historically oriented study of cybernetic and other related approaches to the problem of modelling of learning is presented. This then leads to the development of a state-of-the-art general purpose experimental cybernetic learning model. The programming and use of this model is also fully described, including an elaborate scheme for the manifestation of simple learning