The Relationship between Visuospatial Attention and the effect it has on Parsing Stimuli

This item is only available electronically.It is widely known that visuospatial attention is critical for reading, especially for the phonological decoding of unfamiliar letter strings (Montani, et al., 2014). The current study aims to narrow the knowledge gap that currently exists between the disruption of visuospatial attention and parsing – more specifically; how the distribution of phonology affects the parsing of letters by exploring syllable number and vowel length effects. When conducting this experiment, 38 participants were assigned to one of four conditions to analyse 240 non-ambiguous and 20 ambiguous stimuli. Participants had to decipher whether the stimuli had two or three syllables. All stimuli were split into two equally counterbalanced groups and presented in either a static or a jiggling format – to replicate disrupted visuospatial attention. The results show that the jiggling effect displayed no significant difference in RTs or error rates with either of the ambiguous or non-ambiguous stimuli. Results for the syllable length effect showed that non-ambiguous two syllable stimuli had faster RTs and accuracy and that ambiguous stimuli recorded significantly faster three syllable RTs in comparison to two syllables – giving evidence against syllable length effects. We also found that participants do have a significant preference for long vowels over short vowels for two syllable stimuli and short vowels over long vowels for three syllable stimuli. Overall, the initial hypotheses about visuospatial attention are uninformative. Limitations such as the lack of effectiveness from the jiggling effect and negative effect of the button-pressing should be considered in future studies.Thesis (B.PsychSc(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 202

Pidginization Exemplified in Haitian-Creole and Tok-Pisin

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the sociolinguistic process of pidginization and to show how Haitian Creole of Haiti and Tok-Pisin of Papua New Guinea are living examples of this process. This will be accomplished in three ways: by giving a synopsis of both countries’ histories and thus showing how the nature of contact between the European and indigenous people both initiates and shapes the process of language creation and transformation; by examining the theoretical life-cycle of pidginization and some elements of simplification still evident in Haitian Creole and Tok-Pisin today; and by discussing the current status and usage of each language in its respective country, with emphasis on its use in the realm of education

Long-term effects of a weight loss intervention with or without exercise component in postmenopausal women: a randomized trial

The aim of this study was to determine the long-term effects of a weight loss intervention with or without an exercise component on body weight and physical activity. Women were randomized to diet (n = 97) or exercise (N = 98) for 16 weeks. During the intervention, both groups had achieved the set goal of 5-6 kg weight loss. All women were re-contacted twelve months after study cessation for follow-up where body weight and physical activity were measured (PASE questionnaire and ActiGraph accelerometer). At follow-up, body weight and physical activity (measured by the PASE questionnaire and accelerometer) were measured again. At follow-up, both mainly exercise (- 4.3 kg, p < 0.001) and diet (- 3.4 kg, p < 0.001) showed significantly reduced body weight compared to baseline. Both the mainly exercise and diet group were significantly more physically active at one year follow-up compared to baseline (PASE: + 33%, p < 0.001 and + 12%, p = 0.040, respectively; ActiGraph: + 16%, p = 0.012. and + 2.2%, p = 0.695 moderate-to-vigorous activity, respectively). Moreover, the increase in physical activity was statistically significantly when comparing exercise to diet (+ 0.6%, p = 0.035). ActiGraph data also showed significantly less sedentary time in mainly exercise group compared to baseline (- 2.1%, p = 0.018) and when comparing exercise to diet (- 1.8%, p = 0.023). No significant within group differences were found for the diet group. This study shows largely sustained weight loss one year after completing a weight loss program with and without exercise in overweight postmenopausal women. Although the mainly exercise group maintained more physically active compared to the diet group, maintenance of weight loss did not differ between groups