VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Validating Word Embedding as a Tool for the Psychological Sciences
Keywords: emotion
personality
semantic memory
validation
word association
word embedding

Word Embedding (WE) represents a class of machine learning techniques used to model the relative meaning of words, based on the contextual interchangeability of those words within text corpora. Because the measurement of meaning is fundamental to the psychological sciences, psychologists have begun to adapt this tool from computational linguistics to study the human mind. While WE has been validated as a means to recover the meanings contained in text, this tool has not been successfully validated as a means to recover the meanings contained in our heads. Accordingly, in this dissertation I seek to determine the extent to which WE is applicable to psychological research. In Study 1, I investigate convergent validity between models of semantic memory based on word associations and models based on WE vectors, in three languages. Without parameterization, pre-trained WE vectors were found to recover more than 75% of the concepts (i.e., clusters) contained in word association networks. In Study 2, I explore the maximal degree of convergence between WE and word association models that can be achieved by applying different restrictions to WE models. At best, WE models were found to recover more than 95% of the concepts contained in word association networks. This level of accuracy was achieved when utilizing K-means clustering, focusing on specific parts-of-speech, and modelling concepts based on reliable word associations. In Study 3, I test whether psychological models can be recovered from WE vectors and probed. I found that the Big Five model of personality is largely recoverable from the personality descriptive space produced by WE, and that the Big Five trait factors function as attractors in this space. Implications for personality theory and research ensue. In the final chapter, I review the possible applications of WE modelling in the social and physical sciences by demonstrating how WE modelling can be used to answer broad questions regarding the content and nature of concepts. Taken together, my results justify WE as a means to probe the human mind, at a depth and scale that has been unattainable using self-report and observational methods.
A Mirror in the Sky: The Effects of Map Format, User Expertise and Practice on Mental Workload and Performance in Navigation Tasks
Keywords: Mental Workload
Navigation
Practice
User Expertise
Virtual Reality

A novel map display concept named Mirror in the Sky (MitS) has been introduced to reduce soldier and civilian mental workload and improve performance in wayfinding and navigation activities. Potential benefits include its position in the field of view, approximate same scale with the environment, and alignment with the environment. However, these features will be novel to users and as such, warrant an evaluation in comparison with more conventional map formats. This dissertation describes three experiments that investigate the effects of map display format, user expertise, and practice on mental workload and performance. The results from the first two experiments demonstrates that on first use performance is worse and mental workload is higher with the MitS map compared with conventional north-up and track-up maps. However, Experiment 3 demonstrates that with practice users can perform well using MitS with a lower mental workload cost. Mental workload was measured using subjective, physiological, and secondary task performance measures. Across the three experiments, physiological measures were largely insensitive to changes in mental workload, while subjective and secondary task performance measures showed changes. Subjective measures were most sensitive to changes in workload and were able to detect differences in user group and map display in instances where other measures failed to find such differences.
Seasonal Influenza Vaccine: Factors of Uptake and Interventions to Increase Coverage
Keywords: determinants
influenza
influenza vaccine
vaccine coverage
vaccine uptake

Seasonal influenza vaccines (SIVs) are the most effective means of reducing influenza associated morbidity and mortality, conferring both substantial public health and economic benefits to society. Yet, SIV coverage remains suboptimal and stagnant across many jurisdictions. Effective policy and strategies to improve SIV coverage are built upon a sound understanding of the underlying determinants of SIV uptake. Further, there is an apparent need to develop and assess of innovative, low-cost, scalable interventions so as to increase coverage.Accordingly, there are two primary objectives we aim to accomplish in this Thesis: 1) investigate the factors of SIV uptake among an age-stratified at-risk adult population, and 2) develop and assess innovative, scalable interventions to increase SIV uptake. 1. Investigate Factors of SIV Uptake among an Age-Stratified At-Risk Adult Population Using a large primary care database from England, we investigate patient-, practice-, and season-level factors associated with SIV uptake among an age-stratified population of at-risk adults. With this study, we aim to not only identify uptake determinants, but also identify factors that are differentially associated by age, as these findings may help inform policy and the design of targeted interventions. 2. Develop and Assess Innovative, Scalable Interventions to Increase SIV Uptake First, leveraging big data and predictive modeling, we develop and validate a clinical prediction tool for seasonal influenza vaccination. Based solely upon patient characteristics identified in a primary care database, we train and validate models to predict patient-level SIV uptake among a population of at-risk adults. With HCPs under increasingly restrictive time constraints, timely identification of patients likely to miss influenza vaccination may help HCPs tailor services and to improve efficiency.Second, in collaboration with a national network of retail pharmacies (Walmart, US), we design, implement, and evaluate a multimodal approach to improving SIV uptake during the 2019/20 influenza season. Specifically, we assess the impact of a randomized Peer Comparison (PC) intervention and a previously developed relational communications training on pharmacy-level SIV uptake across more than 4,500 retail pharmacy sites in the US.
The Musical Playground as a Vehicle for Community-building
Keywords: architecture
community
community music
experiential music
free play
music education

This study hovers around one central problem: the struggle between structured and unstructured learning models in education, the creative arts and community building. In this research study, I sought to outline how an alternative music education site, such as a musical playground can positively impact creative expression, music education, and community. An instrumental case study was conducted on the Music Box Village (MBV) in New Orleans, Louisiana as run by the collective and not-for-profit organization, The New Orleans Airlift. Through interviewing over 20 related stakeholders, observing grade four students playing for three consecutive days in the space, and analysis of secondary data, I learned that a musical playground itself can act as a co-composer (Morgan, 1980), a third teacher (Gandini, 1998), and a conduit for social change. The MBV is a stage for creative expression, supporting exploration, improvisation and composition through its aesthetics and design. The post-modern space celebrates rebellion in music, while honouring New Orleans tradition at the same time. As a music education environment, the MBV celebrates free play, physical and musical risk, and unstructured learning models. MBV embraces the tenets of community music (Higgins, 2012) in that it is a space outside of traditional music education which coalesces the New Orleans Bywater neighbourhood in the Upper Ninth Ward. A meta-theme of radical collaboration emerged, which was prevalent in many of the working relationships fostered by the New Orleans Airlift organization, who founded and run the MBV. An exemplar for this model is explored, as well as educational curricular development ideas. Keywords: architecture, community, community music, design, experiential learning, experimental music, free play, mechanical music, music, music education.
Exploring Therapists’ Use of Creativity in Direct Practice in Social Work
Keywords: counseling
creativity
grounded theory
scientific art
social work
therapy

This study employs constructivist grounded theory to explore the experiences of direct practice social workers who use creativity, their perceptions of creativity, their individual characteristics, the role of the external social environment, the factors impeding and facilitating their use of creativity, and the benefits of creativity. To fill the research gaps above, this study applies an interdisciplinary approach by using four relevant theoretical perspectives: practice wisdom, the componential theory of creativity, systems theory, and four Ps theory. Twenty-one registered social workers who were employed in direct clinical practice in Ontario, Canada participated in semi-structured interviews. This study clarifies the definition of creativity relevant to the field of social work direct practice. Creativity is defined as synergetic interconnection of usefulness, novelty, and ubiquity, which may be accompanied by the state of creative flow. Similar to a magic cauldron that must be constantly stirred to preserve a high temperature, ubiquity refers to a constant presence of creative intention, an enduring commitment to discover useful and novel solutions. It represents the tension, consistent effort, or necessity that therapists experience to address their clients’ issues. Clients provide context for creative therapeutic flow when therapists and their clients are engaged in the process of discovery and healing. The findings reveal that creativity contributes to the essence and identity of the social work profession. Specifically, Pro-C (professional creativity) influences therapists’ professional identity. This study extends the list of Pro-C characteristics by identifying four important elements that must be present in Pro-C: 1) intentionality, 2) the use of the self and intuition, 3) mastery, and 4) practice wisdom. The use of creativity may be considered a scientific art that may be taught through best creativity practices. This study also presents a new theoretical framework of creativity in social work direct practice. This framework explicates the notion of creativity, best creativity practices, factors fostering and impeding the use of creativity, and creativity benefits for clients and therapists. It is concluded that creativity is a domain-specific concept, and it requires the active engagement of both a therapist and a client during a therapeutic process.
Judicial Interpretation of Social Rights: The Rights to Education, Health, and Housing in Brazil and South Africa
Keywords: Comparative Law
Judicial Politics
Law and Politics
Social Rights

This work examines how legal education, the organization of the legal profession, and the structure of the judiciary shape and reproduce jurisdiction-specific judicial logics of appropriateness—judicial cultures—in Brazil and South Africa and the impact of the jurisdiction-specific judicial cultures on the interpretation of constitutionalized social rights. I argue that variation in the pre-existing judicial culture of the two countries is key to explaining their different interpretations of the rights to education, health, and housing entrenched in both of their constitutions. My findings suggest that social rights jurisprudence tends toward one of two ideal types. Countries with a diffuse system of judicial review, a large and relative inexperienced judiciary, and an approach to legal reasoning emphasizing theoretical consistency with a limited role for stare decisis will tend to develop an individualized social rights jurisprudence that focuses on remedying specific harms suffered by individuals. In contrast, countries with a more centralized system of judicial review, characterized by a small number of experienced judges operating in a system which has a strong adherence to stare decisis, will develop a more policy-oriented social rights jurisprudence that emphasizes the importance of addressing structural problems faced by groups or classes of people.
Representing Plausible Beliefs about States, Actions, and Processes
Keywords: belief revision
cardinality-based circumscription
knowledge representation
plausibility
reasoning about action
situation calculus

This thesis deals with the topic of modelling an agent’s beliefs about a dynamic world in a way that allows for changes in beliefs, including retracting of beliefs, based on the agent’s observations. We work within the field of knowledge representation, and represent the beliefs of the agent using a logical theory. In particular, we are concerned with representing what initial conditions the agent considers (im)plausible, what effects the agent thinks actions (im)plausibly have, and what processes in the environment the agent thinks have (im)plausibly occurred or will occur. Our approach uses the situation calculus, a standard knowledge representation framework for modelling action and change. Furthermore, we build on an existing framework in the situation calculus for modelling changing beliefs, where beliefs are determined using a plausibility ordering on situations. This supports modelling changing beliefs, since when the most plausible options are refuted by observations, the agent can fall back to the next most plausible options. Our concern is with how to specify this plausibility ordering using a logical theory. We propose to define the ordering by counting certain properties of situations, indicated by distinguished predicates, which we call “abnormality” predicates. This is inspired by how minimization of abnormalities has been used in circumscription, an approach to default reasoning. We show how beliefs about plausible and implausible action effects can be represented by having the axioms describing effects refer to abnormalities. Furthermore, we extend the account of belief to allow for beliefs about ongoing exogenous processes, described by a program (written in ConGolog, a standard programming language for use with the situation calculus). We show how having these programs refer to abnormalities allows for representing plausible and implausible environment behavior. Finally, we present a formal definition of “knowing how” to achieve goals, in terms of belief, which allows for the agent to change its beliefs about what it knows how to do.
Selecting Interventions, Engaging Community, and Implementing a Pilot Randomized, Controlled Trial of Group Therapy for People Aging with HIV-associated Neurocognitive Disorder (HAND)
Keywords: Aging
Cognitive Health
Community-Based Participatory Research
HAND
HIV/AIDS
Social Work

Cognitive impairment is an important comorbidity for people aging with HIV. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and its associated medical complications are common causes for cognitive impairment, termed HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder (HAND). Up to 30-50% of those living and aging with HIV may experience some form of HAND, primarily its mild-to-moderate form. The symptoms of HAND may increase stress and anxiety and impede coping, yet practitioners lack non-medical techniques to address these psychosocial factors. Exploratory research and a stated community need point towards the potential role for group therapies that integrate the complementary intervention strategies of mindfulness and brain training strategies as promising ways to support emotional and practical coping with cognitive challenges. This dissertation is comprised of an introduction, three distinct papers, and a conclusion. Paper 1 is a realist review of mindfulness and cognitive training interventions that social workers have used to address cognitive challenges in older adults, forming the background to consider implementation of these techniques for people aging with HIV. Paper 2 discuss the importance of community-based participatory research (CBPR) through the author’s previous CBPR studies and a description of community engagement in the development of a pilot study of group therapy for people aging with HAND. Paper 3 describes the design, conduct and implementation of a pilot randomized, controlled trial that compared feasibility, acceptability, fidelity, and exploratory outcomes of a novel Cognitive Remediation Group Therapy (CRGT) to an active control of Mutual Aid Group Therapy for people aging with HAND. As the first exploratory trial of group therapy for people with cognitive impairment related to HAND, this dissertation provides insight into designing and implementing psychosocial supports to address the complexity of aging with HIV who experience cognitive challenges. Results demonstrate that combining mindfulness and brain training may ameliorate symptoms of cognitive impairment in people aging with HIV. An important lesson learned was that limiting study criteria to a formal HAND diagnosis may be unnecessary for group therapy; a briefer test of cognition may be more preferential for screening. Implications for social work are proposed and directions for further research in this area are recommended.
A Study of Ontario Full-day Kindergarten Educators’ Responses to Children’s Emotions
Keywords: children's negative emotions
dispositional mindfulness
emotion regulation
emotion socialization
mental health

It is well documented that children’s negative behaviours and emotions are stressors for educators (Jennings Greenberg, 2009). The ways educators respond to children’s dysregulation are dependent, in part, on their social emotional competencies (SECs) (Jennings Greenberg, 2009) and a contributing factor in socializing children’s emotional development (Morris et al., 2013). In this dissertation, I examine the relationship between Ontario Full-Day Kindergarten (FDK) educators’ emotion regulation strategies, dispositional mindfulness, and their contingent responses to children’s negative behaviours. A total of 47 FDK educators, both Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs) (n=13) and Ontario Certified Teachers (OCTs) (n=34) working within a large school board in Ontario, completed an online survey measuring two emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and emotion suppression), dispositional mindfulness, and their positive and negative responses to children’s negative emotions. The descriptive statistics show educators used more cognitive reappraisal than emotion suppression strategies and also reported a lack of both pre-service education and professional development training in relation to stress and coping in FDK classrooms. Regression analysis resulted in a significant relationship between educators’ cognitive reappraisal and their positive responses to children’s negative emotions. Dispositional mindfulness was an insignificant variable within the model of educators’ emotion regulation and contingent responding. The relationship between educators’ cognitive reappraisal and their positive responses to children’s negative emotions is addressed within the broader literature on educators’ SECs, and within the prosocial classroom model (Jennings Greenberg, 2009). I re-examine psychometric and Buddhist conceptualizations of dispositional mindfulness to explain its non-significance within this study. The implications of the study findings are discussed within their practice and policy implications, specifically around pre-service education and professional learning opportunities, and future research in both education and parenting fields is addressed. Understanding educators’ SECs, and specifically cognitive reappraisal as skills that underlie mental health in general, which contribute to socializing children’s emotions, drives the need for more research and skill building in this area.
The Poetics of Postpartum: Dwelling in Poetic Space to Parent the Self
Keywords: creative writing
education
expressive writing
literature
phenomenology
poetry

Explorations of how expressive writing improves physical and psychological health began with Pennebaker’s expressive writing experiments in 1986. Pennebaker found that the association between nonfiction writing about trauma and improved health was strong enough to warrant continued research on the practice. Since then, no studies on the health benefits of writing have yet been carried out that examine the efficacy of writing that is not trauma-centered, nor have any studies analyzed data using a poetic phenomenological method. This project asks whether a reflective, nonfiction writing practice that prioritizes rigor of craft and poeticization of language has similarly transformative effects on the writer, and offers a poetic response to the phenomenological question of what it is like for a body to dwell in the psychic, poetic space(s) opened up in the act of reflective writing. The project combines prose-poetic data on the experience of postpartum depression with poetic phenomenological analysis in the style of Bachelard (1969; 1994) to offer a poetic presentation of results indicating the supportive, consciousness-ordering sensations experienced by the writing, reflective body which contribute to an overall urge to move through life with intention and purpose. While conclusions offer no concrete guarantee that reflective nonfiction writing consistently amounts to any sort of “writing cure”, the results embody an enactment of a creative writing practice that pertains directly to the literacy-based, empowered development of the self in times of emotional need. The project suggests various focal points for replicating the practice and applying it in educational and personal settings.