Browsing by Author "Davids, Fakhry"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    An investigation into the object grouping behaviour of young children from a low socio-economic background
    (1985) Biersteker, Linda; Davids, Fakhry
    Recent studies of object grouping in infants and preschool children by Sugarman (1983) suggest that they are capable of conceptualising inter-relationships between objects - a view which differs from accounts of classification by Inhelder and Piaget (1964) and Vygotsky (1962). These studies have concentrated on Western middle-class subjects. This study investigated the development of conceptual organisation seen in the grouping of sets of objects by young children, classified as "Coloured", from a low socio-economic background. A second focus of the study was on the effect of specific task variables on object grouping behaviour. Thirty-one low income subjects divided into four age groups - 16-24, 25-30, 31-36 and 37-42 months, were given six different free sorting tasks. Each involved the presentation of a scrambled array of eight objects to be divided into two classes. In one task the objects could be classified by bi-dimensional criteria, in the others by a single criterion. Subjects' spontaneous manipulations of the objects were measured in three ways - temporal grouping, spatial grouping and grouping procedure. Verbal references to class relations were also coded. For measures of temporal and spatial grouping, frequency of consistent one- and two-class groupings and inclusiveness of constructions were noted. Grouping procedure provided a measure of whether or not both classes were simultaneously considered. An additional two tasks designed to elicit simultaneous consideration of both classes were also administered to each subject. The data was analysed for differential age and task effects on grouping. The results indicate that performance on these tasks showed the same general developmental trends and task effects as those found in recent studies of middle-class children for both unidimensional and bidimensional groupings, thus confirming Sugarman's observations and suggesting a universal process of conceptual development. However, there was some evidence of a slower rate of development and levels of verbalisation were lower than those observed in studies of middle-class children. Subjects in this study could conceptually inter-relate objects shown both in their bidimensional groupings and in mixed order grouping procedure, but the latter was evident in elicited groupings and not in spontaneous play. These differences are discussed in relation to performance variables such as response set.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    A Lacanian and post-Althusserian approach to homophobia and its resolution
    (1983) Barris, Jeremy Leslie; Davids, Fakhry
    This thesis is a theoretical analysis. It attempts to address the problem of how to conceive the process by which, in certain cultures, a particular social phenomenon, the stigmatisation of homosexuality, has powerful negative effects at the level of individual emotions. Individuals' abhorrence of their own homosexual desires, as well as individuals' abhorrence of the homosexuality of others, are considered. The answer provided is held to apply to both men and women. The problem is also addressed, within the same parameters, of how change from abhorrence to acceptance of homosexuality is to be conceived with respect to the relation between social and individual phenomena. In order to develop an answer to these questions, relevant aspects of appropriate theoretical frameworks are described and an integration of them developed. These frameworks are: Lacanian psychoanalysis, which provides an account of the individual subject's relation to the social; and a post-structuralist view of ideology, which analyzes the specific contributions made by the social phenomenon of ideology to the way the individual makes sense of the world. A particular aspect of ideology as understood in this view is emphasised and developed. This is the importance ideology is understood to give to the concepts "natural" and "unnatural". The ideological role of these concepts is then argued to provide a link, for the present purposes, between the psychoanalytic theory of the subject and the relevant theory of ideology. In this way a synthesis of the two theoretical areas, suitable for the present aims, is developed. This synthesis is then applied to the problem outlined above of making sense of homophobia (the abhorrence of homosexuality), and to the problem outlined above of making sense of the resolution of homophobia (the change to acceptance of homosexuality). The homophobic individual is argued to be best conceived of as trapped in a complex set of contradictions resulting from the collusion of unconscious strivings with the ideologically emphasised idea of what is natural. The resolution of homophobia is argued to be best conceived of as a resolution of the above-mentioned set of contradictions through modifications of the role given by ideology to the concepts of what is natural and unnatural. This conceptualisation of the synthesis of aspects of Lacanian psychoanalysis and aspects of a theory of ideology is then suggested to have a variety of further applications of the type developed here.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Premorbid personality development and functioning in elderly depressives : a retrospective community study
    (1983) Davidson, Jeremy James Denis; Davids, Fakhry
    Depression is the most common psychopathological syndrome in the elderly (Blazer, 1982). Yet, with appropriate treatment, depressive symptoms generally have a favourable prognosis. Researchers such as Post (1972) and Zung (1980) have emphasized the importance of the premorbid personality in understanding depression and planning its effective treatment. However, personality studies are unpopular and often methodologically unsound. The present study attempts to investigate the problem of the premorbid personality in depressed elderly persons. The total number of severely and moderately depressed elderly persons found in a randomly selected community sample was matched with a group of non-depressed elderly persons on age, sex, marital status, socio-economic class, social support, type of accommodation, previous and present employment, living arrangements, physical morbidity and number of life events. The hypothesis tested was that depressed subjects would differ from non-depressed subjects on the development and functioning of their premorbid personalities.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    The type A behaviour pattern and its associated personality variables in CHD, ulcer, asthma, non-psychosomatic patients and healthy controls
    (1983) Ayzenberg, Aviva; Davids, Fakhry
    In recent years, the relation of the type A behaviour pattern to coronary heart disease (CHD) has been receiving growing attention. To date, however, no studies have examined the type A concept in its relation to other psychosomatic pathology. In the present study, five groups are compared in relation to type A behaviour: CHD, ulcer, asthma, nonpsychosomatic patients and healthy controls. Firstly, an attempt is made to establish whether a sample of white, male, South African CHD patients show a greater incidence of type A behaviour than do the other groups. Research conducted predominantly in the U.S.A. and to a lesser extent in Europe, indicates a higher incidence of type A behaviour among CHD patients. The second aspect of this investigation refers to the question of specificity of the type A behaviour to CHD. Clinical observations have suggested the possibility that type A behaviour may be characteristic of both CHD and duodenal ulcer patients. A further aim of the study is to illuminate those personality variables associated with the type A behaviour pattern. The sample was comprised of 70 subjects, there being 14 subjects in each group. Two questionnaires were individually administered: (1) The J.A.S. (the type A behaviour questionnaire) and (2) the PRF (personality research form). One of the J.A.S. scales, the speed and impatience scale, showed a significant difference between the CHD group and all the other groups (p<.05) while CHD alone scored higher only at the (p<.10) level. These results suggest that there is not sufficient evidence for viewing the type A behaviour as specific to CHD: the possibility exists that duodenal ulcer is also characterised by a greater incidence of type A behaviour, as measured by the type A scale of the J.A.S. The scales "job involvement" and "hard driving" of the: J.A.S. were not found to be significant in comparing the groups. The correlational analysis between the J.A.S. scales and the PRF scales showed achievement, aggression and dominance to be the central variables in type A behaviour. However, by constructing sets of PRF variables which predict the type A scales, we find that additional variables appear: when in the set of predictors, the variable "autonomy", is negatively correlated to the type A scale. This suggests possible element of dependence which is further supported by an indication of a positive correlation between "succorance" (appearing amongst the set of predictors) and the "hard driving and competitiveness scale". A high correlation between the PRF scales of aggression and defendence suggests the possibility of viewing the aggressive behaviour characteristic of the type A person as a defence mechanism against underlying insecurity. This was already postulated in the psychosomatic theories of Dunbar (1947) and Arlow (1945).