A critical study of Anthony Trollope's South Africa
- Authors: Davidson, J H
- Date: 1970
- Subjects: Trollope, Anthony, 1815-1882 -- Criticism and interpretation , Literature and history -- South Africa -- History -- 19th century , South Africa -- In literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2602 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010964 , Trollope, Anthony, 1815-1882 -- Criticism and interpretation , Literature and history -- South Africa -- History -- 19th century , South Africa -- In literature
- Description: In the year 1877, during a lull in the Eastern Question, the English newspapers discovered South Africa. There a Dutch republic, the Transvaal, had all but succumbed to the onslaughts of a native chief - or so it seemed; and now it was annexed to the British Crown. Clearly, this was a corner of the world of which, as its colonists boasted, England would hear much more; and Parliament was shortly to set its seal of approval upon Lord Carnarvon’s essay in imperial architecture, South African Confederation. Intro., p. 1.
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- Date Issued: 1970
A cross-cultural study of susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer and Ponzo illusions
- Authors: Smith, T V G
- Date: 1970
- Subjects: Personality and culture , Xhosa (African people) -- Psychology , Visual perception , Optical illusions , Cross-cultural studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3239 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013235
- Description: In order to investigate certain anomalies evident in the literature, the performances of three Xhosa groups (rural dwellers, urban dwellers, and undergraduates) of varying degrees of acculturation and a White undergraduate group, each group consisting of 30 subjects, were measured on tests of mode of field approach and susceptibility to the Müller- Lyer and Ponzo illusions. In addition, the effect of the introduction of a mental set, which facilitated the perception of perspective in the Ponzo figure, on susceptibility to the illusion was ascertained. Mode of field approach was measured by a portable version of the Rod-and-Frame Test. Susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer illusion was measured by a conventional movable- slide, subject-adjustable device, while a piece of apparatus which also worked on the movable slide principle and was subject-adjustable was developed to measure susceptibility to the Ponzo illusion. The set to facilitate the perception of perspective in the Ponzo figure was introduced by having subjects match the length of Ponzo contrast lines embodied in a photograph and a line-drawing of a bridge, both of these pictures having strong perspective cues. The subjects were required to perform the tasks in prescribed order. Standardised English or Xhosa instructions were ensured by the use of "programmed" worksheets for each task. Prior to each experimental task, the more unacculturated subjects performed comprehension checks to ensure that they understood the concepts of equal length and verticality. The results of the study suggested that: (i) When groups of differing acculturation levels are tested, there may be a pronounced negative association of field dependence with susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer and Ponzo illusions. In general, the more unacculturated the subject, the more field dependent and the less susceptible to illusions he was. However, there was no evidence which either strongly supported or refuted the relationship between these attributes at the intra-group level. (ii) There is no intra- group association between susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer and to the Ponzo illusions. This would indicate that they are not necessarily generated by similar inference habits or by similar contour properties. (iii) The introduction of a "perspective set" increases susceptibility to the Ponzo illusion only among acculturated subjects, who have well-developed pictorial depth perception skills and who habitually infer depth in inverted - V configurations. (iv) There is a significant association between acculturation and field independence. The unacculturated subjects, presumably because they lack the skills of visual analysis which are engendered by Western culture, were more field dependent than the acculturated subjects. (v) Provided that their degrees of acculturation are more-or-less equivalent, as were those of the two undergraduate groups, there are no differences in mode of field approach or susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer and Ponzo illusion among Xhosa and White subjects. Summary, p. 112.
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- Date Issued: 1970
A reading of Emily Dickinson
- Authors: Wilson, Ian
- Date: 1970
- Subjects: Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2286 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007689 , Dickinson, Emily, 1830-1886
- Description: From Chapter 1: Even before the publication of The Poems of Emily Dickinson in the variorum edition by Harvard University in 1955, under the editorship of Thomas H. Johnson, there was a steadily growing interest in the work of this poet and in her position both in the sphere of American literature and in the larger field of English poetry. In 1957, The Letters of Emily Dickinson appeared, with Johnson as editor, and Theodora Ward as associate editor. With this publication critical literature received an incentive to increase and extend the exploration already undertaken.
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- Date Issued: 1970
A study of the performance of a Bantu sample on a test of perceptual field-dependence under conditions of normal and abnormal sensory environments
- Authors: Cogill, Charles John
- Date: 1970
- Subjects: Perception -- Testing , Senses and sensation -- Cross-cultural studies , Bantu speaking peoples
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3201 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010503 , Perception -- Testing , Senses and sensation -- Cross-cultural studies , Bantu speaking peoples
- Description: For purposes of this background study, previous research findings relating to the development of the concept of field dependence - independence may be traced in five clearly distinct and logical stages: Stage 1: The Determination of the Factors Responsible for the Maintenance of Proper Orientation to the Upright. Stage 11: The Investigation of Individual Differences in the Manner of Establishing the Upright. Stage III: The Consideration of Possible Hypotheses to Account for Consistent Individual Differences in this Mode of Perception. Stage IV: An Investigation of the Relationship Between an Individual's Characteristic Way of Perceiving and his General Personality Organisation Stage V: The Ultimate Extension and Elaboration of this Work into the Construct of Psychological Differentiation which proposes that individuals are likely to function at a more differentiated or less differentiated level in many areas of behaviour. Some discussion of these stages is necessary to provide background for the present study. Chapter 1, p. 1.
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- Date Issued: 1970
An investigation into the relationship between creativity and academic performance in school children
- Authors: Noble, Sybil
- Date: 1970
- Subjects: Creative ability , Academic achievement , Performance in children
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3221 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012964
- Description: The subject of creativity is of interest not only to the research worker and educationist but also, with its related mental health aspect, to the clinical psychologist. As the writer's interest is in clinical psychology the opportunity, which occurred in 1968, to undertake research on creativity, was welcomed. This opportunity arose out of a larger piece of research into the relationships between personality variables and mathematical ability in school children. This involved the administration of personality tests and tests of arithmetic and mathematical ability to all the English speaking school children in Grahamstown from Standard 2 to Standard 10. The writer assisted in this testing program and did the greater part of the marking, scoring and entering on computer sheets. Thus personality test scores for over 2,000 children from the age of 8 or 9 to 17 or 18, both boys and girls were available. It was found possible to extend the computer program to calculate a score for creativity based on a combination of Cattell's personality factors and it was decided to compare these creativity scores with actual school performance, as measured by internal school examinations, which with the cooperation and agreement of the Cape Education Department and local schools, the writer was able to obtain. Intro., p.1.
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- Date Issued: 1970
Some aspects of the Franco-German economic relations between the two world wars
- Authors: Wolf, Hans J
- Date: 1970
- Subjects: Economic history -- 1918-1945 , France -- Economic conditions -- 20th century , Germany -- Economic conditions -- 20th century , France -- Foreign relations -- Germany , Germany -- Foreign relations -- France
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:1067 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007687
- Description: From Preface: In this thesis I have aimed at covering a field in Economic History where not many suitable publications are available in English. During the interwar period, the maintenance of peace and harmonious international relations was directly dependent on a reconciliation of the conflicting interests between France and Germany. In studying the economic implications of the Franco-German antagonism, I have tried to throw light upon the crucial role which this relationship played. The Appendix offers a quantitative survey of economic conditions in the two countries and of the relevant production and exchange problems. To assist the reader who is not completely familiar with this period, a brief summary of the relevant conferences, agreements and treaties is also offered in the Appendix, as well as some short biographical notes. I would like to make it clear, however, that this thesis is neither supposed to be a paraphrase of the Appendix, nor a mere treatise on the commercial relations between the two countries concerned. I aimed rather at revealing the forces behind the events and at illustrating how economic problems became quite often subject to political and military considerations. When trying to attain some understanding of Franco-German relations, it seems advisable to look not only at the interbellum period, but in the first instance to become aware of the currents of history which finally led to the two disastrous World Wars.
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- Date Issued: 1970
The religious system of the Ndlambe of East London district
- Authors: Bigalke, Erich Heinrich
- Date: 1970
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Religion
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2113 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007648
- Description: From conclusion: This study has had a twofold objective, to present ethnographic data on a people who belong to the Xhosa tribal cluster and more specifically, to throw light on aspects of the ancestor cult among the Xhosa. In particular an attempt has been made to explore the nature of the interrelation between the social structure and the ancestor cult. Attention has been focussed on the lineage as an institution, on the rituals devoted to the ancestors and on the means of explaining misfortune. Though the Ndlambe, in common with other groups of indigenous people in the Eastern Cape, have been experiencing developments brought about by social change during the better part of two centuries, the recent implementation of the Betterment Scheme has resulted in drastic demographic changes. The former settlement pattern of scattered homesteads has given way before village formation. Beyond the fact that it has resulted in the closer proximity of homesteads, with the opportunities for cooperation and conflict that this situation implies, nothing is known of the direct organizational influence of this development. More…
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- Date Issued: 1970