This thesis discusses the relationship between the royalty and nationalism in the two traditional courts of Southeast Asia, the courts of Thailand and Yogyakarta. It applies a comparative...Show moreThis thesis discusses the relationship between the royalty and nationalism in the two traditional courts of Southeast Asia, the courts of Thailand and Yogyakarta. It applies a comparative-historical method by exploring the characteristics and determinants of historical phenomena in causal processes. The courts of Thailand and Yogyakarta emerged in the 18th century after a series of internal conflicts and ‘outsider’ intervention. The presence of the Dutch in the political affairs of Yogyakarta made the situation different between the two courts, while the court of Thailand is a sovereign power. In regards to the origin of nationalism, this thesis argues that there is a relationship between the establishment of the courts of Thailand and Yogyakarta to the birth of nationalism from the royalty. The origin of nationalism from the court of Thailand can be attributed to the struggle against the Burmese invader in the 18th century. From then on, the matter about sovereignty of Thailand was part of Thai nationalism. In Yogyakarta, the origin of nationalism is attributed to the courts’ subjugation to Dutch colonialism, which fostered an anti-colonial sentiment. Furthermore, based on this comparative study, the characteristic of nationalism from ‘above’ and nationalism from ‘below’ are apparent. In the state of absolute monarchy such as in Thailand, nationalism emerged from above, meaning that it was the product of the absolute king. In the colonized state of Yogyakarta, nationalism emerged from ‘below’. The subordinate position of the Sultan of Yogyakarta and the Pakualam to the Dutch made them unable to promote nationalism centered from the monarchy. Political essence of nationalism from Yogyakarta derived from its educated elites. This thesis also demonstrates that nationalism from ‘below’, or the egalitarian idea of nationalism was the dominant political force. It was able to change the state imposition of nationalism both in Thailand and Yogyakarta during the period 1908 – 1942.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2018-07-01T00:00:00Z
Children’s visual attention during storybook reading and their resulting vocabulary learning were examined. Participants were 21 Dutch kindergartners with an average to large general receptive...Show moreChildren’s visual attention during storybook reading and their resulting vocabulary learning were examined. Participants were 21 Dutch kindergartners with an average to large general receptive vocabulary. Eye-tracking was used to assess visual attention within the illustrations during storybook readings in which text and illustrations were presented either simultaneously or successively. Irrespective of mode of presentation, the children appeared to follow the oral text when visually inspecting the illustration. During simultaneous readings participants, especially the ones with lower inhibitory control skills, looked longer at the parts of the illustration that were highlighted by the text than at the rest of the illustration. In contrast, during non-simultaneous readings they looked as long at the text-relevant as at the text-irrelevant parts or even longer at the text-irrelevant parts. Children’s visual attention was positively related to their vocabulary learning when the illustrations and the oral text were available at the same time. A positive effect of the book readings was found on word learning from the books as compared to a control condition. However, no differences in vocabulary learning between simultaneous and non-simultaneous readings were found. In terms of attention, displaying storybook illustrations on the whiteboard, visible to all children, during classroom reading activities might be beneficial for all children, but especially for those with lower inhibitory control skills. For them, displaying the illustrations in a large format while they listen to the narration will guide them in focusing their attention and resisting distracters within the storybook illustrations.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
open access
2016-12-16T00:00:00Z
This study investigated an aspect of cognitive functioning or more specifically of executive functioning, that appears to be strongly affected in NF1: working memory. The primary goal of this...Show moreThis study investigated an aspect of cognitive functioning or more specifically of executive functioning, that appears to be strongly affected in NF1: working memory. The primary goal of this functional MRI study was to investigate whether or not the neuronal activity during working memory performance differs between NF1 children and controls. A second aim was to investigate the working memory performance outside the scanner. Participants included children with NF1 (N=21, 7 female), and controls (N=18, 10 female). Ages ranged between 8.2 and 19.1 (Mage= 13.12, SD=3.17). Neuronal activity was measured during the N-back task, and working memory performance outside the scanner was measured with the Memory Search 2D task of the ANT program. With respect to the main aim, the group means comparisons revealed non-significant differences. Though, the participants with NF1 had greater activity in the prefrontal cortex, and less activation in the posterior brain regions compared with controls. Overall, the NF1 children performed poorer on the working memory task outside the scanner. They performed even worse on the second, more demanding condition than the controls. These results may be explained by the dysfunction of the protein neurofibromin and a possible compensatory function of brain regions in individuals with NF1. These insights in brain functioning of individuals with NF1 might contribute to the development of intervention or treatment programs, medication and gene therapy.Show less
