Introduction. Adolescence represents a period of high risk for the development anxiety problems and disorders. This is due to an impaired extinction of fear. Adolescents seem to show a less...Show moreIntroduction. Adolescence represents a period of high risk for the development anxiety problems and disorders. This is due to an impaired extinction of fear. Adolescents seem to show a less successful fear extinction, but unclear remains if sex and puberty are of influence. Additionally, it remains unclear whether gifted or typical developing adolescents are more vulnerable to an impaired fear extinction. Therefore, this study examines the question “Do sex and puberty affect fear extinction learning in gifted versus typically developing early-adolescents?”. Method. The role of sex, puberty and being a gifted or typical developing adolescent on the fundamental process of fear extinction were measured with the ‘Fear Conditioning Task: The Screaming Lady’ and the Self-Rating Scale for Pubertal Development (N = 130). The obtained data was analyzed by looking at several main- and interaction-effects with a Repeated Mixed Measures ANOVA. Results. Girls seem to better learn fear than boys. Prepubertal adolescents seem to be better at extinguishing fear than pubertal participants. Gifted and typical developing adolescents showed an equal process of fear extinction. Prepubertal adolescents that follow regular education seem to better learn fear than pubertal and/or gifted adolescents. Discussion. Findings in this study contradict with findings in literature. Only the given that prepubertal adolescents seem to be better at extinguishing fear than pubertal participants can be confirmed. Further research on the complex interactions of this study should be done to make conclusions on processes of fear extinction in adolescents.Show less
The idea of displacing humans from our position of established viewpoints is provocative but necessary in order to better face our impending extinction. If we do not expand our visualities we will...Show moreThe idea of displacing humans from our position of established viewpoints is provocative but necessary in order to better face our impending extinction. If we do not expand our visualities we will not get this chance again. My research explores how nonhuman vision encourages us to confront anthropocentrism - to reconceptualise the way we see ourselves in our domination of all worldly inhabitants. I examine how we can develop ethical ways of living and interacting with others by creating a video work that imagines what it is like to see as a dog. Dogs are one of our closest companions and we have taken away their agency in almost every aspect of their lives. By looking with dogs through a makeshift camera apparatus, I have cultivated an empathetic understanding on how they perceive the human-constructed world. Dogs know how to live well, so we should start believing them.Show less
As we are currently witnessing what is often called the sixth mass extinction, photography is facing a new challenge. It can either respond with acting upon the “rescuist” impulse which often...Show moreAs we are currently witnessing what is often called the sixth mass extinction, photography is facing a new challenge. It can either respond with acting upon the “rescuist” impulse which often arises under such dark prospects (by keeping endangered species alive in the form of an image), or follow a more self-reflective path. In my written as well as visual research, I use lichens — the symbiotical growth of algae, fungus and bacteria — as a metaphor through which to explore the precarity of our environmental conditions. The resulting photograph which is normally said to “immortalise" turns out to be a trap, as lichens become less likely to die as they grow older. This thesis aims to investigate how photographing extraordinarily durable organisms in times of ecological instability challenges the notion of photography as an embalming practice. It delves into the aesthetic implications of the current condition — joined under the term Anthropocene, by introducing the concepts of Timothy Morton’s “hyperobjects” and Tim Ingold’s “leaky things.” Subsequently, it scales up to the level of photography as a medium declared dead multiple times, often following major technological shifts. Here, extinction as an affective threat takes the place of such a disturbance, and, understood as a generative process, serves as the basis for speculating about the future of photography.Show less
The Malaysian government and Malaysian NGOs engage in a variety of institutional collaborations to protect their numerous endangered species from extinction. However, there is a general tendency...Show moreThe Malaysian government and Malaysian NGOs engage in a variety of institutional collaborations to protect their numerous endangered species from extinction. However, there is a general tendency among such institutional conservation collaborations to fail to achieve their goal(s), resulting in a delay of the aspired outcome of the collaboration or in the extinction of the endangered species. This thesis aims to understand why such collaborations fail to reach their goal(s) by examining the institutional collaboration on the conservation of the critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros, involving the governments and NGOs of Malaysia and Indonesia as well as their international partners. The general findings indicate that possible inequalities in the position, interests and priorities of the actors involved, and a resulting lack of goal congruence, are vital concerns to take into account and to address, as they obstruct the conservation progress.Show less
This thesis examines whether the neoclassical intensifiers extra-, hyper-, mega-, super-, and ultra- are in competition, and if so, whether this competition is leaning towards adaptation of the...Show moreThis thesis examines whether the neoclassical intensifiers extra-, hyper-, mega-, super-, and ultra- are in competition, and if so, whether this competition is leaning towards adaptation of the various forms to different uses or towards extinction of one or several forms. In order to collect data to answer the research questions, the Corpus of Contemporary American English was used. For each individual neoclassical intensifier, a random sample of approximately 100 tokens was extracted from the corpus. The data were then analysed for their independency, the category of the base word, whether the intensifiers were used in a positive, negative or neutral context, and their meaning or function, including replaceability. The results suggest that the five neoclassical intensifier do compete, and that this competition is leaning towards adaptation of the various forms on different levels.Show less
In this Master Thesis a novel approach is presented to study the extinction of the giant hominid Gigantopithecus blacki from Palaeolithic Southeast Asia, around 300 ka in the Middle Pleistocene,...Show moreIn this Master Thesis a novel approach is presented to study the extinction of the giant hominid Gigantopithecus blacki from Palaeolithic Southeast Asia, around 300 ka in the Middle Pleistocene, while early Homo survived. This novel approach consists of alternative solutions to established methods, based on a multidisciplinary background. It concerns palaeozoloogical questions from an archaeological interest that require to be solved with 3D virtual reality methods, including 3D Photogrammetry and Occlusal Fingerprint Analysis (OFA). After Comparative Morphometric Analyses (CMA’s) on the dentition and mandibles of 4 analogue hominid species (G. gorilla, P. pygmaeus, P. boisei and H. sapiens), 3D Photogrammetry and Occlusal Fingerprint Analysis (OFA) were performed on isolated G. blacki teeth. The mastication of G. blacki, based on dental macrowear and mandibular morphology as proxies, could reveal many inferences on the relationship between mastication and extinction. These inferences included: (1) dental occlusal surface area which facilitated dental wear; (2) the distribution of dental wear facets per wear types; (3) the orientation of wear facets; (4) dental arcade shape; (5) specific morphometric regions used during mastication; (6) specific adaptation to a restricted palaeoenvironment (habitat and niche); and (7) palaeodiet. Surprisingly, in contrast to the hypothesis that mastication in G. blacki would be most similar to P. pygmaeus, it tends to be more similar to a G. gorilla, with a comparable ‘specialization-factor’ to P. boisei. However, the relationship found between mastication and extinction is more complex than it initially seemed. Although there exists a causal relationship, in which mastication determined palaeodiet, which eventually caused extinction of G. blacki, the reality might be more complex than this rather simplified relationship. Therefore, the relationship between mastication and extinction is not one-to-one, but should always be considered in association with other factors. Comparative interpretations between G. blacki and H. erectus (sensu lato) on ‘failure versus success’ from an ‘inferior versus superior’ approach, are false and not justified. However, such a hierarchical comparison does seems justified with H. floresiensis. As it was vulnerable to similar palaeoenvironmental fluctuations as G. blacki. Overall, dental macrowear and mandibular morphology as reliable proxies for mastication and extinction have great potential, but should be interpreted cautiously to avoid over-interpretations. Therefore, this Master Thesis is a pilot-study for future research.Show less
