Owen, William J.

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William J. Owen

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Avian communication networks
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Digital Document
Description / Synopsis
My thesis investigates how urban noise influences the relative audibility of songs to female Mountain Chickadees (Poecile gambeli), who assess male signalling at dawn while roosting within the nest cavity. Over two breeding seasons, I monitored Mountain Chickadees breeding on an urban/rural interface in Kamloops, BC, Canada. I broadcast typical Mountain Chickadee songs, with or without added noise, towards recently unoccupied nests while simultaneously re-recording these songs with microphones outside and inside the nest box to determine the relative audibility in relation to both distance and presence/absence of noise. I then tracked individual males’ behaviour and movement during dawn signalling, while passively recording their songs with microphones — outside and inside the nest box — to determine the relative audibility of signals from the perspective of the roosting female. The relative audibility of songs decreased with increasing distance from the nest, which was compounded by increased urban noise. During dawn signalling, urban males respond to these effects by remaining closer to the nest, resulting in their songs being more audible within the nest than their rural counterparts. Overall, ambient noise and distance had an interactive effect on relative audibility of songs, suggesting complex dynamics of communication networks that may result in a trade-off, where males are forced to prioritize directing their signals to either their social mates or neighbours.
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Effects of respiratory muscle endurance training on cerebral oxygenation and hemodynamics, and effort perceptions during maximal exercise.
Content type
Digital Document
Description / Synopsis
The primary objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a 4-week respiratory muscle endurance training (eRMT) program on the physiological and psychological aspects of central fatigue using, respectively, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and quantification of effort perceptions during maximal exercise. A secondary objective was to assess any impact of eRMT on respiratory health and exercise performance. This study compared pre- and post-eRMT data from the same group of healthy adults. The results indicated that eRMT did not have any effect on respiratory function, exercise time to exhaustion, or physiological responses to exercise but significantly decreased ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) during exercise. An increase in the concentrations of oxygenated hemoglobin [O2Hb], deoxygenated hemoglobin [HHb], and total hemoglobin [tHb] during exercise was observed post-eRMT compared to pre-eRMT, and this increase differed by hemisphere. Based on these preliminary findings, we suggest an eRMTinduced left-to-right hemodynamic shift during exercise, consistent with the change from a novel to a learned task.
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Multidisciplinary mental health supervision in a rural context
Content type
Digital Document
Description / Synopsis
The purpose of this study was to better understand how multidisciplinary mental health supervision might work in rural remote settings. There is a need for supervisory approaches that address the unique contextual challenges in rural and remote multidisciplinary service delivery, such as management approaches, isolation, and lack of support. This study focused on three areas linked to multidisciplinary mental health supervision: challenges and opportunities, role perception, and differences in approaches. This study also attempted to reconcile the core supervisory requirements with the contextual challenges. The few studies on rural remote supervision have primarily focused on general internal and external factors facing rural remote professionals. Despite its importance, knowledge of how multidisciplinary rural remote supervisors perceive and/or appreciate their roles is limited. This study was informed by social construction and symbolic interaction theories, and guided by three research questions: 1) What challenges and opportunities do mental health supervisors experience in northern British Columbia? 2) How do frontline workers, supervisors, and senior managers perceive the roles and activities of mental health supervisors in northern British Columbia? 3) How are supervisory approaches in various mental health disciplines different or similar in northern British Columbia? The research methodology was qualitative and the study design adopted an interpretive, social interactionist approach. Source triangulation enhanced both the credibility and transferability of the findings. The sources included three participant groups: frontline mental health workers, mental health supervisors, and senior mental health managers. Another triangulation source was the context and setting review of BC’s complex mental health jurisdictions. Triangulation was also achieved by interviewing participants who worked in different settings, organizations, and geographic locations. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis resulting in 11 manifest themes and the following five latent themes: Difficult, overwhelming responsibilities; stressful, complicated decision making; the endless campaign for professional leadership support; mentorship in remote practice; and a struggle in collaborative plurality. Most of the participants expressed the wish for more support in their professional work. The findings from this study provide employers with new insights into multidisciplinary supervisory work and also emphasize the need for practical and specific ideas for much needed support for rural remote supervisors.
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Some Insults are Easier to Detect: The Embodied Insult Detection Effect
Content type
Digital Document
Description / Synopsis
In the present research we examined the effects of bodily experience on processing of insults in a series of semantic categorization tasks we call insult detection tasks (i.e., participants decided whether presented stimuli were insults or not). Two types of insults were used: more embodied insults (e.g., asswipe, ugly), and less embodied insults (e.g., cheapskate, twit), as well as non-insults. In Experiments 1 and 2 the non-insults did not form a single, coherent category (e.g., airbase, polka), whereas in Experiment 3 all the non-insults were compliments (e.g., eyeful, honest). Regardless of type of non-insult used, we observed facilitatory embodied insult effects such that more embodied insults were responded to faster and recalled more often than less embodied insults. In Experiment 4 we used a larger set of insults as stimuli, which allowed hierarchical multiple regression analyses. These analyses revealed that bodily experience ratings accounted for a significant amount of unique response latency, response error, and recall variability for responses to insults, even with several other predictor variables (e.g., frequency, offensiveness, imageability) included in the analyses: responses were faster and more accurate, and there was greater recall for relatively more embodied insults. These results demonstrate that conceptual knowledge of insults is grounded in knowledge gained through bodily experience.; In the present research we examined the effects of bodily experience on processing of insults in a series of semantic categorization tasks we call insult detection tasks (i.e., participants decided whether presented stimuli were insults or not). Two types of insults were used: more embodied insults (e.g., asswipe, ugly), and less embodied insults (e.g., cheapskate, twit), as well as non-insults. In Experiments 1 and 2 the non-insults did not form a single, coherent category (e.g., airbase, polka), whereas in Experiment 3 all the non-insults were compliments (e.g., eyeful, honest). Regardless of type of non-insult used, we observed facilitatory embodied insult effects such that more embodied insults were responded to faster and recalled more often than less embodied insults. In Experiment 4 we used a larger set of insults as stimuli, which allowed hierarchical multiple regression analyses. These analyses revealed that bodily experience ratings accounted for a significant amount of unique response latency, response error, and recall variability for responses to insults, even with several other predictor variables (e.g., frequency, offensiveness, imageability) included in the analyses: responses were faster and more accurate, and there was greater recall for relatively more embodied insults. These results demonstrate that conceptual knowledge of insults is grounded in knowledge gained through bodily experience.
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