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Rooney, Brendan
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Rooney, Brendan
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Rooney, Brendan
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- PublicationThe apparent reality of movies and emotional arousal: A study using physiological and self-report measuresHistorical developments of cinema technology have contributed to the apparent reality of movie-goers' experience. The current study uses both self-report and physiological measures (heart-rate, skin conductance, skin temperature) as indices of 29 participants' negative emotional arousal, so as to investigate the effect of increasing a movie's perceptual realism (i.e., stereoscopic depth) on emotional experience. Data were recorded while half of the participants viewed emotional movie scenes in 3D and half viewed them in 2D. The groups did not differ significantly in terms of their self-reported feelings of negative emotional arousal, tonic skin conductance level or skin temperature. However, the 3D group reported their experience as significantly more perceptually realistic (natural), and they also demonstrated a significantly higher heart-rate change-score than their counterparts in the 2D condition. Importantly, the current study provides evidence that these results are not due to group differences in emotional sensitivity, engagement, or the novelty of the 3D effect. Group differences in heart-rate, but not skin conductance level, suggest that increasing stereoscopic depth reduces the emotional regulation processes. Although caution is expressed about assumptions of causation, consideration is given to the idea that increased physiological arousal contributes to perceived apparent reality and vice versa.
1563Scopus© Citations 38 - PublicationViewer versus Film: Exploring Interaction Effects of Immersion and Cognitive Stance on the Heart Rate and Self-Reported Engagement of Viewers of Short Films(2014-06)
; ; An immersive viewing environment compels the viewer to attend more to the film. Such immersion is associated with increased emotional experience in the viewer. Thus, for an emotional film, an immersive environment should arouse more intense emotional engagement than a less immersive environment. Viewers can actively regulate their cognitive engagement with the film. For example, viewers can remind themselves it's not real, or conversely, they can make extra efforts to empathise with the character. The aim of the study was to explore participant's cognitive engagement with film and how this interacts with the immersiveness of the viewing environment. Self-report measures of emotional arousal and engagement were higher for participants who viewed the films in a more immersive environment and those who were instructed to take an involved stance345 - PublicationEstablishing Waiting Time Thresholds in Interactive Web Mapping Applications for Network QoE ManagementCustomer expectations will continue to drive communication service developers to optimise their use of network resources based on user satisfaction. Thus, network platforms need to be remodelled from Quality of Service (QoS) centric to Quality of Experience (QoE) aware platforms. The perceived QoE for interactive web applications such as Google maps or Openstreetmaps is dominated by waiting time, i.e. the perceived time to render the page and map. Studies have explored waiting time estimation for Web QoE applications (e.g. email, downloads, web pages). Perceived waiting time for web mapping applications have been less comprehensively explored. The relationship between perceived waiting time and network QoS is a key QoE management factor to enable QoE aware networks. In this paper, we review the principle of network QoE management and the perception of waiting times. We present experimental design and methodology that facilitate the identification of waiting time thresholds for web applications, using web maps as a use case. We outline our results along with a statistical analysis and discussion interpreting the results and their applications. Finally, we discuss follow-up experiments and how they could be developed and applied in the network QoE management.
156Scopus© Citations 6 - PublicationActually in the cinema: A field study comparing real 3D and 2D movie patrons' attention, emotion and film satisfactionWhile 3D movies and fantasy film genre rise in popularity, the empirical exploration of viewers' cognitive and emotional engagement with film is currently limited and entirely derived from laboratory based studies of small samples. This study investigated the effect of stereoscopic realism (3D effect) on viewers' attention, emotion and satisfaction by collecting data from 225 cinema patrons who were leaving the movie theatre having just viewed Thor. The viewers from the 3D condition rated their experience as more perceptually realistic and reported being less distracted during the film than their 2D counterparts. Yet no significant group differences were observed in self-reported emotional arousal or satisfaction with the whole experience. Further analysis revealed that perceptual realism was a better predictor of viewer satisfaction than emotional arousal. We consider the idea that these findings may be a function of the fantasy genre and call for researchers to extend this line of study.
837Scopus© Citations 43 - PublicationThe Nature of Realism Appraisals in Virtual Reality and Television: Protocol for a Systematic Scoping Review(2017-01-02)
; Busselle and Greenberg (2000) conducted a narrative review of the literature on realism judgements in film and television. They reported that there are problems in defining, conceptualising and operationalising realism. With huge changes in both TV and media technology in the last sixteen years, a review of the literature on realism is now necessary. The current protocol outlines the methodology for a scoping review based on Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) framework and the PRISMA guidelines. The proposed review will focus on the literature on realism appraisals of virtual reality and television. The proposed review then aims to synthesise these under a neurocognitive framework, to address some of the issues in current realism conceptualisations and contribute towards a comprehensive theory of such realism appraisals.68 - PublicationCoaches’ Mental Health Literacy and Role Perceptions for Supporting Young People’s Mental HealthCoaches’ engagement in helping behaviors such as promotion, prevention, and early intervention may help to support young people’s mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine how coaches’ mental health literacy and role perceptions would relate to their engagement in these helping behaviors with young people in the sporting environment. Two hundred ninety-six Gaelic games coaches (M age = 41.96, SD = 9.78; 14% female) completed an online survey containing a self-report measure of mental health literacy relevant to depression, and measures examining role perceptions (i.e., role breadth and role efficacy) for and engagement in prevention, promotion, and early intervention. Results from three path analyses revealed that mental health literacy was not directly associated with any of the helping behaviors, but there were significant indirect effects of mental health literacy for promotion, prevention, and early intervention via role breadth and role efficacy. Enabling coaches to engage in these helping behaviors by developing their knowledge, competence, and beliefs that these actions are an expected part of the role may provide an alternative and informal source of initial support for young people. Lay summary: This study investigated coaches’ mental health literacy, their role perceptions, and how these factors may influence coaches’ engagement in behaviors that can support young people’s mental health. The results suggest that developing coaches’ knowledge, competence, and beliefs may enable them to engage in these helping behaviors within the sporting environment.
343Scopus© Citations 7 - PublicationPsychological characteristics of Irish clerical sexual offenders(Routledge (Taylor & Francis), 2011-09)
; ; ; Controlled studies suggest that clerical child sexual offenders may be better adjusted psychologically than their lay counterparts, although no studies of Irish clerical offenders have been reported. The aim of this study was to compare clerical and non-clerical sexual offenders with a normal control group, within an Irish context, on broad-band personality traits and narrow-band psychological characteristics that have been identified as risk factors for child sexual abuse. Thirty clerical men and 73 laymen who had sexually abused children and 30 lay controls completed the NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO-PI-R), the Sexual Offender Assessment Pack (SOAP) and the Multiphasic Sex Inventory (MSI). The three groups differed significantly on 11 of 18 dependent variables. The only variable which distinguished between the two groups of offenders was conscientiousness, with clerical offenders being more conscientious than lay offenders. The two groups of offenders showed significantly lower self-esteem than normal controls and scores indicative of greater denial on the MSI sexual social desirability scale. However, they also showed greater agreeableness and empathic concern than the control group. Compared with the control group, the lay offenders (but not the clerical offenders) showed greater neuroticism, less extraversion, less openness, greater emotional loneliness and more sensitivity to personal distress in others than the control group but also showed greater assertiveness. These results indicate that there were few differences between clerical and lay sexual offenders, and that clerical offenders differed from normal controls less than lay offenders on the Big Five personality traits and psychological risk factors for sexual offending assessed by the SOAP and MSI.798Scopus© Citations 8 - PublicationEvaluation of functional family therapy in an Irish contextIn an Irish context we conducted a retrospective archival study of functional family therapy (FFT) for adolescents with behavioural problems. Strengths and difficulties questionnaire data were collected from 118 families at the beginning and end of therapy (at baseline and follow up for dropouts) in a community-based clinic in a socially disadvantaged Dublin suburb. Analyses of the improvement in mean scores and clinical recovery rates showed that the outcome was associated with treatment completion and the extent to which therapists adhered to the FFT treatment manual. Therapy completers treated by high-adherent therapists had the most favourable outcome. In contrast, the worst outcome occurred for dropouts. The outcome of cases treated by low-adherent therapists fell between these two extremes. These results show that FFT may be effectively implemented in an Irish context, and that the effectiveness of treatment is associated with families remaining in treatment for an average of seventeen sessions, and receiving treatment from therapists who implement FFT with a high degree of fidelity.
693Scopus© Citations 24 - PublicationDifferential diagnosis and comorbidity of ADHD and anxiety in adults(Wiley Online Library, 2017-09-12)
; ; ; ; Objectives: The aim of the present study was to examine symptom profiles of people diagnosed with ADHD and/or anxiety in order to determine the validity of widely used ADHD and anxiety rating scales for differential diagnostic use and to develop modified measures that take symptom overlap into account. Design: A cross sectional design was used to assess differences in rating scale scores between a clinical (n=52) and control (n=74) sample as well as differences among subgroups of the clinical sample (22 ADHD; 16 ADHD+ANX; 14 ANX). Method: Participants completed an online questionnaire where they responded to the Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS; Conners et al., 1999) and State Trait Anxiety Inventory scales (STAI; Spielberger et al., 1983). Results: Results showed that the CAARS and STAI had limited sensitivity and specificity, and may lack in ability to differentially diagnose ADHD and/or anxiety. Cluster analysis was used to guide the proposal of modifications for the two scales, which were to use inattentive items only for the CAARS and to exclude state anxiety-present items on the STAI for use in differential diagnosis. Further parametric analysis supported these proposed modifications. Conclusions: Clinicians should be made aware of the limitations of the CAARS and STAI scales in terms of specificity, when used to inform differential diagnosis of ADHD and anxiety. Further analysis on the psychometric properties of these modified scales is needed in order to confirm that they are valid and reliable scales.1367Scopus© Citations 10