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In this project I examine the significance and sophistication of comedy in contemporary American storytelling, in order to get beyond its frequent characterisation as either a superficial sweetener or a form of escapism. My thesis argues instead for comedy's usefulness as a strategy for effecting multiple responses: intimacy, recognition, attachment, de-familiarisation, celebration and catharsis, all in the service of confronting the unbearable. Examining work by George Saunders, Miranda July, Donald Antrim, and the filmmaker, Jordan Peele, I argue that comic license allows for the forthright address of troubling issues; class in Saunders's short fiction; sexuality in July's first novel; national identity for Antrim and race in Peele's film, Get Out. This license is effected in multiple ways: through the obliviousness of characterological traits such as naivety and pedantry for instance, as well as through the mechanisms of incongruity and relief. Given that the works I examine are challenging, 'edgy', both in terms of style and content, I suggest that the comedy is inflected by what we might loosely call extremity. While extremity is arguably foundational to comedy, in that the comic violation of conventional boundaries necessitates it to one degree or another; I also argue that the comic license enables the work's 'extreme figurations' by ensuring the reader's or the viewer's consent. Comic pleasure thus keeps us close to what might otherwise be overwhelming. In addition, comedy's tendency towards the material and the particular - the proverbial slip on the banana skin - helps to ground or embed the extremity of the work's abstract or fantastical aspect.

When crafting a persuasive message, what is the effect of the extremity of the message’s position? Past work has demonstrated that, with greater extremity comes greater movement in recipients’ positions. However, there is also evidence that the reverse can occur: Greater extremity can lead to greater counter-arguing and reduced persuasion. The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion provides a framework to understand the range of demonstrated and possible effects, postulating that any variable in a persuasion context can function in multiple ways: serving as central arguments to be scrutinized, peripheral cues of positivity or negativity when not carefully scrutinized, or determining the extent or direction of message-related processing. Whether position extremity can determine the amount of message-related processing has not been rigorously investigated. Across two sets of two studies each, we demonstrate that, indeed, the extremity of a message can determine the amount of message-related processing. Through this process, we demonstrate that, although an extreme position may not be accepted, it can create positive attitude change if supported by strong arguments, as it increases processing of the strong supporting reasons. If supported by weak, easy-to-counterargue arguments, however, an extreme position has a negative effect on persuasion. Finally, we demonstrate that this moderating effect of argument quality is weakened at absurdly extreme positions: As a message position becomes too extreme, it loses its attention-grabbing power, and message recipients begin paying less attention to the message.

ABSTRACT"Attitudinal" models of anchoring have produced a series of clear predictions about how anchors should function over levels of extremity, as well as introducing the potential for differential consequences of initial anchored judgments based on the extent to which perceivers elaborate on the initial anchored response. The current research expands on existing anchoring literature in two distinct ways. First, the research examines differential effects of knowledge across multiple levels of anchor extremity. Past research in both the attitudes and anchoring domain has largely treated knowledge as having a dampening effect on the degree of attitude change or anchoring. However, the current work demonstrates that relatively moderate anchors (or messages that are relatively attitude-consistent) can influence judgments based on relatively high or low levels of knowledge rather equally. It is when anchors or persuasive messages become more extreme that knowledge results in different levels of influence. Second, the research examines the potential for knowledge to create differences in consequences of anchored estimates that are initially influenced equally by the high or low anchor. In each of these contexts, the research also examines the role of perceived plausibility of the anchor as a mediating mechanism for the impact of knowledge on changes in judgments. Study 1 demonstrates the important role of plausibility as a mechanism underlying the traditional knowledge effects on anchoring. Studies 2A and 2B qualifies this by demonstrating that anchoring follows an inverted-U-shaped pattern of influence and knowledge has a differential impact over levels of extremity. Finally, Studies 3 and 4 demonstrate differential resistance to change for low- and high-knowledge individuals who have initially been influenced to the same degree (by numeric anchors or information about the target, respectively).

The high strength, light weight, and flexibility of fabric protection systems makes them the preferred solution for a number of ballistic applications. Examples include body armor, fan blade containment for jet engines, and orbital debris shielding. In general, these protection systems employ plain woven fabric, most suitable for flat or gently curved geometries. Highly curved surfaces, such as personnel extremities, may be more effectively protected using fabrics of different weaves. This dissertation presents the first numerical model developed to simulate ballistic impacts into plain, harness satin, twill, and basket weave fabrics. It extends previous work on hybrid particle-finite element methods developed for fabric modeling. The extended formulation closely replicates the tensile load response and contact-impact dynamics of highly flexible yarns, by generalizing the kinematic model and density interpolation used in previous work. The formulation has been validated in three dimensional simulations of impact experiments conducted to investigate the effects of weave type on fabric ballistic performance.

The purpose of this study was to examine cognitive complexity, extremity, and the relationship between social repertory grids and life events repertory grids (LERG) in people who report a history of trauma. Effects of type of trauma on complexity and extremity scores of each type of grid were examined. Prior research into repertory grids and trauma has used only one type of grid, predominantly social grids or LERGs. Therefore, a natural, progressive step in the grid research involved investigating how individuals integrate social and life event constructs. It was hypothesized, and results show, that there is a positive correlation between complexity scores and extremity scores of social grids and LERGs. However it was not found that there was a negative correlation between trauma history and complexity scores, and that trauma acts as a moderator for cognitive complexity. Instead, it appears that the social facet of experience is key to understanding perception of traumatic experiences. Additionally, number of traumas experienced might affect social construct elaboration.

Repetitive upper extremity transfer tasks, where an object is manually transferred from one location to another, occur frequently in manufacturing and production assembly facilities, retail trades such as grocery and discount stores, and other work places. Cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) of the upper extremity have been linked to the repeated and/or forceful exertions and/or awkward postures sometimes required by these tasks. The purpose of this research was to utilize established psychophysical methodology to determine work design recommendations. A 10 centimeter visual analog scale (VAS) with verbal descriptions at the endpoints was used to measure perceived exertion. Maximum preferred weights were determined. Body part discomfort was surveyed. In the first experiment, twelve subjects determined perceived exertion as a function of weight (0.05, 1.81, and 3.63 kilograms), frequency (10, 20, and 30 transfers/minute), and distance (25, 51, and 76 centimeters) for repetitive upper extremity transfer tasks. As weight or frequency increased, VAS perceived exertion ratings increased. Weight was the most significant task parameter, followed by frequency, while the distances tested had no effect on perceived exertion. In the second experiment, twenty industrial workers determined preferred weight and perceived exertion as a function of frequency (10, 20, and 30 transfers/minute) and distance (0.5 and 1.0 meters) for repetitive upper extremity transfer tasks over an eight hour workday. As frequency or distance increased, the preferred weights decreased and the perceived exertion ratings increased significantly. The mean preferred weights for the different transfer tasks over an eight hour workday ranged from 3.3 kg with 95% confidence interval (2.8, 3.8) to 6.1 kg with 95% CI (5.4, 6.8). The mean VAS perceived exertion ratings ranged from 5.0 with 95% CI (4.2, 5.8) to 6.7 with 95% CI (6.0, 7.4). Both preferred weight and perceived exertion were consistent throughout the eight hour workdays. Neither the gender effect nor any of the interactions were significant. None of the covariates, such as subject strength, were significant. In the third experiment, twenty-four industrial workers determined overall, transferring, and screw driving perceived exertions for combination tasks that involved different proportions of transferring (left hand) and screw driving (right hand): 100% transfer; 75% transfer and 25% screw drive; 50% transfer and 50% screw drive; 25% transfer and 75% screw drive; and 100% screw drive. Overall perceived exertion was the lowest for the task that involved half transferring and half screw driving. As the combination task involved more of either the transferring or screw driving components, overall VAS perceived exertion ratings increased. Subjects were able to discriminate between the transferring and screw driving parts of the tasks. As the transferring (or screw driving) proportion of the task increased, the transferring (or screw driving) VAS perceived exertion ratings increased.

The primary purpose of this study was to begin exploring the relationship between various components of the Perceived Stress Cumulative Trauma Model (PSCTM), with particular emphasis on explicating the role of perceived psychological stress in the model. A secondary purpose was to determine the prevalence of upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders (UECTDs) in the study sample. The sample was 354 workers from three different manufacturing companies. The primary job exposure for the subjects was that they were engaged in jobs that involved repetitious movements of the upper extremities, primarily of the hands and arms. Data collection included: a detailed medical history, a comprehensive physical examination of the upper extremities, limited electrodiagnostic testing Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale, Karasek's Job Content Questionnaire, demographic information, and a measurement of repetition. Descriptive analyses, analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlational analyses, multiple linear regression, and logistic regression were used to examine the data. Several different UECTD outcomes were used in model testing. Perceived psychological stress, as measured in the study, was not a significant predictor for the majority of the UECTD outcomes. However, perceived psychological stress was a weak predictor of upper extremity subjective symptom reporting, especially subjective symptoms involving the area of the neck, shoulders, and upper arms. Repetition, a previous history of soft tissue injury, and female gender were predictors for the majority of the UECTD outcomes. In general, UECTD outcomes that were examined did not result in stable models of prediction. The major limitations that possibly accounted for the low prediction was the difficulty in measuring perceived psychological stress in one time period only and possible omission of key elements in model testing. Like most psychosocial phenomena, perceived stress is a complex construct, one that is difficult to correlate with health outcomes. Further research is necessary to examine what role, if any, that perceived stress may have in the etiology of UECTDs.