https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/74229 2026-05-06T09:26:09Z 2026-05-06T09:26:09Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/122438 2025-12-11T08:38:12Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The Żabbar Parish Archive located at the Żabbar Sanctuary Museum and its importance to social history Abstract: Parish archives provide primary sources of information on a diversity of topics. The records held at the archival institutions, created according to canon law regulations and counter-checked by the ecclesiastical superiors, are a reliable primary source trusted by researchers and the civil authorities alike. Until the British government, civil authorities had relied on parish records to administer the Maltese islands’ population. The present civil authorities still recognise the authority of Church records and accept them in legal issues. The present author, who started volunteering at the Żabbar Parish Archive in 2012, noticed that the most queries to research in parish archives, even by historians, tend to centre on family and genealogy research. Using as a case study the Żabbar Parish Archive, this dissertation aims to show the importance of parish archives as a primary source for historical research, detailing the typical series found in it and their potential for new history. The dissertation proceeds by discussing and suggesting access methods to these archives, indexes creation, preservation aspects and digitisation processes. Description: B.KIM. (Hons)(Melit.)

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/88892 2022-02-14T10:55:45Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The MILO-switch task : comparing online and app-based assessment Abstract: In this study, an online variant of the MILO task was used to examine whether basic findings from previous iPad studies generalise to a new experimental scenario. Furthermore, the study aimed to examine whether the distinct saw-tooth pattern of reaction times reported by Thornton and Horowitz (2020b) was caused by chunking responses into pairs, or rather related to whether items were letters or digits. Twenty four participants each completed a Sequential block (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, A, B, C, D, E, F) and a Mixed block (e.g., 1, A, 2, B, 3, C, 4, D, 5, E, 6, F) of MILO trials, with each block consisting of 15 trials where the target items vanished when selected, and 15 trials where they remained visible (Vanish/Remain condition). The two trial conditions were randomly interleaved. The order of initial stimulus type (letter or digit) was counterbalanced across participants. Results showed that participants take longer to carry out the MILO task online compared to on an iPad, although SRT patterns were generally very similar. One notable difference was a constant offset between Vanish and Remain trials during the Sequential blocks of trials. Finally, stimulus order did not affect the saw-tooth pattern during mixed blocks of trials, suggesting this feature arises due to the tendency to chunk the overall sequence into response pairs. Description: M.Sc.(Melit.)

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/88884 2022-02-14T10:54:50Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) on visual perceptual learning of faces through noise Abstract: This study sought to examine the effect of transcutaneous auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation (taVNS) on visual perceptual learning of faces (face learning). Research about taVNS is limited and there has been no attempt to combine this area with face learning prior to this study. Experiment 1 (n = 12) measured both sensory (i.e. when a sensation of stimulation becomes present) and sub-sensory thresholds (i.e. when a sensation stops being present) in order for the researchers to familiarise themselves with and select the stimulation devices (Chattanooga’s Cefar® TENS, the NeuroTrac® TENS, and the Parasym™ devices) for the main experiment. Stimulation was delivered at sub-sensory thresholds in the main experiment. Experiment 2 used a single-subject/psychophysics design (n = 4), in which each participant took part in multiple sessions over the course of 6 days. All participants experienced both Active Stimulation (taVNS directed at the left tragus and previously correlated with neuroplasticity) and Sham Stimulation (directed at the left earlobe and expected to have no effect) in a counterbalanced order. Stimulation was delivered during a face learning task where participants were required to match a gradually less obscured face with its unobscured double as quickly as possible. There was a significant effect of Repetition (i.e. how many times a face was encountered) which indicates that face learning took place during this experiment. There was no significant effect of Stimulation Type (i.e. whether the vague nerve was stimulated via the tragus). Due to this, there is no sufficient evidence supporting the hypothesis that taVNS enhances or inhibits face learning. Although the difference was not significant, Active Stimulation appeared to be linked to a slight initial advantage, but less prominent learning than Sham Stimulation. Description: M.Sc.(Melit.)

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/88426 2022-02-08T05:53:00Z 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The impact of music on likability and attitude toward the brand : an experiment with Coca-Cola Abstract: Advertisement have been around and dominating our everyday lives, from watching television to scrolling on social media. It has been used for varies reasons such as notifying the public to promoting products/service. Advertisement is made up of different aspect but one of them being background music, where one has to wonder if it has an effect on likability and attitude of the viewer. Furthermore, one has to ask whether gender and, moreover, age has an effect on likability and attitude. One company that ‘its adverts have been stood out from the rest is Coca-Cola, especially the music part of the advert, to a point where viewers can identify the brand from its music and request it to be played on the radio. For this research ‘Taste the feeling’ and its original music was compared with two other genres of music, techno and classical music. In this study two methods where used, the quantitative where participants were divided in 3 groups and asked to fill out a questioner. Then the qualitative method was used after when 2 participants from each group were asked to do an indepth interview. The questions which were asked where to determine the likability and therefore the attitude, this is because studies have shown that individual changes its attitude when they like or dislike a person or a product. This research was done to help us understand the power music has when it comes to advertisement and furthermore to understand what different genres of music do to different age groups. Description: B. Comms (Hons)(Melit.)

2021-01-01T00:00:00Z