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Many previous studies have examined the effects of goal attributes on subsequent behavior and performance, with consistently positive findings. However, there are few studies of goal processes, i.e., how reactions to goal origin and subsequent shifts in goal origin are exhibited in behavioral and subjective domains. The present research viewed reactions to goal origins (self-set or assigned) and to shifts in goal origin within a theory of personal control/psychological reactance. In addition, two individual difference constructs, locus of control and Type A Behavior Pattern, were measured to study their relationships with the dependent variables. A laboratory experiment was conducted to examine several hypotheses drawn from the psychological reactance literature concerning the joint effects of Initial Goal Origin and subsequent Shifted Goal Origin on subjective and behavioral responses. The subjective responses included task and performance satisfaction, goal acceptance, preferences for increasing employee self-control in the workplace, and preferred method of goal-setting. Behavioral measures included two different operational definitions of performance: quantity and goal attainment. The analyses revealed weak support for the hypotheses. The manipulation check composite revealed that the groups perceived the manipulations along the Initial Goal Origin dimension. There were statistically significant differences for goal acceptance, with the two shift groups displaying a crossover pattern between trial blocks. Simple interaction effect analyses conducted at each level of the Shifted Goal Origin factor revealed a statistically significant interaction between Initial Goal Origin and Trial Blocks for the Shift level only. Goal attainment scores revealed an apparently practical, yet statistically nonsignificant, effect for the three-way interaction of the manipulated factors over trial blocks. Moreover, the pattern of correlations between goals and performance reversed in the predicted direction over trial blocks for the two shift groups. However, there were no significant differences for the factors on the raw performance, satisfaction, or preference variables. The individual difference variables did not make a significant contribution to the prediction of the dependent variables after the effects of group membership were statistically controlled. The results are discussed in terms of the limitations of the method used, the weak support for the framework which guided the research, and implications for further research and implementation of goal-setting systems in organizations. / Ph. D.

Studies involving social learning have shown that social interactions are influential in directing an individual's behavior toward relatively neutral stimuli. The present study investigated the possibility that social interactions direct an individual's behavior toward aversive stimuli. Following aversion conditioning to a visual (red water) or taste (3% vinegar) CS, 80 chicks individually observed an audience of two conspecifics ingest the aversive CS or observed a nondrinking audience in the presence of the CS. Observation of a drinking audience reduced the magnitude of the aversion to the visual CS but not to the taste CS. This effect was demonstrated in latency to respond and in log intake. The differences in observational training effects found for the visual CS but not for the taste CS may have been due to differences in visual appearance between red water and vinegar. Percent intake data revealed no differences in strength of conditioning between red water and vinegar. Subjects were retested five days following the last day of initial testing. No evidence was found for observational training effects in retention. Findings were interpreted by the classical conditioning model. / Ph. D.

Master of Science / Department of Computing and Information Sciences / David A. Gustafson / IEDs are a prevailing threat to today’s armed forces and civilians. With some IEDs being well concealed and planted sometimes days or weeks prior to detonation, it is extremely difficult to detect their presence. Remotely triggered IEDs do offer an indirect method of detection as an insurgent must monitor the IED’s kill zone and detonate the device once the intended target is in range. Within the safe confines of a video game we can model the behavior of an insurgent using remotely triggered IEDs. Specifically, we can build a model of the sequence of actions an insurgent goes through immediately prior to detonating an IED. Using this insurgent model, we can recognize the behavior an insurgent would exhibit before detonating an IED. Once the danger level reaches a certain threshold, we can then react by changing our original course to a new one that does not cross the area we believe an IED to be in. We can show proof of concept of this by having human players take on the role of an insurgent in an online video game in which they try to destroy an autonomous agent. Successful tactics used by the autonomous agent should then be good tactics in the real world as well.

Motivated by challenges and opportunities in nutritional epidemiology and food journaling, ubiquitous computing researchers have proposed numerous techniques for automated dietary monitoring (ADM) over the years. Although progress has been made, a truly practical system that can automatically recognize what people eat in real-world settings remains elusive. This dissertation addresses the problem of ADM by focusing on practical eating moment detection. Eating detection is a foundational element of ADM since automatically recognizing when a person is eating is required before identifying what and how much is being consumed. Additionally, eating detection can serve as the basis for new types of dietary self-monitoring practices such as semi-automated food journaling. In this thesis, I show that everyday eating moments such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner can be automatically detected in real-world settings by opportunistically leveraging sensors in practical, off-the-shelf wearable devices. I refer to this instrumentation approach as "commodity sensing". The work covered by this thesis encompasses a series of experiments I conducted with a total of 106 participants where I explored a variety of sensing modalities for automatic eating moment detection. The modalities studied include first-person images taken with wearable cameras, ambient sounds, and on-body inertial sensors. I discuss the extent to which first-person images reflecting everyday experiences can be used to identify eating moments using two approaches: human computation, and by employing a combination of state-of-the-art machine learning and computer vision techniques. Furthermore, I also describe privacy challenges that arise with first-person photographs. Next, I present results showing how certain sounds associated with eating can be recognized and used to infer eating activities. Finally, I elaborate on findings from three studies focused on the use of on-body inertial sensors (head and wrists) to recognize eating moments both in a semi-controlled laboratory setting and in real-world conditions. I conclude by relating findings and insights to practical applications, and highlighting opportunities for future work.