This study evaluated the effects differential reinforcement of alternative behavior on response persistence. A total of four participants from a local 2nd grade classroom participated in this study. A two component multiple schedule that included baseline (i.e., reinforcement of a target response) and DRA (i.e., reinforcement of an alternative response and reinforcement of the target response) conditions was conducted. Attempts were made to keep rates of reinforcement as similar as possible across components. Extinction was then implemented in the context associated with each component, and response persistence was measured. Results indicated three distinct patterns of responding: 1) alternative behavior was never emitted during the DRA component (two participants), 2) only the alternative behavior was emitted during the DRA component (one participant), and 3) both the target and the alternative behaviors were emitted during the DRA component (one participant). Overall, the results of this study indicated that DRA could result in inadvertent strengthening of target behavior. However, that strengthening may be mitigated if reinforcer rates are similar.

In 1986, David Lewis offered what he thought would be the decisive objection against endurantism, showing it to be an implausible theory. The problem of temporary intrinsics stated that an object cannot have two complementary intrinsic properties while maintaining identity, as endurantists claim. Perdurantism, then, must be the more plausible theory, according to Lewis. The endurantists responded to this objection by formulating different versions of endurantism designed to avoid the problem. Subsequently, the endurantist tried to undermine the perdurantist position by arguing that a perduring object cannot undergo what is considered to be genuine change. As a result, endurantism is the more plausible theory. However, the perdurantist can show that endurantism seems to fail to provide an account of change as well. In what follows, I argue that the implicit ontological commitments of the endurantists and perdurantists have prevented the problem of temporary intrinsics and change from resolving the endurantist/perdurantist debate. I offer examples of plausible ontologies for the endurantist and perdurantist in order to emphasize this problem. I will argue that, in order to resolve the debate, one must ultimately examine the ontological accounts of each theory. / Master of Arts

While research has shown that persistence is an important predictor of entrepreneurial success, evidence also indicates that entrepreneurial persistence can lead to disastrous consequences. Therefore, it is crucial to manage entrepreneurial persistence to limit an entrepreneur’s exposure to failure and improve their likelihood of success. However, our current understanding of why entrepreneurs persist is fragmented, as the determinants of persistence have yet to be integrated in a meaningful way. As a result, our current understanding of entrepreneurial persistence lacks the clarity required to manage entrepreneurial persistence effectively. I propose that psychological ownership is a key variable that facilitates the integration of the four (psychological, project, social and structural) determinants of entrepreneurial persistence. I assert that psychological ownership can provide a psychological explanation for entrepreneurial persistence by positing that entrepreneurs persist in order to address the impairment of their self-concept that results from their venture’s failure. I then establish that psychological ownership can provide a link to project determinants by noting that psychological ownership enhances the expected utility of the course of action, which increases the likelihood of entrepreneurial persistence. Following, I articulate that collective psychological ownership can provide a social explanation for entrepreneurial persistence by arguing that a team of entrepreneurs persist to address the collective impairment of their identity that stems from receiving negative feedback. Finally, I demonstrate that psychological ownership can provide a link to structural determinants by noting that psychological ownership motivates entrepreneurs to increase their commitment to their venture following negative feedback in order to prevent investors from gaining control of their ventures. In order to test my hypotheses, I modified and extended Staw’s (1976) seminal research design on escalation of commitment to fit the entrepreneurial context and conducted mediated moderation tests on data collected from 229 entrepreneurs. The results of this study show that psychological ownership is positively related to commitment when controlling for the performance of the venture. Thus, the results indicate that psychological ownership predicts entrepreneurial persistence. In addition, the results suggest that there is tentative support for the notion that psychological ownership can link the four determinants of entrepreneurial persistence and provide a holistic explanation for why entrepreneurs persist. I conclude by highlighting the importance of psychological ownership in managing entrepreneurial persistence. I note that psychological ownership can be a useful criterion for investors to identify which entrepreneurs are likely to persist and go the extra mile to advance their entrepreneurial projects. In addition, I note that an effective measure to mitigate entrepreneurial persistence, when it is time to pull the plug on an entrepreneurial project, is to reduce an entrepreneur’s psychological ownership for their ideas or ventures. / Graduate

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Adolescence is a developmental period characterized by profound social and emotional changes. Counseling can serve as a protective factor for decreasing the long-term negative emotional effects. Despite this fact, counselors continue to struggle with high rates of attrition among adolescent clients. When examining trends of client persistence in counseling across the lifespan, researchers found a relationship between the presence of internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Additionally, they found that high levels of familial stress predicted premature termination from counseling. The purpose of the current study was to create a predictive model of adolescent persistence in counseling. I examined both personal and environmental characteristics of adolescents who sought counseling services (N = 72) from an on-campus university counseling clinic that serves as a training facility for master’s and doctoral students at an accredited counselor education program in the southwestern United States. Participants were predominantly White (67.6%, n = 50), with a mean age of 14.23 (SD = 1.65). Nearly 60% (n = 44) of the clients were female, and 37.8% were male (n = 28). Beyond descriptive variables, eight predictor variables were examined: adolescent involvement in their intake, time spent on the wait list, four domains of parental stress, and parent perceptions of adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors. A multiple linear regression was conducted to understand how much of the variance in the number of counseling sessions attended by adolescent clients was explained by the predictor variables. The regression analysis was statistically significant (p = .008) and accounted for 29.1% (R2adj = .192) of the variance in sessions attended. Of the variables examined, externalizing behaviors (42.82%) accounted for the most variance in sessions attended, followed by whether the adolescent was involved in the intake (29.16%), internalizing behaviors (12.96%), and parent-focused stress (10.30%). An examination of the two strongest predictors in correlation to the number of sessions attended revealed a negative relationship with externalizing behaviors and a positive relationship with involvement in the intake, suggesting that adolescents who present with externalizing behaviors and who are not involved in their intake are likely to attend fewer counseling sessions. To understand the differences among adolescents who prematurely terminate from counseling and those who persist in counseling, I conducted a series of univariate and multivariate analyses. Comparing the means of the predictor variables revealed no significant differences between any of the predictor variables examined, although internalizing and externalizing behavior scores fell within the borderline clinical range for adolescents who persisted in counseling. Finally, a predictive discriminant analysis to assess to what degree identified variables predicted premature termination from or persistence in counseling yielded a 75% hit rate. Given this knowledge, counselors may be able to pro-actively identify adolescents who are at risk of prematurely terminating from counseling and implement retention strategies.

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This study examined the relationships between 1. institutional expenditures on academic support as measured by total amount and student persistence; 2. institutional expenditures on academic support as measured by amount per student FTE and student persistence; 3. institutional expenditures on student services as measured by total amount and student persistence; and 4. institutional expenditures on student services as measured by amount per FTE. It also explored the relationship between student engagement as measured by the five benchmarks (Academic Challenge, Active & Collaborative Learning, Student Faculty Interaction, Enriching Education Experience, and Supportive Campus Environment) and student persistence. Finally, it explored relationships among institutional expenditures, student engagement and student persistence. The study is a non experimental quantitative study utilizing two data sources, NSSE 2005 survey data and IPEDS data source. The study utilized data from 71 public Research Institutions Extensive and Intensive on the 2000 Carnegie Classification of institutions. The findings showed that institutional expenditures on academic support are positively significantly related to persistence. Institutional expenditures on student services are also positively significantly related to persistence. The variance in persistence attributed to difference in total academic support is higher than that attributed to by student services. Likewise, the variance attributed to student support total amount is higher than variance attributed to by student support per student FTE. Examination of the relationship between Student Engagement and Retention showed that four of the student engagement benchmarks were significant. Academic Challenge was not significant. Active and Collaborative Learning and Student Faculty Interaction were significant but both had negative coefficients. Results also showed that there were significant relationships among institutional expenditures, student engagement and persistence through partial mediation in the structural equation model. One benchmark in the model, Student Faculty Interaction was however not significant.

Thesis advisor: Marina Vasilyeva / The ability to persist when encountering challenges is critical to math learning. However, little research has investigated cross-cultural differences in behavioral persistence during math problem-solving. Furthermore, factors and mechanisms that can help explain these potential differences are poorly investigated. The present research documented the existence of cross-cultural variability in persistence and investigated the role of two sets of motivational factors –academic mindsets and social goals - in explaining persistence. Participants were college students from top universities in Massachusetts, U.S. (N=157) and Beijing, China (N=101). The study included two sessions. In the first session, participants completed questionnaires on academic mindsets (including beliefs about the malleability of general intelligence, math ability, and effort), self-construal, endorsement and internalization of social goals. In the second session, participants completed two math tasks, during which their persistence was assessed with two measures: Task Preference (level of preference for continuing on a challenging math task), and Persistence Time (amount of time spent on a challenging math problem). Results showed that Chinese participants were more persistent, as measured by Persistence Time but not Task Preference. Further, participants’ academic math-specific mindsets predicted their persistence in math problem solving. Students from both countries showed similar effect of beliefs about math ability: participants who were more growth-minded (i.e., viewed this ability as more malleable) were more likely to persist than other students after receiving negative feedback on prior performance. However, effort beliefs predicted persistence in a culturally-specific way: among Chinese participants, those who were less growth-minded were more persistent. In addition to mindsets, self-construal predicted math persistence. For students from both countries, interdependent self-construal predicted higher persistence. Moreover, endorsement and internalization of some social goals (affiliation and responsibility) interacted in predicting persistence for Chinese participants. Overall, the results of the present study suggest that academic mindsets and social goals play important roles in math problem-solving persistence, but these roles vary by culture. These findings help deepen our understanding of behavioral persistence as well as cross-cultural differences in math problem-solving. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.