The study examined the effect of feedback and gender on confidence, risk taking and decision making. Surveys were administered to 88 male and 110 female college students (N=198). Males were shown to be higher in risk taking than females. Individuals who received positive feedback were highest in both risk taking and confidence. Among individuals who received positive feedback, men were especially higher in risk taking and confidence than women. Regarding decision making, the study showed that there was no significant difference between males and females. Although, males had an advantage in the positive feedback condition and a disadvantage in the negative feedback condition, the results were not significant. Decision making was shown to be positively correlated with confidence but not with risk taking. The applications of the findings to entrepreneurship are discussed.

Observations of consistency in behavioural responses in animals suggest that animals have personality, a term previously mainly used when describing humans. The expression of differences in personality, similar to expression of variation in behaviour, is in principle dependent on genetic background, environmental factors and experiences. Therefore, by estimating heritability one can determine to which extent the genes affect the phenotypic expression of behaviour. This has rarely been done for variation in animal personality. The aim of the present study was therefore to estimate the consistency and heritability of personality traits in red junglefowl chicks (Gallus gallus). Consistency of behaviours within individuals (n=100) was determined from their responses to repeated novel arena tests, novel object tests and tonic immobility tests. A comparison between the offspring and the parent generation, both with known personalities, through a linear regression enabled me to estimate heritability of behavioural responses in these birds. The results showed a consistency in exploratory, boldness, risk-taking behaviour, and fearfulness in red junglefowl. Additionally, heritability estimates for exploratory, risk-taking and foraging behaviours were found. Taken together, this shows that in the red junglefowl, similar to in other species, personality have both a heritable and an environmental component. An important aim in biology education is the scientific approach, where hypothesis, experimentation, processing results and discussing the results are in focus. Learning and gaining knowledge through the process is a key factor, and will hopefully increase the interest in science among Swedish pupils.

Anger is commonly referred to in the context of aggressive behaviors. However, little is known about more nuanced effects of this emotion on behavior, nor its neural correlates as a subjective feeling state. For instance, several studies suggest that angry people, in contrast to anxious individuals, perceive risks optimistically. It remains unknown whether these opposing effects of trait anxiety and trait anger on risk perceptions manifest in a direct behavioral measure of risk taking. Our first experiment showed, as predicted, that high trait anxiety was associated with pessimism, whereas anger exerted an optimistic bias on likelihood perceptions. However, these biases did not translate into differences in risk taking behavior. Instead of optimism, impulsivity was highlighted as a mediator of risk proneness in individuals who tend to express anger. A second project investigated the neural basis of anger as an affective state elicited by emotionally evocative social scenes. Participants' attention was directed towards transgressors or their victim, which elicited feelings of anger and sadness respectively. These distinct emotions were associated with differential activity patterns in regions related to affective processing; the amygdala, insula and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex. Individual differences in trait empathy emerged as strong modulators of these activity patterns. In contrast, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex response to transgressors versus victims correlated positively with an individual's tendency to express anger, suggesting a role of this region in the regulation of angry feelings.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-123). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (M. P. H.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wyoming, 2005. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Nov. 14, 2007). Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-55).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

Thesis (M. P. H.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Murdoch University, 2006. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Health Sciences. Bibliography: leaves 150-168.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: p. 319-354.