During the times we live in, writing has become a very important skill for all young students and adults to have. Whether they are taking a standardized test or putting together a resume, basic writing skills are necessary. In this thesis, I will attempt to prove that teaching the six traits of writing with the use of mentor texts is a great, creative way to help students learn the writing process. I will also explore how to align the concept of the six traits of writing with the new Common Core State Standards. This topic is very important when it comes to education. Huge emphasis is placed on the skill of being able to write, and our students are expected to be proficient in this process. Through writing students can communicate emotions, ideas, and knowledge they have pertaining to different subject areas. As a whole, the writing process can become daunting for young students. By using the six traits of writing through mentor texts, students can learn chunk by chunk and eventually master the skill of writing. Experts in writing decided that breaking different skills into manageable components might prove helpful to authors of all ages and skill levels (Culham, 2008). The second component to be addressed is aligning the six traits concept with the Common Core State Standards. All across the nation, states have adopted these new standards and school communities are trying to figure out how to make the switch. By aligning the Common Core State Standards with the six traits of writing, teachers will be able to eliminate this process for the writing portion of the standards. For my own research, I have chosen to create and modify minilessons for each of the six traits of writing with use of mentor texts. Common Core State Standards will be aligned with these minilessons for educators to use as they see fit.

The primary objective of this study was to explore the relationship between personality and employability using a sample of 100 employees at a meat producing company in South Africa. A secondary objective was to determine if personality could be used to predict employability, and whether individuals from different demographic groups differed regarding their employability. The instruments used were the sixteen personality factor inventory (16PF) and the Van Der Heidje employability measure. The research findings indicated that the personality factors of submissiveness and seriousness correlated to the employability dimensions of anticipation/ optimization and occupational expertise respectively. Openness and corporate sense were also correlated, with anxiety in particular correlating with the overall employability measure. Differences between the race groups and employability were also noted. Particular interventions aimed at improving individual career decision making and employability practices within the organisation concluded the study. / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Le concept de pouvoir est très présent au niveau des organisations puisque les gestionnaires occupent un poste qui leur attribue du pouvoir. Selon l'utilisation qu'ils en font, ceux-ci produisent un impact positif ou négatif sur leurs subordonnés. Pour mieux comprendre ce qui amène une personne à utiliser le pouvoir dans un sens plutôt que dans un autre, il importe de déterminer les variables en cause. L'une des variables liée à l'exercice du pouvoir est celle des caractéristiques de la personnalité de celui qui l'exerce. La présente recherche a comme objectif d'identifier les comportements des individus en position de pouvoir et de mettre en lien ces comportements avec des traits de leur personnalité. Tout d'abord, des entrevues sont réalisées auprès de 12 subordonnées de différentes organisations afin de compléter les informations de la documentation. Les résultats du codage des entrevues font ressortir un total de 12 catégories de comportements de l'utilisation du pouvoir dont cinq sont communes à l'utilisation adéquate et nocive du pouvoir. Ces résultats permettent de construire un questionnaire de recherche sur l'utilisation du pouvoir des dirigeants.Le questionnaire comporte 50 questions indiquant des comportements de pouvoir, adéquats et nocifs, utilisés par les gestionnaires selon les subordonnés interrogés. Par la suite, 43 dirigeants de différentes entreprises remplissent le questionnaire de recherche en évaluant, sur une échelle de Likert de 5 points, la fréquence à laquelle ils utilisent chaque comportement. Au même moment, ces derniers se voient administrer quatre tests psychométriques dans le cadre d'une analyse de potentiel réalisée chez un bureau de consultants. Des corrélations simples et multiples entre l'utilisation du pouvoir au questionnaire de recherche (VD) et huit dimensions de la personnalité (VI) choisies parmi les quatre tests psychométriques sont ensuite effectuées. Les résultats des corrélations simples démontrent que la dimension de compétence du NEO PI-R et la dimension de dominance du PRF-E sont significativement corrélées, de façon positive, avec l'utilisation adéquate du pouvoir. De plus, la dimension de l'agressivité du PRF-E est significativement corrélée, de façon positive, à l'utilisation nocive du pouvoir. Enfin, les régressions multiples font ressortir l'importance de la variable de la compétence dans l'utilisation du pouvoir des dirigeants étant la seule dimension à être significativement corrélée, de façon positive, à l'utilisation adéquate du pouvoir.

Ce projet étudie la relation entre la mentalisation et le bien-être subjectif chez une population adulte. La mentalisation est définie par Fonagy comme étant la capacité d'un individu à reconnaître et à nuancer ses états mentaux ainsi que ceux de l'autre. Notre projet s'inscrit dans le courant de pensée de Fonagy, qui considère les processus de mentalisation comme fondamentaux pour comprendre le fonctionnement de la personnalité, abordée selon une perspective psychodynamique. Notre projet se démarque des études s'étant intéressées à ce jour aux relations entre le bien-être subjectif et la personnalité, qui était le plus souvent définie selon une approche par traits. Partant du fait que les processus de mentalisation influencent l'individu au niveau de ses relations d'objets, de son identité et de la régulation de ses émotions, nous avons émis une première hypothèse postulant qu'ils influencent de surcroit l'individu au niveau de son bien-être subjectif. Notre deuxième hypothèse visait à vérifier l'apport spécifique de la mentalisation à l'égard du bien-être subjectif au-delà des traits de personnalité. Un total de 40 individus issus de populations clinique et non-clinique ont participé à une entrevue visant à évaluer leur niveau de mentalisation, durant laquelle ils décrivaient des interactions relationnelles avec des gens significatifs pour eux. Ils ont aussi complété des questionnaires visant à mesurer leur niveau de bien-être subjectif et leurs traits de personnalité. Les analyses de régression corroborent notre première hypothèse et soulignent l'influence significative de la mentalisation sur le bien-être subjectif. L'analyse de régression hiérarchique corrobore partiellement notre deuxième hypothèse et souligne l'apport significatif de la mentalisation comme un prédicteur du niveau de bien-être subjectif au-delà de la part déjà prédite par les traits de personnalité. Notre étude a permis de nourrir les réflexions au sujet du bien-être subjectif, de la personnalité, des processus de mentalisation et des implications au niveau de la psychothérapie.

Field pea (Pisum sativum L.) as a cool season legume crop is sensitive to high day time temperature, especially during flowering. A population of 107 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) known as PR-11 was made from the cross of CDC Centennial (heat tolerant cultivar) X CDC Sage (heat sensitive cultivar) with the objectives of screening heat tolerant traits during flowering and subsequent seed development, and to map the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) responsible for these traits. Experiments were carried out in 2012-2014. PR-11 was seeded at normal seeding dates in 2012 and 2013 at Saskatoon (52º12’N, 106º63’W) and Rosthern (52º66’N, 106º33’W) in Canada, and in 2014 PR-11 was seeded at both normal and late seeding (three weeks later than normal) dates at one location, Saskatoon. Correlation analyses demonstrated that the duration of flowering (DOF) was positively associated with final seed yield under both normal and late seeding date conditions. Yield component traits on the main-stem [reproductive node number (Rnode), pod number (Pod), seed number per pod (Seed), single seed weight (SSW)] were significantly associated with main-stem seed yield, among which pod number appeared to be the component most positively associated with seed yield. However, yield on the main-stem was not significantly associated with seed yield at the plot level, which inferred that the contribution of seed yield on side branches was important. A genetic map consisting of 369 SNPs markers with a total coverage of 746 cM was developed using JoinMap 4.0. A total of 14 QTLs were detected under environments with normal seeding date, six for flowering traits, and eight for yield component traits. Eight QTLs were identified at late seeding, four for flowering traits and four for yield component traits. The total variation in days to flowering (DTF), DOF, Pod, Seed, SSW and grain yield that were each explained by the QTLs under normal seeding environments was 24 %, 43%, 15%, 32%, 34% and 21%, respectively. The QTLs together accounted for 43% of DTF variation, 14% of DOF variation, 17% of Pod variation, 12% of SSW variation and 12% of grain yield variation at the late seeding date. Lines PR-11-2, PR-11-88 and PR-11-91 performed as the top yielding lines under both normal and late seeding environments, and could be considered as heat tolerant lines.

Statement of the Problem.-- This study was designed to determine whether or not there is any relationship between knowledge of intergroup relations and certain mental traits. Definition of Terms. -- In order to preclude ambiguity or misunderstanding, certain terms used in the study are defined in the paragraphs immediately below. The term "intergroup relations" as used in this study "is defined as including race relations, interoreedal problems, immigrant cultures, rural urban contacts, and socioeconomic ( or class) differences." "Stereotyping" is used in a narrow sense to refer to "tendencies toward positive or negative rating of personality traits as applied to members of certain groups as such." The term "attitudes" is used in accordance with the concept employed in the design o:f' "An Opinionaire in Intergroup Relations" in which they are referred to as ideas, viewpoints, opinions, and beliefs concerning a number of current issues in intergroup relations affecting four minority groups -- Jews, Negroes, foreign born, and lower class people. "Intelligence" is used in the study as that which is measured by the "New California Short-Form Test of' Mental Maturity, Advanced '47 S-Form," namely, "the maturity of' spatial relationships; of logical reasoning ; of mathematical reasoning; and of useful concepts or vocabulary." "Personality adjustment" is considered in the light of the implications of' the factors measured by the "California Test of' Personality"; namely, a balance between self' adjustment based on feelings of' personal security and social adjustment based on feelings of social security. Purpose of the Study.-- The purpose of' this study was to answer the following questions: 1. What is the relationship, if any, between knowledge of' intergroup relations and attitudes toward Jews, Negroes, foreign born, and lower class people, separately and combined 2. What is the relationship, if any, between knowledge of' intergroup relations and similarity of attitudes toward Negroes and Jews? 3. What is the relationship, if' any, between knowledge of' intergroup relations and divergence of' opinions concerning Negroes? 4. What is the relationship, if any, between knowledge of' intergroup relations and the indication of definite trends of opinion concerning Jews? 5. What is the relationship, if any, between knowledge of intergroup relations and definite opinions concerning foreign born? 6. What is the relationship, if any, between knowledge of intergroup relations and the tendency to stereotype members of certain groups? 7. What is the relationship, if any, between knowledge of intergroup relations and intelligence? a. What is the relationship, if any, between knowledge of intergroup relations and religious values? 9. What is the relationship, if any, between knowledge and intergroup relations and personality adjustment? 10. What is the relationship, if any, between the .factors that are statistically significantly related to knowledge of intergroup relations? 11. What is the effect, if any, of partialed out factors on relationships existing between knowledge of intergroup relations and associated variables? 12. To what extent, if any is the variability of knowledge of intergroup relations affected by eliminating the influence of the variability of certain combinations of variables? 13. To what extent is the total degree of relationship between knowledge of intergroup relations and other variables increased by the addition of another variable? 14. What are the total and relative contributions of the independent variables to knowledge of intergroup relations? Collection of Data.-- A consideration of the methods and tools of collecting data resulted in the selection of seven tests: (1) "An Opinionaire in Intergroup Relations," (2) "What People Are Like," (3) "Experience With Negroes: Community Contacts," (4) "A Test of Knowledge of Intergroup Relations," (5) "A Study of Values, fl ( 6) "New California Short-Form Test of Mental Maturity, Advanced “47 S-Form,”(7) "California Test of Personality – Adult Series. A copy of each of these tests will be found in the Appendix. The first four tests were designed for the College Study in Intergroup Relations. "A Test of Knowledge of Intergroup Relations" was chosen as the basic test. It consists of one hundred questions which relate to five major areas and five types of knowledge. The areas represented a.re race relations, intercreedal problems, immigrant cultures, rural-urban contacts, and socioeconomic (class) differences. The types of knowledge represented are concepts and definitions, present status, history and trends, current problems, and proposed solutions. This test is still in the experimental stage with the reliability and validity not fully established. However, "they are estimated to be good11 and the test is recommended as being "basically sound." "An Opinionaire 'in Intergroup Relations" is a forty-item attitude scale which is made up of four subscales pertaining to reactions toward Jews, Negroes, foreign born, and lower class people. The reliability and validity of this test have been satisfactorily established "for all mass-comparative uses." ''What People Are Liken was used to determine stereotypic tendencies as indicated by responses to fourteen questions concerning nine groups of people. These groups are: graduate students, Jews, Negroes, Catholics, Protestants, Mexicans, Polish, lower class, and rural dwellers. Like the basic test, this test is also in an experimental stage, but it is thought to be basically sound." “ Experiences With Negroes: Community Contacts" is an experience inventory consisting of twenty-six items which relate to various contacts with Negroes in the community. The reliability and validity of this test have been satisfactorily established for college classes. The "New California Short-Form Test of Mental Maturity and the "California Test of' Personality” are both recognized as reliable and valid in their particular fields. The reliability and validity for religious values in "A Study of Values" a.re necessary. In addition to the tests each student was asked to fill out a "Personal Data. Sheet, designed by the College Study in Intergroup Relations, for the purpose of understanding the subjects better. A copy of this sheet is in the Appendix. It gives information about the age, sex, birthplace, religious preference, occupational goal, major field, and other facts which would a.id in understanding something of the background of the subjects. Each student was assigned a number to be used on the "Personal Data Sheet" and all the tests in lieu of their names. It was felt that this would eliminate some of the reticence which might accompany the answers to some of the questions. Sixty students were selected at random from a list of graduate students enrolled in the School of Education of Atlanta University. These students were contacted by mail and asked to be subjects for the study. Fifty-one responded and took all the tests required. Of this number thirty--two were in-service teachers taking part-time work in the university, one a secretary taking part-time work, and eighteen were full-time students. The group included thirty women and twenty-one men ranging in age from twenty-two to sixty-three. The mean age was 3~.53 and the median age 30.88. The birthplaces of these subjects include eleven states in the United States, among which were Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida., Virginia, Mississippi, Missouri, Louisiana, Texas, and Ohio, and one province in Canada - Ontario. The religious preferences of the group numbered forty-seven Protestants, three Catholics and one agnostic. Other information concerning the subjects is summarized in the Appendix. The tests were administered over a. period of one month. Two groups assemblies were held, the first on November 23 at which time three tests were given and the "Personal Data Sheets" filled out, the second on December 3 at which time the last four tests were administered. The tests had to be administered to some individually because of inability to meet with the group. In all cases the directions for taking the tests were read by the examiner and the directions as given in the manuals were followed. All tests were scored by the writer and statistical techniques were employed to interpret the results.

Levisticum officinale Koch is one of the most important plants producing essential oil. An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of drought stress on growth, total protein and essential oil content of Levisticum officinale. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse, in a completely randomized design using 5 replications. Aridity levels of field capacity irrigation (as control), −0.6 and −1.0 MPa were applied. There was significant effect of aridity on leaf area in Levisticum officinale. The highest leaf area values were found in the lowest aridity (FC) level. The root weight and root length in the −0.6 MPa aridity level were more than that of the control aridity level, but, shoot height and shoot weight were highest in the control treatment. Total soluble protein contents under −0.6 MPa drought stress was numerically lower than that in the control treatment, but statistically there was no significant difference between protein contents in the −0.6 MPa and the control treatment. Compared to the control treatment, total soluble protein contents of Levisticum officinale were significantly decreased in the −1.0 MPa drought treatment. Essential oil content of Levisticum officinale was significantly increased in the −0.6 MPa drought treatment compared to the control. Compared to control treatment, there was a significant reduction found in essential oil content of Levisticum officinale in the −1.0 MPa aridity treatment. The results suggest that in the drought levels between −0.6 to −1.0 MPa, Levisticum officinale could be used for arid and semi-arid lands economical use.

Due to the irreversible nature of biological invasions, prediction has been a key area of emphasis in invasion biology. Specifically, the degree to which species-specific traits may help us predict invasion success is a core issue in the field. My research examined a series of traits and asked whether they were good predictors of invasion success, particularly establishment success. I compared traits among four species of the poeciliid fish Gambusia, two of them highly invasive (G. affinis and G. holbrooki) and two of them non-invasive (G. hispaniolae and G. geiseri).I examined abiotic tolerances, feeding behavior, behavioral responses to novel predation and competition, life histories, and dispersal tendencies. I found the invasive Gambusia species to be more tolerant of low temperatures and to exhibit higher feeding rates and dispersal tendencies than non-invasives. Invasive species were more likely to respond appropriately to novel predation by reducing foraging and activity level and by increasing refuge use, and less likely to show lower foraging success when faced with competitors. Invasives exhibited higher fecundity and juvenile growth rates, and consequently reached maturity sooner than non-invasives. I found no differences in the species' diet breadth or aggressiveness.I then simulated the invasions of simplified pond communities and measured establishment success (with and without novel competitors) and community impact by tracking population trajectories over several months. As predicted from the trait comparisons, I found that in both simulations invasive Gambusia outperformed non-invasives by achieving andvmaintaining larger populations. In the first experiment, only invasive Gambusia were able to successfully establish (non-invasive populations had zero survival). In the second experiment, invasive Gambusia populations were better able to cope with competition and had greater community impact on lower trophic levels than the non-invasives.Overall, species traits were good predictors of establishment success. A species' ability to cope with the abiotic conditions of the invaded community seemed particularly important to whether or not establishment occurred in the study communities. Life history traits and the species' ability to cope with biotic interactions were important to determining the level of establishment species achieved if invaders survived the novel abiotic element.

No description available.

Interactions between individuals can range from peaceful cooperation, through mediated contest, to escalated conflict. Understanding such diversity of interactions between individuals requires an understanding of the costs and benefits involved with these behaviours, and the influence of relatedness between interacting individuals. Species in the parasitoid wasp genus Melittobia display social behaviours at both extremes of this spectrum, from the potentially cooperative traits of the ratio of male to female offspring that they produce, and the dispersal of females to new habitats, to the extreme conflict of violent contests between males. In this thesis, I examine a number of aspects of social evolution in Melittobia. First, I consider the pattern of sex allocation – the division of resources between male and female offspring - where local mate competition theory predicts that females will adjust their offspring sex ratio (proportion of males) conditionally, with females laying increasingly female biased sex ratios as the number of other females laying eggs on the same patch increases. In Chapter 2, I show that M. acasta females always lay an extremely female biased sex ratio, and that this may be explained in part by the fact that male Melittobia engage in violent lethal combat in competition for mates. Early emerging males have a competitive advantage and thus there is a limited advantage for later laying females to produce a less female biased sex ratio. However, I also demonstrate that the advantage of early emergence can be reduced when we consider male body size, which is linked to fighting ability, suggesting that the occurrence of this extreme conflict does not fully explain the unusual pattern of sex allocation in Mellitobia. In Chapter 3, I examine whether the level of dispersal varies in response to the extent of local competition for resources, and the relatedness between competitors. I use the species M. australica, which readily produces two distinct female dispersing morphs, to show that the production of dispersing females increases with the competition for resources. I consider the parallels between the evolution of dispersal and of sex ratio. In Chapter 4, I examine male fighting in more detail and explore theory that predicts that when extreme conflict does evolve, the incidence of fighting varies with resource value, number of competitors, and the level of relatedness between males. I show that mating opportunities are sufficiently valuable that male Melittobia will always engage in fighting irrespective of relatedness, that there is no evidence of opponent assessment prior to fighting, and that the intensity of fights increases with the number of competitors. This thesis highlights the importance of considering combinations of social traits and the interactions between them, to understand the evolution of social characters.