Using 12 years of monthly sweep-net data from 9-12 permanent sampling stations, we evaluated the variability and stability of the dragonfly assemblage in Bays Mountain Lake (northeastern Tennessee, USA). To do this, we adopted the view that a stable assemblage (i.e. one capable of recovering quickly from disturbances) should have low variability (i.e. high persistence of taxa, relatively constant densities, and high rank concordance), except with disturbances more intense and frequent than those in this system. Moreover, a stable assemblage should contain populations that exhibit density dependence and should tend to remain within a restricted range of densities (boundedness), shifting toward a narrow density interval between generations (attraction). To test some specific predictions derived from these views, we analyzed 12-year sequences of larval population sizes just before the onset of emergence for the 13 dominant dragonfly taxa in the lake. Most but not all of the 13 dominant taxa persisted during the 12-year period. Variabilities of taxon densities, measured as standard deviations across generations of log-transformed population sizes, were representative of the broad range for other invertebrates but somewhat higher than those of terrestrial vertebrates. There were fewer than three significant abundance trends over the 12-year period, and rank concordance between generations was high (W=0.716). Density dependence was detected among some of the dragonfly density sequences by five different methods. Using techniques presented in the companion paper, we found strong indications of both boundedness and attraction in the whole assemblage. We conclude tentatively that an assemblage consisting of at least 11 of the 13 dominant dragonfly taxa at Bays Mountain Lake has low-to-moderate variability and is stable, but that the complete 29-species assemblage is probably not stable at the scale of this single lake. We emphasize the need for coupling such long-term descriptive analyses with studies of responses to experimental disturbances.

The driving force of the tourism industry is represented by the attractions at destination. Travelers have no reason to visit destinations that have nothing to offer. Tourism research has demonstrated that attraction studies are necessary in the understanding of the elements that encourage people to travel. Achieving the goal of measuring destination attractiveness requires the understanding of its components and their relationships. There are two ways of examining attractiveness: by studying the attractions or by exploring the attractiveness perceptions of those who are attracted by them. As competition among tourism destinations increases and tourist funding decreases, it is of vital importance to understand how the inventory of existing attractions at destination relates to the perceptions that travelers have of those attractions. Tourism literature provides only a limited number of studies addressing destination attractiveness. Those studies focus exclusively on the measurement aspect of attractiveness and ignore the analysis of its components. The purpose of this study was to generate a new measurement tool for destination attractiveness and to examine the relationship between its elements. The principles of regional analysis, tourism planning, and tourism attraction research provided the foundation for a measurement and hypothesis testing model. This model is based on the assumption that tourism is a system, which is a function of supply and demand interaction. Four attraction dimensions - tourism services and facilities, cultural/historical, rural lodging, and outdoor recreation - were found to represent the attractiveness portfolio of the destination. According to the findings, no correlations were found between demand and supply importance of the four dimensions. Among demand representatives, market segments perceive and value attractions in different ways. The study explored the attractiveness evaluation of eight tourist regions and discovered correlations between demand and supply indicators. Additionally, it was established that the overall regional measures of demand and supply destination attractiveness explain the economic benefits of tourism in the same region. Among the contributions of this study is the development of a model that allows the simultaneous empirical assessment of demand and supply indicators of destination attractiveness. The findings of this study provided important implications for the development of robust tourism plans, promotional strategies, and resource allocation policies. / Ph. D.

Before any words are spoken, an individual's appearance is his or her first line of nonverbal communication with the rest of the world. Prior research conducted on physical attractiveness has been vague and contradictory and has not assessed its many components. Rather, past investigators have perceived physical attractiveness as a "unidimensional" concept. Several phases were involved in the task of proving or disproving the hypotheses of the study. The first general phase began with the selection of photographic subjects, progressed into the creation of a set of photographs which were to become the stimuli, and proceeded to the selection of the photo judges, whose evaluations would determine the final select group of 18 photographs and their physical attractiveness intensity levels.

The United States' (U.S.) workforce is more diverse than in previous decades in terms of race, gender, and native language (Fay, 2001). Such demographic shifts have changed how organizations attract applicants and how they motivate, reward, and retain employees (McAdams, 2001). Furthermore, organizations benefit from diversity by: (a) attracting the best talent available in the workforce (Cox, 1993), (b) increasing their product marketability to customers (Deshpande, Hoyer, & Donthu, 1986; Redding, 1982), and (c) fostering creativity, innovation, problem solving, and decision making in employees (Thomas, 1999; Thomas, Ravlin, & Wallace, 1996; Watson, Kumar, & Michaelsen, 1993). Given such benefits, organizations should attend to initiatives that facilitate the attraction of applicants from diverse backgrounds. Research has demonstrated that applicants use information about human resource systems, such as rewards, to form judgments about the perceived fit between them and the organization (Bretz & Judge, 1994; Schneider, 1987). For instance, organizations with policies accommodating work and family issues attract applicants preferring such benefits. Because reward systems influence applicants' opinions about the relative attractiveness of organizations (Lawler, 2000), it is important to determine the factors that influence such preferences. Motivation theories, such as the Theory of Reasoned Action, suggest that preferences toward reward systems are guided by individuals' values (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975; Vroom, 1964). Such values, in turn, cause differences in reward preferences and organizational attraction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation of individuals' cultural values to the attraction of organizations offering different kinds of reward systems. More specifically, it sought to test three hypotheses. Hypothesis 1 predicted that there would be a two-way interaction between collectivism and the type of organization on organizational attraction. Hypothesis 2 predicted that there would be a two-way interaction between individualism and the type of organization on organizational attraction. Hypothesis 3 predicted that there would be a positive relation between collectivism and subjective norms used in organizational attraction. To test the three hypotheses, data from 228 participants were analyzed to evaluate their level of attractiveness to two different types of organizations (i.e., career-oriented vs. family-oriented). Findings for the test of Hypothesis 1 indicated that there was a joint effect between collectivism and the type of organization on organizational attraction. The slopes of the regression lines for each type of organization (i.e., family-oriented and career-oriented) differed as a function of collectivism. The slope of the regression line for the family-oriented organization was steeper than the slope of the regression line for the career-oriented organization. Results for the test of Hypothesis 2 indicated a joint effect between individualism and the type of organization on organizational attraction. The slopes of the regression lines for each type of organization (i.e., family-oriented and career-oriented) differed as a function of individualism. The slope of the regression line for the career-oriented organization was steeper than the slope of the regression line for the family-oriented organization. Findings for the test of Hypothesis 3 showed that collectivism was related to subjective norms. Results indicated that the more collective the individual, the higher the subjective norms. In addition, supplementary analysis showed that individualism was not related to subjective norms. Taken together, results from the tests of the three hypotheses support components of the Theory of Reasoned Action, and the premise that values are a factor related to an individual's attraction to a particular organization. The current study showed that the cross-cultural values of individualism and collectivism help predict organizational attraction. Based on these results, practical implications, contributions to theory, study limitations, and future research are discussed for designing organizational attraction strategies for a culturally diverse workforce.

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News agencies' ratings often hinge on the relationships their anchors build with viewers. Strong feelings of parasocial interaction, or these on-sided "relationships" audiences feel with on-screen media figures, have been found to be a strong predictor of media use. Local news stations have long been challenged with ways to encourage these feelings of parasocial interaction. With local news ratings consistently falling, news agencies must consider new ways to gain untapped markets and have begun reaching out to young adults. One way news agencies are attempting to do so is by utilizing social media websites like Facebook. The current study aims to explore the effects of Facebook on college-aged participants (N = 143) viewing a local newscast. Specifically, this study examines whether a brief exposure to a news anchor's Facebook profile can increase feelings of parasocial interaction with the anchor. Results indicate that while brief exposure to an anchor's Facebook page does not influence feelings of parasocial interaction, strong feelings of interpersonal attraction play a significant role in developing parasocial relationships. Future research and implications are also discussed. / Master of Arts

Mutual parent-young recognition is vital for offspring survival, particularly in species congregating in dense breeding sites, like pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses). For effective vocal recognition, the caller must produce individually specific calls with high levels of stereotypy, or individuality. Vocal recognition has been studied extensively and is well-documented in otariid species (fur seals and sea lions), as those mothers frequently leave their pup to forage and must relocate them upon return to the rookery. In many phocid (true seal) species, the mothers typically remain with their pup throughout nursing and therefore may not have as strong of a need for well-developed vocal recognition; recognition remains understudied in these species. This study focuses on vocal recognition and individuality in the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris), a phocid species with a 28-day nursing period and no intentional separation between mothers and pups. In Chapter 1, I investigated a northern elephant seal pup’s ability to vocally recognize its mother across ontogeny through an auditory playback experiment at the Piedras Blancas northern elephant seal rookery in San Simeon, CA. I found that pups showed a developed ability to recognize their mother’s vocalizations later in the nursing period, at around 23 days old. At this age, they looked towards their mother’s call faster and spent more time investigating the call. Before this age, pups responded infrequently to female vocalizations and showed no differentiated response to their own mother versus an unfamiliar female. After weaning, pups responded to any female’s call. This study is the first to examine phocid pup vocal recognition abilities, and the results suggest that northern elephant seal mothers are primarily responsible for maintaining contact during the nursing period to ensure their pup’s survival. In Chapter 2, I analyzed and described the pup attraction calls made by adult females. Visual and auditory analysis of the spectrograms suggested there may be distinct variants of attraction calls made within and across females. I characterized the calls and confirmed that female elephant seals produce three distinct variants of their attraction call. A linear discriminant analysis correctly classified the calls into their assigned categories 80% of the time. Previous research found that female elephant seals have lower vocal stereotypy than female northern fur seals. Because I demonstrated that female elephant seals produce different variants of attraction calls, I reevaluated their stereotypy while controlling for the attraction call variant. I found that female elephant seals have a higher level of stereotypy when controlling for call variant, with a linear discriminant analysis correctly assigning 50% of the calls to the correct female when controlling for call variant, and correctly assigning 37.5% of the calls when not controlling for call variant. In summary, my results suggest that mother-pup recognition is mutual in northern elephant seals, but indicate that northern elephant seal mothers are primarily responsible for maintaining contact with their pup during dependency, as the pups do not consistently respond to their mothers’ vocalizations until the last week of the nursing period. Adult females produce calls with enough vocal stereotypy to allow for individual recognition, and they make distinct variants of attraction calls, indicating they have a larger vocal repertoire than previously assumed. Future research should further investigate adult female northern elephant seal vocalizations and how they potentially differ across ontogeny and among behavioral contexts.