Recently, Gualtiero Piccinini and Carl Craver (2011) have argued that functional analyses in psychology lack explanatory autonomy from explanations in neuroscience. In this thesis I argue against this claim by motivating and defending a pragmatic-epistemic conception of autonomous psychological explanation. I argue that this conception of autonomy need not require that functional analyses be distinct in kind from neural-mechanistic explanations. I use the framework of Bas van Fraassen’s Pragmatic Theory of Explanation (van Fraassen 1980) to show that explanations in psychology and neuroscience can be seen as seeking understanding of autonomous levels of mechanistic phenomena.

This research seeks to identify the political determinants that account for the uneven geographical distribution of foreign direct investment (FDI) across Chinese counties. I compare the political determinants of Taiwanese FDI (TDI) and non-Taiwanese FDI site selection across counties in China. I focus on the central-local politics in China, especially the effect of county government autonomy on FDI and TDI site selection. I investigate whether the effect of county government autonomy and its interaction with TDI agglomeration varies across the three economic regions of China (i.e. eastern, central, and western regions). I argue that county government autonomy is critical to attracting inflows of FDI, and its impact is conditional on the existing level of FDI in a given county. Counties with higher autonomy are able to make greater commitments to and involvement in the market economy, have more flexibility to give preferential treatment to FDI and to improve the local investment environment. With the political burden that Taiwanese investors face from the special military and political relationship across the Strait, I argue that TDI is more sensitive to county government autonomy not only for the economic gains like other foreign investors but also for pursuing local protection against the political uncertainties from Beijing and the social instabilities of the local population. I also argue that county government autonomy’s impact on TDI inflow is strongest in the central region due to the less dominating role of the geographic and cultural advantages enjoyed by the eastern region and its better economic, cultural, political and geographic conditions that are lacking in the western region. Using the System General Method of Moment model to analyze the county level FDI/TDI panel data sets, I find autonomy’s impact on future FDI inflows fades with the increases in the existing level of FDI but gets stronger with the increases in the existing level of TDI inflows. I also find county government autonomy’s impact is strongest for the central region when the existing TDI inflows are zero or at the national average level.

Mindfulness – a receptive attentiveness to present experience – has been shown to promote more adaptive emotion regulation (Brown, et al. 2007) and predict autonomy - motivation to behave in a self-directed manner. In turn, autonomy has been shown to predict self-regulation (Ryan & Deci, 2000). This suggests a psychological pathway from mindfulness to autonomy to emotion regulation. To better understand the regulatory potential of a mindful disposition and the possible mediating role of autonomy in healthy adult participants (N = 69), a laboratory social evaluative threat was used called the Trier Social Stress Task (Kirschbaum, et al., 1993). Results showed that mindfulness predicted lower self-reported anxiety but not lower negative affect or endocrine levels. State autonomy during the stressor fully mediated the inverse relation between mindfulness and anxiety. These results support the theory of the emotion regulatory potential of mindfulness, and suggest one means by which this quality may improve well-being.

Comme de nombreux pays européens, la plupart des Etats d’Afrique noire francophone ont souscrit au concept mondial de l’autonomie locale, à travers des modifications de leurs Lois fondamentales. Pour sa part, la Loi constitutionnelle camerounaise du 18 janvier 1996 consacre clairement la décentralisation territoriale comme mode principal de gestion de la République. Y sont proclamés, tous les grands principes fondamentaux qui sous-tendent la décentralisation territoriale, notamment la personnalité morale de droit public des collectivités territoriales, la libre administration par des conseils élus, l’autonomie administrative et financière pour la gestion des intérêts régionaux et locaux.Le principe constitutionnel de l’autonomie, décliné selon les cas en autonomie administrative et/ou financière, concept à la mode, mais paradoxalement oublié par la doctrine et objet de vives controverses quant à sa mise en oeuvre, fonde l’intérêt de cette étude. L’ambition est de dégager un concept juridique à partir des expressions d’autonomie administrative et financière, afin de doter les différents acteurs intéressés, notamment l’Etat unitaire Cameroun, d’instruments de mesure susceptibles de permettre une mise en oeuvre effective de la force d’autonomie locale sujette à tant de passions dans les discours politiques de tous bords. / Like many European countries, most French-speaking black African states have endorsed the worldwide concept of local autonomy, through changes to their fundamental Laws. For its part, the Cameroonian Constitution Act of 18 January 1996 clearly dedicated territorial decentralization as the main mode of management of the Republic. Y are announced, all the great fundamental principles underlying the territorial decentralization, notably the legal personality of public law of local councils, self-government by elected councils, the administrative and financial autonomy for the management of regional and local interests.The constitutional principle of autonomy, as the case declined in self-administration and / or financial buzzword, but surprisingly overlooked by the literature and subject of intense controversy about its implementation, establishes the relevance of this study. The ambition is to clear a juridical concept from the expressions of administrative and financial autonomy, to endow the different interested actors, notably the unitary state Cameroon, with measuring instruments that could allow an effective implementation of strength of local autonomy subject to so many passions in political rhetoric from all sides.

Learner autonomy has been recognised as a desirable educational goal, especially within the domains of adult and higher education. Whereas this has led to a growing body of research addressing learner autonomy across different educational and cultural contexts, there are still contexts, including Kurdistan-Iraq (i.e. the context of this research), which have remained under-researched. On that account, researchers (e.g. Dickinson, 1996; Little, 1999; Palfreyman, 2003; Usuki, 2007) encourage examining learner autonomy within such settings. This research, therefore, was an attempt to understand the realities and complexities of the situation of learner autonomy within a public institution of higher education in Kurdistan-Iraq. To achieve that, this research included students, teachers and senior administrators as participants assuming that these are the major interacting parties that could influence and determine the overall situation of learner autonomy. This study adopted a qualitative case study design within which multiple methods of data collection were used. The data was obtained through classroom observations, focus groups with thirty-four students divided among six groups and interviews with six teachers and five senior administrators. The sample of students, teachers and senior administrators was drawn from five different academic disciplines, namely English, Kurdish, Law, Psychology and Biology across the four distinct existing faculties. The findings generally showed an unsatisfactory situation of learner autonomy within this specific context and there emerged multiple personal, pedagogical, institutional and socio-cultural constraints which altogether seemed to pose serious challenges to the exercise and development of learner autonomy. Apart from that, students turned out to be relatively more autonomous compared to their previous educational experiences and there appeared to be certain behaviours and practices not just among students as a manifestation of their autonomy but also on the part of teachers towards encouraging the sense of autonomy and responsibility among students. However, these autonomous and autonomy-supportive practices and behaviours seemed to be confined to ‘isolated individual efforts’ of some students and teachers which implies that no systematic institutional attempts were present to promote autonomy or at least to create a conducive environment within which autonomy could flourish or be exercised. The findings also indicated that the autonomous behaviours and autonomy-supportive practices appeared to mainly circulate within the non-political form of autonomy which tends to focus on personal learning gains and lack a political dimension which concerns with the need for autonomous capacities to resurge within the social and political life to serve the public good. This seemed to reflect the interpretations and values the participants associated with learner autonomy which were significantly oriented towards the non-political variant of autonomy. This study, therefore, points to the need of further research, particularly action research, aiming at promoting the political understanding of autonomy.

Yeung, Chun Yiu. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-62). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / 論文摘要(Chinese Abstract) --- p.ii / Acknowledgements --- p.iii / List of Tables --- p.iv / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.1 / Smoking: The greatest single preventable cause of death --- p.1 / Negative health impacts of smoking on non-smokers --- p.1 / Smoking ban in Hong Kong in 2007 --- p.2 / Lack of theory-based local smoking research --- p.3 / Self-Determination Theory --- p.4 / Extensions to current SDT research on smoking --- p.6 / Differentiating autonomous motivation in personal-relational dimension --- p.6 / Relational-interdependent self-construal and nature of autonomous motivation --- p.8 / Perceived competence and condition-specific self-efficacy --- p.9 / Proposed framework --- p.10 / Research purpose --- p.11 / Hypotheses --- p.11 / Statistical analyses --- p.12 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Method --- p.14 / Recruitment strategies --- p.14 / Attrition of participants --- p.16 / Instruments --- p.16 / Variables of smoking pattern --- p.21 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Results --- p.24 / Characteristics of participants --- p.24 / Attrition analysis --- p.25 / Descriptive statistics and construct score change from baseline to T2 assessment --- p.27 / Correlation analysis --- p.28 / Logistic regression for predicting quitters and non-quitters --- p.31 / Logistic regression for comparing the fundamental SDT and extended theoretical framework --- p.32 / Exploring the interaction effects between SDT variables and RISC in the prediction of quitting --- p.33 / ANOVAs on major variables for smokers with different quitting progress --- p.33 / "Additional analyses examining the differences in self-efficacy among quitters, quit attempters, and recalcitrant smokers" --- p.36 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Discussion --- p.38 / Autonomous motivation and smoking cessation --- p.38 / Dilemma among health concerns and quitting behaviors --- p.39 / Possible priming effects in smoking cessation counseling sessions --- p.40 / Discrepancies in research design between the present study and previous SDT studies --- p.41 / Reflecting on the SDT and stages of health behavioral change --- p.42 / Findings related to proposed theoretical extensions --- p.43 / Relational autonomous motivation and RISC --- p.43 / Role of self-efficacy in smoking cessation: inspirations from process models of health behaviors --- p.44 / Recalcitrant smokers and their self-efficacy to respond to internal tempting conditions --- p.46 / Quit attempters and their self-efficacy to respond to external tempting conditions --- p.47 / Research limitations --- p.48 / Future directions and recommendations --- p.49 / References --- p.53

盧傑雄. / 論文(博士)--香港中文大學, 2000. / 參考文獻 (p. 198-214) / 中英文摘要. / Available also through the Internet via Dissertations & theses @ Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Lu Jiexiong. / Lun wen (bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2000. / Can kao wen xian (p. 198-214) / Zhong Ying wen zhai yao.

This thesis demonstrates how, through diverse daily life practices, a Zapatista community, referred to here as La Humanidad, creates a model of autonomy in the Mexican State of Chiapas. Based on ethnographic information, this study explores the meanings that this community attributes to practices and notions such as Autonomy, Resistance, Memory, good government and bad government. I contend that these practices represent an attempt to confront and resist the neoliberal model of Good Governance and consequently reconstruct the social fabric, revive communitarian practices, and develop models of self-sufficiency in regard to economics, health and education. Although La Humanidad constitutes just one case study, it highlights little known aspects of what is meant by grassroots participation in regard to this particular Zapatista community, allowing us to gain deeper insight into how indigenous campesino autonomy has been constructed following the Zapatista Uprising. Furthermore, through multi-sited fieldwork, I demonstrate the variety of organisational experiences of The Good Government Council among the five different Zapatista Caracoles: Oventic, La Garrucha, Morelia, Roberto Barrios, and La Realidad. In order to contrast these Caracoles with official forms of government organization, this study also addresses aspects of the constitutional government in the Municipality of San Andres Larrainzar.

FundaÃÃo de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Cearà / O presente trabalho aborda a trajetÃria artÃstica do cantor Ney Matogrosso no perÃodo compreendido entre os anos de 1975 a 1983, dentro de uma perspectiva de entendimento da construÃÃo da autonomia artÃstica do cantor em relaÃÃo à censura moral do regime militar e ao cerceamento da indÃstria fonogrÃfica e da mÃdia. Dessa maneira, observar-se-à a construÃÃo social do corpo transgressor do artista, que rompeu com um referente cultural do que naquele momento significava ser âmachoâ e com o eminentemente instituÃdo; tendo, dentro de uma pluralidade de princÃpios e comportamentos, sido posto em uma condiÃÃo de liminaridade artÃstica frente aos poderes instituÃdos / The present work makes an analysis of the artistical career of the singer Ney Matogrosso, between 1975 and 1983, by trying to understand the development of his artistic autonomy process in such an adverse context as that of the military regime and its moral censure, the limiting record companies and media as well. In this perspective the transgressive body of the singer and also its social construction will be analyzed. The body language and behavior of the singer have broken away from all cultural references and values of machismo at the time. He has also broken the rules of social customs, and consequently he has been put in a liminar condition in relation to the establishment, in despite of belonging to a society rich in multiplicity of principles and behaviors

abstract: Traditional autonomy within clinical supervision was reinterpreted by incorporating culturally-encompassing autonomy types (individuating and relating autonomy) from the dual autonomy scale. The relations of vertical collectivism and autonomy measures were examined. Lastly, potential moderating effects of vertical collectivism on experience level and autonomy were assessed. The sample consisted of 404 counseling trainees enrolled in graduate programs across the US, aged between 21 and 68. Results from the confirmatory factor analysis supported the proposed two-factor structure of individuating and relating autonomy among counseling trainees for the adapted dual autonomy scale. Results indicated that individuating autonomy was moderately correlated with relating and traditional autonomy, and relating autonomy was not correlated with traditional autonomy. Vertical collectivism was not correlated with relating autonomy, but significantly predicted individuating and traditional autonomy. Moderating effects of vertical collectivism on experience level and autonomy were not supported. Further implications and future directions are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Counseling Psychology 2020