Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2008. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Applied Statistics / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The Intellectual Achievement Responsibility (1AR) questionnaire was administered to 1292 English school pupils aged 9.8 to 12.5 years. The 51 teachers of those pupils were asked, first, to assess their pupils' degree of acceptance of responsibility for school successes and failures, and secondly, to what they attributed the strength of educational motivation of each pupil. A questionnaire was then given to 57 trainee-teachers to find what they would say to children who had failed to do some work successfully for (as the trainees thought) various different reasons. The teachers proved poor judges of acceptance of responsibility in their pupils. Also, they never referred to this as a factor influencing motivation. Teachers concentrated on influences not amenable to change. When trainees were induced to attribute pupil failure to unchangeable influences, they would make comments to pupils that were less helpful and motivating than otherwise.

Local opposition has been widely recognized as a potentially powerful barrier to the successfuldevelopment of wind power projects. As a result, there has been increasing pressure put on industryproponents to adopt comprehensive strategies aimed at increasing local acceptance. The concept ofbenefit sharing is becoming more widely recognized as an effective method of doing so.A comparative analysis of wind power projects throughout Europe has demonstrated considerablevariability both in terms of the quantities and qualities of benefit sharing mechanisms applied. Despitethis variability, however, there does appear to be a tendency toward establishing community funds tosupport certain initiatives in the host locality. Developers have also offered local ownershipopportunities, electricity price reduction for community members, knowledge sharing and/oreducational initiatives, local employment opportunities, and some have undertaken extensiveenvironmental restoration or enhancement projects. The key factors influencing the development of abenefit sharing strategy are the national context, the organizational competencies of the developer andthe local context. Careful consideration of these factors will inform the creation of an effective benefitsharing scheme.However, the application of a benefit sharing scheme in itself does not guarantee acceptance, but rathermust be integrated with effective public engagement and participation in decision making throughwhich the needs, wishes and demands of the host community are addressed and incorporated into theproject details, where possible. Overall, based on the influences of the national context in combinationwith the specific competencies of the developer, organizations are recommended to adopt formalized,yet flexible policies or strategies for benefit sharing in each country where they operate, which can thenbe adapted to the unique circumstances of each project and community.

The consequences of war and conflict on mental health remain long after the events are over. Several publications and reports highlight the need for effective and cost-effective treatments targeting mental ill-health in war affected low-income countries. This study investigated the effects of a two-session Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention on quality of life, psychological flexibility and Steps taken in valued direction. Participants were women (N=6) seeking help for HIV, Pain and Sexual abuse at a Non Governmental Organization in Sierra Leone. A single case design with repeated measures and pre, mid, and post-measures was used. Results show support for the interventions effect on Quality of Life and Steps taken in valued direction. Due to the small sample size in this pilot study the significance of the findings is limited.

Master of Arts / Department of Communication Studies / Sarah Riforgiate / New technology has changed how people do business. With rapid development of technology, it has been difficult for businesses and organizations to successfully implement technology advancements. This problem has spurred research in the area of technology acceptance. The Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989) is a dominant theory used to explain technology use. Although many researchers have copied, expanded, and altered this model through quantitative research, making it robust, this study will further the model by using qualitative methods to explore how members understand and classify technology use. This study adds to the existing knowledge of computer-mediated communication and technology acceptance by exploring information technology use within a volunteer or not-for-profit organization (NPO). In order to offer a unique perspective to exploring how organizational members understand and adopt new technology, this study employs qualitative methodology to a topic traditionally explored through quantitative surveys and measurements. Research questions specifically consider why organizational members accept or reject new technology and how organizational membership affects technology acceptance. Using the third iteration of the technology acceptance model (TAM 3), data confirm perceived usefulness and perceived ease as determinants of technology acceptance. The influencing factors of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were also confirmed. Two new influencing factors of perceived usefulness emerged in this study: appropriateness and information overload. Also, insight into the role of age and technology adoption calls into question stereotypical misconceptions of technology use and acceptance. Overall, this study confirms and expands on research in the area of technology acceptance.

Most risk perception research has focused on how people view the riskiness or acceptability of particular hazards. Less attention has been paid to how people determine whether or not the decisions taken by other parties (e.g., politicians, government agencies, industry, etc.) to address risk issues are acceptable decisions.After examining the structure of risk perception and acceptability, this study researched the judgement strategies which individuals employ when assessing the acceptability or unacceptability of risk related decisions. It also investigated whether or not individuals directly affected by risk related decisions utilise similar judgement strategies to those of individuals not directly affected by the same decisions. This provided insights as to the reasons why local communities often reject risk related decisions that others in the broader community consider acceptable.Questionnaire data were collected relating to a number of risk scenarios based on real world issues and decisions. The survey included Curtin University students, residents of a Perth suburb, and members of a resident action group involved in a local risk issue at the time of the study.Unlike previous studies of heterogeneous hazard sets, exploratory factor analyses of 8 hazard domains did not reveal a global factor structure that could represent the construct 'risk'. Instead, each of the hazard domains revealed a qualitatively different factor structure, highlighting the context specific nature of risk.Through the use of correlation, linear regression, and path analysis the relationship between perceived riskiness, risk acceptability and other risk attributes or characteristics was explored. These analyses revealed that a relationship between perceived risk and risk acceptability exists to varying but significant degrees across different types of hazards. For a specific risk item, only ++ / a limited number of characteristics appear to significantly influence perceived risk or acceptability with some characteristics influencing both.Respondents used a ranking and weighting procedure to indicate the relative importance of the various qualitative characteristics in determining the acceptability of risk related decisions. This analysis revealed that people utilise both the characteristics of a risk issue as well as aspects of the decision itself when assessing the acceptability of risk related decisions. The study suggests that individuals who are not directly affected by specific decision employ simple judgement strategies not that dissimilar to those of the risk experts. This contrasts with directly affected individuals who appear to employ additional considerations, such as the trust worthiness of the decision makers, when assessing the acceptability of decisions.The thesis identifies a number of areas of future research, such as the role of hazard prototypes, and explores the implications of the study's findings for future risk communication efforts.

Thesis (Ph. D.) in Psychology--University of Maine, 2001. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-90).

The purpose of the study is to examine the effectiveness of the social cognition training on the peer acceptance (as playmates and working partners) of SEN students in the inclusive classrooms. 4 classes of Form 1 students were randomly assigned to either control groups (n=65) or experimental groups (n=58). The social cognition training on perspective-taking skills and empathy can help to initiate working relationship but failed to enhance the social interaction of the students in play. The results did not demonstrate any changes obtained on other measures of perceptions or behaviors. On the other hand, the study results revealed that there were no significant differences on peer acceptance between SEN and non SEN students in the pre-intervention and post-intervention stages. These findings were consistent with the previous studies when the non SEN students in these studies could not identify who are their SEN classmates, which may suggest that they could not hold stereotypical views on their SEN counterparts. Results also showed that empathy mediated the effects of perspective-taking ability on peer acceptance on play-with criterion. The implication of understanding on the peer acceptance of SEN students in an inclusive classroom and suggestions for appropriate intervention were discussed. / published_or_final_version / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Two studies examined the hypothesis that acceptance and control-based interventions for pain have specific self-regulatory costs and benefits. Both studies consisted of volunteers from a sample derived from the pool of psychology students at the University of Manitoba. Relative to control-based coping, acceptance was predicted to be associated with: 1) Normalization of time distortion; 2) Faster post-stimulus pain recovery 3) Preservation of self-regulatory energy required for acts of self-control; 4) Stronger pain coping self-efficacy beliefs, relative to two control-based coping strategies: suppression and distraction, and 5) improved pain tolerance. Study I (N=180) showed no group differences for pain tolerance, retrospective duration judgments or self-efficacy ratings, and weak evidence of differential pain recovery effects. As predicted, temporal speed ratings were slower for the suppression condition relative to the distraction condition. In Study II the pattern of condition effects for temporal speed was replicated though the statistical main effect only approached significance. In Study II (N=190), between-group differences were detected for pain tolerance, pain recovery, retrospective duration judgments and self-efficacy belief variables. As predicted the distraction group showed higher pain tolerance than the suppression group. Contrary to prediction, the difference between distraction and acceptance for pain tolerance was not significant. Contrary to predictions the greatest normalization of retrospective duration distortion occurred in the distraction condition. As predicted, post-intervention self-efficacy ratings were higher for acceptance than suppression but the difference between acceptance and distraction was not significant. Predicted pain recovery effects were also detected in Study II such that pain ratings for the suppression and distraction conditions were higher than for the acceptance condition at 60 and 120 seconds post-tolerance. Hypothesized between-group differences for self-regulatory-strength depletion were not confirmed. Possible reasons for lack of difference between acceptance and distraction on pain tolerance ratings and ego depletion measures, as well as possible future research directions were discussed.