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The main objective of this thesis is to defend an account of the control that agents possess over their actions from the perspective of the causal theory of action, that is, a theory that sees actions as events caused by internal states of their agents. The explanatory strategy that is employed for this purpose consists in addressing three interdependent and fundamental problems concerning the possibility of this type of control. The first problem arises from the possibility of controlling an action that is itself transitively caused by previous events. The answer given to this problem is grounded on a careful description of basic actions and on an identification of the internal states that function as the sources of control. The second problem emerges from a variety of causal deviance, namely, a conceptually possible scenario that satisfies the requirements for a bodily movement to be under the control of its agent without this movement being intuitively under the control of its agent. The answer given to this problem comes from the examination of the sources of the intuitions associated with causal deviance and from the recognition of the causal contribution of epistemic features present in the antecedents of an action. The third problem results from the possibility of producing an action that can only be partially controlled. This is problematic if one accepts that producing an action entails controlling it, as is suggested in this thesis. The reply given to this problem adapts an intention-based account of action guidance to the needs of an account of degrees of control, while remaining compatible with the proposal that producing an action is sufficient to control it.

Thesis (M.A.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Psychology , 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Nov. 17, 2008) Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-136). Also issued in print.

"Participation" is a frequently articulated requirement within the context of community development. Yet despite this, the concept of participation is neither comprehensively theorised, nor entirely unproblematic. The theoretical paucity surrounding participation is particularly marked within accounts of its interactional and relational dynamics . This thesis is accordingly concerned with theorising the interactional and relational features of participation in, and for, development. To this end a small development intervention, constituted as an agricultural co-operative within a rural area of South Africa, is examined. In this inquiry the phenomenon of participation is viewed through the lens of dialogical-activity. This enables explication of the "joint activity" directed towards participatory development, within the focal research setting. The overarching theoretical framework for this thesis is conferred by Activity theory. Orientated towards examining the collective and artefactually mediated nature of human action, Activity theory is foregrounded in Y. Engeström's (1989; 1999b) analytic schema of the Activity System. This Activity System framework is expanded by the inclusion of communicative and semiotic elements; an inclusion effected by reference to R. Engeström's theory of communicative action (1995,1999), which in turn, draws on theoretical precepts gleaned from the work of Mikhail Bakhtin. The resultant fusing of dialogue and activity therefore serves to extend Activity theoretical insights. The results of this research are based on data collected from a multitude of sources within the focal participatory development research setting, including internal project documentation, interview transcripts and field notes. The dialogical Bakhtin-derived an alytic categories of speech genre , voice and social language were drawn on in order to examine this textual data , and to explicate the interactional and relational features of participatory development. Analysis of these served to reveal the polyphony of (speech genre constituted) voices, wherein the phenomenon of participation is disparately accentuated. The results chapter moreover discusses the substantial mismatches and discontinuities in the referential object invoked by the various roleplayers, within the focal research context. This thesis considers the sources of these discontinuities and tensions, including how they point to historically constituted contradictions within participatory development. It furthermore briefly examines the opportunities and affordances these offer up for expansive new forms of activity. Finally, in re-examining participation and development, the complex, and sometimes antithetic relationship that exists between these two concepts and their associated social practices, are considered.

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目標設定理論已被廣泛應用於組織，以提高性能和有效性。然而，採用目標設定可能帶來偏差行為的潛在性還沒有得到深入的探討。本研究旨在探討框架效果和自尊對偏差行為的影響。實驗穫取了114個香港本科生的數據。實驗的目的在於探索目標設定在性能方面和偏差行為潛在的影響。除了審查設定目標的效果，另外兩個條件是目標達到後能避免處罰或得到獎勵。實驗中衡量自尊使用了一個特定任務的自尊量表（Greenhaus & Badin, 1974）。偏差行為定義為虛假報告（誇大）自己在8個字謎任務中的分數。據推測，框架效果（獎勵與處罰）和自尊（高與低），會影響一個人從事偏差行為的可能性。結果表明，四個條件（盡自己所能，被分配目標，被分配獎勵目標和被分配處罰目標）在努力程度上有所不同，在兩個框架條件的參與者相比“盡自己所能“ 和 “被分配目標“ 的參與者創造了更多的字。此外，誇大的虛假報告的頻率和幅度在框架條件中也更為嚴重。自尊水平之間沒有顯著差異。 / Goal setting theory has been widely used in organizations to enhance performance and effectiveness. However, the potential engagement in deviant behavior when concrete goals are adopted has not been thoroughly explored. This study examined the effects of framing and self-esteem on unethical behavior among 114 undergraduate students in Hong Kong. It aimed to underscore the potential pitfalls of goal setting in terms of performance and ethical tradeoffs. Apart from examining the effects of the mere presence of a goal, two other conditions are framed as either offering a reward for goal attainment or a punishment in the case of failure. Self-esteem was measured by an adapted task specific self-esteem scale (Greenhaus & Badin, 1974). Unethical behavior was operationalized as the number of false reporting (overstatement) in completing a series of anagram tasks across eight trials. It was hypothesized that framing (reward versus punishment) and self-esteem (high versus low) would affect the extent to which one engages in unethical behavior. Results showed that the four conditions (do your best, assigned goal, assigned goal with reward and assigned goal with punishment) differed in effort levels; participants in the two framing conditions created more words compared to the “do your best“ and “assigned goal“ conditions. In addition, overstatement of results was also more prevalent among the framing conditions in terms of frequency and magnitude. No differences were found across self-esteem levels. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Lau, Ka Yan Stephanie. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 42-50). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / 摘要 --- p.ii / Acknowledgements --- p.iii / List of Tables --- p.vi / List of Figures --- p.vii / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.1 / Goal Setting Theory and Demonstrated Effort --- p.2 / Workplace Deviance --- p.4 / Goal Setting and Unethical Behavior --- p.5 / Goal Framing and Demonstrated Effort --- p.7 / Goal Framing and Unethical Behavior --- p.10 / Self-esteem and Demonstrated Effort --- p.13 / Self-esteem and Unethical Behavior --- p.15 / Overview of Hypotheses --- p.18 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Method --- p.19 / Measurements --- p.19 / Participants --- p.19 / Procedures --- p.20 / Ensuring Anonymity --- p.22 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Results --- p.23 / Effort level: goal conditions and self-esteem effects --- p.23 / Overstatement: goal conditions and self-esteem effects --- p.25 / Goal Proximity and Unethical Behavior --- p.28 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Discussion --- p.30 / Goal Conditions and Demonstrated Effort --- p.30 / Self-esteem and Demonstrated Effort --- p.31 / Goal Conditions and Unethical Behavior --- p.32 / Self-esteem and Unethical Behavior --- p.34 / Goal Proximity and Unethical Behavior --- p.35 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Limitations and Future Directions --- p.37 / Chapter Chapter 6: --- Conclusion --- p.40 / References --- p.42 / Appendix --- p.51

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Antioch University, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Mar. 27, 2006). Advisor: Jon Wergin. Keywords: leadership development, evaluation, leadership, user-focused theory of action . Includes bibliographical references (p. 212-226 ).

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Thesis (M. A.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Psychology, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on June 19, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-75). Also issued in print.