Five experiments were conducted to investigate psychological determinants of food preference in five to seven year-old children. The research was informed by: (i) the general literature on human food preference, and (ii) behaviour analytic theory and research, particularly that on rule-governance. Experiment 1, using a between groups design, examined the impact of in vivo peer behaviour on novel food consumption. Children exposed to "positive" peers avidly consuming a target food tended to prefer that food. Conversely, children who observed "negative" peers, rejecting the food, consumed little: it was also shown that these negative effects could be largely overridden by subsequent exposure to positive peers. Experiments 2 to 5 utilised multiple baseline designs to evaluate the effectiveness of a series of multi-component interventions designed to promote consumption of previously refused fruits and vegetables. To maximise ecological validity and long-term maintenance of behaviour change these experiments were conducted in subjects' homes in the context of the evening meal. During Experiment 2 an intervention incorporating video modelling, contingent rewards, and instructions effectively promoted consumption of three named foods. However, little generalisation to the consumption of other foods was evident. In Experiment 3 a similar intervention targeted broader food categories (vegetables and fruit) and this was effective in promoting consumption of up to 12 foods. Maintenance interventions utilising token rewards were effective in promoting long term consumption. During Experiment 4, written instructions and contingent rewards, without video modelling, were relatively effective in promoting fruit, but not vegetable consumption. During Experiment 5, instructions and video modelling, without contingent rewards had a negligible effect on the consumption of either food category. The results demonstrated that, contrary to the widely held belief within the human food preference literature, interventions utilising contingent rewards can be very effective in modifying food preferences. In discussing the results consideration was given to: (i) the role of rulegovernance in ensuring effective reward use; (ii) maintenance and generalisation of behaviour change; and (iii) the outcome measure most appropriate for food preference research.

Individual niche variation is increasingly being demonstrated in animal populations in a wide variety of species and taxa. Niche variation among individuals has important implications for the ecology, evolution and management of animal populations and is a subject of increasing interest. However, despite its widespread occurrence the causes and consequences of individual niche variation remain poorly understood. In this thesis I use the European badger (Meles meles), a well studied species of high ecological interest, as a model system to investigate individual niche variation. In order to achieve this I combine information on individual foraging niches derived via stable isotope analysis (SIA) of badger vibrissae with detailed life history and ecological data from a long-term study population to investigate the incidence, cause and consequence of individual niche variation within badger social groups. First I use the biomarker Rhodamine B to investigate vibrissae growth rates and patterns in badgers and demonstrate that the isotopic composition of a single vibrissa likely reflects diet over several months (Chapter 2). Next I explore the use of SIA as a tool to investigate badger diet, by comparing isotopic patterns to seasonal changes in diet measured using faecal analysis (Chapter 3). My results provide validation that SIA is powerful tool for investigating foraging variation in this species, and suggest that within badger populations substantial dietary variation may occur among individuals. Further investigation of isotopic variation Indicates that individuals within social groups differ markedly and consistently in their isotopic signature, independent of age and sex effects and that in some instances these differences are remarkably consistent across year (Chapter 4).This suggesting long term individual specialisation (Chapter 4). I find that the degree of this individual specialisation, and the relationship between specialisation and body condition is influenced by competition for resources (Chapter 5). Social groups with higher levels of competition exhibit greater specialisation and specialised individuals within these highly competitive environments are in better condition. Finally, I discuss the implications of these results for individual niche variation, for the application of SIA to study this behaviour and for badger ecology generally (Chapter 6). I also outline future directions for further research.

Behavioural case linkage (BCL) is a procedure that can be used to identify linked crime series, which contain two or more crimes committed by the same person, thereby helping the police to detect and prosecute repeat offenders who are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime. However, despite the potential benefits of BCL, there are also damaging consequences if crimes are incorrectly linked. Consequently, research has started to test if and how this procedure can work in the most efficient and reliable way. But, the extant literature has a number of important limitations, particularly in terms of (1) generalisability (i.e., there have been few attempts to replicate findings across geographical locations and time periods), (2) ecological validity (i.e., the methodology used to test BCL is not representative of how the procedure is used in practice), and (3) methodology (i.e., there is a lack of research to systematically compare the various methodological/statistical approaches to BCL). The primary aim of this thesis was to address these three important limitations. In terms of generalisability, this thesis has tested the extent to which previous BCL research on residential burglary, commercial robbery, and car theft can be replicated in new geographical locations and time periods. In terms of ecological validity, a number of new methodologies have been developed and tested that reduce the gap between research and practice in BCL by allowing both non-serial and unsolved offences (as well as solved, serial offences) to be included when testing the principles of BCL, and also for these principles to be tested with crime series that contain several different types of offence. In terms of methodology, novel methodological approaches have been compared with the ‘traditional’, status quo methodology for researching the BCL principles, thereby ensuring that the findings reported in this thesis can be compared with previous work. This thesis, therefore, has important implications for theory, research, and practice and the findings are discussed in the context of these. Future research directions are also outlined.

Current government statistics show that the fastest growing ages for exclusion in English schools is in children between five and seven years old (DfE, 2013). This trend of young children being excluded for behaviour difficulties can have long term consequences for the children and their families, and has costs to society (Castle & Parsons, 1997). It has also been found that children with challenging behaviour can attract less sympathy than other areas of difficulty (Ofsted, 2010). There is limited research regarding parents' experiences of engaging with school staff when issues are raised about their child's behaviour, particularly when the children are being referred to external agencies. In the present study, three mothers of young children, whose child had been referred to the Educational Psychology Service for challenging behaviour, were interviewed. The method used to examine the interview data is Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as it aims to explore the experiences of the mothers from their interpretation of the situation. Although the mothers had diverse experiences of working with school staff and external professionals with regard to their child's challenging behaviour they provided evidence for five key superordinate themes, which are: development of shared understanding; the child as an individual; the role of being a parent; finding solutions; and social perceptions of behaviour. Implications for theory are discussed in order to further develop a model of working with parents which challenges some the inherent disempowerment and difficulties of managing within the compulsory education system. Implications for practice are explored to consider how school staff and professionals need to develop their communication strategies to enable parents to have access to information, to actively listen to the views of parents, and for parents to be actively involved and work collaboratively in the child's best interests. Further research to identify the relative influence of themes in the present findings would enable targeting of resources to improve the outcomes for young children with challenging behaviour in school.

Transactional Analysis, or TA, has been used for more than four decades to enhance interpersonal relationships and promote personal growth through counselling and psychotherapy. It has been used to advantage in organisations, principally in the business world. It was thought at the outset of this study that TA could also be of benefit to schools.The aim of this study was to find out whether TA methods could be used in schools to improve student outcomes in science and mathematics, to enhance interpersonal relationships and to promote positive behaviour. The study trialled TA by using it with a group of at-risk students to discover whether its use would bring about positive change.A group of ten at-risk students became part of a mentoring programme, using TA. This programme focussed on the behaviour and academic progress of the students, and sought to empower them to make positive changes. This group referred to as the sample group, was compared with a control group. The Adult ego-state (thinking) was promoted in the students in order to shift their 'locus of control' from their Negative Adapted Child ego-state, the source of much non-productive, inappropriate and rebellious behaviour.The study upheld the reliability and validity of the questionnaires used, namely the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction, the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (School Form) and the Mooney Problem Checklist. The study prompted the construction of an informal test, the Ego-State Questionnaire, which proved to be informative.Poor attendance and school behaviour records were good indicators of a student's 'at-risk' status. At-risk students were found to be already achieving below their potential in science and mathematics at entry to secondary school.The mentoring programme ran for six months, and at the end of this the sample group had improved behavioural records and increased self ++ / esteem. Their number of perceived problems had dropped dramatically, and their academic results were improved.Interpersonal relationships between the sample group and their science teachers were better than the interpersonal relationships with their mathematics teachers, indicating a continued difficulty with abstract ideas at the end of the programme and a need to run such programmes over a longer time span. Interpersonal relationships did improve out of school with parents and peers. Clear preferences were indicated for what students preferred in the behaviours of their ideal teacher: understanding, helping/friendly, leadership and strict behaviours.Encouragement of Adult ego-state was shown to be an appropriate and productive approach to the improvement of academic and behavioural outcomes for at-risk students in science and mathematics. The study also showed that at-risk young people had a lower than average Nurturing Parent ego-state available to them.Teachers rated their TA101 course highly, and found that it gave them a fresh perspective on classroom difficulties. Both teachers and students benefited from the use of TA in this study.

This research presents the first North American route-choice model for cyclists developed from a large sample of GPS data. These findings should encourage all interested municipalities to implement cycling as part of their transportation planning by determining key designing and planning factors to encourage cycling. The analysis is based on processing revealed preference data obtained from 415 self-selected cyclists in Waterloo, Ontario, which corresponded to 2000 routes. Cyclists' route decisions were modeled using multinomial logit framework of discrete choice theory. The main finding involved in capturing two different behaviour groups, namely experienced and inexperienced cyclists. This was subsequently reflected in the two developed models. The key factors impacting route-choice were found to be trip length, speed, volume, bicycle lane presence and percent of uphill gradient that cyclists face. The predictive power of the best model was 65%. The outlier analysis found that the relative significance of uphill gradient coefficient in one circumstances and perhaps the exclusion of unobserved variables, in other circumstances could be the cause why probability of actual choice was not predicted by both models all the time. In addition, this research involved in the development of a transferability study involving route-choice modeling for cyclists. The analysis is based on the revealed preference data obtained from 255 self-selected cyclists in Peel Region, Ontario, which corresponded to 425 unique routes. The choice set contained actual routes and a combination of alternatives obtained by labeling and impedance rules. The transferability of Waterloo's model to Peel Region was 37%. This means that cyclists behaviour in the Peel Region can be predicted correctly by travel length, bicycle lane presence and percent of uphill gradient for every third cyclist.

This research has investigated the behaviour of synthetic turf pitches for field hockey. A combination of mechanical and perceived data collection methods were used to provide an increased understanding of pitch behaviour. A methodology was developed to elicit perceptions from elite field hockey players. Part of the method was an inductive analysis of players responses during a participant led interview. This enabled the development of a 'structured relationship model' which Illustrated five general dimensions. Each general dimension was part of a hierarchical structure formed from base themes via players responses. Based on characteristics identified in the 'structured relationship model' a questionnaire was designed to quantify the Importance and preferences of certain playing characteristics for elite field hockey players. It was found that players thought 'surface consistency' and 'the ability to demonstrate deft skills' as the most Important surface characteristics it was also identified that given a choice the majority of players would like to play on a fast, low bouncing surface conducive to deft stickwork with 'high' underfoot grip, no ball spin and with a moderate hardness Monitoring during the construction of a world class water-based synthetic turf hockey pitch has shown the influence each layer on the overall pitch system. Novel equipment to the sports Industry was used to evaluate each layer during construction and a large amount of variability was identified across the pitch. it was identified that if the subgrade had a weak area of low stiffness then the subsequent layers above were also vulnerable to low measurements. This highlighted the Importance of quality control during construction A laboratory investigation using a combination of shockpad and carpet samples identified the Influence different systems had on the playing surface. During the investigation testing was conducted on the laboratory floor and in a prepared box constructed to Simulate a 'typical' pitch. it was identified that the layers below the shockpad had little Influence on the measurements. Conditions were monitored and it was identified the Importance water has on the behaviour of the surface lt was found to significantly reduce ball rebound height and rotational traction A series of site investigations using mechanical tests has shown the variability between pitches even at elite standard Six pitches were evaluated and a range of results were obtained and compared with the requirements from the international governing body for field hockey. A correlation between the artificial athlete Berlin and 2.25 kg Clegg impact hammer demonstrated that the Clegg hammer could be a valuable tool for surface assessment. A comparison of players perceptions and the mechanical measurements of six pitches were evaluated. lt was found that the perceived behaviour of ball rebound, underfoot traction and surface hardness correlated well with measured data. However, it was shown that players perceptions of surface pace did not correspond to measurements of ball roll distance. The three main sections of work comprising site data collection, laboratory testing and elicitation of players perceptions have been used together to provide a much greater understanding of the behaviour of synthetic turf pitches for field hockey.

Web 2.0 is loosely defined as a set of interactive and social online tools. This thesis distinguishes between the terms Internet and Web, explains the evolution of the Web towards the Web 2.0 and describes the fundamental parts of this platform. The following chapter examines the network effects, virtual communities and the reason to participate in the online environment. It also investigates the user typology and identifies some serious concerns associated with the current Web. The paper analyses the changes to the consumer environment and identifies the key areas of change. The findings are supported with online research.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:17:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sandra Regina de Oliveira Rodrigues dos Reis.pdf: 619670 bytes, checksum: 05c774d13bea8efc80cb88acd2ae062c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-18 / The adherence to antiretroviral therapy has been highlighted in various studies as an important subject, since it concerns a long term illness which requires changes in the daily routine of the individual who lives with it. Research carried out in prisons has identified a greater incidence of persons living with HIV/aids amongst prisoners than amongst persons living in liberty. In view of that, the object of this research was to analyse a proposition for intervention amongst men living with HIV/aids in the hospital section of a prison. The process was divided into three phases Phase 1 (consultation of patients records in order to obtain CD4 and the level of the virus, the completion of questionnaires and application of research tools), Phase 2 (intervention) and Phase 3 (renewed consultation of patients records to obtain CD4 and the level of the virus and a further completion of questionnaires and application of research tools). The hypothesis was that the individuals who presented a low or insufficient adhesion (to the therapy) in Phase 1, after the intervention would present a high adhesion. As well as altered degrees of adhesion, it was hoped that there would be positive changes in the clinical data (CD4 and the level of the virus). The experimental group consisted of five participants and the control group consisted of three participants. The results obtained showed that the sample was characterized by persons with an average age of 35.25 years and low levels of education. In phase 1 they presented a low or insufficient adhesion, high levels of the virus and low immune levels. After the intervention (Phase 2) the experimental group as one presented high adhesion and better levels of clinical data in distinction to the control group which presented low or insufficient adhesion, unsatisfactory immunological levels and levels of the virus with the exception of one of the participants in the control group who since the beginning presented satisfactory levels of adhesion as well as CD4 and the level of the virus. In conclusion, some important points were demonstrated by this study. One of them is the importance of carrying out research with a focus on adhesion to antiretroviral therapy among this population since there is little research in the literature even though the incidence of the disease is high. The other point is to widen a proposition like this one, to be carried out with more participants seeing that positive results were found / A adesão à terapia antirretroviral (TARV) tem sido destacada em diversos estudos, uma vez que se trata de uma doença crônica que exige mudanças de rotina do indivíduo que vive com ela. Pesquisas realizadas em presídios identificaram uma maior prevalência de pessoas vivendo com HIV/aids em presídios se comparadas, proporcionalmente, às pessoas vivendo em liberdade. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar o efeito de uma intervenção nos valores de adesão adotados em oito homens vivendo com HIV/aids em um Centro Hospitalar do Sistema Penitenciário do Estado de São Paulo. O procedimento foi dividido em três Momentos. No Momento 1 ocorreu a obtenção dos dados clínicos (CD4 e carga viral), a partir de consulta a prontuários, a obtenção dos valores de adesão (CEAT-VIH) e obtenção de dados demográficos. No Momento 2 ocorreu a intervenção que se caracterizou por quatro Encontros em grupo, sob a coordenação da pesquisadora, de uma médica infectologista e de uma enfermeira. Nesses Encontros foram apresentadas e discutidas informações sobre a doença. O Momento 3 seguiu o mesmo procedimento do Momento 1, exceto a obtenção de dados demográficos. A hipótese era que os indivíduos que apresentassem adesão baixa/insuficiente indicadas pelo CEAT-VIH e pelos índices sanguíneos (carga viral alta e taxa alta CD4) no Momento 1, após a intervenção, apresentariam adesão alta indicadas pelos dados obtidos no Momento 3. Foram formados dois grupos de participantes: experimental e controle. Cinco participantes constituíram o grupo experimental e três o grupo controle. O primeiro grupo participou de todas as fases e o grupo controle não participou dos Encontros do Momento 2. Os resultados encontrados mostraram que, No Momento 1, a maioria participantes do grupo experimental apresentaram adesão baixa/insuficiente no CEAT e altos níveis virológicos e baixos níveis imunológicos (CD4). Após os Encontros do Momento 2, todos os participantes do grupo experimental apresentaram adesão alta (CEAT) e melhora (aumento em CD4 e diminuição em carga viral?) nos níveis de dados clínicos. Diferentemente, o grupo controle manteve adesão baixa/insuficiente (CEAT) e níveis imunológicos e virológicos insatisfatórios, exceto um dos participantes que sempre apresentou valores satisfatórios quanto aos dados clínicos (CD4 e carga viral). O presente trabalho indicou a importância na continuidade de estudos que investiguem adesão nesse ambiente a fim de se aprimorarem as questões metodológicas e de generalidade

This diploma thesis focuses on the topic of problematic behaviour of pupils with autism and medium mental retardation in an educational process. The main aim of this work is to learn about and describe teaching staff's experience with the occurrence and ways of handling problematic behaviour of these pupils. The theoretical part describes the basic terms related to autism, mental retardation and it also outlines a historical context of autism, etilogy, its classification and characteristic symptoms. The thesis also focuses on the diagnostic process in the psychological and pedagogical diagnostics, an overview of basic obligatory diagnostic tools is provided. It deals with the legislative framework of the education of pupils with autism and medium mental retardation, it describes the most common educational methods and therapeutic approaches in special schools. Next chapter defines the term problematic behaviour, outlines the diagnostic evaluations and some specific approaches to correcting such behaviour. The practical research part is based on the qualitatively-oriented methodology and it works with data gained from 11 semi-structured interviews with the school deputy directors, special pedagogues - teachers, assistant teachers - educators from three elementary schools separately established for...