According to the concept of the Life Cycle Hypothesis, the propensity to consume or the level of consumption cannot be explained by any specific variable but is dependent on a cluster of variables, from which transitory income effects have been removed. The main attempt of the paper is to test the life cycle variables to see if they significantly determine the variation of the percent of consumption spent on food, recreation, and education, respectively. The technique employed in doing so is Principal Component Analysis, which helps to eliminate multicollinearity, and lessens or eliminates the degree of freedom problem that occurs in the Multiple Regression Analysis. Moreover, the writer believes Principal Component Analysis approach is the statistical analogue to the Life Cycle Hypothesis. The results of the studies are: (1) The percent of consumption spent on food would increase if the family size decreases, the number of children in the family decreases, the individuals get older, and as the number of older members in the family increases. These results were found across the age and city classifications. (2) The percent of consumption spent on recreation would increase with the family size, the number of children in the family. Also, the percent of consumption spent on recreation varies inversely with age. This finding is supported by the age and city data, but across occupation the life cycle variables are not significant determinants of percent spent on recreation. (3) The percent of consumption spent on recreation fluctuates inversely with percentage spent on food, but follows the similar trend of percent spent on recreation. The larger family size and the more children in the family, the higher education spending out of the budget, while the older the family head and the more older members in the family, the lower the percentage spent on education. This finding is supported by all the data utilized except the urban occupation data.

A review of theory and research on spouse abuse identified sex-role socialization and past experiences with abuse as possible factors contributing to women's tolerance of abusive relationships. The current study of 151 college women attempted to identify factors predictive of tolerance of abuse which could identify women at risk of becoming abused. It was hypothesized that significantly more abused than non-abused women would be classified as feminine on the Bern Sex Role Inventory (Bern, 1974) and that previous experiences with abuse would be related to greater tolerance of abuse as measured by the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS); (Straus, 1979). Neither hypothesis was supported. The study failed to identify possible predictors of tolerance of abuse. However, the study provided a description of abusive experiences in college women. Fifty-two percent of the subjects were classified as abused on the CTS. Brothers were the most frequent abusers. Abused women reported a much higher frequency of experiences with all forms of conflict. Care must be taken in generalizing the findings from this study to the general population due to the fact that the entire subject population was enrolled in college, and that most of the women classified as abused were so due to abuse by brothers and not by a mate in a long-term relationship.

The purpose of this study was to tap into and index the motor program that is believed to control human movement, and to use that index in the prediction of future performance on the same task. A total of 75 right-handed undergraduates were tested on the rotor pursuit operating at 45 revolutions-per-minute, subjects were asked to imagine themselves tracking the target with the stylus in their left hand. During the imagery trial or trials, depending on group assignment, the subjects verbalized the word "top" each time their image made one complete revolution. Each subject received an initial 20 sec of mental imagery which included the "top" procedure. Following the initial mental imagery, each subject in each group received 12 practice trials. For Group 1 a trial consisted of 20 sec of left handed physical practice, 20 sec of mental imagery, and 40 sec of occupied rest. A trial for Group 2 was 20 sec of left hand physical practice followed by 60 sec of occupied rest, and for group 3 a trial was up of 40 sec of left hand physical practice, followed by 40 sec of occupied rest. Accuracy of the motor program was measured by the number of "tops" the subject verbalized (the accuracy of their mental image) during each 20 sec imagery trial. Physical performance was measured by the total amount of time the subject kept the stylus over the rotating target during each performance trial. An analysis of variance showed that the three groups did not differ in their level of performance over trials (F=.43, p>.05). This result was unexpected, but could be attributed to the effects of work decrement (Kohl and Roenker, 1980). This analysis of as expected the three groups all performance over practice trials variance also showed that improved their level of (F=60.57, P<.01). A second analysis of variance showed that the three groups did not differ in the accuracy of their initial mental images of the task (F=1.09, P>.05). A third analysis of variance showed that group l's image accuracy changed over trials, that is they improved their accuracy over trials (F=5.86, P<.01). The most important analysis was on the data for group 1. A regression analysis was conducted by use of the Times Series Analysis Parks Method. This regression showed that the number of previous trials and the accuracy of the mental image was a significant model to use to predict future physical performance (Beta values for the two variables were 1.57 for the number of previous trials, and .24 for the accuracy of the mental image, P<.05 for both variables).

Thirty-two male and female Balb-C mice were randomly divided into four groups of eight subjects each. The mice were injected with saline or naloxone either before or after the initial training of an active avoidance response. Forty trials were administered during the training and the retesting phases with the number of avoidance responses being recorded. The results indicate that there was no significant difference between giving the treatment before versus after training. No significant difference was also observed between the saline versus naloxone groups, while a significant difference was found between training versus retesting. Possible explanations for both the nonsignificant and significant results are discussed.

Previous literature has produced mixed findings of a tendency of investors, coined the “ostrich effect” to display a preference for avoiding potentially painful information regarding their portfolios. This paper investigates the presence of the ostrich effect during the 2008/2009 financial crisis via a survey of investors who held portfolios before and through that period. The results demonstrate that most investors do not report any ostrich effect. However, approximately one fourth of investors demonstrated a preference for delaying learning about potentially negative portfolio information, but ultimately chose to learn the information. These findings provide a more nuanced understanding of investors’ behaviors during financial crises and supports a more specific definition of the ostrich effect. Specifically, that some investors prefer a delay in painful information acquisition but do no indefinitely “keep their heads in the sand.”

Social workers are subjected to experiencing job related stress due to high case loads, the severity of client cases, and vicarious trauma. In order to cope with these job stresses, it would be conducive for social workers to find alternatives to coping with job related stress. Practicing spirituality can be seen in many forms relating to religion, cultural practices, prayers, meditation, and to be one with nature to say the least. This research will explore the correlation between spirituality and job related stress among social workers. Quantitative data has been gathered amongst 133 social workers who have participated in answering the spirituality inventory and job stress questionnaire. Results from this data finds that spirituality brings forth positive attributes such as reducing stress and burnout. Furthermore, there is a negative correlation between spirituality and job stress. The greater spirituality is linked to lower levels of job stress. Therefore, it is vital to utilize spirituality as it may help with self care and lead to greater longevity in the social work field.

While smoking rates in the general adult population have declined, smoking remains entrenched among individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). Individuals with OUD have an extremely high prevalence of smoking, experience poor cessation outcomes, and bear a disproportionate burden of smoking-related adverse health consequences. Data have also suggested that opioid-maintained (OM) smokers may experience a unique response to nicotine including heightened reinforcement and potentially more severe withdrawal when stopping smoking. Thus, this is a sub-group of smokers for which novel harm reduction paradigms are urgently needed to reduce the burden of smoking. A promising national policy is currently under consideration by the Food and Drug Administration to decrease the nicotine content of cigarettes in an effort to reduce smoking prevalence and smoking-related disease. It is critical to understand the extent to which reduced nicotine content cigarettes (RNCCs) can attenuate tobacco withdrawal severity in OM smokers as this has direct implications for the potential acceptability and uptake of reduced nicotine cigarettes in this vulnerable subgroup. The primary aims of this study were to rigorously examine the effects of OM status on tobacco withdrawal and craving in response to participants’ usual brand cigarette and research cigarettes that varied in nicotine content. Opioid-maintained (OM; n=65) vs. non opioid-maintained (NOM; n=135) smokers completed 5 outpatient laboratory sessions in which they smoked a single research cigarette varying in nicotine content (0.4, 2.4, 5.2, 15.8 mg/g of tobacco) or their usual brand cigarette under double-blind, acute abstinence conditions. Participants completed the Minnesota Tobacco Withdrawal Scale before and every 15 minutes for one hour following smoking each cigarette. As an exploratory aim, we also examined the contribution of OM status to tobacco withdrawal in the context of several other important characteristics associated with smoking vulnerability (e.g., depression, anxiety, education level). Repeated measures mixed model analyses were used to examine all aims. Across usual brand cigarettes and RNCCs, tobacco withdrawal and craving did not differ as a function of OM status (p’s >.05). In multivariable models, nicotine dose, time, depression, cigarette dependence, education level, but not OM status, consistently predicted tobacco withdrawal and craving severity (p’s <.05). In particular, depression severity, rather than OM status, was the strongest and most consistent predictor of withdrawal and craving severity among the characteristics examined. Despite prior data suggesting that OM smokers may respond differently to nicotine and experience more severe withdrawal during reductions in nicotine intake, OM smokers in this study responded favorably to RNCCs. These findings provide additional support for the potential beneficial effects of a national nicotine reduction policy for reducing the burden of smoking and smoking-related consequences among smokers with concurrent OUD.

I develop the Generalized Evolutionary Nash Equilibrium Estimator (GENEE) library. The tool is designed to provide a generic computational library for running genetic algorithms and individual evolutionary learning in economic decision-making environments. Most importantly, I have adapted the library to estimate equilibria bidding functions in auctions. I show it produces highly accurate estimates across a large class of auction environments with known solutions. I then apply GENEE to estimate the equilibria of two additional auctions with no known solutions: first-price sealed-bid common value auctions with multiple signals, and simultaneous first-price auctions with subadditive values

Families of color in the State of Michigan, as in many other states, have been overrepresented in the child welfare system, particularly in the foster care system. The Child and Family Services and Improvement Act of 2006 (P.L. 109-288) was intended, in part, to provide community-based interventions that could rectify the inequality some African American families experienced during their journey through the U.S. child welfare system. Guided by Bronfenbrenner's human ecology theory and Shaw and McKay's social disorganization theory, the purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences and perceptions of African American parents and families about the barriers they experienced in exiting the child welfare system, thereby expanding the current literature and increasing awareness of institutional racism that many African American families experience. The central research question was how human ecology and social disorganization theories might explain the challenges African American families experienced in exiting the child welfare system. Semi structured interviews of 8 African American parents were conducted and data analyzed using a continuous iterative process. Findings indicated that African Americans experienced institutional racism and cultural bias from caseworkers that appear to slow their successful exit from the system. Implications for social change include informing policy makers of the need for cultural sensitivity training among those responsible for implementing child welfare policies so as to lessen biased pathways African American families experience while navigating through these complicated systems.

Nigerian immigrants in the United States exhibit complex and different perceptions of police in the criminal justice system than those of African Americans who are born in the United States. In order for Nigerian immigrants to contribute to improved police-community relations, their views and experiences with local police should be evaluated and applied to police agency decision-making. The purpose of this narrative study was to explore Nigerian immigrants' perceptions of police and policing in the United States (U.S.). Social cognitive theory was utilized as a lens of analysis to understand how prior experiences can influence future behavior and expectations. Structured interviews from a purposive sample of 14 Nigerian immigrants living in San Antonio, TX, were coded and subjectively analyzed with Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) miner software. A narrative inquiry was used so that participants could provide reasoning from their own perspectives and experiences to answer the research and interview questions. According to the study findings, despite overwhelming negative opinions about police in the United States, Nigerian immigrants hold more positive opinions about police in the United States than the police force in their home country. While nearly all participants complained about the abuse of authority by police, police in the United States are not perceived as corrupt. These findings can be used to enhance relationships between Nigerian immigrant communities and the police in areas where there are high concentrations of this particular group, especially in the practice of community policing and resolving negative perceptions based on cultural imprints that hinder effective policing.