This study includes two theoretical works. In both works, I assume that economic agents have heterogeneous beliefs. I study collateralized loan transactions among economic agents arising from the divergent beliefs. Moreover, I make collateral requirements endogenously determined, along with interest rates and loan quantities. The theme of the first work is to study private transactions in currency crises. I assume that domestic residents have different beliefs on how resilient the central bank is in defending the currency. Due to the different beliefs, domestic residents willingly borrow and lend among themselves. I show that the heterogeneity of beliefs per se brings stability to the system, but that short-term collateralized loans among domestic residents arising from the divergent opinions make an exchange rate peg vulnerable. The second work is to understand credit default swaps in general equilibrium. The model features a market for a risky asset, a market for loans collateralized by the risky asset, and a market for credit default swaps referencing these loans. I show that the introduction of credit default swaps only as insurance has no effect on the price of the risky asset. And the introduction of credit default swaps both as insurance and as tools for making side bets depresses the price of the risky asset in general but has no effect hen the majority of the economy hold bearish views on the risky asset.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The purpose of this thesis was to investigate relationships between treatment knowledge, beliefs and outcome in Panic Disorder and/or Agoraphobia (Panic-Ag). Research from the psychotherapy and medical literature indicates patients’ treatment knowledge and beliefs, specifically acceptance of the treatment rationale (ATR), expectancies of treatment outcome (ETO) and treatment self-efficacy (TSE), are associated with clinical outcomes for a range of disorders. However, methodological limitations surrounding measurement of these constructs have undermined conclusions and/or such relationships have not been investigated in the field of Panic-Ag. Relationships between treatment knowledge, beliefs and outcome in Panic-Ag were examined using a 2 phase procedure. Phase 1 involved developing measures of treatment knowledge, ATR, ETO and TSE using patient and clinician samples. The psychometric properties of these measures were found to be satisfactory. Phase 2 investigated associations between treatment knowledge, beliefs and outcome following cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) among 41 Panic-Ag participants. Measures were administered at pretreatment and 6-months posttreatment. It was hypothesised that treatment knowledge, ATR, ETO and TSE would be related to outcome, with associations mediated by belief in catastrophic cognitions. Of 4 Panic- Ag outcome measures (panic attack frequency, panic sensation severity, frequency of catastrophic cognitions and agoraphobic avoidance), results indicated improved treatment knowledge was significantly associated with frequency of catastrophic cognitions and agoraphobic avoidance. Posttreatment TSE was significantly associated with panic attack sensation severity, frequency of catastrophic cognitions and agoraphobic avoidance. Contrary to the hypothesis, ATR was not related to outcome. Similar findings concerning TSE and ATR were obtained in an independent sample of 34 Panic-Ag participants. Exploratory analyses found that pretreatment beliefs including outcome expectancies were unrelated to outcome. Mediational analyses revealed relationships between TSE and outcome were partially mediated by belief in catastrophic cognitions while relationships between treatment knowledge and outcome were not. Results are discussed in light of previous research, methodological limitations, clinical implications and future research directions.

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) / At an upper level of education, especially Forms 5, 6 and 7 of secondary school and in tertiary institutions, Indo-Fijian students often perform better than their ethnic Fijian counterparts. This pattern of ethnic difference in academic performance is a long standing one, lasting over 70 years. However, both ethnic groups have been participants in the same educational system in Fiji. Educational policies have been implemented to reduce this difference. This present case study argues that there are cultural differences of values, beliefs and practices with respect to educational achievement among Indo-Fijians and ethnic Fijians. The achievement ethic of the two ethnic groups differs. Indo-Fijian culture respects and values education highly. Generally speaking, educating children has been always the top priority of Indo-Fijian culture. They believe that education changes people for the better, and the only way to “success” is through education. Thus, Indo- Fijian parents believe that helping children to strive for academic excellence is one of the most important tasks for them. The priority attached by such parents to educational success is one of the strongest forces behind academic success. By contrast, ethnic Fijian culture encourages children to have a strong sense of loyalty to their community and of becoming good members of their koro (i.e., village). Indeed, one’s total commitment to communal activities and cultural requirements is of vital importance. Although ethnic Fijian parents generally understand the importance of their children’s education and wish to support their education, ethnic Fijian communal demands are enormous in terms of time and labour. The pressure to maintain their moral and social obligations within the community tends to make ethnic Fijians spend a large amount of time, energy and money on functions such as ceremonial events and church activities, at the possible expense of providing for the formal education of their children. These demands mean that parents are often absent from home, and unable to supervise children’s homework. Ethnic Fijian children, upper secondary schoolers, feel strong pressure from their peers within their koro to conform to social activities, such as attending church, playing sports such as rugby and volleyball, and hanging around in the koro and town. Besides, the layout of the typical ethnic Fijian home is a more difficult environment than Indo-Fijian households for children’s study, largely due to the limited space to study independently. The socio-cultural background of ethnic Fijians, especially their home environment including family values and priorities, is one of the major barriers to their children’s educational progress. In addition, school leadership, teachers’ expectations, colonial policies and legacies, e.g., land tenure issues, play important roles in affecting differences in the academic performance of these two ethnic groups. Consequently, the educational achievement differences between ethnic Fijians and Indo-Fijians are revealed substantially during the secondary and tertiary educational institutions.

Issues of culture and worldview and their impact on students' learning of science have become increasingly important to science teachers. This study details work that I carried out in the period 1995-1999 which examined the effect of culture on students' conceptualisations of nature. It is framed as the creation of my own 'living educational theory' as I, a teacher-researcher, dealt with what I perceived were the cultural inequities experienced by students in my classroom. I carried out my first study with a group of seven rural high school students in the Far North of Queensland in Australia, where I was teaching in 1995. Later, in two visits to China, I was able to carry out the same sort of research with a group of seven Chinese college students in Jinan, Shandong Province, PRC, largely using the Chinese language. I used a naturalistic inquiry approach and a semi-structured interview technique to determine students' conceptualisations of nature. I have chosen to embed the results of these two studies within narratives that describe my experiences in the two cultures as I carried out my research. For each culture, I have also developed an epic description of the role of science from the literature and history of that culture. From my three sources of data, interview, narrative and historical description, I have made knowledge claims about the students' beliefs about the natural world.My research findings are ironic to me since they are diametrically opposite to what I had expected. Initially I had believed that Mainland Chinese students would possess a world view full of alternative perspectives to that of Western school science. My research indicates however that students in rural Mainland China hold a traditional and integrated modem Western scientific world view. Although some researchers in other South-East Asian communities propose alternative frameworks for ++ / the teaching of science, frameworks that are actually 'pre-modern' these do not appear to be appropriate for Mainland Chinese students. I had expected that the Australian students would bring a modern Western scientific world view to the science classroom. However, the group of rural Western students that I interviewed displayed a world view that is not recognisable as that of modern Western science. Postmodernism and other cultural and social effects appear to have influenced them to such an extent that some have clearly not 'crossed the border' to a modern Western scientific world view. This thesis reflects my desire to overcome the perceived problem of inequity in my own teaching. The knowledge claims made here give some indication as to how I may improve my own practice. A return to the classroom will allow me to continue the cycle of action and reflection by which I can validate, develop and refine my living educational theory.

Lärare är personen som planerar, genomför och utvärderar undervisning. Eftersom att elevers matematiska resonemang, enligt aktuella styrdokument, ska utvecklas i undervisningen har läraren en given roll som påverkar hur eleven ges möjlighet att utveckla resonemangskompetens. Hur lärare uppfattar matematiska resonemang blir därmed en nyckelkomponent i vad som sker i undervisningen. Kan elevers förmåga att resonera påverkas om lärare uppfattar matematiska resonemang på skilda sätt? I denna studie diskuteras aktuell forskning om matematiska resonemang och dess betydelse i undervisningen. Två lärare har intervjuats och deras utsagor jämförs med den aktuella forskningen. Dessa kvalitativa intervjuer i relation till forskningen har visat sig öppna dörren för mer omfattande forskning inom detta ämnesområde då intressanta slutsatser har dragits, utan att dessa har generaliserats. I resultaten har det framkommit att elevers förmåga att resonera påverkas i en hög utsträckning av lärarens val att antingen ge elever en redan fungerande strategi eller att låta eleverna själva kämpa med en uppgift. Av intervjumaterialet med två lärare har det framkommit att frågeställningen varför saknas helt medan frågeställningen hur är vanligt förekommande. I denna studie har lärarnas utlåtanden blivit intressanta då forskning har visat att om elevers förmåga att argumentera för egna strategival ska utvecklas är frågeställningen varför avgörande. Därmed påverkar lärares uppfattningar om matematiska resonemang elevers förmåga att föra matematiska resonemang. / <p>Matematik</p>

Recent studies have suggested that the diagnostic reliability and accuracy of breast ultrasonography in place of mammography in women with dense breast tissue results in more accurate breast cancer screening in this population. Since breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among United States women, a more accurate and reliable breast cancer screening tool is needed (American Cancer Society [ACS], 2014). This process starts with describing breast screening practice patterns of nurse practitioners and analyzing their attitudes and beliefs of alternative screening modalities gathered from the survey results obtained from this DNP project. The purpose of this study is to determine the attitudes and beliefs of if nurse practitioners towards the use of ultrasonography alone in lieu of mammography followed by sonography in women aged 40-74 with mammographically dense breast tissue. A survey consisting of 23 questions was sent to nurse practitioners in Arizona through the Coalition of Arizona Nurses in Advanced Practice listserv, and through an email list provided by the president of the Allied Health Providers of Yuma. Analysis of survey responses indicated that the majority of respondents believe that it is difficult to detect cancer using mammography in women with dense breast tissue, and more than half of respondents believe that ultrasounds are more accurate and reliable at detecting cancer in women with dense breast tissue. The results also demonstrate that the majority of nurse practitioners surveyed are not familiar with current literature regarding ultrasonography screening in women with dense breast tissue.

This study is meant to replicate research by O’Toole (1997), investigating the effectiveness of Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT), and REBT combined with REST, in reducing and treating social anxiety disorder (SAD). The present study used a counselling programme grounded in REBT and/or REST to re-examine the effects of REBT and/or REST on treating SAD in college students in a Saudi Arabian university. An experimental pre-test, post-test, control group design was utilised, and quantitative and content analysis data were collected and analysed using O’Toole’s measures after being ‘Arabicised’ and standardised. Social anxiety was measured using the Interaction Anxiousness Scale and the Shyness Scale. Seventy-five volunteers, who were undergraduate students at King Abdul Aziz University, participated in the study. The measures were used in placing the clients in their respective groups in the empirical study and for comparing pre-testing data with post-testing and follow-up results. Findings indicated that both treatments of REBT-only and REST plus REBT proved effective in the reduction of prior irrational beliefs, considering their reduced irrational thinking scores at the advanced stages of the study. That notwithstanding, follow-up post-comparison analyses confirmed that REST plus REBT therapy is more effective than REBT only. Content analysis data derived from the reflections and cognitions of the participants yielded findings that support and integrate with the results obtained from the quantitative study, which involved the use of numerical scales. The findings were later compared and contrasted with the basal study findings and in congruence with prior research reviewed. Finally, the present study recommended that REBT should be supported by REST to gain more effective psychotherapeutic results with SAD patients by efficaciously reducing their irrational beliefs. The study also recommended conducting future research to tap into the relationship between religiosity and REBT, harnessing REBT/REST counselling programmes.

Analysis of public institutions must be robust to the uncertainties facing agents within them, and the varying ways in which individuals cope with these uncertainties. This dissertation uses formal theoretical models to analyze the subjective and idiosyncratic nature with which most citizens face risk and uncertainty. This dissertation focuses on how different public institutions perform in specific settings based on the possibilities that agents may err in either their assessment of possible outcomes or the relevant choices and payoffs that are available. In the first chapter, I show that allowing for voter beliefs to feature ex-post error changes the incentives for candidates to set policy platforms, reducing the incentives for candidate convergence even with purely electorally-motivated candidates. Therefore, even if voters are on-average correct about political platforms and behavior, the distribution of imprecision will still change the incentives of political actors competing for their votes. This reopens consideration of how American political polarization may be driven by changes in the ways in which voters form beliefs about politicians, even as the distribution of political preferences may have remained unchanged. In the second chapter, co-authored with Keith N. Hylton, we determine that the incentives for potential litigants depend fundamentally upon the specific setting in which courts make determinations. We show that courts, facing only the facts concerning this particular decision, and not all the facts necessary to determine the global optimum, will be more likely to create incentives for socially excessive (i.e., defensive) care. In the final chapter, I modify a model of strategic communication to consider situations under which groups may be able to manipulate legislators who are uncertain which topics are most salient to said groups. Such uncertainty changes the incentives of interest groups, providing a new avenue of exploration for why different ideological groups take on different issues. I find that they must weigh the ability to “hide” their salient issue within a bundle of others with the possibility that taking on too many will cause the receiver to ignore their advice entirely.

abstract: This multiple case study examined Mexican mothers' beliefs on social and moral development in light of their adaptation to the United States. Super and Harkness' (1986, 2002) ecocultural framework and more specifically, the concept of the developmental niche, guided the analysis. Participants were five Mexican immigrant mothers living in the Phoenix metropolitan area with children between three and four years old. Using participant observation, mothers were shadowed during the day for a period of nine months and were interviewed four times. Additionally, a Q-sort activity on cultural values and a vignette activity were conducted. Evidence of continuity in the importance given to traditional beliefs such as being "bien educado" (proper demeanor) and showing "respeto" (respect) was found. However, the continuity on the teaching of cultural values was accompanied by changes in beliefs and practices. The traditional construct of a "chipil child" (a needy, whiny child) was connected to the idea that mothers somehow need to restrict how much affection, time and gifts they give to their children. This concern was in turn related to the higher access to consumption goods in the United States. It is argued that acculturation is lived differently by mothers, according to their educational attainment, use of expert advice and contact and knowledge with American mainstream culture. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Educational Psychology 2012

abstract: People may conceptualize God as benevolent and as authoritarian. This research investigates the influence of these God-concepts on prosocial behavior; specifically whether such concepts differentially predict a set of beliefs about the self and the world, volunteer motivations, and intentions to volunteer for secular causes. Two studies, one correlation and one experimental, were conducted among college students who were Christians and indicated they believe that God exists. A measurement model of the concepts of Benevolent and Authoritarian God was first tested, and a conceptual path model was then analyzed. I found that concepts of a benevolent God were associated with a benevolent self-identity, perceived moral and religious obligations to help, and a high sense of personal responsibility with a total positive indirect effect on intentions to volunteer - mainly via internal motivations. In contrast, concepts of an authoritarian God were associated with a perceived religious obligation, having a positive indirect effect on intentions to volunteer via external motivations; but also with a low benevolent self-identity and low personal responsibility associated with amotivation (the disinclination to volunteer). Thus, there was a null total indirect effect of belief in an authoritarian God on intentions to volunteer. Future directions including the use of religious primes are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Psychology 2012