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Thesis (D.B.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / This doctoral research was conducted to explain the variance in strategy formulation among practicing physicians. Strategy formulation for practicing physicians is composed by their thinking as to what is required to develop a successful private practice. Thirteen private practice ophthalmologists participated in this study which consisted of interviews with the ophthalmologists and their staffs and document analysis. A stage model of cognitive development emerged from the data suggesting that physicians may move through three stages of cognitive development in strategy formulation during their professional lives which we labeled the Technician, the Manager, and the Strategist. The research effort suggested a distinct relationship between changes in cognitive structure and changes in strategy formulation among this professional group. Implications for organizational studies and studies in strategic management are as follows: On the theoretical side the research effort suggests that the provision of environmental cues and new information does not necessarily determine the development of strategic thinking. Rather, the development of strategic thinking determines what environmental cues will be attended to and how new information will be learned and understood. A logical extension of this statement is that strategic decision-makers learn from their mistakes only when they recognize them as such. They do not learn from their mistakes if, in terms meaningful to them, no mistake is being made. A related theoretical implication is that mentoring at work can be meaningfully characterized as a "cognitive-developmental" relationship. Finally, the individual performance variation in mid-career which many researchers have observed, can be illuminated using the cognitive-developmental approach. On the applied side the research effort suggests that decision-makers may require grounding in some technical experience base in order to become good strategic thinkers. Also, a question is raised as to the goals of MBA programs. If one important goal is to develop strategic thinkers, this research effort suggests that new approaches to structuring the curricula should be considered. Finally, the concept of career stages among physicians is described and suggested to be a meaningful caricature of practicing physicians in the future. The dissertation ends with suggestions for future research. / 2031-01-01

This study examined cognitive development in student leaders and non-leaders. Participants included 60 students (30 student leaders and 30 non-leaders). Each group contained equal numbers of males and females. The Measure of Epistemological Reflection (MER) (Baxter Magolda & Porterfield, 1985) was administered to participants to measure certain indicators of cognitive development. Cognitive development refers to the increase in cognitive complexity that may occur in students during their college years and includes students' ways of making meaning from what they learn. Students' ways of making meaning refers to changes in students' attitudes towards the nature of knowledge and truth. This development can be measured by examining how students learn, make decisions, relate to their teachers and peers, and perceive knowledge. Analysis of these data revealed that leaders had significantly higher scores than did non-leaders. No gender differences were found, however, and no differences were found when female leaders were compared to female non-leaders or male leaders were compared to male non-leaders. This research has implications for several groups. First, this study might be useful to student affairs professionals who work with clubs and organizations. The results provided staff with baseline data about leaders' and non-leaders' cognitive reasoning skills. Such information may enable staff to develop purposeful interventions to promote growth in cognitive reasoning skills among student leaders. The results of this study may also be useful for other student affairs professionals who try to enhance their students' cognitive development levels. For example, residential life professionals may find the results of this study interesting. The results provided them with information about cognitive development in student leaders and non-leaders, which they may then compare with their own students' levels of cognitive development. Current students may also be interested in the cognitive reasoning levels of student leaders and non-leaders. They may use these findings to understand their own cognitive development and formulate goals for this development. / Master of Arts

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This longitudinal study charts the development and achievement in reading, language and memory skills of a representative group of children with Down syndrome in mainstream education. Twenty-four children with Down syndrome were followed over a 2 year period and compared to (i) children matched for reading age (N=31) and, (ii) average readers (N=42), from the same school classes as the children with Down syndrome. A battery of standardised assessments was administered annually to obtain measures of reading, language, memory, number skills, and general intelligence. On all three occasions the children with Down syndrome showed an uneven profile of development with advanced reading ability compared to their other cognitive skills. Two years after the initial assessment there was still no significant difference between the reading scores of the children with Down syndrome and the reading age control group indicating similar rates of progress in the two groups despite the children with Down syndrome being significantly delayed on all of the other measures. Although it was predicted that learning to read may enhance the language and memory skills of children with Down syndrome, partial correlations revealed no significant associations between reading and language ability once age and intelligence had been controlled for. This suggests that reading and language are independent cognitive skills in this age group of children. The relationship between reading and auditory STM was less clear as significant partial correlations were only found at some times. Furthermore, exploratory multiple regression analyses also suggested that there was no clear predictive relationship of language and memory development from early reading ability. Finally, reading strategies were examined longitudinally in an experimental task in which words and nonwords were presented via a computer. The Down syndrome and reading matched groups were similar in their ability to read words but the children with Down syndrome were significantly less accurate when reading nonwords. The results suggested that the majority of the children with Down syndrome were continuing to make progress using a logographic reading strategy. However, there was also some evidence that some children with Down syndrome (those who had the highest reading ages) had developed alphabetic skills.