The main purpose of this study was to investigate a theory of information storage and retrieval of a simple motor task as an explanation of the repetition effect (RE) in a 2-choice reaction time task. Subsidiary problems involved 1) examining the effect of inter-trial interval (ITI) on RE, 2) examining the effect of probability (P) of occurrence of an S-R pair on the RE and, 3) examining the interacting effects of ITI and P on the RE. The experimental task was a 2-choice reaction time (RT) task where the subject had to respond as quickly as possible by depressing a response key following the onset of a stimulus light. Two types of tasks were used: 1) self-paced, in which the ITI was approximately 380 msec. and, 2) discrete, in which the ITI was approximately 1600 msec. Each subject was tested in both tasks and on all three probability conditions (P = .33, .50, .67). Sixteen students and staff of the University of British Columbia served as subjects. The results, which were somewhat tenuous due to equipment malfunctions, indicated that there was no RE in either the discrete or serial CRT task. This suggested that there were no differences in the subjects response strategies in either the discrete or serial task. The model of motor memory retrieval was not supported by this investigation. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

M.Ed. / A person constitutes his world and determines to a large extent his happiness by means of choices. The individual find himself in a society with a network of relationships wherein several values and views of life are representative. In this complex structure of views and relationships a person can easily feel unfettered in the midst of choices in respect of which he does not feel ready to take a view. It is against this background that a study was made as to the education of responsible choices as a means of coping. The goal of the study was to investigate the making of choices as a means of coping against the background of a fundamental-agogic perspective. It shall also be endeavoured to highlight the educational implications of the findings and to express same in functional terms. To determine what the underlying basis of a person's daily choices is, it is necessary to determine a person essential characteristics from a universally valid perspective. This essential characteristics are then brought in connection with the ground motives which regulate a person's daily existence. In futherance of the universally valid perspective the motives relating to personal aspects and to other people within the ideological context and how such motives are manifested within the specific context are investigated. In futherance of the fenomenologistic view on choices, it will be shown what the educational requirements are when the exercise of choices takes place. It will also be shown concisely how a lack of choice-awareness may be a contributing factor in socioeducational problem areas for instance misbehaviour and suicide amongst the youth. The most important findings from the above mentioned study are the following: It is the task of the educator to make the educant aware that he has, as a human being, a choice potential and to encourage him to make use of such potential. An awareness of choices as a life-skill should underlie the rational making of choices. A persons options are determined by his specific time-space situation and the parameters of his responsibility. Because of the uniqueness of every person's circumstances rigid directives of choices cannot be fundamentally or universally valid. There are however certain singular core matters which are generally present in the education of choices namely: The possibility of education toward choices exists because the exercise of choices is a conscious mental process. Through choices the educant obtains a share in his growth process and will his helplessness be gradually reduced. A person should exercise choices from within the safe basis of a value structure to experience order and security. When the educator makes the educant aware of his choice-potential, he should also unfold the sense of life to him, because choices one makes in relation to meaning of his existence also determines to a great extent the goals of the other choices which he will make. The educant should obtain the opportunity for making choices in a climate of responsible discipline. By utilizing choices as a life skill, a person can answer to his basic motives and anthropological needs. Because of choices a person can establish himself as somebody and can enter into relationships with the others of his existence being the divine, his fellowman and objects.

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On t.p.: Werkstuk vir die graad van Magister in Lettere en Wysbegeerte (Voorligtingsielkunde) / Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Adolescence is viewed as the transitional stage between childhood and adulthood. Development during this stage centres on identity, sexuality, cognition and morality. Abortion during adolescence demands a careful decision-making process. Research has shown that the adolescent's reaction to abortion is determined by the decision-making process that was adopted. This paper provides a literature review of developmental issues and the capacity of adolescents to make decisions about reproduction and motherhood. The conclusion is reached that age is not the determinant of the emotional state following abortion, but rather the nature of the decision-making process that was followed. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Adolessensie word beskou as die oorgangsfase tussen die kinderjare en volwassenheid. Ontwikkeling tydens hierdie fase sentreer rondom identiteit, seksualiteit, kognisie en moraliteit. Aborsie tydens adolessensie vereis 'n indringende besluitnemingsproses. Navorsing het bewys dat die adolessent se reaksie op aborsie deur die besluitnemingsproses bëinvloed word. Hierdie werkstuk verskaf 'n literatuuroorsig van ontwikkelingsaspekte en die kapasiteit van adolessente om besluite oor voortplanting en moederskap te neem. Die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat die emosionele toestand na 'n aborsie nie bepaal word deur ouderdom nie, maar wel deur die aard van die besluitnemingsproses wat gevolg is

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Using a sequential, explanatory mixed methods design, this dissertation study compared students who persist in the biology major (persisters) with students who leave the biology major (switchers) in terms of how their pre-college experiences, college biology experiences, and biology performance figured into their choice of biology and their persistence in or departure from the biology major. This study combined 1) quantitative comparisons of biology persisters and switchers via a questionnaire developed for the study and survival analysis of a larger population of biology freshmen with 2) qualitative comparison of biology switchers and persisters via semi-structured life story interviews and homogenous focus groups. 319 students (207 persisters and 112 switchers) participated in the questionnaire and 36 students (20 persisters and 16 switchers) participated in life story and focus group interviews. All participants were undergraduates who entered The University of Texas at Austin as biology freshmen in the fall semesters of 2000 through 2004. Findings of this study suggest: 1) Regardless of eventual major, biology students enter college with generally the same suite of experiences, sources of personal encouragement, and reasons for choosing the biology major; 2) Despite the fact that they have also had poor experiences in the major, biology persisters do not actively decide to stay in the biology major; they simply do not leave; 3) Based upon survival analysis, biology students are most at-risk of leaving the biology major during the first two years of college and if they are African-American or Latino, women, or seeking a Bachelor of Arts degree (rather than a Bachelor of Science); 4) Biology switchers do not leave biology due to preference for other disciplines; they leave due to difficulties or dissatisfaction with aspects of the biology major, including their courses, faculty, and peers; 5) Biology performance has a differential effect on persistence in the biology major, depending on how well students perform in comparison to other courses or other students. / text

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This study investigated how and why individuals chose various post-high school destinations. Theoretical frameworks based on Härnqvists (1978) conceptualization of the determinants of educational choice, rational choice theory as depicted by Elster (1986, 1989a, 1989b), and Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice (1977c, 1979, 1986, 1990b) were used to examine 1) the complex of individual and institutional influences of educational choice, 2) the processes underlying the decisions people made in choosing whether or not to pursue a post-secondary education, and 3) how students in the midst of the transition from high school to various post-high school destinations perceived these processes. Central to these analyses are the concepts of cultural capital, primary and secondary social capital, beliefs about and dispositions toward post-secondary education, academic capital, and enabling capital in relation to post-high school status. This research, conducted in British Columbia, has undertaken two kinds of examination: 1) the exploration of choices made by a large sample of recent high school graduates (n5345), as reported on a survey questionnaire and enriched by corresponding Ministry of Education linked data and 2) two sets of intensive, focused interviews conducted with a sample of Grade 12 students (n51) who were in the process of making choices about post-high school destinations. Three different types of analyses were conducted to explore the choice process. First, discrirninant function analyses were carried out to determine which individual and institutional determinants of educational choice, as depicted by Härnqvist, best predicted post-high school group membership (non-participant, non-university participant, university participant). Second, structural equation modelling using LISREL VI was employed to unravel the processes, as depicted in a model of Post-high School Status, that led to differential group membership. Finally, interviews with Grade 12 students were carried out to explore students perceptions of these processes. In the first discrirninant analysis, non-participants and participants in postsecondary education comprised the dichotomous grouping variable. Employing the variables included in Härnqvists framework, 74% of the non-participants and 79% of the participants could be correctly classified into their respective groups. The most powerful predictor was curricular differentiation, followed by level of education expected, total number of awards received, and primary social capital (parental influence variables). In a second discriminant analysis with non- university and university participants as the grouping variable, and based on the same set of predictors, the type of post-secondary institution attended was correctly predicted for 81% of university participants and 75% of non-university participants. High school grade point average most strongly predicted group membership, followed by curricular differentiation and level of education expected. Primary social capital (parental influence variables) or secondary social capital (influence of school personnel and peers) were not useful predictors in this analysis. In a three group discriminant analysis (non-participant, non-university participant, and university participant), the first function distinguished among these three groups on academic capital variables, disposition variables, and parents as sources of cultural capital, and the second discriminant function distinguished among the groups on primary and secondary social capital variables and number of academic awards received. Based on Härnqvist’s schema, 81% of university participants, 50% of non-university participants, and 67% of non-participants were correctly classified. Analyses by gender were also reported for each discriminant analysis. In the second type of analysis, a theoretical model of Post-high School Status was tested using LISREL VI. Strong positive relationships were demonstrated to exist between academic capital and post-high school status, and between dispositions toward post-secondary education and academic capital, for both males and females. The effect of parents as sources of cultural capital on dispositions toward post-secondary education was moderate, for both males and females. The total effects of parental transmission of cultural and social capital on post-high school destinations was significant. In these analyses, 58% of the variance in post- high school destination for the male sample and 54% of the variance for the female sample was explained. In the third analysis, the processes of educational choice were further explored through interviews with Grade 12 students. Of particular theoretical interest were differences in students’ long term dispositions toward post-secondary education, beliefs about post-secondary education, and how parents as sources of primary social capital enabled their children to pursue higher education. It was concluded that the treatment of two disparate strands of thinking (rational choice theory and Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice) as complementary rather than competing provide a coherent account of how students made choices about post-high school destinations. The theoretical frameworks developed for this study hold potential as a first step in revitalizing the investigation of equality of educational opportunity. Implications for further research, theory development, and policy directions are offered.