Réalisée sous la codirection de l'Université de Montréal (Anthropologie) et de l'Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (Aménagement du territoire) / Le foisonnement de rapports et de débats entourant le Sommet Climat Paris 2015 illustre bien la complexité des enjeux planétaires actuels. Cette situation soulève avec acuité la question de la capacité de nos leaders à y faire face. Cette recherche a justement pour objet de vérifier si les leaders d’initiative de développement durable qui mettent en œuvre une pensée complexe sont davantage en mesure d’apprécier la multiplicité des dimensions inhérentes à ces démarches. Rappelons que la méthode de la pensée complexe (Morin, 2008) prétend offrir une approche paradigmatique qui facilite l’appréhension juste et sensible de la réalité. Cette étude réalisée au Québec compare vingt-cinq leaders de démarches territoriales de développement durable. Les résultats corroborent l’affirmation de Morin : la pensée complexe constitue un atout pour saisir le réel de façon plus complète. De fait, une forte corrélation ressort entre, d’une part, le degré de maîtrise de la pensée complexe des leaders et, d’autre part, leur capacité à considérer les six dimensions d’une démarche territoriale, intégrée et globale de développement durable. Néanmoins, peu de leaders maîtrisent l’art des stratégies complexes, et les initiatives de développement durable correspondent peu à l’idéal type de ce concept. Ces constats militent en faveur d’études supplémentaires sur la convergence de ces résultats avec de récentes recherches associant l’atteinte de stades de conscience post conventionnels à une meilleure gestion des programmes de développement durable (Boiral et al., 2013). L’évolution des connaissances en cette matière pourra contribuer à enrichir les programmes de développement du leadership de nos futurs leaders. / The proliferation of reports and discussions surrounding the 2015 Paris Climate Summit illustrates the complexity of current global issues. In fact, the environmental challenge we face acutely raises the question of the ability of our leaders to cope with their responsibility. This research aim at evaluating whether the leaders involved in sustainable development initiative who implement Morin’s Complex Thought Method are better able to appreciate the many dimensions inherent in these processes. The Complex Thought Method (Morin, 2008) claims to offer a paradigmatic approach that facilitates fair and sensible apprehension of reality. This study compares twenty-five people located in Quebec who are leaders of sustainable development program based on territorial approaches. The results support Morin’s assertion: Complex Thought is an asset to grasp reality more completely. Indeed, a strong correlation occur between, the degree of control of Complex Thought by leaders and their ability to consider the six dimensions of an integrated comprehensive territorial approach to sustainable development. This being said, few leaders master the art of Complex Thought Strategies and the sustainable development initiatives are generally far from ideal. These findings build on the recent research linking post conventional consciousness level to better sustainable development projects (Boiral and al., 2013). This argues in favor of upgrading leadership development programs to stimulate better Complex Thought and post consciousness stage in benefice of our collective future.

Die vorliegende Dissertation setzt sich damit auseinander, wie das Zusammenspiel von essensbezogener Umwelt und Kognition Ernährungsentscheidungen beeinflusst. Im ersten Manuskript, “When Diets Last: Lower Cognitive Complexity Increases Diet Adherence” wird die Bedeutung der kognitiven Komplexität von Ernährungsregeln für das Einhalten einer Diät untersucht. Können Diäten scheitern, weil sie aus kognitiver Perspektive zu komplex sind, z.B. weil sich Diäthaltende nicht alle wichtigen Informationen merken oder verarbeiten können? 1136 Diäthaltende nahmen an einer längsschnittlichen Onlinestudie teil. Vorangegangenes Diätverhalten, Selbstwirksamkeit, Planung und wahrgenommene Regelschwierigkeit erhöhten das Risiko, die Diät vorzeitig aufzugeben, wobei Selbstwirksamkeit und wahrgenommene Regelschwierigkeit die einflussreichsten Faktoren waren. Im zweiten Manuskript „Meat Label Design: Effects on Stage Progression, Risk Perception, and Product Evaluation” wird der Einfluss gesundheitsrelevanter Information auf Labeln für Produktbewertung und Intention, Tierhaltung und Inhaltsstoffe von Lebensmitteln in die Kaufentscheidung einzubeziehen, untersucht. Es wurde betrachtet, wie Inhalt und Kontext (separate versus conjoint Darbietung) der Labelinformation die Bewertung von Fleischprodukten beeinflusst. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich bei einer conjoint im Gegensatz zur separaten Darbietung die Bewertung der Produkte umkehrt. Darüber hinaus hatten Personen, die zuvor nicht motiviert waren gesundheitsrelevante Aspekte in ihr Einkaufsverhalten einzubeziehen, nach Betrachten der Label eine höhere Intention diese zu berücksichtigen. Im dritten Manuskript, „Predicting Children’s Meal Preferences: How Much Do Parents Know?“, wurden Präferenzvorhersagen bezüglich der Essensentscheidungen Anderer erforscht. Es wurde untersucht, wie gut und mit Hilfe welcher Information Eltern die Mittagessenpräferenzen ihrer Kinder vorhersagen. Die Vorhersagegenauigkeit der Eltern entsprach der Stabilität der Essenspräferenzen ihrer Kinder, d.h. dass die Eltern so genau waren, wie möglich. Die Ergebnisse suggerieren, dass Eltern vor allem spezifisches Wissen über die Präferenzen ihrer Kinder und Projektion ihrer eigenen Vorlieben für die Vorhersagen nutzten. / This dissertation focuses on food-related decision making, in particular, how food related environments and cognition interact to determine people’s food choices. The first manuscript, “When Diets Last: Lower Cognitive Complexity Increases Diet Adherence,” investigates the role of the cognitive complexity in diet adherence. Can weight loss diets fail because they are too complicated from a cognitive point of view, meaning that dieters are not able to recall or process the diet rules? The impact of excessive cognitive demands on diet adherence were investigated with 1,136 dieters in a longitudinal online-questionnaire. We measured perceived rule complexity controlling for other factors known to influence adherence. Previous diet behavior, self-efficacy, planning and perceived rule complexity predicted an increased risk to quit the diet prematurely, with self-efficacy and diet complexity being the strongest factors. The second manuscript, “Meat Label Design: Effects on Stage Progression, Risk Perception, and Product Evaluation,” presents two studies which tested the impact of health-related meat labels on product evaluation and intention. Specifically, the studies examined how informational content and the context (separate vs. conjoint evaluation) in which labels are assessed influence the evaluation of meat products. The results showed that conjoint assessment of labels can lead to contrary product rankings compared to separate evaluations. Moreover, the results suggest that being exposed to food labels containing specific health-relevant information can increase motivation to consider health aspects in those consumers without previous intention to do so. The third manuscript, “Predicting Children’s Meal Preferences: How Much Do Parents Know?” investigated prediction behavior concerning other people’s food choices. In particular, it asked how accurately and what cues parents use to predict their children’s meal choices. Overall, parents’ prediction accuracy matched the stability of children’s meal choices, implying that accuracy was as high as can be expected. The results suggest parents were able to obtain high predictive accuracy by using specific knowledge about their child’s likes and projecting their own preferences.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:51:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 127147.pdf.jpg: 20119 bytes, checksum: a2fd4ab6fd6b053974a62d1b3b806e92 (MD5) 127147.pdf: 912844 bytes, checksum: e713d5718d2d450597c33130beb21773 (MD5) 127147.pdf.txt: 433044 bytes, checksum: 0fedbee5f5a92547544109efa5f7ff42 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004-12-08T00:00:00Z / Esta pesquisa assenta-se num campo emergente dos estudos organizacionais e de estratégia: Cognição Gerencial & Organizacional (Managerial e Organizational Cognition, daqui em diante, MOC). Avanços teóricos e metodológicos no campo da Ciência Cognitiva têm viabilizado o acesso, mapeamento e análise de como indivíduos produzem sentido e agem de modo inteligente. A aplicação desse ferramental tem permitido a mensuração do que se convencionou chamar ‘complexidade cognitiva situacional’, ou seja, o grau de diferenciação e integração com que uma pessoa percebe determinada situação, problema, objeto ou fenômeno. Tem havido, no entanto, controvérsias sobre a relação entre essa variável e, em ultima análise, o desempenho do indivíduo na realização de uma atividade e no alcance de resultados. Enquanto alguns estudos têm encontrado apenas relações residuais, grande parte das pesquisas têm encontrado relações positivas, na forma de ‘U invertido’ ou, até mesmo, negativas entre complexidade cognitiva e desempenho. Nosso objetivo principal aqui é identificar como se deu essa relação na indústria siderúrgica no Brasil no período de 2001 a 2003. Para atingir esse objetivo estruturamos esta pesquisa como segue: no primeiro capítulo identificamos as principais bases teóricas e conceituais do campo. Advinda predominantemente da Filosofia, Sociologia e Ciência Cognitiva, essa base fornece os alicerces sobre os quais a Teoria de MOC, de um modo geral e esta pesquisa, em particular, se fundamentam. No capítulo seguinte apresentamos o campo de MOC em si, com especial ênfase sobre suas origens, processos cognitivos estudados, métodos de pesquisa e as principais relações causais exploradas. Em seguida apresentamos um estudo empírico realizado com dois experts e com os CFOs de três das principais companhias siderúrgicas no Brasil. Buscamos, primordialmente, identificar dois tipos de fenômenos nos dados obtidos: diferenças de complexidade cognitiva entre os experts e os executivos, e o tipo de relação existente entre a complexidade cognitiva dos executivos e o desempenho organizacional. Nesse capítulo apresentamos o problema de pesquisa, os objetivos da investigação, as hipóteses, a metodologia utilizada, os resultados e as análises. Finalmente, concluímos com alguns apontamentos em relação ao campo de MOC e à pesquisa empírica, avaliando algumas forças e fraquezas deste trabalho e sugerindo direções futuras de pesquisa nesse campo. / This research is rooted on an emerging field of the Organizational Studies and Strategy: Managerial and Organizational Cognition (hereafter, just MOC). Theoretical and methodological advancements in the field of Cognitive Science have made it possible to surface, elicit, map and analyze how individuals make sense of reality and act based on it in an intelligent way. The application of these tools has allowed the measurement of what is usually called the ‘situational cognitive complexity’ of an individual or, in other words, the degree of differentiation and integration a person notices in certain situations, problems, objects or phenomena. There has been, however, controversies about the relationship between cognitive complexity in one hand, and the individual's performance level while accomplishing an activity and reaching his goals in the other hand. While some studies have found just residual relationships, the majority of the research has found positive, inverted ‘U’ shaped or even negative relationships between cognitive complexity and performance. Our goal in this research is just to identify how these two variables behaved in the steel industry in Brazil from 2001 to 2003. To reach this goal we structured this research as follows: in the first chapter we identify the main theoretical and conceptual bases of MOC. The foundation over which the theory of MOC, in general, and this research, in particular, is based comes mainly from Philosophy, Sociology and Cognitive Science. In the second chapter we present the field of MOC itself, with special emphasis on its origins, cognitive processes studied, research methods used and main causal relationships explored. Then, we follow presenting an empiric study carried on with two experts and three CFOs of the main steel companies located in Brazil. We focused on identifying two different phenomena in the data obtained: differences in the situational cognitive complexity between the experts and the CFOs, and the type of relationship between the situational cognitive complexity of the CFOs and the performance of their companies. We also present the research problem, the goals of the investigation, its hypotheses, the methodology applied, the results obtained and their analysis. Finally, we wrap up with some notes about the field of MOC and its empiric research, pinpoint some forces and weaknesses of this work and suggest future research directions.

Globalisation had a major impact on the way organisations operate. Access to information and innovative technology connote that organisational leaders need to make timely decisions while considering a range of rapidly changing variables. Leaders of global organisations need to make sense of complex information and anticipate the long-term outcomes of making different decisions. This requires highly developed cognitive skills. However, these are not the only factors influencing strategic decisions. Value systems also affect the choices organisational leaders make. Limited existing research has investigated the relationship between values and cognition within organisational leadership. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between cognitive complexity, cognitive processes and individual values at a senior management level in a multinational company. Cognition is explored in terms of cognitive processes and levels of work (as measured by the Cognitive Process Profile), and values are explored in terms of value systems (as measured by the Value Orientations questionnaire). The study is based on a quantitative research design, where a sample of 265 executives, senior managers and directors employed at a multinational organisation completed the assessments. The empirical study (N = 265) yielded some weak, yet statistically significant, relationships between cognition and value systems among organisational leaders in a multinational organisation. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Globalisation had a major impact on the way organisations operate. Access to information and innovative technology connote that organisational leaders need to make timely decisions while considering a range of rapidly changing variables. Leaders of global organisations need to make sense of complex information and anticipate the long-term outcomes of making different decisions. This requires highly developed cognitive skills. However, these are not the only factors influencing strategic decisions. Value systems also affect the choices organisational leaders make. Limited existing research has investigated the relationship between values and cognition within organisational leadership. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between cognitive complexity, cognitive processes and individual values at a senior management level in a multinational company. Cognition is explored in terms of cognitive processes and levels of work (as measured by the Cognitive Process Profile), and values are explored in terms of value systems (as measured by the Value Orientations questionnaire). The study is based on a quantitative research design, where a sample of 265 executives, senior managers and directors employed at a multinational organisation completed the assessments. The empirical study (N = 265) yielded some weak, yet statistically significant, relationships between cognition and value systems among organisational leaders in a multinational organisation. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

No description available.

Une part importante de l’activité de communication humaine est dédiée au récit d’événements (fictifs ou non). Ces récits doivent être cohérents et intéressants pour être pertinents. Dans le domaine de la génération automatique de récits, la question de l’intérêt a souvent été négligée, ou traitée via l’utilisation de méthodes ad hoc, au profit de la cohérence des structures narratives produites. Nous proposons d’aborder le processus de création des récits sous l’angle de la modélisation quantitative de critères de pertinence narrative via l’application d’un modèle cognitif de l’intérêt événementiel. Nous montrerons que cet effort de modélisation peut servir de guide pour concevoir un modèle cognitivement plausible de génération de narrations. / Humans devote a considerable amount of time to producing narratives. Whatever a story is used for (whether to entertain or to teach), it must be relevant. Relevant stories must be believable and interesting. The field of computational generation of narratives has explored many ways of generating narratives, especially well-formed and understandable ones. The question of what makes a story interesting has however been largely ignored or barely addressed. Only some specific aspects of narrative interest have been considered. No general theoretical framework that would serve as guidance for the generation of interesting and believable narratives has been provided. The aim of this thesis is to introduce a cognitive model of situational interest and use it to offer formal criteria to decide to what extent a story is relevant. Such criteria could guide the development of a cognitively plausible model of story generation.