The present study addressed the acquisition of intraverbals under conditional stimulus control. Six typically developing children ages 6 - 7 were first taught two A-B (i.e., state to city) and two B-C (i.e., city to park) intraverbals, then probed on 12 A-B, B-C, B-A, C-B, A-C, and C-A intraverbals. If novel intraverbal relations did not emerge, each participant received either category or exemplar training. In category training, participants were trained to respond with "state", "city", or "park" given names of states, cities, and parks. In exemplar training, participants were trained to name some examples of states, cities, and parks. If novel intraverbals did not emerge, the participant was exposed to the other training condition. Results showed that five out of the six participants' demonstrated emergence of all novel relations. These results provide evidence and support existing literature demonstrating that training simple discriminations facilitates acquisition of conditional discriminations.

Five informal stratigraphic units can be recognized on well logs through the Marble Falls interval in the northern Fort Worth basin. Four of the units--an upper limestone, upper shale, lower limestone, and lower shale--are present in the eastern half of Wise County. These units interfinger to the west in Jack County with a heterolithic unit comprised of siltstones, mudstones and claystones. Facies recognized in core through the heterolithic unit and log curve shapes in the limestones and shales reveal shallowing-upward sequences formed as the basin filled. The basin fill contains authochthonous carbonate sediment produced in shallow epeiric seas and siliciciclastic (and perhaps carbonate) debris eroded off rising positive structures such as the Bend arch, Red River arch, Muenster arch, and the Ouachita thrust belt during the Ouachita orogeny. Revised correlations based on additional well control suggest the Comyn Limestone and the Forestburg limestone are the same lithostratigraphic unit.

Three experiments tested the relationship between life satisfaction and self-beneficial behaviors. Experiment 1 was run to determine whether a new measure of self-beneficial behavior, completing tedious math problems, would correlate with Diener et al's (1985) Satisfaction with Life Scale. Results showed that those who were higher in life satisfaction completed more problems than those who were low in life satisfaction. Experiment 2 tested whether manipulating life satisfaction by having individuals write about gratitude versus hassles would influence self-beneficial behavior. Contrary to predictions, those who wrote about hassles completed more tedious math problems than those who wrote about gratitude. Finally, Experiment 3 tested whether manipulating perceived control would influence levels of life satisfaction. There were no changes in life satisfaction between the three conditions. However, those who wrote about resisting temptation had higher scores for academic delay of gratification than those who wrote about giving in to temptation. Further work is needed to determine whether levels of life satisfaction actually do influence self-beneficial behaviors.

Wind energy is now recognized as an important energy resource throughout the world. Within the United States, the state of Texas currently has the largest wind energy capacity with 7,115.66 total megawatts and an additional 1,651.35 megawatts under construction. With this rapid growth of wind energy capacity, it is important to achieve a better understanding of how wind energy is being perceived. This paper examines the social perceptions of wind energy in Texas and its associated environmental attitudes. The paper explores three main research strands: (i) describing the environmental attitudes of a population that is in close proximity to a wind farm development, (ii) determining the influence that proximity has on wind energy attitudes, and (iii) determining if the Not-In-My-Backyard (Nimby) phenomenon correctly explains human perceptions of wind energy.

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are metal-ligand compounds that extend into one, two or three dimensions via metal-ligand bonding that have found numerous technological applications, associated with their open pores and large internal surface area. The work developed in this doctoral thesis consists in the study of methodologies and systematic development of ligands or organic spacers for the synthesis of novel metal organic frameworks. An introduction to the chemistry, structural features and diverse applications of metal organic frameworks is provided in Chapter 1. The following chapter, chapter 2 involves the synthesis of gallium, indium and thallium metal organic frameworks using pyrazine, and pyrazine-2-carboxylic acid as organic spacers. The change in the pore size of the synthesized frameworks was studied in correlation with the atomic radii of the selected triel elements. Chapter 3 describes the work with the flexible, multidentate heteroelemental dipodal ligands: bis(2-pyridylthio)methane, bis(2-pyrimidylthio)methane and bipyrimidyldisulfide. These ligands were reacted with a series of copper halides or pseudo halides for the isolation of cubane clusters and polymers depending on the flexibility of the selected ligands, the stereochemical requirements of the metal center and the preferred coordination modes of the corresponding halide or pseudo halide. The fourth chapter deals with the use of 2-pyridinephosphonic acid (2PyPOH2), 4-pyridinephosphonic acid (4PyPOH2) and 4-pyridinemethylphosphonic acid (4PyCH2PO3H2) for the synthesis of aluminum and gallium phosphonate cages. The isolation of these cages was achieved under careful control of the hydrolytic conditions of the corresponding reaction media. Chapter 5, details the results of the studies with the ligand aminomethylphosphonic acid (ampa) for the construction of MOFs. The reaction of ampa with salts of Zn, Cd, Hg, Pb, Ag, Cu and Pb afforded new metal-phosphonate polymers with unique structural features and includes the synthesis of a bimetallic MOF containing Ag and Cu. Finally, chapter 6 analyzes the ligand 5-pyrimidyl phosphonic acid (5-PymPO3H2) in the synthesis of homo and heteroelemental MOFs based on its possession of a phosphonate moiety for coordination and two heterocyclic nitrogen atoms at the opposite end to the PO3H2 to promote multi-site coordination. As a consequence it was possible to synthesize six coordination polymers, including a two dimensional, Cu/Ag polymer. All of the MOFs obtained throughout these studies have been characterized by X-ray crystallography along with other spectroscopic techniques, including NMR, IR, UV/Vis, and MS.

Directed Thinking about Facilitating Actions (DTFA) has proven to be a powerful tool for increasing intentions to engage in self-beneficial activities such as studying and exercising. Experiment 1 tested whether an appropriate (but not inappropriate) mental context can augment the effectiveness of DTFA, because an appropriate mental context increases the perceived likelihood (but not the perceived desirability) of the self-beneficial activity. When participants imagined themselves in an appropriate mental context for exercising (Rec Center) DTFA increased future exercise intentions. Experiment 2 tested the same hypothesis but also looked at different temporal actions, more temporal specific measures, immediate and delayed measures as well additional control groups that are important for understanding these effects. DTFA had no effect on exercise intentions, however, listing Directed Thinking about Episode Actions inhibited future exercise intentions. Participants who were high visualizers found exercise more feasible and desirable than low visualizers. Low visualizers overestimated their number of exercise sessions most after they had imagined themselves generating ideas in the library, and least with no mental context. High visualizers, in contrast, overestimated their number of exercise sessions least when they had imagined themselves generating ideas in the library, and most with no mental context.

Previous studies have demonstrated that many college students, specifically those high on extraversion, are prone to impulsive, and sometimes unethical, decision-making. The present study further examined the impact of a decision-making "tool" that incorporated the use of standard ethical perspectives on students' attitudes and intentions. This "fill in the node" spatial display guides college students through a systematic problem-solving process. Results revealed that college students reported greater positive expectations for future decision-making after utilizing the problem-solving tool than did those in a problem-based writing group or in a no treatment group. The results also suggest that college students reported greater intentions for implementing positive lifestyle change after using the tool than did those in the other comparison groups.

The current study assessed changes in impulsive behavior as a result of chronic cocaine exposure and the potential role the D2 receptor played in mediating these effects. Findings were compared to predictions made by the matching law and the hyperbolic discount function. Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to a discrete-trials delay-discounting task in which they chose between a small reinforcer of 1 food pellet immediately and a large reinforcer of 3 food pellets after an adjusted delay (0, 10, 20, 40 60 s). Rats received daily injections of deionized water (DI) or cocaine (3, 7.5, 15 mg/kg) 5 min prior to the delay-discounting task for 9 consecutive days, followed by 14 consecutive days of testing in the absence of cocaine. Following testing, rats were euthanized and their brains removed in order to assess levels of D2 receptors in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) by means of a western blot analysis. All rats showed a decreased preference for the larger reinforcer as delay to the larger reinforcer increased. Repeated exposure to cocaine (7.5 and 15 mg/kg) further decreased preference for the larger reinforcer. When cocaine administration was discontinued, preference for the larger reinforcer returned to baseline levels in the 7.5 mg/kg group, but remained depressed in the 15 mg/kg group. Findings did not indicate a role of the D2 receptor in mediating these effects. Both the matching law and hyperbolic discount function provided a good fit for the data. These findings indicate that repeated exposure to cocaine dose-dependently alters impulsive behavior over time. Impulsivity remains when cocaine is no longer administered and recovery after high doses of cocaine occurs slowly, if at all. The D2 receptor is not involved in mediating these effects, suggesting that other biological mechanisms may account for changes in behavior.

Two experiments explored the effects of physical movements, particularly positive and negative gestures, on perceived authorship and attitude change. In Experiment 1, directors ordered actors to make positive or negative gestures while images of gay men were displayed. Actors reported significant attitude change in the direction of the gestures, but directors and observers did not. Experiment 2 extended these results by giving the illusion of physical movement to perceivers. Perceivers neither chose nor performed the gestures toward gay men, yet they still reported a significantly greater attitude change in the direction of the gestures than did other participants. These effects on perceived attitudes were not mediated by perceived authorship, memory bias, or memory accuracy. The results are interpreted in terms of embodiment theory.

Research examining folk theories of the good life has focused on global evaluations of happiness such as life satisfaction (Diener, Wirtz, & Oishi, 2001), or have confounded moment-to-moment happiness with global happiness (King & Napa, 1998). There is, however, an abundance of evidence that moment-to-moment emotions and global or retrospective ratings of SWB can differ (Kahneman, 1999). The present research examined the relative influence of moment-to-moment emotion vs. global or retrospective happiness (RH) in folk concepts of the good life. Study 1 compared moment-to-moment happiness to retrospective reports, while Study 2 compared moment-to-moment happiness to global life satisfaction (GLS). Both studies revealed significant effects of moment-to-moment happiness, GLS, and retrospective happiness on measures of desirability and moral goodness. Similarly, individuals high in moment-to-moment happiness, GLS, and RH were judged as likely to go to heaven. Results suggest that moment-to-moment, global, and RH are essential to conceptions of the good life.