In this dissertation, we investigate whether consciousness is graded or dichotomous. Based on previous work and a level of processing framework, we hypothesize that consciousness in general, and visual experience specifically, can be conceived of as both graded and dichotomous. We present a series of experimental studies that provide support for this reasoning. We outline a set of future projects which can follow up on this research, and discuss the limitations of the current approach. / Doctorat en Sciences Psychologiques et de l'éducation / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Odds ratios and risk ratios are useful measures of effect size in 2-group studies in which the response variable is dichotomous. Confidence interval methods are proposed for combining and comparing odds ratios and risk ratios in multistudy designs. Unlike the traditional fixed-effect meta-analysis methods, the proposed varying coefficient methods do not require effect-size homogeneity, and unlike the randomeffects meta-analysis methods, the proposed varying coefficient methods do not assume that the effect sizes from the selected studies represent a random sample from a normally distributed superpopulation of effect sizes. The results of extensive simulation studies suggest that the proposed varying coefficient methods have excellent performance characteristics under realistic conditions and should provide useful alternatives to the currently used meta-analysis methods.

Superiority clinical trials are often designed with a planned interim analysis for the purpose of sample size re-estimation (SSR) when limited information is available at the start of the trial to estimate the required sample size. Typically these trials are designed with a two-arm internal pilot where subjects are enrolled to both treatment arms prior to the interim analysis. Circumstances may sometimes call for a trial with a single-arm internal pilot (enroll only in the control group). For a dichotomous outcome, Herson and Wittes proposed a SSR method (HW-SSR) that can be applied to single-arm internal pilot trials using an unblinded estimate of the control group outcome rate. Previous evaluations of the HW-SSR method reported conflicting results regarding the impact of the method on the two-sided Type I error rate and power of the final hypothesis test. In this research we evaluate the HW-SSR method under the null and alternative hypothesis in various scenarios to investigate the one-sided Type I error rate and power of trials with a two-arm internal pilot. We find that the one-sided Type I error rate is sometimes inflated and that the power is sometimes reduced. We propose a new method, the Critical Value and Power Adjusted Sample Size Re-estimation (CVPA-SSR) algorithm to adjust the critical value cutoff used in the final Z-test and the power critical value used in the interim SSR formula to preserve the nominal Type I error rate and the desired power. We conduct simulations for trials with single-arm and two-arm internal pilots to confirm that the CVPA-SSR algorithm does preserve the nominal Type I error rate and the desired power. We investigate the robustness of the CVPA-SSR algorithm for trials with single-arm and two-arm internal pilots when the assumptions used in designing the trial are incorrect. No Type I error inflation is observed but significant over- or under-powering of the trial occurs when the treatment effect used to design the trial is misspecified.

No description available.

<p>  </p> <p>Harshly affected by recent economic recessions, young Millennials had been having a hard time finding a job that meets their expectations or an affordable house. Although it seems like Millennials are suffering financial hardship, media often depict them as impulsive shoppers. Taking inspiration from this contradictory aspect of Millennials, this research explores the relationship between Millennials’ subjective evaluation of their financial status and their spending behaviors. In order to achieve this goal, this study first applies a new psychometric scale, called perceived financial insecurity, to measure Millennials’ feelings and thoughts toward their financial status. Second, it examines the psychological antecedents to perceived financial insecurity. Last, the relationship between financial insecurity and spending behaviors in several consumption areas is examined using the framework of compensatory behavior from social psychology.</p> <p>For the first stage of this research, a perceived financial insecurity scale was developed by conducting literature reviews, in-depth interviews with Millennial consumers, and two online surveys. Consequently, five statements were selected from the initial pool of questionnaire items and used in later stages of this research. Next, another online survey was conducted to empirically test for the impact of six antecedents, namely, perfectionism, self-efficacy, perceived economic mobility, resource scarcity, materialism, and social comparison orientation on perceived financial insecurity. Findings revealed that among the six variables, four (i.e., perfectionism, self-efficacy, perceived economic mobility, and resource scarcity) were found to be the antecedents to financial insecurity. In the final stage, the proposed financial insecurity–compensatory spending model was tested using PLS-SEM. Data used in this stage were self-reported online survey data collected via Prolific. The results showed that financial insecurity directly lessens the amount of dining-out expenditures. However, in four areas of consumption (i.e., fine dining visit frequency, performance visit frequency, short-travel frequency, and long-travel frequency), the indirect path through the increase in dichotomous thinking and impulsivity partially accounted for the relationship between financial insecurity and spending behaviors. Moreover, the relationship between financial insecurity and expenditure amount in the fine dining, short-trip and long-trip areas were fully mediated by dichotomous thinking and impulsivity.</p> <p>In summary, current research shows that a rational thought process prevails in Millennial decision-making for hospitality and tourism consumption, but an irrational thought process through dichotomous thinking and impulsivity accounts for their decision-making for some consumption behaviors. The findings of this research enhance the understanding on Millennials’ subjective evaluation of their financial status by developing a perceived financial insecurity scale and investigating the antecedents to this variable. Moreover, this dissertation offers practical insights to industry professionals by showing the decision-making mechanism behind Millennials’ spending behaviors in several consumption areas. Industry professionals could formulate more detailed marketing strategies using the findings of this dissertation. </p>

No description available.

Select freshwater mussels in the genera Fusconaia, Pleurobema, and Pleuronaia were collected primarily in the upper Tennessee River basin from 2012 to 2014 for phylogenetic and morphological assessments. Freshwater mussels in these genera are similar in appearance, hence the need for phylogenetic verification and morphological assessment. Phylogenetic analyses of the mitochondrial gene ND1 and the nuclear gene ITS1 revealed three unrecognized, phylogenetically distinct species. These species were separated from their closest congener by 2.85%, 3.17%, and 6.32% based on pairwise genetic distances of ND1. Gaps created from aligning ITS1 sequences were coded as fifth characters, which phylogenetically separated most closely related species. Analyses of ND1 agreed with previous literature on the phylogenetic distinctiveness of Pleuronaia species, with the exception of the DNA sequences of P. gibberum, which grouped outside this genus based on the analyses conducted in this study. Morphological variation was recorded for eight of the species to include quantitative and qualitative characters as well as geometric morphometric analyses. Three decision trees were created from quantitative and qualitative characters using classification and regression tree analyses. The best-performing tree used quantitative and qualitative characters describing shell-only scenarios and obtained 80.6% correct classification on terminal nodes. Canonical variates analysis on geometric morphometric shell data revealed large morphological overlap between species. Goodall's F-tests between pairs of species revealed significant differences (a=0.05) between all but one species pairs; however, examination of landmarks on shells concluded large overlap of landmarks between species pairs. Lack of morphologically distinct characters to readily identify these phylogenetically distinct species indicates large morphological overlap among these species. Biologists need to be cognizant that morphologically cryptic species may exist in systems often explored. Three dichotomous keys were created from classification trees to identify select individuals in the genera Fusconaia, Pleurobema, and Pleuronaia; two of these keys, one for shells and one for live mussels were tested by participants with varying mussel identification skills to represent novices and experts. Both keys used continuous (quantitative) and categorical variables to guide participants to identifications. Novices, who had no prior mussel identification experience, correctly identified mussels with a 50% accuracy using the shell key and with a 51% accuracy using the live key. Experts, who had at least three years of experience identifying mussels, correctly identified mussels with a 58% accuracy using the shell key and with a 68% accuracy using the live key; however one expert noted that they did not use the live key to correctly identify one mussel. Morphological overlap of variables between mussels likely resulted in failure to consistently identify mussels correctly. Important management decisions and project implementations require accurate assessment of species' localities and populations. Incorrect species identification could hinder species' recovery efforts or prevent projects that otherwise could have continued if species are misidentified. If a mussel collection is thought to be a new record or could affect a project, I recommend that molecular genetic identifications be used to verify the species identity. / Master of Science

This thesis studies political elites’ beliefs about the ideal party leader. This ideal, like other human ideals, is characterized by ambivalence. The thesis explores the ambivalence expressed in party elites’ leadership ideal and how it can be understood. The study draws primarily on qualitative interviews with members of the party elites in the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party in Sweden. Specifically, it analyzes the “life world” of the party leaders, party secretaries, group leaders in the Swedish Parliament, and election committee chairmen. Building on classical and modern research on leadership and political parties, the thesis derives an analytical tool to guide the interviews which covers six aspects of party leadership: Characteristics, Leadership style, Tasks, Freedom of action, Representation, and Status. The empirical analysis shows that the elites’ party leadership ideal is ambivalent and different across the two parties. The ambiguities can be summarized as dichotomies, where the ideal leader should encompass both sides of the dichotomy. The Social Democratic Party elites’ ideal is represented by two dichotomies: the leader versus the team and the party versus the government. To bridge the ambiguities, the elite resort to the idea of “anchoring”. This notion resolves conflicts between the leader and the surrounding team and the party and the government. The ideal of the Liberal Party’s elites includes four dichotomies: dogmatism versus pragmatism; idea versus person; appearance (outward-looking) versus action (inward-looking); and free versus constrained. Unlike the case of the Social Democratic Party, it is less evident how the Liberal Party’s elites accommodate the ambiguities. However, an emphasis on accountability and maintaining a balance between existing conflicts, partially remedies the dilemma. Also, the idea of leadership within the Liberal Party is less problematic compared to the Social Democratic Party. In sum, while the Social Democrats’ ideal resembles the “friendly father figure”, the Liberals’ ideal is portrayed by the “superficial intellectual”. The findings also indicate that the way in which the parties were established, their experience of being in government, size, ideology, and position within the party system affect their beliefs about leadership ideals.

The fundamental dichotomy between savage and civilized man is examined within the archetypal Western myth of American culture. The roots of the dichotomy are explored through images produced between 1888 and 1909 by artists Frederic Remington and Charles Russell. Four John Ford films are then used as a basis for the "dichotomous archetype" approach to understanding Western myth in film. Next, twenty-nine "historical" and "contemporary" Western movies are discussed chronologically, from The Virginian (1929) to Dances with Wolves (1990), in terms of the savage/civilized schema as it is personified by the roles of archetypal characters. The conclusion proposes a potential resolution of the savage/civilized conflict through an ecumenical mythology that recognizes a universal reverence for nature.

文化公共財無法透過一般市場機制評估其價格，但應如何衡量其經濟價值？本研究以臺北市萬華區糖廍文化園區為案例，以條件評估法為理論模型，並以電話訪問、網路調查及面訪訪問等3種方式獲得1,612份問卷進行分析，結果顯示願付價格會隨著人口統計變量和民眾對文化資產保存的態度而有所不同，得到平均每人每次至少消費文化公共財之願付價格約247元，如以每人平均消費一次計算價值，在95%信賴區間下，臺北市萬華區糖廍公園週邊7里約1,094萬元、臺北市萬華區約4,788萬元、臺北市約6.7億元。在目前政府財政困窘情況下，如何將上開數據轉化成地方財源收入，有效將各古蹟或歷史建築充分活化再利用將是一個值得關注的議題。 / By using the contingent valuation method, this study estimates the value of the Tangbu Cultural Park in Taipei City as the value of cultural public goods cannot be directly observed through the markets. Based on 1,612 samples collected by the phone interview, on-site interview, and internet survey, we explore the factors that influence the willingness to pay (WTP) and estimate the resulting WTP on the cultural public goods. The empirical results show that the WTP are varied with the demographics and attitudes toward the cultural assets and the estimated average individual WTP per year is about 247 NTD. It turns out that the corresponding total WTP per year is 10.94 million NTD in the surrounding area of the Cultural Park, 47.88 million NTD in the Wanhua District of Taipei City, or 670 million NTD in Taipei City. The study can shed some light on the revival plans and budget arrangements of the cultural public goods.