This study of complex skill acquisition investigated the contextual interference effect, in which randomly sequenced practice results in greater time and effort spent by learners during practice and lower posttest performance than a blocked practice sequence composed of groups of homogeneous subtasks, but which paradoxically results in superior transfer performance of novel related skills. Studies that have found the effect with complex cognitive skills are limited in at least two respects: they have not controlled for time spent in practice and they have examined practice variations in strictly blocked or random sequences. One hypothesis of the current study posited that, with practice time fixed, random order practice of skill components yields superior transfer performance to that of blocked practice of those components. Another hypothesis proposed that, with practice time fixed, shifted contextual interference – i.e. blocked, followed by random practice, or block-random practice – would result in superior transfer to those of blocked or random practice exclusively. The training environment consisted of computer-based instruction on the grammar principle of subject-verb agreement in a high school classroom. The instruction trained 92 high school seniors on four sub-rules of the rule that subjects and main verbs of a sentence must agree. Participants were randomly assigned to five practice sequences: block, random, block-random, random-block (each presenting four 15-minute practice periods) and control (presenting practice of unrelated grammar rules). Practice and posttest items required the selection of a subject or a main verb from a pair of choices. The transfer test involved editing a two-page passage of text. No significant differences were found among practice sequences on criterion or transfer performance, whether or not prior knowledge was statistically controlled. However, a post-hoc analysis of 23 "gainers," participants who answered at least three more items correctly on the posttest than on the pretest, controlling for prior knowledge, revealed that gainers assigned to the block-random practice sequence significantly outperformed gainers in the random condition on the posttest and gainers in the block condition on the transfer test, consistent with the hypotheses. The findings have implications for designing computer-based practice and for future research on practice sequence. Engaging the learner in cognitively processing feedback on incorrectly answered items is an important consideration in designing computer-based instruction and research on the practice of complex cognitive skills. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2006. / March 3, 2006. / Instructional Design, Complex Learning, Transfer Of Learning, Conditional Reasoning, Time On Task / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert K. Branson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Dale W. Lick, Outside Committee Member; A. Aubteen Darabi, Committee Member; Gary Peterson, Committee Member.

Young adults, age 18-30 years are in the highest risk group for developing substance use disorders (SUDs) and these disorders are associated with a myriad of negative consequences. Researchers in the field of psychology studying SUDs and personality variables have determined that specific personality traits tend to be associated with and affect the type and severity of SUD's. There appear to be 2 clusters of substance abusers: those high in Psychoticism or "P" traits such as impulsivity, sensation-seeking, disinhibition, anti-social behaviors and those high in Neuroticism or "N" traits such as internalizing, depressive tendencies, negative views and anxiety. The Addiction Prone Personality scale (APP) (Barnes et al., 2000) was developed as a measure of personality vulnerability to SUD's. Given that the APP is a relatively new scale and that the research is limited, further research investigating the scale's psychometric properties seems justified. The present study examined the construct validity of the APP with 5 sub-validity studies to examine internal consistency/reliability, factor validity, convergent validity, incremental validity, and criterion validity. This study employed a young adult population, ages 18-30, drawn from two samples: a college student sample and a clinical sample of DUI offenders referred for assessment and psycho-educational treatment. Results were mixed in that the APP demonstrated strong internal consistency with the clinical group, but weak internal consistency for the student and combined groups. The factor analysis of the APP revealed three underlying subscales which measure constructs consistent with previous research. However, there was no underlying unidimensional scale. Therefore the total score is impossible to interpret. Further, while the APP had moderate convergent validity with the SASSI-3, there was no significant incremental or discriminant validity with these samples using the SASSI-3. Given the limited psychometric properties, the results suggest that the APP in its present form would not be appropriate for use with individuals in predicting addiction proneness. The results are discussed in terms of previous research and recommendations for future research into the construct of addiction proneness are offered. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2011. / November 30, 2010. / addiction proneness, addictive personality, measur / Includes bibliographical references. / F. Donald Kelly, Professor Directing Thesis; James P. Sampson, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Elizabeth Goldsmith, University Representative; Gary W. Peterson, Committee Member.

The current emphasis on the use of technology in schools is not a recent development and new software tools are being developed that can assist teachers in their work. Computerized Individual Education Plans and related software tools hold great promise for reducing the paperwork of special education teachers. The use of any support tool, however, requires the user to expend time and energy in learning how to use it. This study was an evaluation of the implementation of an E.P.S.S. for special education teachers. This study investigated the question 'what actually occurs within a work site during the implementation of an electronic support system'. As a mixed method study, a survey, informant interviews, observations, and a focus group were used to collect data. Key informants were teachers using the electronic I.E.P., their supervisors, and their support personnel. The Stages of Concern Questionnaire provided a general overview of the concerns of the teachers across the district. The peak score analysis indicated that nearly half of the teachers had peak stage Scores in the '0' stage, reflecting low levels of concern regarding the software. Further analysis of the second peak score for the teachers indicated that many of the teachers across the district were still dealing with feelings of uncertainty as far as their abilities to use the software. The data reflect that respondents made substantial changes in the method they used to produce an I.E.P. Obvious aspects of these changes were in data entry, manipulation of data, and printing. For many of the teachers, time - either in training, exploration of the tool, or in update reviews - was a concern. Support staff and administrators also recognized the issue of time for many of the same reasons. Overall, the feelings of the teachers were that the software is a good tool to use, and that it is worth the time and effort put in to learning how to use it. Respondents made recommendations for improvement that included use of a central server system, differentiated training, and an update memo. Implications for the development of E.P.S.S.s were discussed. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2004. / March 16, 2004. / Software, Teacher Training, Evaluation / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert Morgan, Professor Directing Dissertation; John Mayo, Outside Committee Member; Walter Wager, Committee Member; Robert Branson, Committee Member.

This past decade has seen an increase in the use of an interesting approach to facilitate the humanization of human-computer interaction (HCI): the use of animated characters, or agents, as interfaces that mediate between the human being and the machine. The design of animated agents has been, in general, based on human characteristics, such as gender, age, ethnic representation, and personality traits, as well as the use of gestures, facial expressions, and emotions. The challenge so far has been to identify what characteristics work better in what types of environment. In order to determine what kind of agents and what type of instructional contexts (ICs) would be more suitable for computer-assisted language learning (CALL) purposes, an experiment was designed to investigate the effect of agent accent (Anglo, Hispanic), appearance (Anglo, Hispanic), and type of instructional activity (Grammar-based, Communication-oriented) on student performance, motivation, and perception of agent. The study was conducted on a population of 212 college students enrolled in a basic Spanish class at a large southeastern university in the United States. Results indicated that there were no differences in performance, motivation or perception of agent between students exposed to the matching attributes (MA) agents (i.e., Anglo accent + Anglo appearance, and Hispanic Accent + Hispanic appearance) and students exposed to the non-matching attributes (NA) agents (i.e., Anglo accent + Hispanic appearance, and Hispanic accent + Anglo appearance). In addition, there were no differences in performance or motivation between students who worked with the Anglo (AA) agent and students who worked with the Hispanic (HH) agent in the grammar-based activity or the communication-oriented activity. Results did show a significant difference in motivation ratings between the AA and HH agents when the two types of instructional activity were merged into one dataset (HH > AA). Students felt more satisfied when they received positive feedback from the HH agent, and they were more willing to repeat the experience. Data analysis also indicated significant differences in student perception of agent. Participants who worked with the AA agent in the grammar-based activity rated that agent higher in terms of communicative ability (in spite of both agents using exactly the same script to deliver instruction), while students who worked with the HH agent in the communication-oriented activity thought that agent was more knowledgeable about the Hispanic culture, was better prepared to function in both Hispanic and Anglo cultures, had a more friendly attitude, and was more willing to answer student questions. AA). Students felt more satisfied when they received positive feedback from the HH agent, and they were more willing to repeat the experience. Data analysis also indicated significant differences in student perception of agent. Participants who worked with the AA agent in the grammar-based activity rated that agent higher in terms of communicative ability (in spite of both agents using exactly the same script to deliver instruction), while students who worked with the HH agent in the communication-oriented activity thought that agent was more knowledgeable about the Hispanic culture, was better prepared to function in both Hispanic and Anglo cultures, had a more friendly attitude, and was more willing to answer student questions. These results seem to indicate that students tended to use their previous beliefs about language instructors to assign human-like qualities to the animated agents. As a consequence, some agent characteristics had either positive or negative effects on the students, in line with previous research on classroom interactions. Similarly, some motivational interventions had a positive effect on the students, as expected based on previous studies. Although more data are needed to strengthen the significance of these findings, these results have important practical and theoretical implications for the use of animated agents in language learning environments. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2008. / April 8, 2008. / Pedagogical Agents, Language Learning, Animated Agents, Animated Pedagogical Agent, CAI, Spanish, Computer-Based, Computer-Assisted, Call / Includes bibliographical references. / John M. Keller, Professor Directing Dissertation; Michael Leeser, Outside Committee Member; Walter Wager, Committee Member; J. Michael Spector, Committee Member.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relative effectiveness of each substrategy of Singer's Five-Step Approach (5-SA) for learning a cup-stacking task. The 5-SA is a learning strategy previously shown to enhance the learning of self-paced motor tasks and consists of five substrategies: (1) readying, (2) imaging, (3) focusing, (4) executing, and (5) evaluating. At the theoretical level, it is important to understand which substrategies are responsible for producing changes in performance and learning. At the applied level, performers and instructors are interested in identifying the most effective and efficient learning strategies. It was hypothesized that the addition of each substrategy of the 5-SA would cause a significant increase in performance during a retention test. Male (n = 43) and female (n = 77) undergraduate and graduate students between the ages of 18 and 44 participated. Participants were randomly assigned to one of six gender stratified groups. Group 1, a control group, received no training in the use of the 5-SA strategy. Groups 2-6 were trained, respectively, to use from the 5-SA (a) the readying substrategy, (b) the readying and imaging substrategies, (c) the readying, imaging, and focusing substrategies, (d) the readying, imaging, focusing, and executing substrategies, and (e) all substrategies. Participants performed a 6 stack cup stacking task for 50 trials in an acquisition phase and for 20 trials in a retention phase. While manipulation checks provided some evidence that participants used the strategies they were taught, no significant differences between groups on performance time in retention were found. These findings are discrepant with those of previous studies of the 5-SA that have used almost identical study designs. Possible explanations for this discrepancy, including the differential use of other mental strategies across groups, are discussed. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2009. / March 27, 2009. / Learning Strategy, Motor Learning / Includes bibliographical references. / David Eccles, Professor Directing Thesis; Robert Eklund, Committee Member; Gershon Tenenbaum, Committee Member; Paul Ward, Committee Member.

Self-objectification and social physique anxiety (SPA) were investigated in relation to exercise behaviors. A theoretical model was developed that viewed SPA as a mediating variable between self-objectification and protective/ permissive exercise behaviors. Two hundred and ninety nine women within the age range of 18-74 participated in this study. They completed the Self-Objectification Questionnaire (SOQ), the Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS), the Objectified Body Consciousness Scales (OBCS), and an exercise behavior survey. A moderate positive correlation was obtained between self-objectification and SPA. It has also been revealed that self-objectification decreases with age. Women that were high and low in self-objectification were found to have different exercise behaviors. Women low in objectification reported exercising more frequently each week, wearing more concealing exercise apparel, and preferring outdoors exercise locations when compared to women low in objectification, who preferred public facilities. A trend was also observed between the women on cardio-machine participation, with women high in objectification reporting more participation. The first model proposing self-objectification influenced protective/permissive exercise behaviors both directly and indirectly via SPA was supported overall. The only significant path, however, was from self-objectification to SPA. Protective/permissive exercise behaviors were unable to be predicted from either self-objectification directly, or via the mediating role of SPA. Similarly, the model involving objectified body consciousness, comprised of the variables of surveillance and shame, was supported overall. Again, however, the only path found to be significant was from objectified body consciousness to SPA. The protective/permissive exercise behaviors either directly or indirectly via SPA lacked support. Previous research has been extremely limited to compare self-objectification and exercise, and this study was further able to support the potential importance and impact the theory may have with exercise, especially with regards to women. This study also reaffirms the relationship between self-objectification and SPA, and pushes for further understanding of how the two theories interact as well as of issues involving health, the body and exercise. / A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester, 2005. / June 15, 2005. / Self-Objectification, Social Physique Anxiety, Exercise / Includes bibliographical references. / Gershon Tenenbaum, Professor Directing Thesis; Alysia Roehrig, Committee Member; David Eccles, Committee Member.

Regular exercise has been found to be efficacious in the prevention of a variety of diseases, and in maintenance of physical health. Nonetheless, a large number of individuals do not engage in regular exercise. As a result, improving exercise behavior within the population was included as one of the priorities of the U.S. Public Health Service's Healthy People 2000 studies. Among recent strategies employed for such modification have been applications of external stimuli, such as music, used to moderate perceptions of fatigue and exertion, and to improve perceptions of enjoyment. The present study engaged regular exercisers (n = 15) and non-exercisers (n = 15) in a 30-minure sub-maximal cycling task during which they were exposed to three distinct music conditions; preferred music, non-preferred music and neutral music. Although no significant differences in heart rate or pedaling rate were detected among music conditions, significant affective and perceptual benefits in the form of increased vigor, enjoyment and perceived exertion ratings were found to be associated with the preferred music condition. Two reasons underlying selection of preferred music style were found; potential performance benefits and potential enjoyment benefits. Regular exercisers most frequently indicated reasons associated with performance benefits, while non-exercisers most frequently determined preference based on potential enjoyment. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2003. / November 10, 2003. / Performance, Perceived Exertion, Exercise Adherence, Music / Includes bibliographical references. / David Pargman, Professor Directing Dissertation; David Quadagno, Outside Committee Member; Akihito Kamata, Committee Member; Gershon Tenenbaum, Committee Member.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of reusable motivational objects (RMO) and a motivational design aid (MDA) on instructional designers' performance and attitude. Thirty five upper-level college students who were enrolled in a Mathematics education course were recruited and split into three groups based on their schedule availability. Each group was randomly assigned to one of three levels of independent variable: RMO with MDA condition, RMO Only condition, and Control condition. Participants performed a task of designing motivationally enhanced RLO-based instruction with given motivational design supports depending on their treatment level. The participants in the RMOMDA condition used an RMO repository and MDA while those in the RMO condition used only RMO repository. The control condition did not use any motivational design support. Two dependent variables include performance and attitude. Performance was efficiency score in motivational design obtained by the ratio of time spent on task to a product's score. Participants' products were graded by evaluators using a checklist. The second dependent variable of attitude was measured with the modified instructional material motivation survey administered online. In addition, two surveys that related to the RMO and MDA were conducted to measure participants' reactions to them. According to the results, the RMO significantly affected motivational design performance while MDA did not. With regard to attitude, both RMO and MDA did not show significant effects. It is presumed that participants' insufficient knowledge of instructional design, unfamiliarity to materials, and short performance time contributed to the lack of significant results. However, participants' reactions to the RMO and MDA were marginally positive in the post hoc surveys. These findings and results were discussed in relation to existing literature and supporting ideas. The major contribution of this study is that it verified the feasibility of RMO as an efficient solution for learner motivation in RLO-based instruction. Moreover, it suggested the conditions under which the MDA can be fully utilized. Based on the limitations and recommendations for further studies, a variety of research studies would be possible and those studies will improve the RMO to be practically applied. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2006. / March 2, 2006. / Reusable Motivational Objects, Reusable Learning Objects, Learner Motivation, Motivational Design, ARCS Motivational Design Model, E-Learning / Includes bibliographical references. / John M. Keller, Professor Directing Dissertation; Elizabeth Jakubowski, Outside Committee Member; Walt Wager, Committee Member; Vanessa Dennen, Committee Member.

Learning interest plays an important role in the learning process, determining what to learn, and how to learn the chosen information. Based on the distinction between individual interest and situational interest, studies on seductive augmentation have mainly focused on instances in which students interact with a traditional computer screen interface, not with human-like agents. Consequently, the effects of seductive augmentation in an agent supported learning context where instructional messages are mediated by a pedagogical agent are largely unknown. Therefore the purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of seductive augmentation and agent role on learning interest, achievement, and attitude in pedagogical agent supported learning. 127 college undergraduate students enrolled in "Computer literacy" classes at a large public university were randomly assigned to the treatment groups. A two way MANOVA was performed to find the main effect of seductive graphics and seductive messages on learning interest and attitude. In addition, a two-way ANOVA was conducted to examine the effects of seductive graphics and seductive messages on the number of recalled keywords and comprehension test. To find the effect of specific agent role, the companion agent role condition and instructor agent role condition were compared. The results indicated that the use of seductive graphics and seductive messages was effective to improve learner's attention to the learning material in terms of learning interest, and also learner's attitude, especially relevance scores. However, no significant difference was found for the recall test and the comprehension test. The two different agent roles did not make any differences on the three dependent variables. The primary contribution of this study is twofold. First, the results of this study illuminate the concept of learning interest as it concerns seductive augmentation. Second, this study generalized the use of seductive augmentation in a multimedia learning context where a pedagogical agent is present. Further research is needed to examine the effects of seductive augmentation in different subject fields. Also the other aspect of situational interest, cognitive interest, needs to be studied since this study only implemented the concept of emotional interest. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2005. / October 13, 2005. / Learning Interest, Pedagogical Agent, Seductive Details, Seductive Augmentation, On-Line Learning, Emotion In Learning / Includes bibliographical references. / John Keller, Professor Directing Dissertation; Elizabeth Jakubowski, Outside Committee Member; Amy Baylor, Committee Member; Walt Wager, Committee Member.

For a number of years, we have heard that computers, or information technologies, are going to change higher education – the way we teach and the way our students will learn. But most of us have seen little evidence to support the claim. In fact, faculty utilization of innovative technologies has remained low (Surry and Land, 2000). In the 1997 National Survey of Information Technology in Higher Education in the United States, Green (1997, in Houseman, 1997) reports that only 12.2% of the institutions surveyed recognize information technology in the career path of faculty. Thus, to accomplish the optimal use of information technology (Web-Assisted Instruction (WAI) in this study), an analysis of the factors affecting the WAI use should be conducted. A number of studies have been performed to identify factors affecting the likelihood of adoption of instructional technology in educational setting. Most of the studies have been based their theoretical foundation on Roger's adoption/ diffusion model. However, they have mostly reported the influencing factors based on the regression-based approach, not focusing on the interactional relationship among the factors. Recently, there have been a few models developed and empirically studied to find out the interactional effects of variable on innovation usage. Among those models, the three models (Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)) seem to be of importance and related to the present study. Based on the results of these models and other studies, this study developed and tested a study model, which included seven adoption predictors in terms of three perspectives and a criterion variable as the followings; (1) personal characteristics (Computer Experience & Selfefficacy); (2) perceived attributes of innovation (Complexity & Relative Advantage); and (3) perception of influence and support from the environment (Subjective Norm, Supports, & Time); lastly, (4) the criterion variable, level of WAI use (LoWU). With those identified variables the present study will be performed to build a model that will predict the level of adoption and utilization with regard to instructional technology use by university faculty members. To accomplish the purpose, the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) including Confirmatory Factor Analysis was employed to test the hypothesized study model for the determination of faculty members' WAI use. The result showed that a study model as described produced measurement and structural models with adequate model fits. In addition, five factors, computer experience, subjective norm, self-efficacy, relative advantage, and complexity, were identified in the analysis as the important predictors of LoWU. Interestingly, while relative advantage and subjective norm were significant in direct effect on LoWU, computer experience, self-efficacy, and complexity showed only indirect effects significant towards LoWU. Supports and Time showed no significant effect. However, ironically qualitative data revealed that most faculty members perceived lack of support and time as barriers for their successful participation in using WAI technology in their instruction. The research provides a base to build on for other studies, specifically targeting acceptance models of web-related instructional technology use. The research can also add to the expanding base of research investigating technology adoption models outside higher education. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology & Learning Systems in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2003. / August 12, 2003. / Higher Education, Structural Equation Modeling, Web Instruction / Includes bibliographical references. / John Keller, Professor Directing Dissertation; Beverly Bower, Outside Committee Member; Marcy Driscoll, Committee Member; Walter Wager, Committee Member.