The field of expertise studies offers several models from which to develop training programs that accelerate the development of novice performers in a variety of domains. This research study implemented two methods of expertise-based training in a course to develop undergraduate peer academic coaches through a ten-week program. An existing training curriculum was enhanced by implementing results gleaned from a preliminary expert performance study, in which the superior, reproducible performance of seasoned professionals (counselors and academic advisors working with undergraduate students at a large Midwestern research university) was analyzed. Part-task, observational training activities were created for the expertise-based (XBT) training group while whole-task, simulation-based activities were created for the expert performance based (ExPerT) training group. Trainee performance in four targeted skill sets (asking questions, reflective listening, noticing reactions, and providing feedback) indicated few significant differences between the XBT and ExPerT training groups. The ExPerT group demonstrated a greater number of evocative statements, aimed at helping coaching clients change behaviors. Overall, the utility of the expert performance approach in developing training in various domains is promising, particularly if an appropriate balance of part-task and whole-task training activities can be found.

x, 84 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / In this dissertation,I examine whether financial reporting quality increases following the appointment of an accounting expert to the audit committee. Prior literature documents positive cross-sectional associations between maintaining an accounting expert on the audit committee and financial reporting quality. Although this suggests that accounting expertise enhances the quality of a firm's financial reports, it is unclear whether financial reporting quality improves after appointing an accounting expert. Additionally, I explore how the strength of alternative governance provisions and the current expertise of the audit committee influence relations between appointing an accounting expert and changes in financial reporting quality. I hypothesize that accounting experts possess the financial backgrounds needed to detect accounting manipulations and the reputational capital to warrant actions that limit exposure to financial reporting failures. Therefore, I predict that newly appointed accounting experts have the ability and incentive to strengthen financial reporting systems and increase the quality of financial reports. Furthermore, I predict that incremental improvements in reporting quality following the appointment of an accounting expert are larger for strong governance firms because they possess the infrastructure necessary to act on audit committee recommendations and for firms with no prior accounting expertise because of opportunities for new accounting critiques by financially minded individuals. I test these predictions on a sample of 1,590 audit committee appointments between 2003 and 2005. Overall, I do not find empirical evidence of a change in financial reporting quality following the appointment of an audit committee accounting expert. However, I find that firms with strong governance that appoint an accounting expert experience larger post-appointment improvements in reporting quality than do firms with weak governance, as highlighted by more income-decreasing discretionary accruals, larger increases in earnings response coefficients, and higher quality accruals. Additionally, my evidence suggests that strong governance firms appointing their first accounting expert increase their reporting quality following the appointment. Therefore, my results imply that accounting expertise complements other governance mechanisms involved in financial monitoring. Overall, I provide evidence regarding the audit committee's influence over financial reporting and the conditions associated with effective use of accounting expertise. / Committee in charge: Steven Matsunaga, Chairperson, Accounting; David Guenther, Member, Accounting; Xuesong Hu, Member, Accounting; Larry Singell, Outside Member, Economics

Cette recherche vise à améliorer la compréhension du concept de confiance du consommateur dans l’enseigne (CCE) et à vérifier son incidence sur la prise de décision d’achat dans un contexte d’incertitude irrésolue. Les situations d'achat de produits de croyance sont retenues pour contextualiser la recherche. Sur la base d'un état de l'art pluridisciplinaire une conceptualisation de la CEE est proposée. Les notions relatives à l'origine de la CCE sont exposées. Une étude exploratoire a permis de proposer un modèle théorique et de formuler l'ensemble des hypothèses. Celles-ci ont été testées en les confrontant aux données obtenues lors de l'enquête finale (424 répondants). Les résultats révèlent que 9 éléments du marketing de l'enseigne sont des antécédents des trois dimensions de la CCE. Celle-ci favorise les intentions du consommateur liées à l'achat de biens de croyance et l'intention de procéder à un bouche à oreille positif. L'expertise perçue du consommateur modifie ces relations. / This research aims at improving the understanding of the concept of consumer’s trust towards the retailer (CTR) and at checking its influence on the purchase decision in a context of unresolved uncertainty. The credence goods buying situations are used for this research. On the basis of a synthesis of multidisciplinary researches, the CTR’s conceptualization is formuled. The notions relating to the origins of CTR are exposed. A exploratory study allows proposing the research theoretical model and formulating hypotheses. Theses one were tested via the confrontation of the empirical data gathered during the final study (424 respondents). Results reveal that 9 elements of the marketing strategy of the retailer are antecedents of the three dimensions of CTR. CTR favors consumer’s intent as regards scenario of credence goods purchase, and also the intent of developing word-to-mouth in favor of it. The perceived expertise of the consumer modifies those relations.

Devido aos diversos crimes financeiros cometidos por políticos e não políticos, que por consequência acentuam a crise econômica e política no Brasil, se faz necessária a presença de um órgão fiscalizador. Nessa linha, o Ministério Público Federal (MPF) atua de forma a defender a ordem jurídica e os interesses pessoais por meio dos Procuradores da República. Como seus auxiliares, os analistas da área pericial contábil buscam, entre outras atribuições, realizar perícias, exames, vistorias e avaliações, sob a forma de pareceres, laudos e relatórios, a fim de assessorar os membros quando a matéria em litígio versar sobre a ciência contábil. Diante de sua posição ante os Procuradores, a Justiça Federal e a sociedade, este estudo teve como objetivo analisar as percepções de analistas da área de perícia e especialidade em contabilidade sobre suas práticas profissionais. Essa pesquisa é descritiva, com abordagem qualitativa, sendo, quanto aos procedimentos, uma pesquisa etnográfica e survey. No que se refere à amostra e as técnicas de coleta de dados, foram realizadas entrevistas presenciais com 12 analistas da área pericial contábil no Distrito Federal, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná e São Paulo, pelo uso de um roteiro semiestruturado de oito questões, cujas respostas foram analisadas pela técnica de análise de conteúdo; e aplicados questionários online, com 37 questões, para 13 analistas dessas mesmas regiões, analisados por estatística descritiva. Os resultados permitem inferir que há singularidades na atuação desses analistas, especialmente pela dificuldade em classificá-los como como peritos contábeis ou contadores forenses. Outro resultado encontrado foi o fato de nenhum entrevistado ter atuado com essas áreas antes de ingressar no MPF, o que corrobora com certas dificuldades suscitadas em adquirir a experiência necessária para uma boa atuação no órgão. Pelo questionário aplicado pôde-se verificar que as competências de maior importância, para a amostra, são as comportamentais, e não as técnicas. Os domínios obtidos sobre as competências relacionadas nesse estudo se apresentaram, no geral, com índices inferiores às importâncias atribuídas a elas. Ou seja, no geral, o domínio está aquém da importância da competência, indicando uma necessidade de melhoria na capacitação da amostra. No que tange aos pontos de melhoria em suas práticas profissionais, as faltas de feedback e o baixo número de analistas são os principais aspectos, além, da valorização profissional. A pesquisa permite inferir que a atuação desses profissionais não segue inteiramente a Norma Brasileira de Contabilidade Técnica sobre Perícia Contábil (NBC TP 01), nem possui todos os aspectos de uma contabilidade forense, apresentando, tanto particularidades de cada uma dessas áreas, quanto pontos em comum, mas não atendendo todos os requisitos necessários para enquadrar sua atuação como a de um perito contábil ou de um contador forense. Outra inferência é a de que, comparando-se a atuação dos contadores forenses norte-americanos com os analistas da área pericial contábil do MPF, há semelhanças, como os casos envolvendo declarações de demonstrações financeiras, detecção e resposta à fraude, cálculos de danos econômicos e falência e insolvência; e distinções, pois os analistas não atuam em casos de lei de família e prevenção à fraude. No que se refere às importâncias mais importantes, destaca-se a capacidade de entrevista e testemunho e comunicação oral eficaz, que no contexto do MPF não são tão relevantes, o que difere dos contadores forenses norte-americanos e do Reino Unido. / Due to the various financial crimes committed by politicians and non-politicians, which consequently accentuate the economic and political crisis in Brazil, it is necessary to have a monitoring body. In this line, the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) acts in a way to defend the legal order and personal interests through the Attorneys of the Republic. As their assistants, analysts in the accounting expert area seek, among other duties, to carry out surveys, examinations, surveys and evaluations, in the form of opinions, reports and reports, in order to advise members when the matter in dispute is related to science accounting In view of its position before Prosecutors, Federal Courts and society, this study aimed to analyze the perceptions of analysts in the area of expertise and specialty in accounting over their professional practices. This research is descriptive, with a qualitative approach, being, regarding the procedures, an ethnographic research and survey. With regard to the sample and data collection techniques, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 12 analysts from the accounting expert area in the Distrito Federal, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná and São Paulo, for the use of a semi-structured script of eight questions, responses were analyzed by the content analysis technique; and 37 online questionnaires were applied to 13 analysts from the same regions, analyzed by descriptive statistics. The results allow us to infer that there are singularities in the performance of these analysts, especially because of the difficulty in classifying them as accounting experts or forensic accountants. Another result was the fact that no interviewee had acted with these areas before joining the MPF, which corroborates with certain difficulties involved in acquiring the necessary experience for a good performance in the body. Through the questionnaire applied it was possible to verify that the most important competences, for the sample, are the behavioral ones, not the technical ones. The domains obtained on the competences related to this study were generally lower than the amounts attributed to them. That is, in general, the domain falls short of the importance of competence, indicating a need for improvement in the training of the sample. Regarding the points of improvement in their professional practices, the lack of feedback and the low number of analysts are the main aspects, besides, the professional valorization. The research allows to infer that the performance of these professionals does not follow fully the Norma Brasileira de Contabilidade Técnica sobre Perícia Contábil (NBC TP 01), nor does it have all the aspects of a forensic accounting, presenting both particularities of each one of these areas, as points in common, but not answering all the necessary requirements to fit their performance as that of an accounting expert or a forensic accountant. Another inference is that, comparing the performance of US forensic accountants with MPF accountant analysts, there are similarities, such as cases involving financial statement disclosures, fraud detection and response, calculations of economic damages and bankruptcy and insolvency; and distinctions, as analysts do not act in cases of family law and fraud prevention. With regard to the most important issues, the interview and testimony and effective oral communication skills, which in the context of the MPF are not so relevant, stand out from the US forensic accountants and the United Kingdom.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-10T14:24:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2015-07-21. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2015-12-10T14:30:09Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000853654.pdf: 1209328 bytes, checksum: f9ec77a1ce8f9d67050377e7f2ff473b (MD5) / Compreender os fundamentos do ofício de Rodolfo Augusto de Amorim Garcia (1873-1949), especialmente, naquilo que diz respeito às problemáticas próprias da escrita da história desse autor, sua atuação na coleta, seleção e divulgação de documentos históricos, assim como na organização de acervos, entre os anos de 1932 e 1945, é a questão que norteia esta dissertação. Tendo em vista a tensão entre a figura do erudito e do intelectual identificada naquele período, algumas inquietações perpassam a investigação das relações estabelecidas nos principais locais de sociabilidade e produção do conhecimento em que circulou: Que atividades os chamados eruditos desenvolviam? Quais as motivações dos que se referiam a Rodolfo Garcia como intelectual? Tais indagações servirão como fio condutor na investigação das possibilidades de escritas de vida por meio de correspondências e prefácios, bem como de sua dedicação na validação do conhecimento histórico através dos procedimentos metódicos praticados na edição documental e na promoção de cursos de especialização em um período de investimentos na formação de profissionais / Comprehending the métier fundamentals of Rodolfo Augusto de Amorim Garcia (1873-1949), especially, about the own issues on his writing of history, his collecting, selecting and disclosing procedures of historic documents, even as on collection organization, between 1932 and 1945, is the main question of this dissertation. Taking in account the tension between erudite and intellectual figure at that period, some concerns pervade the investigation about the relationships established on the main sociability and production places of knowledge where he has been: What activities did the so-called erudite develop? Which were the motivations of those who referred Rodolfo Garcia as intellectual? Such inquiries will be used as conducting wire in investigation about the possibilities of writing of life by means of correspondences and forewords, as well as his dedication on history knowledge validation by methodical proceedings used in documental edition and promoting specialization courses during a period of investments on professional formation

abstract: Recommendations made by expert groups are pervasive throughout various life domains. Yet not all recommendations--or expert groups--are equally persuasive. This research aims to identify factors that influence the persuasiveness of recommendations. More specifically, this study examined the effects of decisional cohesion (the amount of agreement among the experts in support of the recommendation), framing (whether the message is framed as a loss or gain), and the domain of the recommendation (health vs. financial) on the persuasiveness of the recommendation. The participants consisted of 1,981 undergraduates from Arizona State University. The participants read a vignette including information about the expert group making a recommendation--which varied the amount of expert agreement for the recommendation--and the recommendation, which was framed as either a gain or loss. Participants then responded to questions about the persuasiveness of the recommendation. In this study, there was a linear main effect of decisional cohesion such that the greater the decisional cohesion of the expert group the more persuasive their recommendation. In addition, there was a main effect of domain such that the health recommendation was more persuasive than the financial recommendation. Contrary to predictions, there was no observed interaction between the amount of decisional cohesion and the framing of the recommendation nor was there a main effect of framing. Further analyses show support for a mediation effect indicating that high levels of decisional cohesion increased the perceived entitativity of the expert group--the degree to which the group was perceived as a unified, cohesive group¬--which increased the recommendation's persuasiveness. An implication of this research is that policy makers could increase the persuasiveness of their recommendations by promoting recommendations that are unanimously supported by their experts or at least show higher levels of decisional cohesion. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Psychology 2013

With oil reserves dwindling, efforts to create a diversified, post-oil economy in Oman have focused on building the human capital of citizens and promoting a new entrepreneurial ‘work culture’ among Omani employees and entrepreneurs. In a context in which state-provided jobs represent both an exchange of labor for a salary and a means of securing a citizen’s rightful share of the nation’s oil revenues, issues of productivity and workforce development are most often framed in terms of the ‘mindset’ of individual citizens. Drawing on 16 months of ethnographic fieldwork with experts and professionals in Oman’s thriving citizen labor industry—the industry of human resource specialists, consultants, career coaches, entrepreneurship trainers, and the organizations which support and sponsor them—this dissertation explores how utopian investments in Omani human capital have shaped the distributive governance of the Omani state, the production of persons, and the making of ‘an economy.’ In an environment in which economic ‘growth’ is driven by state-guided subsidy rather than market mechanisms, this dissertation describes how economic and managerial expertise is employed to create 'an economy’ in ways that are largely unaccompanied by the production of markets. By doing so, this dissertation highlights how seemingly neoliberal interventions aimed at ‘rolling back’ the state and cultivating entrepreneurial ‘mindsets’ have counterintuitively produced subjects who understand their personal and social ‘development’ as pieces of a larger system of distributive rights and obligations that is as much social and political as it is economic. Ultimately, by demonstrating how subsidy-driven investments in Oman’s citizen workforce reproduce distributive arrangements, this dissertation complicates the assumption that ‘development’ is an antidote to Oman’s natural resource dependence.

L'optométrie a récemment connu une expansion rapide de son champ de pratique, ce qui rehausse l'importance pour les optométristes actuels et futurs de développer leur raisonnement clinique. Ce dernier n'ayant jamais été investigué en optométrie, il est quasi-absent des programmes de formation en optométrie. Cette compétence reste donc implicite et plus difficile à apprendre. Cette étude de cas avait pour objectifs de déterminer les processus de raisonnement clinique d'optométristes de niveaux compétent et expert, puis à les comparer entre eux pour faire ressortir ce qui caractérise l'expertise. L'étude visait ensuite à valider un modèle de raisonnement clinique. Le raisonnement clinique a été explicite chez quatre optométristes de chacun des niveaux compétent et expert par une rétroaction vidéo aidée de l'entretien d'explicitation. Un modèle de raisonnement clinique a ensuite été validé auprès de cinq optométristes de niveau expert réunis en groupe de discussion. Les résultats démontrent que les optométristes des deux niveaux utilisent les mêmes processus de raisonnement clinique, mais qu'ils les mettent en oeuvre différemment. L'expertise se caractérise par une meilleure prise en compte du patient, une meilleure planification, une capacité à réfléchir pendant des tâches cognitivement exigeantes, une représentation du cas clinique précoce, une meilleure anticipation des résultats et une élaboration des stratégies d'intervention répartie sur toute la consultation. Le modèle de raisonnement clinique issu de cette étude est centré sur la construction progressive de la représentation du cas clinique et des diagnostics, en parallèle avec l'élaboration des stratégies d'intervention. Le patient et les connaissances de l'optométriste y occupent une place capitale. L'explicitation du raisonnement clinique et la validation d'un modèle de raisonnement clinique spécifique à l'optométrie sont susceptibles d'entrainer des retombées en pratique, en formation et en recherche. Cette étude a notamment fourni des pistes pour l'enseignement du raisonnement clinique dans une perspective de développement de l'expertise professionnelle.

L'objectif principal de cette thèse était de comprendre comment l’expérience modifie les représentations mentales liées à nos perceptions dans le domaine de la bière. Plus précisément, il s’agissait d’étudier les différences au niveau des catégorisations perceptives et au niveau des représentations mentales entre des personnes dont les connaissances sensorielles et théoriques sur la bière varient. Notre approche a été de comparer entre elles et par rapport à un groupe contrôle de novices, des personnes possédant des expertises variées sur la bière. Quatre études ont été mises en place, s’appuyant sur différentes tâches issues de la psychologie cognitive, telles que des tâches de tri et d’appariement. Nous avons mis en évidence qu’il existait des différences de catégorisation perceptive des bières entre des panélistes entraînés à l’évaluation sensorielle de la bière, des brasseurs, des personnes familières de certaines bières et des novices, traduisant des représentations mentales des bières différentes selon le type d’expertise. Les résultats indiquent également qu’une exposition répétée à des bières de différentes catégories permet à des novices d’apprendre à identifier l’appartenance catégorielle de ces bières, mais pas de généraliser leur apprentissage à de nouvelles bières. L’examen des différents aspects de chaque type d’expertise nous a permis d’identifier que le type d’approche lors de la dégustation (analytique vs. globale) pouvait être un des facteurs impliqués dans les changements conceptuels s’opérant avec le développement de l’expertise. Ensuite, il semblerait que les seules connaissances des caractéristiques sensorielles typiques des catégories de bières, acquises par une exposition répétée à différentes bières, ne permettent pas de construire des représentations mentales des bières. Le changement conceptuel lié au développement de l’expertise serait induit à la fois par des informations perceptives et par des informations plus abstraites (connaissances générales et techniques sur les bières). Par ailleurs, nos résultats ont mis en évidence un effet de la familiarité sur les capacités de discrimination des bières. Ceci pose la question de l’influence de la familiarité pour certaines bières sur les résultats des tâches de catégorisation. / This current work was undertaken to understand the influence of expertise on mental representations linked to beer perception. Precisely, this study explores the differences in terms of perceptive categorisation and mental representation between individuals having varied sensory and theoretic knowledge of beer. Our approach was based on comparisons of individuals having different beer expertises between themselves and to a control group of novices. Four studies were organised, based on different tasks of cognitive psychology, e.g. sorting and matching tasks. We found there were differences in the perceptive categorisation of beers between beer sensory trained panellists, brewers, individuals familiar with certain kinds of beers and novices. These findings suggest that mental representations of beers vary with the type of expertise. The results also indicate that a repeated exposure to beers from different categories leads novices to correctly identify the category membership of these beers, but not to generalise their learning to new beers. An examination of the different angles of each type of expertise allowed us to identify the tasting approach (analytic vs. global) as a possible factor of the conceptual changes taking place with expertise development. Moreover, it seems that the only knowledge of the typical sensory characteristics of beer categories, gained through repeated exposures to different beers, is not sufficient to build mental representations of beers. The conceptual change would be led both by perceptive information and more abstract information (e.g. general and technical knowledge on beer). Besides, our results showed a familiarity effect on beer discrimination performance. This finding questions the influence of familiarity for certain beers on the results of beer categorisation.

This thesis explores the post-war history of the British Meteorological Office (MO), which saw the development of public weather services and a more prominent profile for the organisation in British public life. Situated within a post-war growth in the scientific civil service and the government’s use of science in policy making, the emergence of MO extreme weather warnings and forecasts afforded the organisation an authoritative expert position. Part of meteorology’s twentieth century professionalisation, the services developed through the application of advances in meteorological practice and technologies, significantly altered the organisation’s public profile and status as a scientific expert body.By considering these developments the thesis illuminates how, as the MO increasingly presented forecasts and warnings to all sectors of British society, they became managers of the risks posed by extreme weather. Through exploring these historical developments at the MO, we see a broader narrative emerge on how the communication of risk by scientific experts interacts with public expectations and manifestations of blame. Central to the narrative presented is the role of extreme weather events themselves in affecting response, policy developments, new MO warning services, and the manifestation of blame.