Amabile (1983a) presented the most prominent theory currently used for studying individual creativity in organizations, the componential model, over 25 years ago. This model moved the study of creativity away from an individual differences-based paradigm to one taking into account the situation. The centerpiece of this model, the intrinsic motivation principle, suggests that situational factors influence individual creativity via an individual's intrinsic motivation (Amabile, 1996: 115). My review identifies anomalies in current research using Amabile's model that I use for new theory development. I then test that theory in a laboratory study. New theory I developed and tested explores factors that affect individual creative performance at work. This theory focuses on the effects environmental variables, dispositional traits, and psychological mediators have on creative performance. The trait of achievement motivation is used to directly predict creative performance and also how individuals differentially react to environmental factors. The psychological mediator utilized here is regulatory focus, which is a concept related to the ways individuals frame and engage situations. I describe and test how the facets of regulatory focus (promotion and prevention) account for the ways that environmental factors, achievement motivation, and the interaction of environmental factors and achievement motivation affect creative performance of adults in work-like environments (e.g. behavioral laboratory with adults). Results from this study were significant. First, achievement motivation significantly predicted creative performance. Second, there were no significant effects for regulatory focus, although this was mostly likely a result of limited scale development. Third, achievement motivation interacted with the experimental manipulations (expectations of controlling or informational expected evaluations), as the environmental variable, to predict creativity. This suggests theories of creativity that do not consider personality (c.f. Amabile, 1983a, 1983b, 1996) leave out a potentially important and significant portion of what leads to differences in individual creative performance. Finally, many variables reported to predict creative performance in the literature were used as control variables. In no model tested did any of these control variables reach significance or moderate the effects of achievement motivation, as it was measured in this study, on creative performance. These results suggest the finding here for achievement motivation is robust.

<p>ntranät har medfört många nya möjligheter för företag och organisationer. Samtidigt har det också orsakat problem kring hur de nya flödena med kommunikation och information skall hanteras. Utbudet av information ökar samtidigt som vårt begränsade fält av uppmärksamhet är ändligt. Informationsstress har blivit ett begrepp som används i detta sammanhang. För att möta upp mot detta problem förser vi oss med tekniker och hjälpmedel som är tänkta att reducera överflödet av information. Användarmodellering är en teknik som är avsedd för att avhjälpa denna problematik. Genom att specificera användarens intressen kan andelen relevant information ökas. Vid implicit användarmodellering analyseras användarens handhavande då denne tar del av information, för att på så sätt bilda en uppfattning om individens intressen. Tekniken är inte fulländad varför projektet har undersökt hur tekniken kan utvecklas och vilka beteenden som har bäst förmåga att ge ledning till den upplevda relevansen. Projektet har identifierat ett flertal potentiella utvecklingsmöjligheter och fyra beteenden som har särskild god förmåga att ge ledning till den upplevda relevansen.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-71).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-56).

Previous studies have indicated that persons with autism spectrum disorder have distinct cerebella, striatum, and an impaired ability to anticipate implicit learning sequences; also, previous research indicates anatomic connections among these regions. Investigating distinctions in connectivity and impairments in the ability to anticipate implicit sequences linked to ASD would help clarify some of the core deficits associated with the disorder. This dissertation sought to explore differences in functional connectivity among the cerebellum, thalamus, and striatum. This dissertation also sought to determine if an impaired ability to anticipate implicit sequences is associated with ASD. Twelve ASD participants and 11 control participants were scanned using an MRI while engaged in a modified serial reaction task. The findings indicate that the cerebellum and the striatum are functionally connected and the thalamus mediates this connection. The results indicate that ASD participants have stronger connections than the control, and ASD participants demonstrated some impairments in learning. However, there was not enough evidence to link ASD to an impaired ability to anticipate implicit sequences. This dissertation recommends that future studies consider the roles that these distinct connections play in symptoms of ASD. / text

Implicit learning is the learning of underlying regularities hidden in the environment without the learner being conscious of what is being learnt. First language acquisition in young children is essentially implicit (Krashen, 1982), but the role of implicit learning in second language acquisition is debatable. Previous research on learning of tonal languages focused on perception and identification of language tones in relatively explicit settings, and showed that tonal language experience may not help with learning a new tonal language in an explicit setting (So & Best, 2010; Wang, 2006). Yet, little research was done on the implicit learning of language tones, and on whether prior tonal language experience plays a role in such implicit learning. In this study, simplified Thai tonal rules were used as a learning target to investigate if implicit learning of such rules is possible. Implicit learning performance among native tonal language speakers with no knowledge of Thai, non?tonal language native speakers who have learnt/have been learning tonal languages other than Thai, and non?tonal language speakers with little knowledge of tonal languages were compared. Results showed that the native tonal language group implicitly learnt the target, and some trends of learning were found in the tonal language learner group, but not in the tonal language na?ve group. This advantage of tonal language experience over the learning of tonal patterns suggested that tonal language experience can be transferable to the learning of a new tonal language in implicit settings. This suggested that, rather than being hindered by their prior linguistic experience, learners with some tonal language background may benefit from implicit settings when learning a new tonal language. / published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Philosophy

In the past few decades, cognitive psychologists and linguists have shown increasing research interest in the phenomenon of implicit learning, a term generally defined as learning of regularities in the environment without intention and awareness. Some psychologists regard implicit learning as the primary mechanism for knowledge attainment and language acquisition (Reber, 1993), whereas others deny the possibility of learning even simple contingencies in an implicit manner (Lovibond and Shanks, 2002). In the context of language acquisition, while first language acquisition is essentially implicit, the extent to which implicit learning is relevant to second language acquisition remains unclear. Empirical evidence has been found on the implicit learning of grammar/syntactic rules (e.g., Rebuschat & Williams, 2012) and form-meaning connections (e.g., Leung & Williams, 2011) but little investigation of implicit learning has been conducted in the realm of phonology, particularly supra-segmental phonology. Besides, there is still no consensus on the extent to which implicit learning exhibits population variation. This dissertation reports three experiments which aim to 1) address the possibility of learning second language (L2) word stress patterns implicitly; 2) identify relevant individual differences in the implicit learning of L2 word stress rules; and 3) improve measurement of conscious knowledge by integrating both subjective and objective measures of awareness. Using an incidental learning task and a two-alternative forced-choice post-test, Experiment 1 found evidence of learning one-to-one stress-to-phoneme connections in an implicit fashion, and successfully applied the process dissociation procedure as a sensitive awareness measure. Experiment 2 found implicit learning effect for more complicated word stress rules which involved mappings between stress assignment and syllable types/types of phoneme, and integrated verbal reports, confidence ratings and inclusion-exclusion tasks as awareness measures. Experiment 3 explored potentially individual differences in the learning of L2 word stress rules. No correlation was found between learning of L2 word stress and working memory, processing speed and phonological short-term memory, supporting the belief that involvement of working memory in implicit learning is minimal, and the view that different stimuli/task-specific subsystems govern different implicit learning tasks. It is concluded that L2 word stress rules may be learnt implicitly with minimal individual variations. / published_or_final_version / English / Master / Master of Philosophy

Individuals view an overwhelming number of mediated messages every day, even if most of these messages are merely glanced at or given minimal amounts of attention. It is not possible or advantageous for individuals to critically evaluate all messages they encounter. In that first glance or initial impression, however, our brains process the visual arguments designed by photo manipulation presented in messages. This happens instinctually, almost instantaneously, and most often underneath our radar of consciousness. Following, individuals decide to attend to the information (or not) though conscious processing. Regardless of decisions for elaborative processing, however, the initial visual processing of photo manipulated arguments influences how individuals think, feel, and behave – whether they are aware of it or not. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of the role of implied visual arguments for persuasive message processing in three ways. First, Experiment 1 identified and provided empirical evidence for effects of photo manipulation as a visual persuasion technique. This experiment was a necessary first step in exploring the cause-and-effect relationship of photo manipulation and attitudes to better understand influences on message perception. Second, Experiment 2 tested currently used dual processing approaches for persuasive messages to overcome the gaps that currently exist. Theoretical frameworks widely used in advertising and communication research – ELM and HSM – largely overlook the influence of visual communication and visual processing. These models do not account for the current understand of the brain mechanisms and processes for message processing. Findings from Experiment 2 provide evidence for the need to refine these models to account for influential visual processing variables that are largely absent from the literature. Third, findings from both experiments contributed to the conceptual refinement of visual literacy with evidenced-based support for the boundaries of when this concept is (or is not) influential for assigning meaning to visual messages. / text

Organizations today are increasingly encouraging employees to engage in pro-social behaviors at work, though this effort may be hindered by the increasing reliance on computers to mediate workplace interpersonal interactions. While much research has been directed at computer-mediated teams performing highly interdependent tasks, there is a need to examine the effect of computer mediation on individual vs. collective identification and cooperation for employees in less overtly interdependent tasks. This study examined the role of group members' conscious and non-conscious identity level in the relationship between physical context and cooperation with a work group. 50 groups of 4 participants each worked in either a face-to-face or computer-mediated workspace to complete puzzles. The study hypotheses were tested using mediated hierarchical modeling. Unexpectedly, computer mediation was related to higher levels of cooperation and was unrelated to participants' identity level. An interaction between prior ability and cooperation was found, with more capable group members cooperating more, but only in the computer-mediated context. Implications for research and practice on the role of computer technology at work are discussed.

While the referent of a non-reflexive pronoun clearly depends on context, the nature of these contextual restrictions is controversial. The present study seeks to characterize one representation that guides pronoun resolution. In causal dependant clauses, the preferred referent of a pronoun varies systematically with the verb in the main clause (contrast Sally frightened Mary because she... with Sally feared Mary because she...), a phenomenon known as "implicit causality". A number of researchers have tried to explain and predict such biases with reference to semantic classes of verbs and linguistic structure. However, the classes and representations invoked have been partly ad hoc and fitted to the phenomenon itself. In this dissertation, evidence is presented that an independently-motivated semantic theory accounts for many known and new phenomena in implicit causality. In the first study, it is shown that verbs within syntactically-defined classes show similar implicit causality biases. In the second study, it is shown that information about the participants in an event (such as their relative social status) do not affect pronoun biases, even when they do affect event representations. In the third study, it is shown that two syntactically-defined verb classes show the same pronoun biases in eight different languages. In combination, these results suggest that implicit causality biases derive primarily from the same underlying semantic representations that determine syntactic behavior and not from general, non-linguistic event representations. / Psychology