The database on hand preferences in non-human primates provides inconsistent and inconclusive findings, and is plagued by gaps and methodological issues. I studied hand preferences in the bonobo, which is a very interesting model for investigating evolutionary hypotheses on human handedness. There are few previous data on bonobos and they are from small samples and for relatively simple tasks. I studied a large sample of 94 bonobos in three zoos and one sanctuary, on a variety of actions. Five studies were performed to record: 1. hand use for spontaneous daily actions (non-social). 2. hand use for the tube task , a task that requires a manipulative bimanual coordinated precise action. 3. hand use for using a stick as a probe ( termite fishing ). 4. hand use for spontaneous social actions and gestures, recorded during their social interactions (intra-specific) and during interactions with humans (inter-specific). 5. hand use for induced begging gestures (begging for food from the observer). The results show significant manual laterality in almost all the behaviours studied. The hand preferences were present on an individual basis. The numbers of right-handed and left-handed individuals were similar, indicating no group-level bias, for any of the actions studied. There was no significant effect of the settings, rearing history, sex and age (except in study 2 where adults were more right-handed than younger subjects). I examined different factors that have been proposed as selective pressures for the emergence of handedness. Laterality was influenced by: postural demands (posture, activity of the other hand), precision, grip type, manipulation or bimanual coordination, tool-use, throwing, communication. Notably, the laterality was very marked for the tube task , the termite fishing task and the begging experiment, which suggests that the factors involved in these tasks could be important factors regarding laterality.

The main aim of this thesis is to investigate how environmental preference for the built environment, either in-situ or based on visual representations (e.g. visualisations of final architectural design), may be affected by three distinct variables. One of them is emotion, operationalised as the mood people are in at the time of the evaluation and the way people feel with regards to the environment. A second variable considers the participants' attention and how they may be influenced by task instructions. The third variable, intrinsically related to the second one, is how environmental preference may be influenced depending on the perspective taken at the time of the evaluation. The main research questions in this thesis are: a) How does emotion influence environmental preference? b) What is the impact of perspective-taking on environmental preference? c) What are the benefits of using emotional reactions to the environment as predictors of preference? These main research questions are addressed using both quantitative and qualitative methods, mainly quantitative, underpinned by a pragmatic approach. The unit of analysis in this thesis is the person who evaluates or judges an environment or a representation of it. Five studies are presented in this thesis. Study 1 (n=10) reports the results from interviews with practising architects in the city of Aberdeen. These results show that when designing architects take two distinct perspectives: a prescriptive inferential perspective and a self, referential perspective. These interviews are used to set the context within which this thesis operates: the presentation of design to people with no expertise in architecture and built environment disciplines. The remaining four studies directly address this thesis' main research questions. In Study 2 (n=133), Study 3 (n=146) and Study 5 (n=64) the effects of perspective-taking on different dependent variables are experimentally tested. The dependent variables are: perceived restorativeness (Study 2), environmental preference as measured via informational variables (Study 3), and the emotional reactions people have to representations of the environment (Study 5). Results of these studies show that perspective-taking carries an interpersonal perception bias whereby taking a perspective other than the self results in different environmental evaluation outcomes, but that this process can also be affected by formal training. The influences of emotion on environmental preference are directly explored in Studies 4 (n=32) and 5 (n=64). The results show that mood can have an influence on environmental preference by influencing the emotional reactions people have to the environment, but that these influences vary over time. Overall the thesis shows that perspective-taking and emotion have a range of influences on environmental preference in a built environment context, that these are important at the point at which architecture and built environment professionals design environments, and that timing of environmental evaluations in longitudinal assessments can make the difference between positive and less positive evaluations. This thesis' results are discussed in light of existing knowledge and some recommendations are made for future research and practitioners in architecture and built environment disciplines.

Collective memory is a socially shared representation of the past. History, contrastingly, strives to be an unbiased, objective, and critical account of the past. Many researchers have argued that the so-called “history” found in school textbooks and curriculums align more with collective memory; however, many individuals do not know of the pervasiveness of collective memory in supposed “history” texts. To examine perceptions of accuracy and preference of American “history” textbook passages, individuals from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (n= 404) participated in an online study where they were randomly assigned to read one passage that was either negatively biased, neutral, or positively biased regarding the U.S. dropping the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Participants rated their emotional valence of the event and their perceptions of accuracy and preference for the passage. The results suggest that individuals perceive negatively biased passages as less accurate and less preferable, even if their emotional valence matches the bias within the text. Individuals also showed the hypothesized interaction for preference; those who perceived the event as not negative preferred the positive text to the neutral and negative texts. The findings support evidence that individuals are motivated to prefer history passages consistent with their attitudes and rate higher accuracy among positive and neutral texts. The results have broader implications on reporting or dismissing human rights violations within collective memory.

Purpose: To understand guardian and child preferences for the appearance of their pediatric dentist. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study using survey methodology with patients and parents that attended the VCU Pediatric Dental clinic. Methods: A total sample of 100 guardians and 97 pediatric patient participants completed the computer-based questionnaire. Four subjects were asked to pose for photographs wearing various combinations of attire (professional, casual, white coat, scrubs). Results: Among guardians, 56% reported preferring a provider in scrubs, with white coat the second most preferred attire (39%) for their children. For pediatric patients, scrubs were still most often selected, but at a lower rate (43%). White coat remained the second most preferred option at 37%. Conclusions: Children and parents have strong perceptions and preferences regarding their dentists’ attire. The results of this study can be used, by providers, to improve the comfort, and acceptance of care by patients and guardians.

Kollektivgüter sind - anders als private Güter - nicht-kompetitive Güter von denen, sind sie einmal geschaffen, niemand ausgeschlossen werden kann. Beispiele sind sauberes Wasser, Tarifverträge, Verkehrsschilder, Lärm-Normen. Es würde besonders schwierig, kostenintensiv und ineffizient sein, die Nutzung dieser Kollektivgüter auf bestimmte Akteure zu beschränken. Existieren Kollektivgüter, sind sie für jeden nutzbar. So ist es für jeden Einzelnen rational, anderen die Erstellung von Kollektivgütern zu überlassen, und das kollektive Gut ohne einen eigenen Beitrag zu nutzen. Die genannten Beispiele illustrieren den Dilemmacharakter von Kollektivgutsituationen, in denen individuell rationales Verhalten zu einem kollektiv suboptimalen Ergebnis führt. Die Implikationen empirischer Befunde und Theorieansätze für die Erklärung genuin soziologischer Themen, wie die Entstehung und Durchsetzung sozialer Normen, liegen auf der Hand. Es stellt sich daher die Frage, ob sich derartige Ergebnisse auch außerhalb des Labors reproduzieren lassen. Die Frage wird in einem ersten Schritt durch die Replikation der Laborexperimente von Fehr/Gächter mittels des faktoriellen Survey (Vignettendesign) beantwortet. Der faktorielle Survey stellt quasi eine Zwischenstufe zwischen Laborexperiment und Beobachtung der \"realen Welt\" dar. Wenn sich die Fehr/Gächter-Resultate reproduzieren lassen, dann ist das erstens ein Indiz für die Validität der Laborexperimente. Zweitens bietet sich der faktorielle Survey als realitätsnahe Alternative zu Experimenten an. Drittens, kann in weiteren Schritten versucht werden, die experimentellen Befunde durch die Beobachtung realer sozialer Prozesse zu validieren. Im ersten Abschnitt werden theoretische und empirische Aspekte eines konkreten Laborexperiments zum Verhalten in Kollektivgutsituationen von Fehr/Gächter vorgestellt. Daran schließt sich die Erläuterung der Umsetzung in ein experimentelles Surveydesign, den faktoriellen Survey, an. Im Anschluss an einen Vergleich der Resultate von Fehr/Gächter mit denen des faktoriellen Survey werden die Ergebnisse diskutiert und Schlussfolgerungen für die Anwendung des faktoriellen Survey gezogen. (ICD2)

Natal dispersal is at the nexus of ecology, ethology, population genetics, and evolution. While abundant research exists on emigration and associated proximate and ultimate causes, less is known about exploration, settlement, and factors that influence settlement decisions. Further, the role of individual behavioral phenotypes in the domains of wildlife ecology and conservation, which include natal dispersal, is a recent and expanding area of inquiry. Understanding the relationships among individual phenotype, environmental conditions, and natal dispersal is increasingly important as landscapes become altered by disturbance, fragmentation, and climate change. I investigated natal dispersal in endangered Mt. Graham red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis), an isolated, peripheral subspecies of North American red squirrel persisting at the southern edge of the species' range. We tested hypotheses about the importance of proximate and ultimate drivers of emigration, dispersal distance, and settlement, and estimated perceived landscape connectivity within a mosaic of forest damage in the Pinaleño Mountains, Arizona. Compared to other red squirrel populations in North America, natal dispersal in Mt. Graham red squirrels is sex-biased and non-philopatric with mean dispersal distance over 8 times that observed in non-peripheral populations. Resources, indicated by mother's body mass in spring (a reflection of her intrinsic quality and territory quality) and individual body condition, contribute to individual behavioral tendencies for movement and exploration. Individuals with behavioral tendencies for movement and exploration dispersed the farthest, and for both males and females the longest observed dispersal distances and proportion of individuals dispersing occurred in a year of lowest food availability. Our research highlights the important role individual behavioral syndromes may play in observed heterogeneity in life history strategies with populations. Following emigration from the natal area, we provide evidence that individual dispersers rely upon forest structural cues similar to their natal area to select locations for settlement; the first test of natal habitat preference induction in a single vegetation community type. We used circuit theory to evaluate landscape connectivity and identify areas important for long-distance dispersal movements. Because single connectivity models may not adequately represent functional connectivity for an entire population, we summarized landscape connectivity across varying levels of landscape resistance to identify areas that promote movement and long-distance dispersal for individuals with different perceptions of landscape resistance. We show that composite connectivity models are a useful method to identify forest areas important for the promotion of long-distance movements as well as areas that constrain movement.

Research into job preference and job satisfaction addresses the agreement between individual and institutional values leading to job choice and job satisfaction. This research assessed ten job preference and ten job satisfaction factors at the University of Guam. Ninety-one faculty members and 32 administrators completed a two-page paired-comparison questionnaire. Demographic data were also collected. Factors' hierarchy and valence positions were reported and subjected to "PCSTATS" program to determine significance among pairs. Significant differences existed in three of the four hypotheses measuring the job preferential factors: advancement, benefits, company, co-workers, hours, pay, security, supervisor, type of work, and working conditions; and job satisfaction factors: good wages, job security, interesting work, tactful disciplining, in on things, working conditions, management loyalty, appreciation, promotion, and sympathetic understanding. Additional findings were made using post hoc analysis. Results indicated that administrators perceived others' preferences to be (a) pay, (b) advancement, and (c) type of work while faculty chose (a) type of work, (b) pay, and (c) advancement. In job satisfaction administrators selected (a) promotion, (b) good wages, and (c) job security, while the faculty chose (a) interesting work, (b) good wages, and (c) promotion. Self job preference factors chosen by males and females were (a) type of work and (b) pay with (c) advancement and (c) co-workers, respectively. The top three self job satisfaction factors chosen by males and females were (a) interesting work, (b) good wages, and (c) promotion. Disagreement is evident between groups. It is recommended that the findings be used in the selection and retention of faculty members at the University of Guam.

Vehicle dynamics development is strongly based on subjective assessments (SA) of vehicle prototypes, which is expensive and time consuming. Consequently, in the age of computer- aided engineering (CAE), there is a drive towards reducing this dependency on physical test- ing. However, computers are known for their remarkable processing capacity, not for their feelings. Therefore, before SA can be computed, it is required to properly understand the cor- relation between SA and objective metrics (OM), which can be calculated by simulations, and to understand how this knowledge can enable a more efficient and effective development process. The approach to this research was firstly to identify key OM and SA in vehicle dynamics, based on the multicollinearity of OM and of SA, and on interviews with expert drivers. Sec- ondly, linear regressions and artificial neural network (ANN) were used to identify the ranges of preferred OM that lead to good SA-ratings. This result is the base for objective require- ments, a must in effective vehicle dynamics development and verification. The main result of this doctoral thesis is the development of a method capable of predicting SA from combinations of key OM. Firstly, this method generates a classification map of ve- hicles solely based on their OM, which allows for a qualitative prediction of the steering feel of a new vehicle based on its position, and that of its neighbours, in the map. This prediction is enhanced with descriptive word-clouds, which summarizes in a few words the comments of expert test drivers to each vehicle in the map. Then, a second superimposed ANN displays the evolution of SA-ratings in the map, and therefore, allows one to forecast the SA-rating for the new vehicle. Moreover, this method has been used to analyse the effect of the tolerances of OM requirements, as well as to verify the previously identified preferred range of OM. This thesis focused on OM-SA correlations in summer conditions, but it also aimed to in- crease the effectiveness of vehicle dynamics development in general. For winter conditions, where objective testing is not yet mature, this research initiates the definition and identifica- tion of robust objective manoeuvres and OM. Experimental data were used together with CAE optimisations and ANOVA-analysis to optimise the manoeuvres, which were verified in a second experiment. To improve the quality and efficiency of SA, Volvo’s Moving Base Driving Simulator (MBDS) was validated for vehicle dynamics SA-ratings. Furthermore, a tablet-app to aid vehicle dynamics SA was developed and validated. Combined this research encompasses a comprehensive method for a more effective and ob- jective development process for vehicle dynamics. This has been done by increasing the un- derstanding of OM, SA and their relations, which enables more effective SA (key SA, MBDS, SA-app), facilitates objective requirements and therefore CAE development, identi- fies key OM and their preferred ranges, and which allow to predict SA solely based on OM. / <p>QC 20170223</p> / iCOMSA

Mental health services are greatly underutilized by military service members and veterans. Among the reasons for this underutilization is that the services offered may not be a good fit for the specific problems facing service members/veterans and/or their families. The current study presented service members with descriptions of several approaches to treatment and asked them to indicate the likelihood of using each. Service members indicated the highest likelihood for using self-directed services, followed by individual treatment with a professional. They reported being least likely to use group approaches. These results may inform decisions about the implementation and dissemination of information about existing and new services.

Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors modulate both cholinergic and non-cholinergic synaptic transmission. Our research concerns α6 and α4 neuronal nicotinic subunits because they often co-assemble with the β2 subunit, which has abundant expression in the CNS and previous work has demonstrated that β2* nAChRs are involved in nicotine and cocaine reward. α6β2* and α4β2* nAChRs are highly expressed in midbrain, which is known to be critical for the incentive salience associated with natural and artificial (drug) reward. Our goal was to assess the role of α6β2* and α4β2* nAChRs in nicotine and cocaine reward using an unbiased conditioned place preference (CPP) test in mice. Adult male C57BL/6J mice or male mice null for the α6 or α4 nicotinic receptor subunit were used. For CPP: On day 1, pre-conditioning scores were recorded; Days 2-4 mice underwent conditioning, where they were randomly assigned to either the black or the white compartment paired with drug, and the opposite chamber paired with saline; Day 5 was a drug-free test day where post conditioning scores were recorded. α-Conotoxin MII[H9A;L15A], a selective antagonist of α6β2* nAChRs, was given centrally either into the lateral ventricle or the nucleus accumbens on conditioning days, which tested for acquisition of CPP, or it was given only once into the lateral ventricle on test day which tested for expression of CPP. Antagonizing α6*nAChRs resulted in a significant attenuation of both nicotine and cocaine place preference. This was complemented with diminished nicotine and cocaine place preference in α6 KO mice compared to WT littermates. Studies with α4 KO mice showed significantly reduced nicotine place preference scores compared to WT littermates. In contrast, α4 KO and WT mice showed significant place preference for 20mg /kg cocaine, suggesting that the α4 subunit is not required for the reward-like effects of cocaine in our behavioral test. Our results implicate α6β2* and α4β2* nAChR involvement in nicotine and cocaine CPP, but only α6β2* nAChR involvement in cocaine CPP. Lithium conditioned place avoidance and food reward were not altered in α6 KO mice or by α-Conotoxin MII[H9A;L15A], thereby validating the specificity of hedonics of targeting α6* nAChRs in CPP. Our studies suggest that α6β2* and α4β2*nAChR should be further characterized for future nicotine cessation therapies, and α6β2* could provide a new target for treating cocaine addiction.