The purpose of the project was to determine if testosterone reactivity and neural changes could be observed in response to a reward-seeking competitive task, respectively, and whether testosterone was related to neural activation. Forty nine undergraduate students were recruited playing the Monetary Incentive Delay (MID). We found that a subset of participants (N=20) showed testosterone reactivity to the task (ps < .05). During the EEG analyses, cue had a main effect on FRN amplitude in a trend level (p = .084): The large incentive cue triggered smaller (less negative) FRN amplitude than the small incentive cue did (p < .05), especially during the second reward seeking block (A’) (p = .065) and especially within males (p < .05). Testosterone level and reactivity were not further associated with FRN amplitude (ps > .1). Taken together, results show both testosterone and FRN amplitude may be sensitive to a complex reward-seeking and competition.

In this thesis, I combined field observations and lab experiments to explore the ecological significance of floral signals in a North American wildflower, Penstemon digitalis. More specifically, to determine the potential mechanisms driving selection on floral scent, I studied how scent mediates interactions with pollinators and antagonists by (1) observing spatiotemporal variation in scent emission (2), floral volatile ability to suppress microbes (3) the honest advertisement of nectar, and (4) if scent could aid pollinator learning by reinforcing visual signals. Scent sampling of flower development, flower tissues, rewards and inflorescence day/night emission, revealed a complexity in floral scent composition and emission that could reflect several ecological functions. The floral bouquet of P. digitalis was strongest when flowers opened, primarily emitted from flower nectaries and was strongest during the day when pollinators are most active, suggesting a role in plant-pollinator interactions. Because linalool was one of the few floral compounds found in nectar where microbe growth can degrade the pollinator reward, I studied its role in plant-microbe interactions. Bacteria strains isolated from floral and vegetative tissues were exposed to varying concentrations of nectar volatiles: linalool and methyl nicotinate. Linalool inhibited bacteria growth rate from all tissue origins whereas methyl nicotinate had little effect, suggesting that microbes could drive selection on linalool emission strength.    To determine the extent that linalool could honestly signal nectar availability, linalool-nectar associations were measured for inflorescences and flowers. Linalool predicted inflorescence nectar availability but not flower, exposing a limit to its honesty. Pollinator Bombus impatiens could use linalool as a foraging signal at varying concentrations, suggesting linalool could be learned and used to choose the most rewarding plants.    Measurement and comparison of signal-reward associations for both olfactory and visual signals/cues of P. digitalis displays found display size and linalool honest indicators of nectar. Lab behaviour experiments showed multiple signals correlated with reward could increase bumblebee foraging efficiency and promote learning, providing an explanation for why floral displays are complex and consist of multiple signals.    Together my results show that an integrated approach is required to understand the mechanisms driving the evolution of the floral phenotype.

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This new economic era is characterized by organizations managing a diverse workforce across different generations. These generations have different work values, goals, and expectations on their employer, which poses various challenges for human resource managers in managing and retaining employees from different generations. The most recent generation that is currently entering the workforce is generation Y, and they are described as the younger generation with high employee turnover and reluctance to pledge long-term work commitments. Therefore, it is in the interest of organizations to tailor reward schemes that resonate with generation Yers in fostering organizational commitment. Thus, this thesis aims to examine how extrinsic and intrinsic rewards affect organizational commitment in generation Y. To answer these questions, this thesis reviews previous literature and use the self-determination theory to see how the different rewards affect the organizational commitment of generation Y. This study has been conducted through interviews with employees that are born within the age spectrum of generation Y (1980-1999) to understand how reward systems affect organizational commitment in generation Y employees. This thesis found that intrinsic rewards affect organizational commitment in a far more positive manner than extrinsic rewards. Furthermore, intrinsic rewards resonate to a greater extent with the employees from generation Y and should, therefore, be a priority for organizations. Moreover, this thesis concludes that intrinsic rewards can more easily satisfy the basic psychological needs, which are, as according to the self-determination theory, crucial to foster organizational commitment.

Le mode d’alimentation des adolescents consiste le plus souvent en une consommation excessive et démesurée de fortes quantités de nourritures palatables avec une teneur calorique et sucrée importante. Les données épidémiologiques et cliniques montrent que la consommation abusive de ces types d’aliments sucrés au cours de cette période où la maturation cérébrale s’effectue de façon considérable n’est pas sans conséquences. De manière préoccupante, cette consommation atypique d’aliments durant l’adolescence de plus en plus tournée vers la nourriture sucrée augmente le risque de développement des pathologies telles que l’obésité, le diabète et les maladies associées.Très peu d’études se sont intéressées chez l’animal sur les conséquences à long terme d’une consommation excessive de sucre sur le comportement. Nous avons évalué chez le rat, les effets d’une consommation excessive de solutions sucrées modélisant le mode de consommation de l’adolescent humain (âge 30 à 46 jours) sur différents paramètres comportementaux et neurobiologiques à l’âge adulte. Nos résultats montrent que la consommation chronique en libre choix de saccharose au cours de l’adolescence induit chez l’adulte en situation opérante une baisse de motivation et un déplacement vertical de la courbe dose-réponse pour les solutions sucrées ou non sucrées sans modifier le comportement vis à vis de récompenses pharmacologiques tels que la cocaïne.. Concernant la spécificité de ces effets, nous avons montré que 1) qu’ils sont spécifiques de la concentration 5% de saccharose, qui est la concentration récompensante maximale chez nos animaux, 2) qu’ils sont observés lorsqu’un accès prolongé est donné (12h ou 24h) et absents lors d’un accès court (2h), 3) qu’ils sont dépendants du goût sucré de la solution présentée à l’adolescence et non de la charge calorique puisque ces effets sont observés aussi pour de la saccharine (non calorique) 4) qu’ils sont spécifiques de la période d’adolescence puisque ces effets ne sont pas retrouvés lorsque la solution sucrée est proposée chez l’adulte. 5) qu’ils sont indépendants des conditions d’hébergement des animaux puisqu’ils sont observés aussi bien chez des animaux vivant isolément ou en groupe. Enfin, nous avons pu montrer que ces altérations comportementales à long terme, vis à vis d’aliments palatables s’accompagnent de l’apparition de comportements de type anxieux et d’un état de type dépressif qui ont été évalués respectivement dans les tests de Novelty-suppressed feeding test (NSFT) et de nage forcée (Test de Porsolt). Un traitement chronique à l’imipramine dès la fin de l’adolescence permet de prévenir ces altérations. L’analyse de la neurogenèse chez nos animaux a permis de mettre en évidence que la consommation de saccharose durant l’adolescence diminue la neurogenèse dans le gyrus dentelé de l’hippocampe et que le traitement chronique à l’imipramine permet de récupérer ce déficit. Ces dernières données démontrent l’importance des habitudes alimentaires, spécialement à l’adolescence, dans le développement de maladies neuropsychiatriques de l’adulte. Des efforts importants doivent être déployés pour prévenir cette consommation excessive d’aliments sucrés initiée durant l’adolescence. / Adolescent diet often contains an excessive amount of palatable food with high caloric and sugar contents. Clinical and epidemiological data show that overconsumption of these large foods and sugar beverage consumption may have consequences in adolescence during which the brain is still maturing.Several studies have shown that sugar overconsumption during adolescence have long lasting effect of disease incidence such as obesity, diabetes … However, little is known in the long lasting effect of behavior disorder related to sugar overconsumption early in life. Therefore we set up an animal model to investigate the long lasting effect of sugar overconsumption during adolescence (PND 30 - 46) in neurobiological and behavioral alterations at adulthood. Our results reveal that chronic free access to sugar during adolescence decreases motivation and induce a vertical downshift of dose response curve for natural sweet and no sweet solution at adulthood with no behaviour consequences for pharmacological reward such as cocaine. These behavioral alterations are specific: 1) to the 5% sucrose concentration which is the more rewarding dose in our rats; 2) to a long access to 5% sucrose because only these alterations of behavior are observed after 12h et 24h/day access but not after 2h/day access; 3) to the sweet taste of the solution exposure during adolescence but not to its caloric effect since saccharine (a no caloric and sweet solution) induces these behavioral alterations; 4) to the adolescent period because we show no effect when adult rats have access to a sucrose solution; 5) is not dependent on the rearing conditions during adolescence since singly housed or group housed rats show the same behavioural disorder. We also show that these long lasting behavioral alterations to palatable foods are associated to anxiogenic-like behaviors and a depressive-like state evaluated in the Novelty suppressed feeding test and the forced swimming test respectively. Chronic imipramine treatment from the end of adolescence onwards (PND 47) prevents this behavioral disorder. Immunohistochemical studies show that sucrose exposure during adolescence decreases neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and imipramine treatment restores this deficit. These results suggest the importance of diet during adolescence in the development of neuropsychiatric disorders at adulthood. Given our high sweet environment, all these data suggest that considerable effort must be conducted to control early life initiation of sugar

Denna uppsats bidrar till forskning kring hur motivation påverkar relationen mellan stressorer och arbetsrelaterad stress. Specifikt studeras hur offentliganställdas motivation att arbeta för samhället, deras Public Service Motivation (PSM) påverkar den effekt kvoten mellan ansträngning och belöning har på deras stress. Sambandet mellan stress och kvoten av ansträngning och belöning (E/R-kvoten) förutspås av Effort Reward Imbalance-modellen. Denna modell tar dock enbart hänsyn till extern belöning, utgångspunkten är att individer med hög PSM är starkt motiverade av interna belöningsfaktorer, vilket antas ha en modererande effekt på modellens samband. Uppsatsen undersöker därmed den modererande effekten av PSM på sambandet mellan E/R-kvoten och stress hos svenska socionomer. Frågeställningen undersöktes genom en enkätstudie med 172 respondenter. Resultaten ger stöd för uppsatsens hypotes och visar att PSM har en negativ modererande inverkan på E/R-kvotens effekt på stress. Dessa resultat stöder delvis tidigare forskning men öppnar också nya möjligheter för framtida studier.

Generation Y är den generation som just nu är på väg att etablera sig på arbetsmarknaden och anses därför vara relevant att undersöka. Studien har undersökt vilka belöningssystem som Skatteverket i Luleå använder sig av och vilka som ger störst effekt på arbetstagare inom generation Y. Huvudsyftet med studien var att genom en fallstudie av Skatteverket i Luleå påvisa chefers upplevelser och erfarenheter av generation Y:s motivatorer samt vilka belöningssystem som de anser är mest effektiva för generation Y. Avsikten med studien var att skapa en större förståelse för hur organisationer vars mål och vision är samhällsnytta bemöter generation Y:s motivatorer med belöningssystem för att skapa bättre prestationer. Studien är byggd på generationsteorier och tidigare forskning om generation Y samt belöningssystem. Studiens empiriska material är insamlat i form av dokument erhållet från Skatteverket samt fyra kvalitativa intervjuer med olika chefer från Skattekontoret i Luleå. En slutsats av studien var att chefer upplever att generation Y tenderar att drivas mer av inre motivation och därmed är icke-finansiella belöningssystem bättre tillämpade för generation Y. Förslag till vidare forskning var att genomföra en liknande studie på den generation som är näst på tur att inträda på arbetsmarknaden, det vill säga generation Z. / Generation Y is the generation that is currently establishing itself in the labor market. This study has therefore investigated the reward systems used within Skatteverket in Luleå and ties to understand which system was the most effective in motivating employees within Generation Y. The main purpose of the study was to demonstrate, through a case study by the Skatteverket in Luleå, the managers’ experiences of Generation Y's motivators and which reward systems they consider to be most effective for Generation Y. The intention of the study was to create a greater understanding of how public and social welfare organizations’ goals and visions align with Generation Y's motivators with reward systems to create better performances. The study is based on Generation theories and former research on Generation Y and reward systems. The study's empirical material has been collected in the form of documents obtained from Skatteverket and four qualitative interviews with various managers from Skatteverket in Luleå. One conclusion from the study was that managers experience that Generation Y tends to be driven more by internal motivation and therefore non-financial reward systems were shown to be more effective. Suggestions for further research are to carry out a similar study on the generation that is next to enter the labor market, that is, Generation Z.

O hipotálamo modula comportamentos relacionados à motivação, recompensa e punição através de projeções para a área tegmental ventral (VTA), o núcleo dorsal da rafe (DR) e o núcleo tegmental rostromedial (RMTg). Nesse estudo, investigamos através de métodos de rastreamento retrógrado as entradas hipotalâmicas da VTA, do DR e do RMTg e, se neurônios hipotalâmicos individuais inervam mais do que uma dessas regiões. Também determinamos uma possível assinatura GABAérgica ou glutamatérgica das aferências hipotalâmicas, através de rastreamento retrógrado combinado com métodos de hibridação in situ. Observamos que VTA, DR e RMTg recebem um padrão bastante semelhante de entradas hipotalâmicas originando de neurônios de projeção glutamatérgicas e GABAérgicas, a maioria deles (> 90%) inervando somente um desses três alvos. Nossos achados indicam que entradas hipotalâmicas são importantes fontes de sinais homeostáticos para a VTA, o DR e o RMTg. Eles exibem um alto grau de heterogeneidade que permite de excitar ou inibir as três estruturas de forma independente ou em conjunto. / The hypothalamus modulates behaviors related to motivation, reward and punishment via projections to the ventral tegmental area (VTA), dorsal raphe nucleus (DR), and rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg). In this study we investigated by retrograde tracing methods hypothalamic inputs to the VTA, DR, and RMTg, and whether individual hypothalamic neurons project to more than one of these structures. We also determined a possible GABAergic or glutamatergic phenotype of hypothalamic afferents, by combining retrograde tracing with in situ hybridization methods. We found that VTA, DR, and RMTg receive a very similar set of hypothalamic afferents originating from glutamatergic and GABAergic hypothalamic projection neurons, the majority of them (> 90%) only innervating one of these structures. Our findings indicate that hypothalamic inputs are important sources of homeostatic signals for the VTA, DR, and RMTg. They exhibit a high degree of heterogeneity which permits to activate or inhibit the three structures either independently or jointly.

This thesis is focused on a motivation and a reward system in an organization which has a location in the South Bohemia region and it has 1425 employees. I made a questionnaire survey based on an answers from the respondents. In the first part of the thesis, the topic of remuneration of motivational resources is from several authors who deal with. They are many explanations about basic terms, the difference between motivation and stimulation, the type of motivation, the employees reward system, or what a professional manager should be like, who must properly motivate employees to perform well. The second part is the practical part, where I chose the company which I analyzed. I received 81 answers about the motivation and the reward system. How satisfied the employees are in the company, or what they want to change.

[pt] Frequent flyer programs (FFPs) - programas de viajantes freqüentes, mais conhecidos como programas de milhagem - é um indutor de lealdade do consumidor. Ao premiar o cliente por acumular compras na companhia de forma não-linear, estes podem alterar a intensidade da competição no mercado. Estudos empíricos passados já tentaram estimar os efeitos dos FFPs nos preços. Entretando, a maioria focou em fazê-lo via dominância do aeroporto, aliança e outros. O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar o impacto da fatia de consumidores capturados nos preços correntes, causados pela introdução de custos artificiais de troca no mercado. A forma reduzida estimada sugere uma correlação de aproximadamente 13% entre preços correntes e a variável construída que representa um índice de fidelidade passado. O resultado é robusto a estimativas adicionais. / [en] Frequent flyer program is a type of consumer loyalty program. By rewarding consumer in a non-linear way for accumulating purchases, it may alter the intensity of price competition. Empirical studies have measured the impact off FFP in prices. However, they focus on its impact through airport dominance, alliances and other features. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of the share of locked in consumers on prices, caused by the introduction of artificial switching costs in the market. The reduced form estimates suggests a correlation of approximately 13% between current prices and the constructed variable fidelization index. The result is robust to additional estimates.