Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Special Education)--Vanderbilt University, May 2007. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of self-controlled video feedback on the learning of the basketball set shot. Female participants were assigned to self-control (SC) (n = 14) and yoked (YK) (n = 14) groups. SC participants were allowed to request video feedback in the form of knowledge of performance (KP) following any trial while YK participants received video KP according to the schedule created by their SC counterpart. Participants in both groups were also allowed to view a poster of written instructional cues at any time. An acquisition phase consisted of 25 set shots (five blocks) from a youth free throw line (3.66 m). Each trial was 30 s in duration. An additional 30 s break was given between blocks. Retention and transfer phases each consisted of ten trials (two blocks) and occurred 24 hours following acquisition. Retention was administered from the youth free throw line and transfer from a traditional free throw line (4.57 m). Participants were scored on both movement form and shooting accuracy during acquisition, retention, and transfer. Results indicated that the SC group had significantly higher form scores than the YK group during Blocks 3 and 5 of acquisition and during the transfer phase. In addition, the SC group looked at the instructional cues more frequently than the YK group. Both groups increased shooting accuracy during acquisition (p < .05), but did not differ from one another during any of the experimental phases. A number of results differed from previous research findings. The responses of participants on a post-training questionnaire indicated no preference for requesting or receiving feedback following so-called good trials as reported by Chiviacowsky & Wulf (2002, 2005). In addition, there were no differences in accuracy or form between feedback (i.e., good) and no feedback (i.e., poor) trials. Overall, the results indicated that self-controlled video KP facilitated learning of correct shooting technique.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Mary Dozier, Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references.

Mental accounting is a technique for asserting self-control in the face of consumption decisions, functioning as a categorization system for income and expenses. A body of evidence supports the concept that consumers are driven by perception and emotion, not rational economic thought. Mental accounting is subject to the effects of cognitive biases, leading to imperfect financial behavior. In the following paper, I present a proposal for three consecutive experiments designed to investigate the influence that advanced planning (the formation of mental budgets) and unexpected financial shocks (windfalls) can have on our use of mental accounting to regulate spending. The dependent variable is a dollar measure of how much consumers indicated they are “willing to pay” (WTP) to hypothetically purchase a typical good. The experiments share an intertemporal manipulation of a monthly budget creation task. Experiment one investigates the combined effects of positive and negative windfalls and budget creation on WTP. Experiment 2 explores boundary conditions of timing on loss aversion by manipulating the length of the time period that separates a negative windfall from the WTP task. Experiment 3 focuses on one time period, manipulating wording of a negative financial shock to focus on framing effects. The three experiments, if carried out, should reveal significant effects on WTP, suggesting that manipulations of framing and timing can lead to inconsistent spending behaviors even in the presence of a self-control tool (the mental budget).

Retaliation is a well-established response to abusive supervision. Leading edge research explains the occurrence of supervisor-directed retaliation through processes associated with the strength model of self-control (Baumeister, Vohs, & Tice, 2007). The present research builds on these ideas by considering the role of emotions in the retaliatory processes. 407 participants completed an online survey that included questionnaires measuring personality traits associated with self-control and emotional experiences. Findings indicate that a predisposition to negative emotional experiences predicts retaliatory behavior in response to abusive supervision, even for individuals with a high capacity for self-control. It is suggested that future research should determine whether emotion-driven retaliation is mediated by a desire for revenge.

A la hora de comprar a crédito, la evidencia empírica así como la meramente anecdótica sugieren que los consumidores se centras más en la cuantía de los pagos mensuales que en el tipo de interés del préstamo o la cantidad total que han de pagar. Los dos primeros capítulos de esta tesis exploran el papel del los problemas de auto control a la hora de explicar este comportamiento. Nuestro análisis se basa en el supuesto de descuento hiperbólico (Laibson (1997)) como forma de modelar el auto control. En el primer capitulo de la tesis consideramos un modelo de equilibrio parcial en el que la duración del préstamo y el tipo de interés están fijos y los consumidores pueden elegir cuánto tomar prestado y como repartir la devolución del préstamo entre los diferentes periodos. Mostramos que tener problemas de auto control implica mayores niveles de endeudamiento y que ser consciente de estos problemas o poseer la capacidad de comprometerse a un curso de acción reduce la presión sobre esos niveles. También demostramos que tener problemas de auto control y ser naif sobre ellos puede inducir una preferencia por los préstamos que requieren mayores cuotas hacia el final de su duración. El segundo capitulo analiza la interacción entre un prestamista monopolístico y un consumidor con descuento cuasi hiperbólico en un modelo en el que asumimos cuotas mensuales idénticas y permitimos al consumidor elegir entre distintas duraciones del préstamo. Obtenemos que mientras el tipo de interés del préstamo permanezca por encima del tipo de interés de mercado, en un contrato de equilibrio los consumidores con preferencias dinámicamente inconsistentes eligen préstamos con mayor duración (y por lo tanto con cuotas mensuales más bajas)El tercer capitulo de esta tesis, un trabajo conjunto con Alena Bicakova, proporciona evidencia empírica sobre el impacto de los problemas de auto control en el comportamiento de los consumidores a la hora de pagar sus deudas. El análisis viene motivado por resultados de encuestas que indican que un porcentaje significativo de los prestatarios atribuyen a una mala gestión de la deuda sus dificultades financieras. Esto contrasta con el argumento económico estándar según el cual la falta de pago de una deuda se debe a shocks negativos inesperados ya sea en los ingresos o en los gastos. Nuestra conjetura es que la mala gestión de la deuda y la falta de autocontrol están relacionadas y que tienen efectos adversos sobre el comportamiento de los prestatarios a la hora de devolver su deuda. Con el fin de verificar esta conjetura utilizamos una base de datos única en su naturaleza y procedente de una organización benéfica dedicada a la orientación a consumidores con créditos del Reino Unido. La orientación de crédito asiste a prestatarios seriamente endeudados mediante la elaboración y administración de unos planes de repago llamados Planes de Gestión de Deuda (DMP en ingles). Mostramos que la probabilidad de abandonar un DMP aumenta en un 12% y en un 31% respectivamente cuando las razones que se aducen para explicar el exceso de deuda (relacionadas con su mala gestión) y fumar se utilizan como indicadores. Como hasta cierto punto estos indicadores pueden usarse como una medida aproximada de los problemas de auto control, nuestros resultados sugieren una potencial relación entre las tasas de morosidad y la falta de auto control. / When buying on credit, anecdotal and empirical evidence suggest that the consumers focus more on the size of the monthly payments than on the interest charged on the loan or the total amount they pay. The first two chapters of this thesis aim to explore the role of self-control problems in explaining this puzzling behaviour. Our analysis relies on the assumption of the "quasi-hyperbolic discounting" (Laibson (1997)) to model self-control. In the first chapter of the thesis, we consider a partial equilibrium setting in which the loan maturity and the interest rates are fixed and the consumers can choose how much to borrow and how to allocate the repayments between different periods. We show that having self-control problems implies higher levels of borrowing whilst awareness of self-control problems or a lack of commitment puts downward pressure on that level. We also demonstrate that having self-control problems and being naive about them can induce a preference for back-loaded repayment plans which require higher repayments towards the end of the loan term. The second chapter looks at the interaction between a monopolistic lender and a consumer with quasi-hyperbolic discounting in a setting where we assume equal monthly payments and allow the consumer to choose between different loan maturities. We show that when market risk free rate exceeds the long run discount rate, in an equilibrium contract, the consumers with dynamically inconsistent preferences choose the loan with longer maturity (hence lower monthly payments). Third chapter of this thesis, which is a joint work with Alena Bicakova, provides empirical evidence on the impact of self-control problems on consumers' debt repayment behaviour. The analysis is motivated by the survey evidence which shows that a significant percentage of borrowers blame the debt mismanagement as the reason for running into financial troubles. This contrasts with the standard economic argument that default on debt is caused by the unexpected negative shocks to income or to expenditure. Our conjecture is that the debt mismanagement and lack of self-control are linked, and they have adverse effects on the debt repayment performance of the borrowers. In order to test this conjecture, we use a unique administrative data set of a major consumer credit counselling charity in the UK. Credit counselling assists heavily indebted borrowers by setting up and administering repayment plans, so called debt management plans or DMPs. We show that probability of dropping out from a DMP increases by 12 per cent and 31 cent when the self-reported reasons for becoming overindebted (related to debt mismanagement) and smoking are used as indicators, respectively. To the extent that these indicators can be used as a valid proxy for self-control problems, our results point to a potential link between default rates and lack of self-control.

Brian Leiter is one of the few Nietzsche interpreters who argue that Nietzsche rejects all forms of free will. Leiter argues that Nietzsche is an incompatibilist and rejects libertarian free will. He further argues that since Nietzsche is an epiphenomenalist about conscious willing, his philosophy of action cannot support any conception of free will. Leiter also offers deflationary readings of those passages where Nietzsche seemingly ascribes free will to historical figures or types. In this paper I argue against all of these conclusions. In the first section I show that, on the most charitable interpretation, Nietzsche is not an epiphenomenalist. In the second section I trace Nietzsche’s alleged incompatibilism through three of his works and offer reasons to be skeptical of the claim that Nietzsche was a committed incompatibilist. Finally, I argue that Nietzsche is not being sarcastic or unacceptably revisionary when he makes positive ascriptions of free will.

The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of self-management on daily net calories consumed by women who are overweight. Four white females between the ages of 35 and 41 with a self-reported BMI between 25 and 29.9 completed this study. A multiple baseline across participants design was used to demonstrate a functional relation between the independent variable (i.e., self-management) and the dependent variable (i.e., net calories consumed) for each participant. Three of the four participants decreased their daily net calories consumed after beginning the self-management intervention. This was the first single case research study to examine the effectiveness of self-management on daily net calories consumed (i.e., caloric intake minus caloric expenditure) and extended previous literature on white females who were overweight.

Current accounts of self-control are highly individualistic. When individuals succeed at exerting self-control, we assume that they possess some positive internal characteristic that explans their success. Similarly, when individuals do not succeed, we blame their failure on an internal flaw. Yet many factors may influence the likelihood that an individual will exert self-control, including not only internal characteristics of individuals but also external factors. In this dissertation, I develop a framework for understanding the multiple sources of influence on individuals' state self-control that groups these factors into three categories: social, personal, and environmental. Further, I detail the multiple mechanisms by which the factors in the Social, Personal, and Environmental Control of Self (SPECS) model may influence self-control. Specifically, I examine the potential role of regulatory accessibility as a mechanism of influence on state self-control. In Study 1, I show that individuals who think about a friend with good self-control demonstrate increased performance on a persistence task than do participants who think about a friend with bad self-control. In Study 2, I replicate this effect, showing increased inhibitory capacity among individuals who wrote about a friend with good self-control compared to a control group, and decreased inhibitory capacity among individuals who wrote about a friend with bad self-control. In Study 3, I show that regulatory exertion increases among individuals subliminally primed with the name of a friend with good self-control and that regulatory exertion decreases among indivdiuals primed with the name of a friend with bad self-control. These findings support my hypothesis that models of self-control should account for sources of influence external to the individual, as well as explore the multiple pathways by which regulatory exertion is influenced. These findings support my hypothesis that social factors influence regulatory exertion, or state self-control. Further, they provide evidence that state self-control is influenced not only by regulatory capacity, but also by other mechanisms, including regulatory accessibility. Further research following the SPECS model will investigate the combined influence of social and environmental influences on self-control and the indirect influences of personal characteristics, such as trait self-control, on regulatory exertion. / Dissertation