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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that attacks the motor system and contributes to a range of cognitive and behavioral impairments (e.g., behavioral and emotional disinhibition, planning and problem solving difficulties, impulsivity, attention, and personality change). This executive dysfunction may contribute to selfregulatory impairment across several domains, including cognitive skills, thought processes, emotion regulation, interpersonal skills, and physiology, that may be crucial to the quality of life (QOL), or well being, of patients and their caregivers. Given the relentless course and prognosis of ALS, palliative treatments for ALS should target the full range of self-regulatory deficits. Thirty-seven patient-caregiver pairs completed questionnaires regarding the patients’ ability to regulate emotions, social behavior, and thought patterns. Patients also completed neuropsychological measures of executive functions and provided measures of glycosylated hemoglobin (A1c) and heart rate variability (HRV). Results suggest that SR and EF deficits exist on a continuum in ALS, such that some patients evidence adequate or superior ability to self-regulate while others evidence deficits. Patient- caregiver agreement about patients’ selfregulatory capacity across domains was generally weak to moderate. Patients perceived themselves to have less capacity for global regulation than caregivers perceived them to have, patients perceived less dyadic cohesion than caregivers, and patients perceived themselves to ruminate more than caregivers indicated. Overall, caregivers tended to perceive a more pervasive pattern of deficits compared to patients. Additionally, measures of SR and EF were not strongly inter-correlated in general, challenging the idea that SR in different domains depends on a common resource. Accordingly, correlations among measures of theoretically similar constructs (i.e., EF and SR) were small to moderate in magnitude and non-significant. With regard to physiological functioning, when patients had better regulated glucose (A1c), patients and caregivers perceived better global regulation. A similar pattern emerged with patient ratings, with higher baseline HRV linked to less emotional lability. Last, mixed results were obtained when predicting patient and caregiver QOL. Less rumination, less dyadic cohesion and more social anxiety were associated with higher QOL for patients. Caregivers’ QOL was not significantly related to their perceptions of patients’ self-regulatory capacity in any area.

This study developed a Methodology for the systematic and strategic fostering of creativity in graphic design education at university level. The thesis identified four social-psychological factors that have an effect on graphic design students' creative ability, namely their level of intrinsic motivation for creative activities; their ability to maintain autonomous, self-regulative behaviour that is conducive to creativity; a healthy self-belief in their creative ability and the minimization of negative stress in the educational milieu where creative tasks are undertaken. Each of these factors imply a range of strategies that may be used to maintain and stimulate creativity in graphic design education, such as the use of certain types of feedback, evaluation procedures that supports creativity, the creation of a safe, democratic, non-controlling classroom climate or the deliberate use of music and humoristic activities in the educational milieu. Additionally, a range of cognitive strategies that may be used for idea generation in graphic design are proposed. They include divergent thinking techniques, such as 'Random Association'; 'Morphological Synthesis'; 'Metaphors and Analogies'; 'Mind-mapping'; 'Idea Checklist'; 'Visual Thinking' and 'Sense Connections'. Each technique is described in terms of its unique methodology, advantages, creative potential and its applicability to graphic design. The study also proposes a tactical approach to the creative process, suggesting various cognitive strategies that may be used for each phase of the creative process. These strategies ensure that the whole spectrum of cognitive activities required for the successful production of a creative product is executed. The sum of these cognitive and social-psychological strategies provided the basis for the development -of two theoretical constructs that may be implemented as part of an undergraduate graphic design curriculum to cultivate creativity in students. They are: (1) a Learning Program in Creativity studies that consists of a number of study units and aims to provide tuition in the theoretical foundation that students need to enhance their creative ability (2) a range of General Guidelines that aim to provide educators with a range of didactic strategies and practices to support and stimulate creative ability in graphic design students. / Thesis (Ph.D. (History of Arts))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Imagining one’s physical activity (PA) possible self can lead to increased PA (e.g., Murru & Martin Ginis, 2010). This online experiment examined potential benefits of forming a self-regulatory PA possible self, which involves reflection on a PA possible self image and strategies to pursue this self. This intervention was compared to a standard PA possible selves intervention and a control condition in terms of impact on motivational, self-regulatory, and PA outcomes. Insufficiently active participants (n = 247) completed baseline measures, were exposed to the intervention or control procedures, and then completed outcome measures immediately and at two and four-weeks post-intervention. The mediational roles of action/coping planning in the intervention-PA relationships were explored. Results: ANCOVAs showed no differences on motivational or self-regulatory outcomes; action/coping planning were not mediators. The two intervention conditions, combined, led to significantly greater PA over the four weeks post-intervention than did the control condition (p. = .041).

The purpose of the study was to explore metacognitive strategy usage in young choristers engaged in notational literacy tasks. Constructivist approaches encouraging metacognition are used in many subject areas, but have not been studied within a music context. Music-specific strategies (Killian & Henry, 2005) and metacognitive self-regulatory strategies (Zimmerman & Pons, 1986) were sought to learn how students become musically independent. Ten extra-curricular honour choir participants were studied using a collective case design. Participants completed a background questionnaire, a notational reading session, a performance of the piece studied in the reading session, and an interview describing their learning, which was recorded, analysed and transcribed. Processes of analysis included case aggregation, direct interpretation, and triangulation. Results indicate 1) learning is an individual process, 2) all students used strategies deliberately, though none evaluated the effectiveness of their choices, 3) students using the most strategies achieved the highest accuracy, and 4) students seemed to enjoy and benefit from discussing metacognitive processes.

Risky social situations afford the chance to obtain social rewards like acceptance and belonging but also afford the chance of suffering social costs like rejection and social pain. Extant research indicates that social risk triggers approach motivations in higher self-esteem individuals (HSEs) but produces avoidance motivations in lower self-esteem individuals (LSEs; e.g., Stinson et al., 2010). However, no research has investigated the mechanisms that explain this effect: Why does social risk polarize HSEs’ and LSEs’ social motivations? I propose that self-esteem and social risk interact to activate two primal regulatory systems: the challenge-threat evaluation system and the Behavioral Activation-Inhibition Systems. I test this hypothesis by examining whether self-esteem and social risk interact to predict physiological responses consistent with these primal regulatory systems. Participants experienced either a low or high risk social situation, and heart rate reactivity was measured throughout the studies. Across two experiments, for HSEs (i.e., participants scoring one standard deviation above the sample mean), higher social risk increased heart rate reactivity, suggesting activation of challenge appraisals and the behavior activation system. For LSEs (i.e., participants scoring one standard deviation below the sample mean), higher social risk decreased heart rate reactivity, suggesting activation of threat appraisals and the behavior inhibition system. My research provides evidence that the social regulatory function of self-esteem may have developed from more primal regulatory systems, an observation that increases the comprehensiveness of current self-esteem theories. / Graduate / 0451 / 0989 / 0621 / huange@uvic.ca

This research examines a multi-level language ability ESL secondary school classroom in relation to Lave and Wenger’s (1991) community of practice and Dörnyei and Ottó’s (1998) L2 motivation conceptual frameworks. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were employed. Case study data were collected through monthly interviews, semi-monthly observations, and monthly written journals over 3 months in Toronto from 6 participants (5 students and 1 teacher). Also, students who had been in Canada 5 years or less, and ESL teachers were invited to complete an on-line questionnaire. Results indicate that the multi-level classroom positively and negatively impacts participation and motivation. Participants define the most striking factor to impact participation and motivation as themselves; this links the two conceptual frameworks because “self-regulation” in the Actional Phase (Dörnyei & Ottó, 1998) can be better understood by legitimate peripheral participation or the ability to “imagine” and “align” oneself (Lave & Wenger, 1991). In this multi-level classroom, self-regulation is when students actively imagine possible selves who are aligned with their family or peer goals, or when faced with disengagement, students envision new roles for themselves in the classroom to overcome barriers and realign themselves with shared family or peer goals. In these cases, alignment drives imagination; however, students also use imagination to create alignment. When lower level learners see advanced students as possible selves, they feel hope for their future. Similarly, advanced learners recall their past selves when seeing their lower level peers and feel empathy for them. This interaction cements student alignment and sets a context conducive to cooperative learning which enhances students’ abilities to remain aligned with their families. Overall, this research highlights the interplay of imagination and alignment which impacts student identity. Moreover, it reveals that one aspect of the Post-actional Phase in Dörnyei and Ottó’s (1998) model, “self-concept beliefs,” can be enhanced by the notion of identity in Lave and Wenger’s (1991) framework. Finally, these findings could serve to change policy and improve programming and serve as an archive for future research.

The main purposes of the present study included investigation of the effect of problem based learning on students&rsquo / academic achievement and performance skills in the unit of human excretory system / and students&rsquo / perceived motivation and perceived use of learning strategies. This study was carried out during 2003-2004 fall semester at an Anatolian High School in Ankara. A total of 61 tenth grade students from two biology classes of the same biology teacher were involved in the study. Two classes were randomly assigned as experimental and control groups. Experimental Group was instructed with problem based learning, while control group received traditionally designed biology instruction. In the experimental group, illstructured problems based on actual patiens served as a basis for learning the basic science and while dealing with these problems, students did independent study as well as group work. In the control group, instruction was based on teacher explanations and textbooks. Human Excretory System Achievement Test, Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire were administered as pre-test and post-test to students in both groups to measure students&rsquo / academic achievement and performance skills in the unit of human excretory system / and students&rsquo / perceived motivation and perceived use of learning strategies. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used to investigate the effect of problem based learning on the dependent variables of current study. Results revealed that problem based learning improved students&rsquo / academic achievement, performance skills, intrinsic goal orientation, task value,elaboration strategy use, critical thinking, metacognitive self-regulation, effort regulation and peer learning.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the feedback schedule controlled by the learner created an optimal environment for retention of motor skills. Two experiments were conducted and participants were randomly assigned to a Control (100% KR), 20% RF KR, Self-controlled and Yoked conditions. In experiment one an anticipation timing task and in experiment two a ball throwing task was used. The second experiment also included a transfer test in order to measure the persistence of the acquired capability for performance. Absolute constant error (&amp / #9474 / CE&amp / #9474 / ) and variable error (VE) were calculated for four blocks of ten trials in acquisition phase and two blocks of ten trials in retention and transfer phases to analyze the subject&rsquo / s performances by repeated measures ANOVA. Experiment one analysis indicated significant main effects for groups in &amp / #9474 / CE&amp / #9474 / and VE. Participants in the self-controlled condition performed significantly better on retention test than the control group. Contrary to the expectations, experiment two analysis showed no significant differences between the groups in acquisition and retention tests. Group differences were only observed in transfer test between the 20% RF KR and Yoked conditions. There was an improvement in the performance by groups as they progressed through the acquisition trials. The results of the experiment were not consistent with regard to effects of KR on learning. The reasons might be attributed to several factors such as the age and the motivation of the subjects, and the nature of the task.

This dissertation investigates the psychological processes relevant to consumers relinquishment of decision control to surrogates (e.g., physician, financial advisor). While the first essay investigates the antecedents of relinquishing decision control to surrogates, the second essay focuses on the consequences of such relinquishment of control. The first essay proposes that a key reason for consumers reluctance to relinquish the control of their decisions to expert surrogates is that such relinquishment contradicts their inherent motivation to experience an internal perceived locus of causality (PLOC) for their decisions. Based on this, I hypothesize that consumers become more likely to relinquish decision control either (1) when their motivation to maintain an internal PLOC is weakened or (2) when contextual factors specific to the decision itself are present that shift the anticipated PLOC for it from internal to external. Evidence from three studies provides strong support for this theoretical framework. I show that consumers willingness to relinquish decision control increases when an external PLOC is induced directly (Study 1), when an external event restricts the set of available alternatives (Study 2), and when an incentive to choose a particular alternative is present (Study 3). Based on the self-regulatory strength model and prior research on self-esteem threats, the second essay predicts and shows that delegating decisions to surrogates depletes consumers limited self-regulatory resources more than making the same decisions independently, thus impairing their subsequent ability to exercise self-control. This is the case even though decision delegation actually requires less decision making effort than independent decision making (Study 1). However, the resource depleting effect of decision delegation vanishes when consumers have an opportunity to affirm their belief in free will (Study 2). Moreover, remembering a past decision that one delegated impairs self control more than remembering a decision that one made independently (Studies 3 and 4). The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. / Marketing