Recent scholarly work in mathematics education has included a focus on learning mathematics with understanding (Hiebert & Carpenter, 1992; Hiebert et al., 1997; Fennema & Romberg, 1999; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2000). Hiebert et al. (1997) discussed two processes that they suggested increase understanding and that are central to this study: reflection and communication. Learning mathematics with understanding requires that the students create a deeper knowledge of mathematics through reflection and communication. The environment in which such learning can take place must include patterns of behavior, known as social norms that promote deeper thinking. When the social norms encourage reflection and communication among the members of the classroom community, or supports learning with understanding, it becomes what I term a productive discourse community. The purpose of this study is to find out what a teacher does to create and maintain a productive discourse community where students can reason and learn with understanding. To accomplish this purpose, this research asks the following question: In what ways does the teacher in the study direct mathematical discourse in order to facilitate understanding? To answer this research question, data was gathered from eight class periods. The classroom discourse was analyzed and six discourse generating tools were found to be used by the teacher: (1) using lower-order questions to engage students, (2) persisting in eliciting students' reasoning, (3) encouraging as many student participations as possible, (4) encouraging students to analyze and evaluate each other's comments, (5) encouraging students to share as many strategies as possible and (6) using a focusing discourse pattern. There were also three social norms found to be established in the classroom at the time of the data collection. These norms are: all students are expected to (a) participate (b) share their reasoning when called upon, and (c) listen to, analyze, and evaluate each other's comments. Through further analysis, it was found that the six discourse generating tools reinforced the social norms, while the social norms supported the six discourse generating tools. Thus creating an environment where reflection and communication occurred in a way that promoted learning mathematics with understanding.

Studying and simulating social systems including human groups and societies can be a complex problem. In order to build a model that simulates humans' actions, it is necessary to consider the major factors that affect human behavior. Norms are one of these factors: social norms are the customary rules that govern behavior in groups and societies. Norms are everywhere around us, from the way people handshake or bow to the clothes they wear. They play a large role in determining our behaviors. Studies on norms are much older than the age of computer science, since normative studies have been a classic topic in sociology, psychology, philosophy and law. Various theories have been put forth about the functioning of social norms. Although an extensive amount of research on norms has been performed during the recent years, there remains a significant gap between current models and models that can explain real-world normative behaviors. Most of the existing work on norms focuses on abstract applications, and very few realistic normative simulations of human societies can be found. The contributions of this dissertation include the following: 1) a new hybrid technique based on agent-based modeling and Markov Chain Monte Carlo is introduced. This method is used to prepare a smoking case study for applying normative models. 2) This hybrid technique is described using category theory, which is a mathematical theory focusing on relations rather than objects. 3) The relationship between norm emergence in social networks and the theory of tipping points is studied. 4) A new lightweight normative architecture for studying smoking cessation trends is introduced. This architecture is then extended to a more general normative framework that can be used to model real-world normative behaviors. The final normative architecture considers cognitive and social aspects of norm formation in human societies. Normative architectures based on only one of these two aspects exist in the literature, but a normative architecture that effectively includes both of these two is missing.

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Ungdomar över hela landet hamnar år efter år i en farlig och destruktiv våldsspiral präglad av normbrytande beteenden. Att förstå sig på fenomenet ungdomskriminalitet och vägen dit, är av största vikt för att bryta denna destruktiva våldsspiral. Därför är syftet med denna studie är att genom professionellas perspektiv utforska vanligt förekommande faktorer som bidrar till att barn och unga involveras i ungdomskriminalitet. Studiens metod bestod av en kvalitativ ansats där tio semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes. Samtliga intervjuer skedde med professionella individer, som aktivt arbetade med barn och unga på uppdrag av socialtjänsten. Nio av studiens intervjuer genomfördes med en respondent per intervju, och en av studiens intervjuer genomfördes med två respondenter. I studiens resultat framkom de professionella perspektiven på problematiken. De lyfte vikten av miljö, där en ungdoms benägenhet till konformitet samt ungdomens risker för negativ exponering fungerade som starka riskfaktorer. Nästkommande riskfaktor blev sociala normer, där individens grupptillhörighet och sociala nätverk framkom som starka riskfaktorer. Sista riskfaktorn för studien blev identitet, där ett bristande välbefinnande hos en ungdom, NPF-diagnoser samt en ungdoms personliga förutsättningar framkom som omfattande riskfaktorer. Samtliga riskfaktorer framkom som omfattande utifrån de svar som förekom i studien. / Young people all over the country find themselves year after year in a dangerous and destructive spiral of violence characterized by norm-breaking behaviors. Understanding the phenomenon of youth crime and the path leading to it is crucial to break this destructive spiral of violence. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore, through the perspectives of professionals, common factors contributing to the involvement of children and young people in youth crime. The study employed a qualitative approach, conducting ten semi-structured interviews. All interviews were conducted with professional individuals actively working with children and young people on behalf of social services. Nine of the study's interviews were conducted with one respondent per interview, while one interview was conducted with two respondents. The study's results revealed the perspectives of the professionals on the issue. They highlighted the importance of the environment, where a young person's tendency towards conformity and the risks of negative exposure served as strong risk factors. The next identified risk factor was social norms, where the individual's group membership and social networks emerged as strong risk factors. The final risk factor identified in the study was identity, where a lack of well-being in a young person, neurodevelopmental disorders, and a young person's personal circumstances emerged as significant risk factors. All risk factors were found to be extensive based on the responses in the study.

Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es, abweichendes Verhalten in der COVID-19 Pandemie zu erklären und empirisch zu erforschen. Genauer liegt der Fokus auf Determinanten von Impfnachweisfälschungen und des Lügens in Bezug auf den eigenen Impf- und Teststatus. Es werden Daten einer Online-Befragung ausgewertet (n = 549). Mit Blick auf die Erklärung des abweichenden Verhaltens, können die aus der Rational Choice Theory abgeleiteten Hypothesen zur Sanktionswahrscheinlichkeit und Sanktionshöhe empirisch nicht bestätigt werden. Die Hypothesen zum Einfluss von sozialen Normen sind dagegen robuster. So ist das abweichende Verhalten im eigenen sozialen Umfeld ein guter Prädiktor für die eigene Impfnachweisfälschung. Zudem verhält sich eine Person eher dann abweichend, wenn sie glaubt, dass sich die Mehrheit der Gesellschaft nicht an Corona-Restriktionen hält. Schließlich zeigt die Überprüfung einer Reihe von Einstellungshypothesen, dass das Misstrauen in das Robert Koch-Institut ein robuster Prädiktor für die eigene Devianz ist. / The aim of the present study is to theoretically explain and empirically investigate deviant behavior in the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, our study focuses on vaccination certificate falsification and lying about one's own vaccination and test status. Data of an online survey is analyzed (N = 549). In regards to the explanation of deviant behavior, the hypothesized effects of the probability of sanctions and the severity of sanctions derived from the rational choice theory cannot be confirmed empirically. The hypotheses about the influence of social norms, on the other hand, are more robust. Deviant behavior in one's own social network is a good predictor of the falsification of vaccination certificates. In addition, deviant behavior is more likely if a person believes that the majority of society is not adhering to Corona restrictions. Finally, testing a series of attitudinal hypotheses shows that distrust in the Robert Koch Institute is a robust predictor of deviant behavior.

Wann und warum verhalten sich Menschen ethisch (in-)korrekt? Die vorliegende Dissertation fasst allgemeine Theorien und experimentelle Befunde (nicht-)kooperativen, (un-)fairen und (un-)ehrlichen Verhaltens zusammen. Hierzu führt Kapitel 1 experimentelle Spiele als rigoroses Instrument zur Untersuchung (un-)ethischen Verhaltens ein. Kapitel 2 zeigt, dass sich kleine Veränderungen in der kontextuellen Rahmung von experimentellen Spielen langanhaltend auf die Kooperationsneigung der Teilnehmer auswirken können. Kontextuelle Rahmungen verändern zudem Verhaltenserwartungen sowie Aufteilungen in nicht-strategischen Situationen. Diese Effekte sind durch Theorien sozialer Normen erklärbar. Kapitel 3 ergründet, warum sich Studierende der Wirtschaftswissenschaften teils egoistischer verhalten als ihre Kommilitonen. Theorien sozialer Normen werden hierbei um die Bereitschaft erweitert, Nonkonformität mittels Sanktionen zu erzwingen. Es wird gezeigt, dass sich Studierende der Wirtschaftswissenschaften und anderer Fächer in ihren Aufteilungsentscheidungen ähnlich häufig mit Fairness beschäftigen und zu ähnlichen Einschätzungen kommen, welche Aufteilung als fair gilt. Sie teilen jedoch weniger großzügig und erwarten dies auch von anderen. Zudem sind sie weniger bereit, als unfair angesehene Aufteilungen zu sanktionieren. Es wird argumentiert, dass sich Studierende der Wirtschaftswissenschaften egoistischer verhalten, weil sie nicht daran glauben, dass sich andere an eine grundsätzlich geteilte Fairnessnorm halten. Kapitel 4 zeigt, dass intrinsische Sanktionen (wie Scham und Schuld) ausreichen, damit sich Menschen ethisch korrekt verhalten. Das Kapitel bietet zahlreiche Antworten zu aktuellen Debatten, wer sich unter welchen Umständen (un-)ehrlich verhält. Es wird gezeigt, dass Ehrlichkeit sowohl von situativen Einflüssen (z.B. Anreizen und Externalitäten) wie von persönlichen Aspekten (z.B. Geschlecht und Alter) und letztlich auch vom experimentellen Paradigma abhängt. / When and why do people engage in (un)ethical behavior? This dissertation summarizes general theories and synthesizes experimental findings on (non)cooperation, (un)fairness, and (dis)honesty. To this end, Chapter 1 introduces experimental games as a rigorous tool for studying (un)ethical behavior. Chapter 2 demonstrates that small changes in the framing of context (e.g., referring to a social dilemma as a competition vs. a team endeavor) can have long-lasting effects on the participants’ propensity to cooperate. Context framing also shapes beliefs about the cooperative behavior of interaction partners and donations in non-strategic allocation decisions. Taken together, the results suggest that social norm theories provide a plausible explanation for cooperation, including its sensitivity to context framing. Chapter 3 investigates why experimental games regularly find that economics students behave more selfishly than their peers. The concept of social norms is thereby extended to include the enforcement of compliance per sanctions. The results indicate that economics students and students of other majors are about equally concerned with fairness and they have similar notions of fairness in the situation. However, economics students make lower allocations, expect others to make lower allocations, and are less willing to sanction allocations seen as unfair. Skepticism mediated their lower allocations, suggesting that economics students behave more selfishly because they expect others not to comply with a shared fairness norm. Chapter 4 shows that intrinsic sanctions (e.g., shame and guilt) can be sufficient for ethical behavior to emerge. The chapter provides answers to many of the ongoing debates on who behaves dishonestly and under what circumstances. The findings suggest that dishonest behavior depends on situational factors (e.g., reward magnitude and externalities), personal factors (e.g., gender and age) as well as on the experimental paradigm itself.

Dès les premières années de vie, l’enfant doit être en mesure de comprendre le monde social complexe qui l’entoure afin de s’y intégrer adéquatement. Au quotidien, l’aisance avec laquelle il parvient à naviguer cet environnement et à s’engager efficacement dans ses interactions avec autrui dépend de sa compétence sociale. Une bonne compétence sociale repose, entre autres, sur un ensemble d’habiletés sophistiquées nommé « cognition sociale », qui regroupe diverses fonctions permettant de traiter, comprendre et évaluer les situations sociales ainsi que d’y répondre. Le traitement des normes sociales et le raisonnement sociomoral (RSM) font partie des fonctions sociocognitives les plus complexes et sont reconnus comme étant essentiels au déploiement de comportements sociaux appropriés. Ces deux fonctions distinctes, mais complémentaires, permettent à l’enfant d’analyser les situations de la vie quotidienne sur la base de normes sociales et de critères moraux afin d’offrir une réponse comportementale appropriée à chaque interaction sociale. Selon plusieurs modèles théoriques, bien que l’émergence de ces deux fonctions sociocognitives s’observe dès les premières années de vie, la complexification et le raffinement de ces dernières se poursuivent tout au long de la période développementale. Cette évolution progressive serait soutenue, en partie, par la maturation cérébrale, le développement cognitif et affectif, ainsi que la quantité et de la qualité des expériences sociales. À ce jour, bien que la littérature regorge d’études s’intéressant à la compétence sociale et, plus spécifiquement, au traitement des normes sociales et au RSM, plusieurs questions subsistent concernant les éléments permettant leur recrutement optimal au cours de l’enfance. La difficulté à établir un portrait exhaustif et approfondi des différents facteurs contribuant à ces deux fonctions sociocognitives découle, en partie, de la diversité des approches théoriques, méthodologiques et statistiques utilisées, ainsi que du peu de méthodes objectives permettant d’évaluer ces processus chez les enfants. Ainsi, en s’ancrant dans des cadres théoriques et expérimentaux appartenant aux neurosciences sociales et computationnelles ainsi qu’à la neuropsychologique développementale, cette thèse vise globalement à mieux comprendre les éléments favorisant la compétence sociale durant l’enfance. En s’intéressant plus spécifiquement au traitement des normes sociales et au RSM, les articles de la présente thèse ont pour objectif d’identifier les facteurs contribuant à ces deux habiletés et préciser leur rôle chez les enfants. Le premier article de cette thèse s’appuie sur une méthode novatrice de modélisation comportementale afin d’explorer la capacité d’adaptation aux normes sociales chez des enfants âgés entre 7 et 11 ans et identifier le mécanisme cognitif qui sous-tend cette dernière. Pour ce faire, une tâche de prise de décisions en lien avec la norme d’équité permettant de manipuler les informations sociales auxquelles les enfants sont exposées a été utilisée. Les résultats ont confirmé que les enfants possèdent un mécanisme d’adaptation aux normes sociales qui leur permet de modifier leurs attentes en fonction de l’information implicitement présente dans l’environnement social. L’analyse subséquente des données à travers différents modèles computationnels a révélé que, ces enfants ajustent la norme d’équité de façon dynamique selon l’apport combiné de l’erreur de prédiction (c.-à-d., l’écart entre ce qui est attendu et ce qui se produit réellement) et d’un paramètre individuel d’apprentissage. Le deuxième article de cette thèse visait à identifier les facteurs contributifs précoces du RSM chez les enfants d’âge scolaire. Pour répondre à certaines limites identifiées dans les études précédentes, une approche longitudinale et compréhensive a été privilégiée afin de déterminer comment différents facteurs internes (c.-à-d., inhérent à l’enfant: âge, sexe, tendances comportementales), externes (c.-à-d., provenant de l’environnement : éducation et stress parental, interactions parent-enfant) et cognitifs (c.-à-d., processus mentaux : fonctions exécutives et sociocognitives) présents entre l’âge de 3 à 5 ans contribuaient à la maturité du RSM quatre ans plus tard. Les résultats d’une analyse de régression hiérarchique en quatre étapes ont révélé que les fonctions exécutives et les problèmes de comportement internalisés étaient des prédicteurs indépendants du SMR à l’âge scolaire. Ensemble, les travaux de cette thèse s’ajoutent à une vaste littérature visant à mieux comprendre les éléments qui permettent aux enfants d’être compétents lors de leurs interactions sociales. En explorant plus spécifiquement le traitement des normes sociales et le RSM, les études ont permis d’apporter certaines précisions et nuances concernant les différents facteurs concomitants et prédictifs contribuant au déploiement d’une bonne compétence sociale durant l’enfance. / From the very first years of life, children must understand the complex social world around them in order to adequately participate in it. In everyday life, the ease with which they navigate this environment and effectively engage in interactions with others depends on their social competence. Good social competence relies, among other things, on a set of sophisticated cognitive skills known as "social cognition", which encompasses several abilities that allow the individual to process, understand, evaluate, and respond to social situations. Processing of social norms and sociomoral reasoning (SMR) are among the most complex sociocognitive functions and are recognized as essential to the implementation of appropriate social behaviors. These two distinct but complementary functions allow children to analyze various situations based on social norms and moral criteria, in order to provide appropriate behavioral responses to social interactions. According to several theoretical models, although the emergence of these two sociocognitive functions can be observed from the early years of life, their refinement and complexification continue throughout the developmental period. This progressive evolution is partly supported by brain maturation, cognitive and affective development, as well as the quantity and quality of social experiences. To date, although there is a wealth of studies on social competence and, more specifically, on social norms processing and SMR, several questions remain regarding the underlying factors that enable their optimal recruitment during childhood. One of the biggest issues in establishing a comprehensive and in-depth portrait of the factors contributing to these two sociocognitive functions stems, in part, from the diversity of theoretical, methodological, and statistical approaches used, as well as the limited number of objective methods available for assessing these processes in children. By drawing on theoretical and experimental frameworks belonging to social and computational neurosciences as well as developmental neuropsychology, this thesis globally aims to better understand what promotes social competence during childhood. The articles in this thesis specifically aim to identify the factors that contribute to the adequate recruitment of these two abilities and to clarify their role in school-aged children by focusing on social norms processing and SMR. The first article of this thesis relies on an innovative behavioral modeling method to explore social norms adaptation in children aged 7 to 11 and to identify the cognitive mechanism underlying this process. To achieve this, a fairness-based decision-making task that manipulated the social information to which children were exposed was used. The results confirmed that children rely on an adaptation mechanism to social norms that allows them to adjust their expectations based on the implicit information present in the social environment. Subsequent analyses of the data through different computational models revealed that, children adjust their equity norm dynamically according to the combined contribution of a prediction error (i.e., the discrepancy between what is expected and what actually occurs) and an individual learning rate parameter. The second article of this thesis aimed to identify what factord contribute to SMR in school- aged children. To address some of the limitations identified in previous studies, a longitudinal and comprehensive approach was adopted to determine how different internal factors (i.e., inherent to the child: age, sex, behavioral tendencies), external factors (i.e., from the environment: parental education and stress, parent-child interactions), and cognitive factors (i.e., mental processes: executive and sociocognitive functions) between the ages of 3 and 5 years contribute to SMR maturity four years later. A four-step hierarchical regression analysis revealed that executive functions and internalized behavior problems were independent predictors of SMR. Taken together, the work stemming from this thesis adds to an extensive literature focused on understanding the factors that enable children to be competent in their social interactions. By specifically exploring the processing of social norms and SMR, the two studies provide a more nuanced portrait of the various concomitant and predictive factors that contribute to good social competence in children.

This thesis is an exegesis of the portrayal of deviance in selected post-independence Shona fictional works. The analysis is done within the context of moralisation in Shona literature. The forms of deviant behaviour discussed include prostitution, homosexuality, crime and violence and negligence of duty within families. The fictional works are Mapenzi (1999), Totanga Patsva (2003), Ndozviudza Aniko? (2006), Ndafa Here? (2008), and Makaitei? (2008). All the fictional works are set during the period of the Zimbabwe Crisis and this becomes the context of the criticism of the manner in which deviance is handled by the writers. Particular attention is paid on the causes and solutions to deviance, images of deviants and the implications of such images in attempting to understand the realities of deviant behaviour. The research adopts an eclectic approach through a combination of literary and sociological theories to unpack issues concerning the litigious subject of deviance. The research fully acknowledges that deviance is a fluid and controversial concept as it varies with cultural frameworks and historical periods of certain societies. Thus the research has endeavoured to locate deviance with the ambit of Shona existential philosophy and the period of the Zimbabwe crisis. The research advances the argument that no human being is inherently deviant but there are certain circumstances and eventualities that are responsible for the development of such a personality. Therefore deviance herein is viewed as a response to the situation and in the case of this research it is the crisis which then is responsible for nurturing the people into deviance. In most of the situations, deviance is shown to be essentially a survival strategy by those who engage in it. Prostitution, homosexuality and crime have been shown to be largely economic necessities as the collapsing economy during the period of the crisis came with amorphous challenges and people resorted to anti-social behaviour in an attempt to live contenting lives. With regards to prostitution, homosexuality and crime, the writers have to a larger extent been able to contextualise deviance in terms of the crisis although Mabasa has been shown to display some ambivalence in his treatment of prostitutes in Mapenzi and Ndafa Here? There are instances he castigates prostitutes as social renegades which somehow weakens his vision. Apart from this, it has also been argued that deviant behaviour can be a result of the frustrations people face as they battle the vagaries of life. Violence and negligence of duty within families is argued to be a consequence of the frustrations from the poverty brought by the crisis and the movement into the diaspora as this has its own challenges that disempower people to carry out their duties as sanctioned by culture. Also, the research advances the argument that oral literature continues to impact on written literature and one such area is that of moralisation which continues to be a major priority of the writers. Except for the authors of the short stories in Totanga Patsva, moralisation on issues to do with deviance has been done in an enlightening way as the writers unearth the underlying causes of deviant behaviour and these are found in society and not individuals. The writers of the short stories have shown to be largely influenced by feminism and erroneously blame male deviants for the problems faced by women instead of explaining men`s behaviour in the context colonialism and neo-colonialism which brought various challenges related to gender relations in Africa not experienced hitherto. The direction in terms of qualitative development which Shona literature is taking in post-independence era is positive as the writers are shown to be tackling sensitive political, social and economic issues and their impact on the human condition. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Technology: Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, 2014. / This thesis integrates social capital and ‘reasoned action’ theory to construct a theoretical model for investigating the factors which predict an individual’s intention to share tacit knowledge in a University of Technology. It utilizes Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998: 243) definition and conception of social capital. They define social capital as “the sum of the actual and potential resources embedded within, available through, and derived from the network of relationships possessed by an individual or social unit”. This study examined tacit knowledge sharing behaviour (i.e., knowledge that is shared between individuals) within the context of social capital. The specific type of tacit knowledge that is being studied relates to work experience ‘know-what’ and ‘know-how’. ‘Know-what’ refers to the basic mastery of a discipline that professionals achieve through education and training. ‘Know-how’ refers to procedural knowledge about a business process and the individual’s capability to perform an action with an understanding of why the action is appropriate in the particular context, (i.e., action skill or applied competence). Specifically, this study examines the relationship between the structural, relational and cognitive dimensions of social capital and the individual’s attitude towards the sharing of tacit knowledge. It further examines the relationship between the individual’s attitude towards tacit knowledge sharing, their perceived norms and perceived behavioural control over the sharing of tacit knowledge (mediating variables) and their intention to share tacit knowledge. It is a case study which consists of a mixed methods research design, incorporating nine research interviews and five hundred and fifty four self administered questionnaires. The theoretical model is examined using structural equation modeling (SEM) and as a result of the findings, the initial model is revised into a set of theoretical models, which are tested using SEM and found to be consistent with the data (i.e., a good fit). The direct, indirect and total effects of the identified predictor (social capital) and mediating variables (‘reasoned action’) on the individual’s intention to share tacit knowledge, in each model, is examined and the results are presented. Each dimension of social capital is found to be significant for predicting the criterion variable ‘attitude towards tacit knowledge sharing’. The individual’s attitude towards tacit knowledge sharing is found to be highly significant for predicting the individual’s intention to share tacit knowledge but the ‘reasoned action’ variables are found to be not as significant, particularly perceived behavioural control over the sharing of tacit knowledge. The results of this study enrich our collective understanding regarding social capital and tacit knowledge sharing behaviour. / Academy of Management, National Research Foundation, Durban University of Technology