Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Psychological and Brain Sciences, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: B, page: 4891. Adviser: Steven J. Sherman. Title from dissertation home page (viewed Apr. 15, 2008).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Depts. of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Cognitive Science, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Jul 22, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-10, Section: B, page: 6448. Advisers: Robert L. Goldstone; Peter M. Todd.

In this dissertation, two exemplar-based models of categorization, the General Context Model (GCM) and the Exemplar Based Random Walk model (EBRW), were used to describe between-group categorization differences in artificial and natural language categories. Prior research has shown that political Conservatives in avoidance mode are more exclusive categorizers of natural language category members than Conservatives in approach mode, but this effect was absent for Liberals (Rock & Janoff-Bulman, 2010). In Experiment 1, experimenter-generated stimuli were used to show that the EBRW could account for between-group differences in categorization decisions. In Experiment 2, the data collected by Rock and Janoff-Bulman were used to develop techniques allowing the GCM to account for between-group differences in natural language categorization decisions. Experiment 3 extends these methods to allow the EBRW to account for between-group differences in natural language categorization decisions. Across these experiments, the models identify between-group differences in determining similarity, bias to give an "in-the-category" decision, and the amount of information required to make a categorization decision. Techniques for modeling natural language categorization decisions are discussed.

<p> In speech convergence, people's speech becomes more like the speech they hear. Such convergence behavior has been observed along many domains of linguistic structure and in many different situational contexts. Convergence has been argued to be socially motivated (Communication Accommodation Theory &ndash; Giles et al. 1991), and also to be an unconscious, resource-free process (Interactive Alignment Theory &ndash; Pickering &amp; Garrod 2004). This dissertation presents an alternative approach in which convergence is not a discrete process in itself; rather, convergence behavior is the consequence of episodic storage and recall, moderated by attention. </p><p> The first chapter of this dissertation consists of an elaboration of this approach, called the categorization schema account. In this approach, episodic storage is constrained by the categorization schemata that are currently active, and categories are only active when attention is paid to those categories' defining features. Convergence across disparate domains of linguistic structure is then an empirical pattern that falls out naturally from the assumption that multiple representations of the same input are stored separately and recalled independently. In consequence, speakers may converge to different domains of linguistic structure at different rates, depending on which domains have their attention. </p><p> The two subsequent chapters report the results of a pair of studies designed to examine predictions made by the categorization schema account. A Mechanical Turk experiment, discussed in Chapter 2, failed to find a significant difference between convergence to words and convergence to pseudowords. In a dyadic game task experiment comparing convergence rates across levels of linguistic structure, discussed in Chapter 3, participants exhibited different patterns of convergence to phonetic features on the one hand, and to lexical and syntactic features on the other hand. Additionally, participants who self-reported a greater degree of personal autonomy in this experiment exhibited less convergence behavior across domains. </p><p> Chapter 4 discusses the ramifications of these findings for theories of sound change, and reports the results of an experiment illustrating that accommodation can directly result in the appearance of new variants within an interaction, providing a possible pathway for the actuation of sound change. </p><p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, 1999. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 60-11, Section: B, page: 5837. Adviser: William J. Froming.

<p> This exploratory study was designed to establish a foundation for understanding the relationship between college students&rsquo; epistemic fluency, the need (self-concordance); want (self-determination); and ability (self-efficacy) to think about their learning; their regulatory mode orientation (locomotion versus assessment), and their academic goals. A novel instrument measuring both epistemic fluency and regulatory mode orientation was constructed for this purpose. </p><p> Self-efficacy may be the most important element of epistemic fluency as well as the most important moderating factor in goal pursuit. Assessment, a mode of regulatory orientation, and goal activity are inextricably linked. Goal activity may be a metacognitive byproduct of regulatory mode orientation. The differential expression of epistemic fluency and regulatory mode orientation was observable through participant identified academic goals. Personal characteristics such as self-identified racial or gender identity were important moderators in the expression of both epistemic fluency and regulatory mode orientation. Minority or female students had higher factor scores. The extent to which a goal signals intrinsic motivation (value) governs the dynamic allocation of self-regulatory resources more so than the differential time horizons of goals</p><p>

This study expanded on the existing empirical research on forgiveness and specifically ho'oponopono, a traditional Hawaiian forgiveness process. An extensive literature review revealed that while forgiveness has gained in popularity among researchers and clinicians, few therapeutic process-based models have been researched. Furthermore, ho'oponopono has not been studied as a process-based approach to forgiveness. Therefore, the purpose of the present between-groups, within-groups, repeated measures study was to assess the effects of the application of ho'oponopono (focused on a specific transgressor) on levels of unforgiveness, as measured by the Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory (TRIM). The participants (N = 79) were randomly divided into a test group and a control group. Both groups completed the TRIM twice and the test group engaged in the process of ho'oponopono between the pre- and post-test assessments. Two separate paired-sample t tests were used to examine the control group (n = 39) and the test group (n = 40), and a 1-way ANOVA was conducted between groups to examine the effectiveness of ho'oponopono with the test group in comparison to the control group. The results demonstrated that those who engaged in the ho'oponopono process subsequently experienced a statistically significant reduction in unforgiveness, whereas those in the control group showed no statistically significant change in negative affect over the course of the study. Based on these findings and by validating ho'oponopono as an effective therapeutic forgiveness method, this study lays the groundwork for future research of this specific forgiveness process. Strong implications for positive social change through the application of ho'oponopono include improved health, and improved interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 120 p.; also includes graphics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-120). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

The utility of selective retrieval processes in our everyday lives is evident across the varied contexts we are subjected to as human beings. Memory is characterised by an unlimited storage capacity, but limited retrieval capacity. Subsequently, we are selective in what we remember in a given context in order to use memory in an adaptive manner. Previous theory places memory at the centre of deriving and maintaining a sense of self and personal identity. In contrast however, the extent to which memory serves the representation of social identities and the groups to which they are linked is unclear. As social identities are said to be the extension of the self to the social context, the present empirical investigation examined the role of selective processes of retrieval and forgetting on the remembrance of social identity and group-based information in the areas of gender, religious, partisan, and ideological identity. Findings illustrated that we implicitly preserve and retrieve information that is relevant to our sense of social identity, whilst forgetting and implicitly diminishing information that is irrelevant. The findings also established that information retrieved not only pertains to the in-groups in which we seek membership, but also of opposing out-groups that seek to contrast and potentially challenge our in-group's worldview. Furthermore, mechanisms and structures that support the representation of self were extended to the findings, delineating how processes of organisational and distinctive processing support the retrieval of social identity-based information of relevance and importance. The thesis concludes with the assertion that memory is not only the looking glass through which we see the reflection of the self, but also serves to act as the reflection through which we acquaint ourselves with, and relate ourselves to, our significant others in the social context.