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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
61

Better together? Social distance affects joint probability discounting

Schwenke, Diana, Senftleben, Ulrike, Scherbaum, Stefan 06 June 2024 (has links)
Deciding together is common in our everyday life. However, the process of this joint decision-making plays out across different levels, for example language, intonation, or non-verbal behaviour. Here we focused on non-verbal interaction dynamics between two participants in probability discounting. We applied a gamified decision-making task in which participants performed a series of choices between a small but safe and a large but risky reward. In two experiments, we found that joint decision-making resulted in lower discounting and higher efficiency. In order to understand the underlying mechanisms in greater detail, we studied through which process this variation occurred and whether this process would be modulated by the social distance between both participants. Our findings suggested that socially close participants managed to reduce their discounting by interactive processes while socially distant participants were influenced by the social context itself. However, a higher level of efficiency was achieved through interactive processes for both groups. In summary, this study served as a fine-grained investigation of collaborative interaction processes and its significant impact on the outcome of choices with probabilistic consequences.
62

Att rekonstruera en kulturarvsprocess : En fallstudie utifrån Havrekvarnen i Nacka / To reconstruct a heritage process : A case study based on Havrekvarnen in Nacka

Busk, Hampus January 2022 (has links)
The aim of this study is to explore heritage processes within contemporary urban planning in Sweden, which is done through a single-case study. The point of departure for the study is the management of Havrekvarnen, an early modernist industrial building within an urban development area of Nacka, Sweden. Through parallel decisions by the County Administrative Board and the local Municipality in 2016, the building was firstly, listed with the strongest legal, cultural, and historical protection available, and secondly, the municipal urban regulations were changed so that the landowner was given permission to pursuit a reconstruction of the building, replicating its original appearance. As such the case constitutes a hitherto unique example of a listed future reconstruction in Sweden. The study examines how the process took place, focusing on actors and critical junctures involved in the execution and how the description of the building's heritage-values changed. The study uses a composite theoretical framework of authorized heritage discourse and actor network theory. To this an explaining-outcome process tracing is applied as method. Through a sequential process of collecting empirical data, in the form of archival records and interviews, the process was mapped through the conceptualization of a causal mechanism. The method had not previously been used in the field of art history and was chosen as such with a tentative approach. The study gives an extensive presentation of the legal and practical framework surrounding heritage processes within urban planning in Sweden, as well as puts the study within a local historical context. The results of the study show that within the observed case, a trade-off situation between authenticity and aesthetic historical values arose, caused by the poor technical condition of the building: the aesthetic values were deemed to take precedence in the assessment. The study also shows how antiquarian consultants have had a decisive influence on the process of legislative enabling of the reconstruction of Havrekvarnen. The research design’s use of process tracing to map heritage processes is thus deemed useful for future enquiries within the field of art history and heritage studies.
63

Investigating the moment when solutions emerge in problem solving

Lösche, Frank January 2018 (has links)
At some point during a creative action something clicks, suddenly the prospective problem solver just knows the solution to a problem, and a feeling of joy and relief arises. This phenomenon, called Eureka experience, insight, Aha moment, hunch, epiphany, illumination, or serendipity, has been part of human narrations for thousands of years. It is the moment of a subjective experience, a surprising, and sometimes a life-changing event. In this thesis, I narrow down this moment 1. conceptually, 2. experientially, and 3. temporally. The concept of emerging solutions has a multidisciplinary background in Cognitive Science, Arts, Design, and Engineering. Through the discussion of previous terminology and comparative reviews of historical literature, I identify sources of ambiguity surrounding this phenomenon and suggest unifying terms as the basis for interdisciplinary exploration. Tracking the experience based on qualitative data from 11 creative practitioners, I identify conflicting aspects of existing models of creative production. To bridge this theoretical and disciplinary divide between iterative design thinking and sequential models of creativity, I suggest a novel multi-layered model. Empirical support for this proposal comes from Dira, a computer-based open-ended experimental paradigm. As part of this thesis I developed the task and 40 unique sets of stimuli and response items to collect dynamic measures of the creative process and evade known problems of insightful tasks. Using Dira, I identify the moment when solutions emerge from the number and duration of mouse-interactions with the on-screen elements and the 124 participants' self-reports. I provide an argument for the multi-layered model to explain a discrepancy between the timing observed in Dira and existing sequential models. Furthermore, I suggest that Eureka moments can be assessed on more than a dichotomous scale, as the empirical data from interviews and Dira demonstrates for this rich human experience. I conclude that the research on insight benefits from an interdisciplinary approach and suggest Dira as an instrument for future studies.
64

What Does it Take to Get your Attention? : The influence of In-Store and Out-of-Store Factors on Visual Attention and Decision Making for Fast-moving Consumer Goods

Shams, Poja January 2013 (has links)
Decision making for fast-moving consumer goods involves a choice between numerous similar alternatives. Under such demanding circumstances, a decision is made for one product. The decision is dependent on the interaction between the environment and the mind of the consumer, both of which are filled with information that can influence the outcome. The aim of this dissertation is to explore how the mind and the environment guides attention towards considered and chosen products in consumer decision making at the point-of-purchase. Consumers are equipped with several effort reduction strategies to simplify complex decision making. The selection of strategies can be conscious or automatic and driven by information in the environment or the mind of the decision maker. The selected decision strategy reduces the set of options to one alternative in an iterative process of comparisons that are fast and rely on perceptual cues to quickly exclude irrelevant products. This thesis uses eye-tracking to explore this rapid processing that lacks conscious access or control. The purpose is to explore how product packaging and placement (as in-store factors), and recognition, preferences, and choice task (as out-of-store factors) influence the decision-making process through visual attention. The results of the 10 experiments in the five papers that comprise this thesis shed new light on the role of visual attention in the interaction between the environment and the mind, and its influence on the consumer. It is said that consumers choose with their eyes, which means that unseen is unsold. The results of this thesis show that it is just as important to be comprehended as it is to be seen. In split-second decision making, the ability to recognize and comprehend a product can significantly impact preferences. Comprehension stretches beyond perception as consumers infer value from memory structures that influence attention. Hence, the eye truly sees what the mind is prepared to comprehend.
65

非國家行為者之跨國運作--以國際透明組織之全球反貪運動為例 / Transnational Advocacy of Non-State Actors--A Case Study on Transparency International's Global Anti-corruption Movement

葛傳宇, Ko, Chuan Yu Unknown Date (has links)
跨國公司與開發中國家官員之賄賂關係被稱為骯髒聯盟。非國家行為者是形塑與改變國際規範之重要參與者,本研究檢視重點在於國際透明組織為切斷骯髒聯盟之供需關係,如何運用其獨特之跨國倡議網絡模式,透過建立聯盟(coalition-building)途徑,促成國際公約並且改變簽署國之國家行為。該非政府組織影響國際關係之具體成果為1997年簽署之OECD反賄公約,該公約是第一個從供應方(supply-side)切斷跨國商業賄賂鏈之國際規範,其立法歷程與會員國之國家偏好改變足以證明國際透明組織之影響力。 主流學派之結構現實主義者主張國際關係是結構決定論,以強權國家為主要的、具決定性之行為者,國家偏好是外生給定的利益排序。本研究主張以建構主義為基礎之全球反貪運動則是反其道而行,國際透明組織建構之跨國倡議網絡,擅用人氣政治與切身性政治,以合作取代對抗,有效促成已開發國家採取集體行動,簽署OECD反賄公約。當強權之間拒絕改變現狀時,非國家行為者之理念說服行動可以逐一改變國家偏好,進而改變國際規範。在倡議國際反貪議題上,國際透明組織的確是國際新規範之催生者。 本文採案例研究,主體為國際透明組織,客體為OECD反賄公約,交叉運用深度訪談與調查式過程追蹤研究,密集而深入取得相關當事人提供之第一手資料,彌補既有文獻靜態分析之不足。 / Non-state actors are essential participants in shaping and changing international norms. There has been a long-standing practice of a tacit “dirty alliance” between multinational corporations and developing countries officials. This research focuses on Transparency International(TI), which seeks to sever the supply and demand chain relationships of the dirty alliance by mobilizing a unique model of transnational advocacy network (TAN), engaging coalition-building, lobbying for a new set of international norms and persuading the changes of signatory states’ behavior. The fruits are the adoption of the 1997 OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which is the first supply-side norm to cut off transnational business bribery chain. Both the key events of the legislative process and the changes of state preferences among the signatories validify the argument for the TI’s significant influence. Contrary to mainstream international relations theories such as structural realism claiming structural determinism, predominant role of powerful states, and exogenously given nature of state preferences, this research proves constructivism prevails. TI’s TAN model artistically exercises popularity politics as well as proximity politics, advocates cooperation instead of confrontation against bribe-givers and bribe-takers, and effectively persuades developed countries to take collective actions by adopting and ratifying the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. While powerful states resist changing the status quo, non-state actors indeed demonstrate their capability of persuading states to change their preferences. TI is entitled to be the midwife in formulating new international norms against transnational corruption. This research applies case study methodology, making TI as the subject and the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention as the object. Diligent analysis and interpretations are based on the cross-references of in-depth interviews and investigative process-tracing method to extract the primary data from relevant parties so as to supplement the deficiencies of the available literatures.
66

The swing of the pendulum: Sweden's pivot to NATO : A case of small states' shift in security policy

Bonnier, Irena January 2024 (has links)
Sweden is the only state in the Baltic Sea region currently not under NATO protection, which puts the state in a particularly vulnerable position. On 18 May 2022, Sweden officially deemed NATO alignment a more effective option of security strategy in projecting deterrence and dealing with the security challenges the state is facing, compared to a strategy of non-alignment which has been Sweden’s security posture for over 200 years. The aim of the thesis is to explain this shift in Sweden’s security policy.  The thesis will explain small states’ security policy beyond the traditional explanations found in realist theory of state-centric threat balancing and sovereignty. Shelter theory claims that small states’ options for security is either to find a protecting power or join an alliance in order to be politically and militarily sustainable. The thesis will analyse Sweden’s shift in security policy by examining shelter theory’s claim that in order for small states to survive and prosper, buffering up domestic capabilities does not suffice, they need to seek political and military shelter from external security providers by implementing bi- or multilateral agreements with neighbouring states, great powers and by joining alliances.  Analysing a long-time deviant case of a non-aligned small state, this thesis argues that Sweden’s drawn-out road-map to NATO membership is problematic to explain from the perspective of shelter theory. Consequently, the thesis makes the additional claim that factors related to Sweden’s domestic policy, such as public opinion and the nearly institutionalised practice of broad political consensus in issues relating to security policy, also play an important role for the design of Sweden’s security policy. Shelter theory in combination with domestic factors’ influence on security policy change offer a more fully fledged explanation of Sweden's shift in security policy to NATO alignment. This thesis argues that its findings complement and enhance shelter theory by shedding light on the importance of domestic factors in the study of small states’ security policy.
67

When Hybrid Autocratic Regimes Abuse the “Constitutional State of Emergency” : Repression Towards Social Movements

Doleeb, Afaf January 2022 (has links)
Global awareness of governments’ abuse of the Constitutional State of Emergency “CSoE” took place after the COVID-19 pandemic, although it is not a new phenomenon and is widely used, especially by hybrid autocratic regimes. However, few studies have studied its impact on social movements’ Political Collective Action “PCA” and were limited to the analysis of single deviant cases. In order to fill the gap, the research is aimed to investigate how, if at all, social movements in hybrid regimes overcome the PCA challenges under the CSoE? As a corollary, the study will examine the four PCA challenges -organization, interest, demands, and mobilization- in the context of Egypt, with emphasis on the “legal” procedures deployed by hybrid regimes via the highlight of social movement repression.The findings of the comparison conducted is consistent with the proposed causal mechanism, as it implies that when social movement overcome PCA challenges, their level of threat increases, placing a significant cost on the government, which increases the likelihood of the repression.
68

Feminization and the Erosion of the Nuclear Taboo

Haughey, Orla January 2024 (has links)
This paper sets out to evaluate the influence of Russia’s increasing levels of hegemonic masculinity upon the erosion of the nuclear taboo in relation to increased threatening rhetoric, military preparedness, targeting of nuclear facilities, and withdrawal from existing arms control legislation which indicates potential first-use employment of nuclear weapons against Ukraine. Utilizing a dual research methodology of comparative process tracing and critical discourse analysis, gender theory is applied to assess various critical junctures and political focal points that contributed to a dual-partite path dependency of increasing hegemonic masculinity, coupled with the feminized securitization of Ukraine, and retaliatory masculinity as performed via state-sponsored employment of conflict-related sexual violence and nuclear posturing against Ukraine. The alternative explanation of “Escalate to De-escalate” is critically investigated; however, the empirical analysis provided by this paper suggests that the lack of gender-sensitive evaluation within this explanation fails to adequately account for the effect of increasing domestic hegemonic masculinity within Russia. Increased perception of an existential threat against Russian masculinity was found to contribute to an increased dependency on nuclear weapons. Ultimately, this paper forwards a novel explanatory causal mechanism, providing one of the first analyses of the nuclear taboo in relation to a gender-sensitive lens.
69

Rhetoric or reality : US counterinsurgency policy reconsidered

Todd, Maurice L. January 2015 (has links)
This study explores the foundations of US counterinsurgency policy and doctrine in order to better understand the main historical influences on that policy and doctrine and how those influences have informed the current US approach to counterinsurgency. The results of this study indicate the US experience in counterinsurgency during the Greek Civil War and the Huk Rebellion in the Philippines had a significant influence on the development of US counterinsurgency policy and doctrine following World War II through the Kennedy presidency. In addition, despite a major diversion from the lessons of Greece and the Philippines during the Vietnam War, the lessons were re-institutionalized in US counterinsurgency policy and doctrine following the war and continue to have significant influence today, though in a highly sanitized and, therefore, misleading form. As a result, a major disconnect has developed between the “rhetoric and reality” of US counterinsurgency policy. This disconnect has resulted from the fact that many references that provide a more complete and accurate picture of the actual policies and actions taken to successfully defeat the insurgencies have remained out of the reach of non-government researchers and the general public. Accordingly, many subsequent studies of counterinsurgency overlook, or only provide a cursory treatment of, aspects that may have had a critical impact on the success of past US counterinsurgency operations. One such aspect is the role of US direct intervention in the internal affairs of a supported country. Another is the role of covert action operations in support of counterinsurgency operations. As a result, the counterinsurgency policies and doctrines that have been developed over the years are largely based on false assumptions, a flawed understanding of the facts, and a misunderstanding of the contexts concerning the cases because of misleading, or at least seriously incomplete, portrayals of the counterinsurgency operations.
70

Horizontal Inequalities in the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict : Studying the Emergence of the Karabakh Movement

Smbatyan, Hayk January 2022 (has links)
Ethnic contentions would barely arise at the drop of a hat. To understand the roots of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, known as one of the most intractable ethnopolitical conflicts in the South Caucasus region, it is crucial to trace back to the Karabakh movement, a civic uprising that mobilized ethnic Armenians around a struggle for independence. What advantages would self-determination allow, that would not be achievable elsewise? To address this puzzle, I conducted a qualitative single-case study, designed as a deductive process-tracing, aimed at answering the research question why does political mass mobilization emerge (when it can possibly not)? Building upon relevant literature suggesting that horizontal inequalities lead to civil war, this research tests the following hypothesis: Perceived horizontal inequalities between coexisting ethnic groups are what underlie the emergence and evolvement of political mass mobilization. The comparative analysis of 11 in-depth interviews with Karabakh movement participants from Stepanakert and Yerevan, combined with an extensive investigation of over 120 secondary materials, suggests that, as was observed in the case explored, relative deprivation fed by experienced horizontal inequalities is what underlies the emergence of mass political movements, demonstrating strong explanatory potential within the theory on horizontal inequality.

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