Control in organizations has drawn attention from those seeking to achieve greater efficiencies and productivity in organizations as well as from those skeptical and critical of organizational practices of control. However, despite the conflicting interests, both bodies of research acknowledge that control is fundamental to organizing and both see managers as 'agents of control', i.e., individuals in organizations who are vested with varying degrees of authority to achieve control. But neither has yet examined control from the perspective of these 'agents of control' to provide an understanding of how managers construe control, their attitudes and preferences towards varying aspects of control. To address that gap in the existing literature on organization control, this dissertation examines managerial conceptions of control in organizations. This study used Q-methodology, a research method that uses both quantitative and qualitative techniques to study human subjectivity. In the first phase of the study, fifteen participants from the US and fifteen participants from India were interviewed. In the second phase of this study, a Q-sort was developed from these interviews and from secondary literature. Fifteen participants from the US and fifteen participants from India sorted these Q-sorts online. The sorts were then factor analyzed. The resulting five factors were interpreted as five conceptions of control that were labeled as Autocratic, Bureaucratic, Technocratic, Sociocratic and Democratic perspectives of control. The autocratic perspective of control is characterized by the Theory X assumptions and the classic command and control worldview - "you do as I tell you to do". Lack of trust, close supervision of subordinates and personal power and authority marks this perspective of control. In the bureaucratic perspective of control, the center of control shifts from the individual to the organization and the means of control become more formal. The technocratic perspective takes a cybernetic-like technical approach to control in which the organizational framework, founded on rational rules and policies, is held supreme and everyone in the organization is seen as subordinated to that framework. Formal means of control are preferred, and having technical skills are held as important as having people skills for a manager to achieve control at the workplace. The sociocratic perspective too holds organizational framework as important but does not completely subordinate individuals to that framework; it leaves room for individual discretion and personal values in decision making. It relies on the organizational framework to gain legitimate authority but relies on social informal means to achieve control. The democratic perspective is relationship oriented, is skeptical regarding the effectiveness of formal means of control such as hierarchy and organizational policies, accords greater importance to relationships and trust, and relies on a more participative style of governance.

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a practical and feasible means of providing teacher consultation that can be used to improve class-wide behavior in a middle school setting. A multiple-baseline design across four teachers was utilized to evaluate the effects of an intervention involving training and ongoing performance feedback via email on a) teachers' use of behavior-specific praise (BSP), general praise (GP), and reprimands (R) in the classroom, and b) the incidence of problem behaviors in classes of middle school students. The study also assessed whether behavioral changes were sustained over time, as the frequency of emailed feedback was reduced and eventually terminated. As expected based on previous research, the intervention was effective in increasing use of behavior-specific praise (BSP) in the classroom across all four participating teachers. Overall ratios of positive (BSP and GP) to negative (R) statements used by teachers in the classroom increased post-intervention; however, the degree of this increase varied by teacher, with three out of four approaching or exceeding the commonly-recommended 4:1 ratio, while one teacher did not. Results on the observational measure of student behavior were mixed, with two out of four classes showing significant decreases in problem behavior, one with decreases which were non-significant, and the class in which the teacher showed the lowest use of BSP demonstrated no change in student behavior. Findings from the current study provide evidence that it is possible to successfully increase teachers' use of specific praise, thereby reducing class-wide rates of middle school student problem behavior, through a simple training and ongoing emailed performance feedback procedure. Limitations of the study and additional implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The United States has yet to reach the White House’s 2020 goal of attaining the top international ranking in college degree attainment among young adults. Researchers have investigated the academic performance variables associated with timely degree attainment for first-year college students. Prior research has indicated that poorly motivated students are likely to struggle academically, experience academic stress, and drop out of school. However, it remains unknown which types of motivation significantly affect academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to better understand which Reiss basic desires of motivation predict undergraduate academic achievement. An additional purpose of this study was to determine which basic desires of motivation, among gender and age groups, predict cumulative grade point average (GPA). Based on Reiss’s theory, I used the Reiss School Motivation Profile (RSMP) to examine which of the motivational factors predicted cumulative undergraduate GPA. Using a convenience sampling method, I recruited 459 community college students to complete the online surveys. The bivariate ordinal logistic regression results indicated a modest yet significant relationship between 4 of the Reiss motivation factors (curiosity, order, status, and vengeance) and cumulative GPA. The multivariate ordinal logistic regression results indicated a modest yet significant relationship between 3 Reiss motivation factors (order, vengeance, and physical exercise) and cumulative GPA, but not between gender, age, and cumulative GPA. The results of this study may provide useful insights to academic institutions administrators regarding how they can use motivational factors to identify students who may need academic assistance.

Previous research has shown that individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may dwell on restricted topics of interest during conversations (Mercier et al., 2000; Smerbeck, 2019). Stocco et al. (in press) found that individuals may prefer a conversational-skill intervention that includes access to restricted topics over an intervention that only provides high-quality attention for speech about experimenter-led topics. We replicated and extended Stocco et al. in two ways. First, we evaluated if speech about restricted topics (a) occurred at high levels and (b) was sensitive to interested responses from a listener. Second, we experimentally evaluated the additive effects of using restricted topics as reinforcement on participant preference for intervention. Finally, we sought to evaluate the reliability and generality of previous findings by conducting this study using telehealth. All participants spoke about restricted topics at high levels, and their speech was sensitive to different qualities of attention. Additionally, two out of three participants preferred an intervention with access to restricted topics, compared to an intervention that only included differential attention. These outcomes may have implications for practitioners who are asked to conduct virtual assessments or interventions for clients who engage in speech about restricted topics.

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Much research has focused on the age at which young children are able to use 2- and 3-dimensional stimuli to represent the environment. At 2½ years of age, children do not pass scale-model tasks (using scale models to find a hidden toy in a full-scale room), possibly because they lack dual representation (the ability to understand that model furnishings can simultaneously be both concrete toys and symbols). Experiment 1a of this dissertation tested whether failure on model-tasks by 2½-year-old children is due to an inability to match model furnishings to their full-scale referents. Experiment 1b tested whether children's experience with objects as toys interferes with their ability to use those objects as symbols. Children aged 2½ watched an experimenter hide a small toy in an unfamiliar model and were allowed to search the full-scale apparatus for the large toy hidden in the corresponding location. Children were unable to use the unfamiliar model, indicating that failure on model tasks is due to an inability to use dual representation. Little is known about the ability of monkeys to solve similar symbolic representation tasks. This dissertation tested rhesus monkeys on three types of task. Monkeys were required to use photographs (Experiment 2) or video images (Experiment 3) to guide their search for a hidden object (a rubber ball or food reward) on a familiar apparatus. In Experiment 4, monkeys were shown the location of a ball on a familiar 4-door apparatus and were allowed to search for a replica ball hidden in the corresponding location on an identical board (1:1 ratio scale model). In Experiments 2 and 3 some monkeys were able to use 2-dimensional stimuli to solve spatial problems (i.e., finding the hidden ball or food on the apparatus). In Experiment 4, rhesus monkeys as a group successfully used a full-sized replica of a familiar apparatus to search in the correct location for a rubber ball. These data provide important insight into the ability of rhesus monkeys to represent their environments using 2- and 3-dimensional stimuli, and may allow for the better formation of animal models of human cognitive development.

Typically in the secondary educational system, classes are held in the whole-class lecture format. In this arrangement, opportunities for active engagement are low. Instructional methods such as response cards and guided notes have been examined for their efficacy in increasing active class participation, but little of this research had been conducted in a university setting. The current study compared three instructional techniques: whole-class lecture, response cards, and guided notes. Data collected from six discussion sections were compared in terms of: percentage of students actively engaged during each programmed opportunity and students' daily quiz scores following each instructional period. Results suggested that while active participation was significantly higher in the response card condition, quiz scores were unaffected by instructional method.

This study explores the use of single session hypnosis in the treatment of tobacco cigarette smoking cessation. A volunteer subject pool of 75 subjects was divided into three groups. One group received a single session relaxation hypnosis method with positive, future-oriented suggestions. The second group received Herbert Spiegel's single session hypnosis method (Spiegel, 1978). The third group was a modified waiting list control group. One week post-treatment results show cessation rates of 40% for relaxation hypnosis, 22% for the Spiegel method, and 5% for the no treatment control group. These rates declined at one month to 26%, 15% and 0%, respectively. Cessation rates reduced further at three months and remained the same at six months; relaxation hypnosis 15%; Spiegel method 11%; and control at 0%. Pearson Chi-Square Analysis showed the difference between groups to be significant at one week and at one month. At three months, the treatment effect was no longer evident and the groups were not significantly different. The secondary focus of this study was to compare the response distributions of post-treatment abstainers to those of continuing smokers on pre-treatment questionnaires. Significant differences indicate that abstainers had higher scores on five Multi-Dimensional Personality Questionnaire scales (Tellegen, 1982). Three scales (Absorption, Social Potency and Positive Affectivity) were significant at all follow-up periods. Two others (Well-Being and Well-Being II) were significant at one month and at one week and one month, respectively. Abstainers versus smokers were also compared on the Hypnotic Induction Profile (Spiegel, 1973). Induction scores were not significant but Eye-Roll Sign scores were significant. Abstainers versus smokers were also compared using demographics, smoking history, stages of change, and processes of change (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983, 1992). None of these variables were significant when comparing abstainers and smokers on pre-treatment questionnaires. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Social changes associated with aging were assessed in seven captive, socially-housed rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) over a fifteen year period encompassing early, middle, and late adulthood. The changes were evaluated with regard to existing theories about social aging in humans (the theories of social disengagement, activity, continuity, and selectivity). Both quantitative and qualitative measures, as well as analyses of sequential patterns of behavior were used to obtain a complete assessment of changes in social interactions. Analysis of the quantitative measures indicated that highly energetic, non-social behaviors decreased, while affiliative social behaviors either increased or remained stable with advancing age. Tension and agonistic behaviors also decreased. In addition, there were significant changes in the qualitative aspects of social interactions. The time spent in a given affiliative behavior (groom or social contact) increased and negative social interactions decreased across adulthood. The patterns of behavior associated with groom remained highly stable at all points during adulthood, while those associated with passive social contact were more variable. However, these patterns did become less diverse with age. These findings may indicate that groom is used to maintain social ties, while social contact is used for a larger number of social purposes. Although highly energetic activities declined with lower physical stamina in later adulthood, this was not associated with a general decrease in all behaviors. Social interactions were apparently enhanced as evidenced by the increased duration of affiliative behaviors and the decline in negative interactions. These findings do not support the theories of social disengagement or activity, but do provide some evidence to support the selectivity theory. The animals appeared to be maximizing their positive interactions, while minimizing their negative interactions with increased age. In addition, the stability in certain patterns of social behaviors, and the decrease in the diversity of behaviors associated with affiliative interactions further indicates that the establishment and maintenance of social relationships are important during all stages of adulthood, irrespective of advancing age.