A double-blind comparison was conducted using typical doses of soporific agents from three drug classes and a placebo. Drugs which were used in the study included secobarbital, flurazepam hydrochloride, and thioridazine. Subjects were 40 outpatient volunteers whose primary complaint was difficulty in falling to sleep. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the three drug groups or the placebo group. One of the drugs or the placebo was administered to each subject for 3 nights. Half of the subjects in each of the four groups were told the drug had caused any observed changes in their sleep behavior and were in this way led to attribute any changed sleep behavior externally to the drug. The other half were told the drugs were not typically used to treat insomnia and changes in their sleep were due to changes made in their own behavior, thus attributing any changes in sleep behavior internally. The implication for clinicians was that a short course of drug therapy using a placebo or one of several soporific drugs might be used equally effectively to treat primary latency insomnia. Additionally, the results demonstrated that clinicians might expect the effectiveness of treatment to be maintained following treatment. Recommendations included a suggestion for future research with soporific drugs in other classes.

I denna rapport undersöks i vilken grad av hög eller låg spelmekanik gällande kontroll och rörelser av en avatar i ett spel, skapar högst benägenhet hos en spelare att vilja spela ett casual spel. Undersökningen utgår ifrån spelmekanik, Flow och kontroll. Två varianter av ett och samma spel utvecklades som representerade vardera grad av hög eller låg spelmekanik. Undersökningen gjordes sedan på en urvalsgrupp som spelade båda varianterna av spelet i olika ordningar för att sedan bli intervjuade. Resultatet i min rapport tyder på att deltagarna var lika benägna att spela båda graderna. Men äldre personer och nybörjare föredrar att spela ett spel med hög grad spelmekanik. Samtidigt visar resultatet att yngre personer och erfarna spelare föredrar att spela ett spel med låg grad av spelmekanik. Vidareutveckling av rapporten skulle kunna vara att skapa fler grader av spelmekanik samt en större urvalsgrupp.

Athletes involved in competitive sport are often required to neglect certain aspects of their life to pursue their sport. One of these aspects is participating in valued activities outside of sport. However, an imbalance between sports, in this case hockey, and other valued activities can lead to living a less than optimal leisure lifestyle with a negative impact on well-being. The purpose of this study is to explore how amateur Junior hockey players leisure lifestyle and casual leisure participation influence athletic identity, performance and perception of hockey. Results indicate that most participants perceived over-identified to hockey, which led to living a less than optimal leisure lifestyle and a negative impact on perception of hockey, identity and performance. However, after dropping out participants perceived their leisure lifestyle as optimal and returned to playing recreational hockey with renewed joy for hockey and a multi-dimensional identity.

The pertinent investment in intangible assets is expected to lead to a firm's higher productivity and competitiveness. This study suggests that a restaurant firm should identify core intangible assets for its business, manage them systematically, and measure their value contribution. The essential thrust is to identify key intangible value resources and establish their measurement, which then helps measure the financial contribution of each intangible asset and make an investment decision on it. Thus, this study was purported to identify key organization-centric intangible value assets in the context of the casual dining restaurant industry, develop their measurement, and examine their contribution on a firm's market value. Findings will help improve understanding of what intangible assets are critical and apply the concept to a strategic and operational management. Based on an in-depth literature review covering a wide range of areas, the following six of the most widely agreed upon domains of organizational capital were identified: innovation capital, organizational process capital, organizational culture capital, organizational learning capital, information system capital, and intellectual property capital. This structure of the six most important domains of organizational capital was verified through subsequent interviews with five experts, the pilot test with ten experts, and three rounds of the Delphi survey. Seventeen sub-dimensions were identified through the literature review, interviews, the pilot test, and the Delphi study with professionals. This industry-specific categorical system helps a firm identify and manage various types of intangible resources more precisely and efficiently. Furthermore, it can enable restaurant management to clearly understand how to cope with different types of intangible resources and how to gather, create, use, share, and develop them more appropriately. The findings can be grouped into the following conclusions. Seventy measurement indicators were developed to measure a firm's organizational capitals. Unlike using subjective perceptual measurement scales, the measured values using the objective measurement scales are consistent regardless of time or people. Therefore, the financial value (or contribution) of each of the six organizational capitals can be estimated more precisely along with the data of firms' market value. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to identify the perception and relationships between corporate entrepreneurship (CE) practices and management performance. The use of Morris and Kuratko's (2002) Corporate Entrepreneurship Assessment Instrument (CEAI) was used as the survey instrument for this study. A sample size of 1,200 unit managers, middle managers, and top management teams (TMTs) within nine casual dining restaurant organizations were surveyed with a response of 522 subjects at a rate of 44%. Responses of the CEAI results were studied using regression analysis and conclusions were drawn to support four out of the six hypothesis originally proposed in determining CE activity and management reinforcement. A post test analysis was also conducted in order to reinforce the previous results of the original study. This study concluded with the determination through an empirical analysis that forms of CE activity and enforcement are currently present within the casual dining restaurant segment. / Ph. D.

Annual turnover for hourly employees in the hospitality industry averages 102%. The costs associated with hiring and training new employees are estimated at 150% of an employee's salary for businesses with more than 30 employees. The purpose of this case study was to examine the personnel selection strategies used in the casual dining sector. The sample for this study was 6 casual dining restaurant managers in the central Georgia area. Three of the participants used online selection strategies and 3 participants used intuition-based strategies. The objective of this study was to compare the similarities and differences between each respective personnel selection strategy. The conceptual framework employed is a resource-based view of the firm. Data were collected through semi structured face-to-face interviews. Data analysis occurred through coding and theming and revealed common themes between both groups. These themes were related to assessment of the application, applicant experience, applicant skills, traits, and abilities (online), and interviewing of the applicant. By implementing the recommendations from this study, managers in casual dining restaurants could affect social change whereby selecting employees who fit the restaurant environment and would demonstrate a higher self-efficacy and a better work-life balance. Promoting traits of self-efficacy and work-life balance would also create retention among hourly employees, saving restaurant organizations millions of dollars.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlational and casual connection between identity and intimacy development in later adolescents using lagged data and multiple measures of each construct. Developmental paths were hypothesized from four theoretically based models and designed to investigate gender and sex role orientation differences in the relationship of identity and intimacy formation. Identity was measured by the Revised Version of the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status. Both identity and intimacy were assessed by the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory and the Inventory of Psychosocial Development. The Bem Sex Role Inventory and the Questionnaire Measure of Emotional Empathy were used to assess sex role orientation. Using a two-wave cross-lag panel design, the pattern of correlational dominance between identity and intimacy was examined and directionality inferred. The results indicate that when examining gender differences, with sex role identification removed from the assessment of identity and intimacy, identity appears to be a dominant precursor to intimacy for both sexes. However, sex role orientation does appear to mediate the identity/intimacy relationship, where for males femininity enhances the identity/intimacy association but does not change the general male pattern of identity predicting intimacy. For females, a masculine sex role orientation results in a pattern similar to either masculine or feminine males, while femininity is associated with a more fused connection between identity and intimacy

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How can activists and scholars design serious game projects that attract and engage people, that are inviting for many types of players, and that empower players to create positive change? My hypothesis was that the Activist-Casual Game Design Framework I published in 2021 could facilitate this work. I took a design-based research approach to answer my research question by way of demonstration and self-reflection through a creative case study of the production of an activist-casual game called Climate Somnia. Chapter 1 explains the literature review and synthesis behind the creation of the original framework, and Chapter 2 reviews the first four major iterations of my prototype and the lessons I learned from the experience of making them. Chapter 3 details additional theoretical research that went deeper than my original review and synthesis, providing me with nuanced understandings of the meaning and importance of player agency, inclusivity, and optimism in the context of activist game design. That chapter then proceeds to describe the design and development of the "core game loop" prototype for my game, and the learnings from that experience informed the subsequent design of Climate Somnia version 0.6, the creative case study at the heart of my design-based research method and the subject of Chapter 4. Chapter 5 begins by revisiting the framework I published in 2021 to critique the text of its ten hybrid design principles in light of the experience I gained in the years since. After that critique, I present my revision — the Activist-Casual Framework for Game Design, Planning, and Development — and explain its reorganized design principles as well as the "descent-ascent" planning model that goes with it. I also propose a direction for future research, in light of the revolutionary advances in publicly available artificial intelligence tools that have happened during my dissertation work.

No description available.