published_or_final_version / abstract / Social Work and Social Administration / Master / Master of Philosophy

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects that certain classroom management techniques would have on the self concepts and choice status of sixth grade students and to assess the potential of these techniques. All sixth grade students (86) enrolled in one elementary school participated in this study. There were four class sections, two of which made up the experimental group and two of which made up the control group. Only those students who were enrolled at the beginning of the study were included in the final data analysis. The IPAT Children's Personality Questionnaire, What You Do and What You Think (1963) provided a measurement of self concept. This instrument was reported to be a standardized self evaluation scale that assessed fourteen factors of personality. The sociometric test of specific criteria was used to identify students of low choice status. These two instruments were administered in January of 1972 and again in May of 1972.

Two studies were conducted to examine the influence of individual differences in reward sensitivity and punishment sensitivity (i.e., the behavioral activation system and the behavioral inhibition system) on course selection preferences. The pilot study was conducted to determine the association of the preference for different course features with individuals' standings on punishment sensitivity and reward sensitivity. Based on the results of the pilot study, course descriptions were developed that resemble the layout of websites (e.g., RateMyProfessors.com) used by students to select courses based on comments made by other students. In general, individual differences in punishment sensitivity were associated with lower ratings of courses, but just on the negatively worded rating items (e.g., "This course would be difficult."), and individual differences in reward sensitivity were associated with higher ratings of courses, but just on the positively worded rating items (e.g., "This course is interesting."). The influence of individual differences in punishment and reward sensitivity remained significant in models that also accounted for the influence of whether the comments were appetitive, aversive, and/or neutral, which indicates that both person and course attributes play a role in determining students' course selection preferences.

This thesis explores the idea of how people 'do gender' in their online use of avatars, specifically avatar choice. A secondary question of whether or not a chatterbot can be used as a potential interviewer will also be examined as a tool acquiring large amounts of interview data. Gender is one of the ways in which we structure our society, and is completely omnipresent. We cannot opt out of participating in our gender, as we are constantly performing and reaffirming it. Because of this, gender performance and choice spills over into all domains. This includes entertainment such as massively multiplayer online games, both in how the designers make the game, and what the players bring to the game. Deconstructing how and why people engage in these gendered practices and choices becomes an interesting avenue of research, because it allows researchers to partially separate the mental aspects of gender from physical attributes, as the players' physical bodies are not actually in the game. Through the lens of the popular massively multiplayer online game, World of Warcraft, this thesis will utilize a qualitative user research study to understand how gender affects avatar choices. Prior research identified areas where players brought real world gender norms into the games they played. This research study will extend previous research by having players identify why they made the choices they made for their avatars, and how they feel about those choices. The methodology for this study will also involve using a chatterbot as a way of gathering interviews. In normal person-to-person interview studies, recruiting and organizing meetings for these interviews can often be a difficult task. This thesis brings in the idea of using a chatterbot as a mechanism to gather more interviews in a shorter time span to alleviate the problem of getting these one-on-one interviews in some types of studies.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO, 2007. / Abstract. Includes annotated bibliographical references (leaves 205-211).

The establishment of intermediate care facilities in British Columbia, as well as the establishment of similar facilities throughout the rest of Canada, was and still is a well-intentioned approach to meet the long term care needs of the elderly. The practices and procedures adopted by long term care facilities, however, tend to inhibit the personal autonomy of residents (Thomasma, 1985). Specifically, a facility's practices and procedures tend to inhibit residents' latitude of choice regarding daily living activities. Residents' latitude of choice may also be lessened when nurses implement well-intentioned helping interventions based on their own motivations and goals, rather than those of elderly residents. Latitude of choice measures the extent to which an individual's perceived degree of choice includes activities of importance to him/her. At present, there is limited research addressing both resident and staff perceptions regarding the autonomy (freedom of choice) of residents, particularly in relation to their daily activities. Accordingly, this study's purpose was to determine the institutionalized elderly residents' and their caregivers' perceptions of residents' latitude of choice regarding activities of daily living. From determining these specific staff and resident perceptions, significant differences were isolated. This study was conducted in two intermediate care facilities located in a large city within the province of B.C. The data collection instruments in this study included selected questions from Hulicka et al.'s (1975) revised Importance, Locus and Range of Activities Checklist, as well as a demographic data sheet developed by the researcher. Forty-five intermediate care 1 residents and forty-five nurses (Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses and Nurses' Aides) completed the study questionnaire and the demographic data sheet. The researcher studied the residents' and staff's responses to the Importance, Locus and Range of Activities Checklist by using non-parametric techniques for statistical analysis. The researcher used these techniques to determine the existence and location of differences in perceptions among the residents and staff. Significant differences exist in residents' and staff's perceptions when each group's importance ratings are combined with choice ratings. Isolation of the above importance and choice components for individual analyses indicate that the residents and staff had significantly different response patterns regarding a) the importance residents attach to daily living activities and b) the degree of choice residents associate with daily living activities. The above findings indicated that residents' latitude of choice may not be realized to a greater extent if the staff do not attach a degree of importance to a particular activity(ies) similar to that attached by the residents. Residents' latitude of choice may not be recognized to a greater extent if staff do not perceive that residents associate "some" or "no choice" with an activity of particular importance to them. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate

Job seekers have often made job choices based upon the degree to which they fit the tasks requirements of the job. This concept is referred to as person-job (P-J) fit. In addition, research has suggested that job seekers self-select organizations to work for based upon the perceived fit between themselves and the organization. This concept is referred to as person-organization (P-O) fit.

The subjective experience of agency is a dimension of inner life that has consequences for motivation and moral judgment. Cognitive psychologists have studied the processes that underlie conscious will and metacognition of agency while social psychologists have examined how comparable constructs, such as autonomy and self-efficacy, relate to human needs and wellbeing. However, the consequences of the transient feeling state that accompanies agential experiences have received less attention. This dissertation examines the consequences of agency for motivation and moral judgment across seven experiments that manipulated feelings of agency via motor control games, episodic simulations, and autobiographical recollections. In its entirety, this work suggests that people seek experiences that confer high feelings of agency while both high- and low-agency experiences influence how we judge others’ actions. Chapter I reviews prior literature on agency and related constructs and introduces the conceptual and theoretical framework. Chapters II – IV discuss how feelings of agency manipulated via proximal, action-oriented cues and distal, outcome-oriented cues affect task preference. Findings suggest that people generally like experiences of high agency, and that motivation is more sensitive to proximal rather than distal disturbances. People tend to make choices to increase their likelihood of experiencing high agency via retention of action control, even at the expense of desired outcomes. Chapters V – VIII explore the relationship between agential experiences and moral judgments of others’ behavior. Results reveal a novel effect such that both high- and low-agency experiences lead to more intense judgments. In addition, people who are most sensitive to factors that influence their sense of agency also tend to deliver the harshest judgments. The findings suggest a two-process model of attributive projection and compensatory control mechanisms. They also imply a self-amplifying effect of extreme agency states such that both experiences of high and low agency may enhance activation of self-related schema, which in turn influence moral judgments. Chapters IX and X summarize the experiments and discuss the broader significance of this work for research on motivation and moral psychology.

The purpose of this study was to improve my teaching practice, as well as my second grade students' success with two-digit addition concepts, by allowing them to choose the manipulative tools to explore problems and justify solutions. I examined how allowing my students this choice influenced their attitudes, achievement, and explanations of their thought processes. I found that allowing students to choose their own manipulatives had positive influences in all three areas. Pre- and post-test results showed an overall shift toward more positive mathematics attitudes, as well as increased academic achievement with two-digit addition concepts. Students also demonstrated changes in the ways they used the manipulatives, as well as how they explained their solutions to two-digit addition problems.

The increasing demand for couples therapy and its present low success rate led to the question whether Glasser's reality therapy, with its innovative approach, could possibly be of value to couples therapy in South Africa. Glasser emphasizes the importance of healthy personal relationships, freedom of choice and responsibility. In therapy he focuses on the fact that each person has control of what he/she does and thinks and that he/she should take responsibility for it. On the basis of a limited qualitative study, it was found that, with certain reservations, this therapy could make a valuable contribution to the success of couples therapy. Professional persons should be encouraged to apply reality theory in couples therapy, training institutions should train their students in this regard and more comprehensive and in-depth research should be undertaken to determine its value in larger and more representative groups. / Educational Studies / M. Ed.