Towards developing an applied behavioral technology that treats altruism as the dependent variable of interest, there is a necessity for understanding the contextual conditions under which altruistic behavior is most likely to occur. The purpose of the study was to evaluate how relative contextual conditions affected social discounting. Thirty-six participants were given three social discounting surveys, each survey preceded by a different contextual scenario. In each scenario, either the participant, a hypothetical other, or both the participant and the hypothetical other were in need of money to avoid a negative outcome. The results suggest that there was a significant difference in social discounting across the three contextual conditions F (2, 35) = 34.28., p < 0.0001), where the greatest discounting occurred when participants were exclusively in need. Hyperbolic functions provided a strong fit for each of the conditions (R² = 0.98, R² = 0.98, R² = 0.84, respectively), and the relationships between participant scores in each of the condition was evaluated.

Lever pressing was maintained by a concurrent token production schedule in rats. Token deliveries (i.e., ½" steel ball bearings) were assigned probabilistically to the right or left lever (on 1:3 or 1:9 ratio for Experiment 1 and 1:6 ratio for Experiment 2). The location of the rich lever remained constant within session, but varied across daily sessions according to a pseudorandom binary sequence. Once assigned to a lever, token delivery was arranged by a random interval 15 s schedule. Transition to token exchange was determined by varying exchange-production schedules that varied after each condition (FR 1 for Experiment 1; and RR 2, FR 2, RR 3, and FR 4 for Experiment 2). During token exchange, depositing a token in the receptacle was reinforced with access to sweetened condensed milk. The generalized matching law provided an adequate description of the session wide ratio of left to right lever presses, detecting considerable undermatching across all conditions. Sensitivity to the token ratios were best described by the current session's reinforcement ratio in comparison to the prior two session's reinforcement ratios. One of four subjects showed increased response rates across successive token deliveries in the exchange-production schedule while the remaining subjects showed the opposite effects of decreased response rates as tokens were earned. Similarly, sensitivity to token-production ratios increased across successive token deliveries for one of four subjects. Differences between subjects can be explained by the duration of elicited sign tracking of tokens, measured by duration of postreinforcement pausing and direct observation of rats during sessions.

The present investigation examined the use of choice in task sequence to increase on-task behavior for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a school setting. Three conditions were utilized to conduct a parametric analysis of choice in task sequence. Participants experienced the three conditions: Teacher Choice of Sequence, Student Choice of Sequence, and Partial Student Choice of Sequence in a multielement design. Conditions were paired with condition-correlated stimuli and presented to participants in a randomized order. Sessions were integrated into the participants’ school day. Preference was assessed upon concluding the choice evaluation. Results indicated that choice in task sequence, across all three conditions, does not increase on-task behavior for children with ASD. However, all participants demonstrated a preference for choice of task sequence when provided the opportunity to choose a condition. Practical applications based on these findings are discussed. Limitations and future research are identified in the discussion.

Drawing on the choice and self-referent processing literatures, we hypothesized that the act of making consumer choices will augment narcissism, because it directs attention to the self (i.e., increases selfreferencing). Results of three experiments provided support for the proposed path from choice to narcissism via self-referencing (indirect effect), but not for the path from choice to narcissism (total effect). This pattern, first reported in Experiment 1, held only for agentic choices (e.g., products for personal use), which prompt thoughts about the self, and not for communal choices (e.g., charitable organizations), which prompt thoughts about others (Experiment 2). Also, this pattern generalized across agentic choices of public and private products (Experiment 3). We consider theoretical and practical implications.

D.Ed. / The study focused on the placement of Grade 10 learners in either Mathematics or Mathematical Literacy. The purpose was to develop guidelines to assist Grade 10 learners to make a proper choice, which would render their placement more justifiable and objective and, in turn, enhance their results. A central theme of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) is the importance that secondary schools will shape learners to become responsible citizens in a fast-developing, scientific and technological society. South Africa has an urgent need for more scientists, engineers, high-level economists and technicians, which can only be satisfied if learners with potential for science-related studies are identified. Due to the fact that learners need skills to interact critically with the world outside the school environment, more learners should be encouraged to take Mathematics. A good foundation of Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy necessitates the development of guidelines to add value to assessment. Therefore, this study examined the nature of Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy, the historical background of Mathematics education in South Africa, constructivism and its approaches to learning and teaching, as well as cognitive and non-cognitive factors associated with achievement and general test evaluations. A pragmatic philosophy was followed. National Curriculum Statement (NCS) documents were analysed to distinguish between Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy in terms of subject content. Qualitative and quantitative information was collected by means of interviews and questionnaires respectively.The analyses of the NCS documents showed content similarities and differences between Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy and identified the gaps in learners’ learning experiences that could contribute to non-achievement in either subject.

Class of 2011 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: To examine what factors influence students to enroll at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy versus other schools. METHODS: This descriptive, cross-sectional study surveyed students attending the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy in the fall of 2010. The independent variable was out-of-state students versus in-state students. The primary dependent variables were students’ rating the importance of factors that influenced them to choose the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy. Demographic variables included age, class, year, and residency status. RESULTS Surveys were completed by 308 students of a total of 385 students (79%) enrolled in the fall of 2010 in one of the four classes . Overall, school rank and cost of tuition were equally important to residents (P=0.089) and rank was the most important factor to non-residents (P=0.045). All students rated class size (p = 0.005), campus size (p = 0.012), diversity of students (p = 0.019), availability of campus housing (p = 0.025), availability of campus clubs (p = 0.004), and safety of campus (p = 0.015) as important factors. First year students rated financial aid offer (p=0.002) as significantly more important than second and third year students; cost of living (p=0.013) as significantly more important than second year; influence of family (p=0.035) as significantly more important than third and fourth year students; and presence of friends or relatives who attended this College of Pharmacy was significantly more important than fourth year students (p=0.012). CONCLUSION: School rank and cost of tuition were equally important for residents, however, for non-residents school rank was the most important factor when deciding to attend the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy.

This thesis presents three essays on the determinants and costs of corporate security offerings. The essays contribute to an ongoing debate in the literature on what determines firms’ security choice by examining the following issues: “Does corporate governance influence convertible debt issuance?”; “The signaling content of security offerings proceeds”; and “The costs of raising capital: New evidence.”In the first essay, we explore the influence of corporate governance on firms’ choice between equity, convertible debt and straight debt. For a sample of Western European corporate security offerings between 1999 and 2010, we find that firms with weaker firm- and country-specific corporate governance are more likely to issue convertible debt. They thus use convertible debt as a substitute for corporate governance, which is confirmed by a more favorable stock price reaction to convertible debt announcements by firms with weaker corporate governance. Moreover, these results suggest that corporate governance is a significant determinant of firms’ security choice. The second essay examines the determinants and signaling content of security offering proceeds, controlling for the endogeneity of issue size. For a sample of US equity, convertible debt and straight debt offerings between 1999 and 2011, the findings show that stockholders can partly predict issue size by analyzing firms’ funding needs and financing costs. We find that stockholders use predicted issue sizes of equity and convertible offerings as signals of growth opportunities, whilst larger than predicted issue sizes signal issuer overvaluation. For straight debt issues, we find that unpredicted issue sizes have a positive impact on announcement returns, which is consistent with them serving as a signal of growth opportunities. Further analysis of firms’ actual uses of predicted and unpredicted offering proceeds confirms these interpretations. The results shed light on previous inconsistent findings on the impact of issue size on security offering announcement returns. The final essay examines the magnitude and determinants of direct issuance costs, controlling for firms self-selecting into different security classes, namely equity, convertible bonds, and straight bonds, and flotation methods, namely non-shelf, shelf and 144a. For a recent sample of US corporate security offerings between 1999 and 2011, findings show that the magnitude of direct issuance costs has decreased over the last decade. These costs are higher for equity than straight bond offerings and of intermediate magnitude for convertible bond offerings. Within each security class, costs are larger for non-shelf than 144a offerings, which again have larger direct issuance costs than shelf offerings. Finally, underwriter spreads are directly related to underwriter effort on due diligence, pricing and selling, and direct issuance costs are truncated by firms’ self-selection into particular security types.

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the use of discursive practice in the media public sphere as part of the educational policymaking process. The theory of definitional advantage suggests that powerful policy players have preferred access to media accounts of educational issues. Links between educational policy research and media research suggest that this definitional advantage translates into educational policy settlement. My research begins from the premise that this theory requires further clarification as recent evidence suggests definitional advantage and links to settlement are context specific and more complex than initially envisioned. This study focuses on policy player representations in newspaper accounts of educational choice issues in Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta from 1990 to 2005, with attention to who was saying what, when, and with what authority. A fifteen year timeline was chosen in order to illuminate periods of policy crisis and settlement, and contrasting case study sites were chosen due to key differences in school board resistance and local policy implementation. While newspaper accounts shifted overtime in response to local conditions, main narrative issue themes focused on charter approval challenges, administrative issues, and monitoring and support needs. Policy players also weighed in on the school choice debate by articulating claims related to equity, quality, and the need for diversity of educational opportunities. Charter school, school board, and government players were best able to articulate their positions in the public sphere as evidenced by measures of access, recognition, responsiveness, and intertextuality. Teachers’ union representations were surprisingly limited in both newspapers. Differences across local sites reveal strategies for effective counter-hegemonic work in the public sphere. By reinforcing their position of accommodation, connecting to local conditions, and limiting their assertions, the Edmonton board stopped the spread of charter schools early in the policymaking process. In contrast, the Calgary school board took an aggressive position of resistance that reinforced public perceptions of self-interest and mediocrity. Educational policy players should be encouraged that power is not a prerequisite for definitional advantage. Rather, connecting to local conditions, avoiding blame, and targeting assertions are effective policymaking strategies to be used in the public sphere. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

This essay attempts a preliminary explanation of the behavioral content in financial investment, and stops short of measuring it. In the past insufficient attention has been given to the analysis of risk-taking behavior in terms of expected utility and to the relationship between that behavior in financial investment and some of the variables in social structure such as occupation and wealth. These issues are presented in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 presents and discusses the scope and method of the essay, some contemporary research trends in economics, sociology, and anthropology, the analytic focus of economic sociology and anthropology relevant to the essay, markets and exchange, and the state of interdisciplinary research in this connection. Two chapters are devoted to decision-making theory; in Chapter 3, the theories of riskless and risky choices, the Bernoulli hypothesis, and game theory; in Chapter 4, unmeasurable uncertainty, a psychological criticism of the theory of risky choices and a review of risk-taking behavior as a function of the situation, the individual, and the group. Chapter 5 presents a standard economic analysis of the investment function and the liquidity preference theory, and adds a review of two early studies (Marx, Weber) on financial investment. In Chapter 6 the problem is restated in relation to the above considerations. Macrostructures are defined and the substructures differentiated. The unit of analysis is a micro-structure of financial investors drawn from one of Vancouver's brokerage firms, and the tool of analysis is a survey. In Chapter 7 the empirical data are presented and discussed in terms of the theoretical considerations. Since our data are crude, we have limited ourselves to conjectures which can be given a preliminary test. Specifically, we set forth (a) that occupation and wealth greatly affect risk-taking behavior; (b) that the higher the income and stock of wealth as indicated by portfolio composition the greater the risk aversion, and that the investment utility is a source of amusement or serves as a hedge against inflation; (c) that the smaller the income and stock of wealth as indicated by portfolio composition the higher the risk-taking behavior because of its greater utility, and that the investment utility contributes to make ends meet or provide work satisfaction. In the remaining section of the essay (Chapter 8) we appraise our research design and suggest future lines of research. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

While product market choices have been central to strategy formulation for firms in the past, the integration of financial markets makes the choice of capital markets an equally important strategic decision. We advance a comparative institutional perspective to explain capital market choice by firms making an IPO in a foreign market. We find that internal governance characteristics (founder-CEO, executive incentives, and board independence) and external network characteristics (prestigious underwriters, degree of venture capitalist syndication, and board interlocks) are significant predictors of foreign capital market choice by foreign IPO firms. Our results suggest foreign IPO firms select a host market where the firms' governance characteristics and third party affiliations fit the host market's institutional environment.