Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / The purpose of this study is to find the relationship between the parental attitudes of acceptance and rejection and skill in reading in a group of fifty-eight male students from a private preparatory school. Parental attitudes tend to fall into two main classifications: acceptance and rejection. The attitude of parental acceptance is closely related to the sentiment of love. The attitude of parental rejection is closely related to the sentiment of hate. Many parents have ambivalent feelings of love and hate for their children, but there is a tendency for either acceptance or rejection to be predominant in the total parental relationship with the child.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University / The purpose ot this study is to determine whether the skill ot outlining could be taught successfully at the fifth grade level by means of programmed instruction.

The challenging nature of business today requires exceptional leadership skills. However these leadership skills are a scarce commodity and companies need to develop leadership to ensure a pipeline of leadership talent that can cope with the challenges facing business. This task however is quite daunting as there are many methods but few certainties about what works and what does not. Thus many organizations struggle to find the right strategy to bridge the leadership gap. This research report examines the best practices that exist in developing a leadership development strategy, recommends a model for leadership development and investigates the leadership development strategy of a manufacturing organization in South Africa. The findings indicate that the strategy implemented by the case organization is effective and thus can be used as an example to other organizations also trying to implement a leadership development strategy. Challenges include fostering a learning organization climate and implementing metrics to measure the success of the strategy.

Study 1 examined the usefulness of a BST package to teach conversation skills and job interview skills to young adults with developmental disabilities. Performance was scored in terms of percent of steps correct, according to task analyses. The BST package included instructions, modeling, rehearsal, feedback, and reinforcement. The skills were paired with either a high magnitude of reinforcement or a low magnitude of reinforcement. Study 2 assessed the effects of these different magnitudes of reinforcement on the persistence of the social skills. Results of Study 2 are described in terms of percent of steps correct and also proportion to baseline.

The proliferation of gambling has exposed millions of Americans to contrived games in which casinos or other vendors hold a statistical and financial edge over a player. For most, these games represent a recreational pastime where finances are expended in exchange for entertainment experience. In games of skill, choices made by the gambler influence game probabilities, where poor choices reduce the odds of winning, thereby inflating the cost of this entertainment. Due to the overwhelming popularity of these games, interventions designed to promote optimal choice and improve strategy are socially valid. The current set of experiments were designed to analyze choice behavior in the context of blackjack and the outcomes related to various choices and strategy. Experiment I examined recreational blackjack player’s choices and the associated odds produced by these choices. The results found that recreational players made significant deviations from optimal strategies and that these choices produced financial losses that were far greater than those commonly advertised by the gaming industry. Experiment II investigated the relationship between self-reported strategy and authentic casino outcomes. The results found that authentic casino outcomes varied widely; those using poor strategy may contact small wins or substantial losses over short periods of play. Experiment III examined the efficacy of a behavior skills training procedure designed to promote optimal choices in blackjack and notably, to teach a specific skill in blackjack (sometimes referred to as card counting). The results indicate these skills could be taught using behavioral procedures and generalized to a naturalistic setting. Following training, three participants won money in a casino setting, likely improving the entertainment value and reducing the financial costs of the game. Overall the results suggest recreational players make significant errors and would likely benefit from training procedures designed to educate and promote optimal choice.

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M.Tech. / There was request from industry to present a life skills learning programme to supplement artisans' training. With this training, facilitors and trainers needed tools to assess the outcomes of the training. The study aims to develop an alternative assessment method and stimulus instruments in order to assess the learners' attainment of the learning outcomes of a life skills learning programme. The research concludes that life skills are a valuable supplement to artisans' training and will enhance their skills acquisition to improve their employability and adaptability in the working environment.

M.Phil. / This dissertation is a study of the importance of the awareness of a balanced life in accordance with the six life dimensions in order to preventing chronic fatigue. According to Hafen et al., specialists in psycho-physiological medicine estimate that possibly as much as 90 per cent of all the health problems can be traced, at least in part, to the influence of emotions. The fact that chronic fatigue is related to "disease" and is sometimes the forerunner of illnesses in the human body enhances the importance of life-force energy. We know that the cells of our bodies are fed by various nutrients derived from the food we eat as well as oxygen from the air we breathe. But our cells are also fed by a continuous stream of life-force energy. We possess a variety of specialised energy-distributing systems that also support the cells and organs of our bodies. These energy systems are affected by different factors that can enhance or inhibit the flow of life-force energy to the cells and organs of our bodies. Among those critical factors are our emotions, our relationships to others, our ability to give and to receive love, and even our relationship to God. While seemingly nebulous and difficult to define in terms of specific physiological effects, these emotional and spiritual factors are of great importance to the sustenance and support of the tissues and organs of our bodies.