Examensarbete.

Thesis advisor: Hideo Konishi / The majority of this work focuses on the theoretical analysis of collective action, group efficiency, and incentive mechanisms in team contests where individual outlays of heterogeneous agents are not observable. The reward allocation within the group is instead dependent on observable worker characteristics, modeled as individual abilities, as well as on the observable level of aggregate output. I study the incentives for free-riding and the group-size paradox under a very general set of intra-team allocation rules. I further derive the optimal allocation mechanism which rewards agents according to a general-logit specification based on their relative ability. I derive conditions under which a team's performance is most sensitive to the ability of its highest-skill members, while at the same time higher spread in the distribution of ability has a positive effect on group output. In the final chapter I shift attention to the problem of optimal player order choice in dynamic pairwise team battles. I show that even if player order choice is conducted endogenously and sequentially after observing the outcomes of earlier rounds, then complete randomization over remaining agents is always a subgame perfect equilibrium. The zero-sum nature of these type of contests implies that expected payoffs for each team are independent of whether the contest matching pairs are determined endogenously and sequentially or announced before the start of the game. In both cases the ex-ante payoffs are equivalent to those when an independent contest organizer randomly draws the matches. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第24298号 / 農博第2527号 / 新制||農||1095(附属図書館) / 学位論文||R4||N5421(農学部図書室) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科応用生物科学専攻 / (主査)教授 三田村 啓理, 教授 益田 玲爾, 准教授 市川 光太郎 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

The increase in right wing populist parties in Europe combined with the sudden influx of asylum applicants has given rise to the debate regarding immigration both politically and within research. This paper sets out to examine the relation between asylum seeker group size and people’s attitudes towards immigration. Based on group threat theory and ethnic competition theory we hypothesize that countries´ increases in asylum seekers is correlated with decreases in attitudinal support for immigration. We test this hypothesis using cross- national time series survey data from the Eurobarometer from 2014 to 2017 and conducting a multilevel analysis. Despite the extensive theoretical arguments that strengthen the hypothesis, we find no evidence that the group size of asylum seekers is related to attitudes towards immigration from outside EU.

This research compared the use of an electronic meeting system tool to a manual group process in large and small groups in a controlled laboratory experiment. Outcomes measured include the quality of decision, the time taken in various stages of the decision making process, and group member satisfaction. A research model of the variables influencing group decision making was developed. The six independent variables included in this model are group size, the rule by which the group makes a decision, the incentives driving the group, the distribution of useful information within the group, the task complexity, and the meeting support (electronic or manual). In this research group size and method of support were manipulated, while the other variables were controlled. A decision-making task was developed for this research to specify and manipulate the six independent variables. The task described a product mix problem in which information on each product was given to group members. The group shared information and jointly determined an outcome. The group used an unanimous decision rule to choose a solution. A numerical outcome was used to objectively measure decision quality. Each member of the group received a cash payoff determined by the group's solution as incentive in accomplishing the task. All groups found the optimal solution. The simplicity of the task may have minimized the differences found between groups. There was no significant difference in general member satisfaction or time to decision. Prior knowledge was found to influence general member satisfaction and the time needed for the group to share information. Members of large groups perceived more uneven distribution of participation than members of small groups. Voting differences were very large: large groups took significantly more votes than small groups, and electronic groups took significantly more votes than manual groups. "Conjunctive" and "disjunctive" task descriptions are used to discuss task/tool interaction.

Elevperspektivet på klassdebatter/rollspel som pedagogisk metod i skolan är ett område som är relativt outforskat. Syftet med den här studien är att utveckla kunskaper om elevers upplevelser av klassdebatter/rollspel. Studien genomförs ur ett sociokulturellt perspektiv, där samspel och kommunikation ses som en förutsättning för lärande. Empirin samlades in genom videodokumentation av elever då de genomförde debatter/rollspel. Därefter intervjuades enskilda elever i form av stimulated reflection, viket är en metod som ger intervjupersonen möjlighet att reflektera över det som sker i den videoinspelade debatten/rollspelet. Resultatet av studien, vilket tolkas genom en innehållsanalys, visar tydligt att eleverna är positiva till debatt/rollspel som pedagogiskt verktyg. Här ser de fördelar med att samlära och interagera för att utveckla lärandet och nå djupare kunskap. Att inta ett annat perspektiv i form av en roll upplevs som ett positivt redskap i bearbetningen av frågor och problem. Samtidigt visar resultatet att eleverna upplever olika begränsningar vilket hämmar både deras lärarande och möjligheten att visa sina kunskaper. Begränsningar som nämns är; en ojämn fördelning av talutrymmet, för stora grupper och gruppsammansättningen samt olika förutsättningar beroende på rollens karaktär. Slutsatsen blir att pedagogiska debatter/rollspel är ett bra verktyg för lärande men att det behöver utvecklas för att undanröja de begränsningar som finns, för att därigenom skapar ännu bättre förutsättningar för lärande och bedömning. / Summary: Student perspective on the class debates/role-playing as a teaching method in schools is an area that is relatively unexplored. The purpose of this study is to develop the knowledge of students' experiences of the class debates/role-playing. The study was conducted from a socio-cultural perspective, where interaction and communication are seen as a prerequisite for learning. The empirical data were collected through video documentation of students when they conducted debates/role-playing. Afterwards the students were interviewed individually in the form of stimulated reflection, which is a method that gives the interviewee the opportunity to reflect on what is happening in the videotaped debate/role-playing. The results of the study, which are interpreted through content analysis, clearly shows that students are positive for debate/role-playing as educational tools. Here they see the advantages to combine cooperative learning and interaction to develop their learning and achieve deeper knowledge. Taking a different perspective in the form of a role is perceived as a positive tool in the processing of issues and problems. At the same time, the results show that students experience different constraints which hamper both their learning and the opportunity to show their skills. Limitations that are mentioned; an uneven distribution of linguistic space for large groups and group composition and different conditions depending on the nature of the role. The conclusion is that educational debates/role-playing games are a great learning tool, but it needs to be developed to overcome the limitations that exist, thereby creating better conditions for learning and assessment.

Problem behavior, such as disruption or property destruction, is commonly observed in classrooms, and interferes with student education. The purpose of this study was to examine effects of group size within a well-studied class-wide behavior management intervention, the GBG. Consistent with previous research, the GBG was effective in decreasing disruptive behavior but there was no clear differentiation between GBG big and GBG small. The students and the teacher showed high social validity for the GBG.

The purpose of this dissertation was to, from the point of view of interaction, study how the factors group size, group composition, group norm and problem type influenced group problem solving. Three classroom studies were performed in grades four and five of the Swedish nine-year compulsory school. In addition to the participants in various pilot studies, the experiment included 1146 pupils. The performance was measured both regarding group results and the individual short-term and long-term retention of knowledge. A fifth factor, group productivity, was formed on the basis of these two measurement values.Group size 1, 2, 3 and 6 were studied. The group composition was defined on the basis of, on one hand, the ability levels high, middle and low and, on the other, on the basis of sex. The group norms were included through instructions about cooperation and competition. A third group norm, so-called free norms, was also introduced. Two problem types were used. One of them was designed so that the other group members would easily be able to judge if a response from one of the group members was correct or not (high accessibility). The other problem type was defined in terms of low accessibility. The first study included the factors group size and group composition (ability), the second study included group composition (sex), group norm, problem type and group productivity, and the third study included all five factors. The factor group size turned out to be of great importance and interacted with each of the other factors. Only high ability pupils could make use of group size in interaction with e. g. the factor group composition. Group composition was also interesting regarding sex. Co-operation favoured girls and competition favoured boys. The results also indicate that girls remember what they learn better than boys. Interactions between the factor group norm and the factors group size, problem type and group productivity showed that, in no case, did co-operation produce poorer results than competition and free norms. Various interactions with the factor problem type and other factors showed that larger group sizes are more favourable to the solving of problems with a high accessibility than to the solving of problems with a low accessibility. However, the individual group members had a better recollection of the solutions to problems with a low accessibility than to problems with a high accessibility. The factor group productivity was included in interactions with each of the other factors and in the three-way and four-way interactions. These interactions indicate that the factor group productivity, in terms of both group results and individual results, is an important factor in group research and in other classroom research.By way of conclusion, the results are discussed regarding educational implications and continued research. / digitalisering@umu

Tadpoles are known to behaviorally respond to visual, auditory or chemical cues. I examined the influence of group size and light conditions on the activity of Phyllobates vittatus. I performed laboratory experiments to measure locomotor activity. Activity levels of tadpoles were higher in the groups. Light conditions did not influence activity level of tadpoles. My results suggest that the group size is one of the main factors influencing tadpole locomotor activity of Phyllobates vittatus.

The aims of the research were: i) to show that some informal htiman groups are stable ii) to discover the processes underlying this stability A third, implicit, aim was the adaptation of cybernetic methodology to small group studies. It was felt that a systems approach would provide a formal, but flexible analytic tool appropriate to the richness and complexity of the phenomenon. Various explanatory hypotheses were constructed, all of which took the variables 'size' and 'level of activity' as the objects of any stabilising process. The hypotheses were tested by laboratory experiment, by longtidudinal, participant-observer studies of natural groups, and by a computer simulation (GROUP-1) that mapped assumptions onto historical data. It was found that when 'size' and 'activity' were maintained within specified limits, this was a consequence of a series of stabilising processes. Once a group became stable, two major sources of disruption were identified, both originating outside the group. These were an external block on activity, or a sudden influx of new members. In the absence of disruption, stability was manifested in the following way. An increase in group size towards its upper boundary triggered a series of repercussions that 'encouraged' members to leave. A decrease triggered a similar and opposite effect. The group's 'level of activity' was shielded from the effects of size change by a series of buffer mechanisms, and so maintained its own independent equilibrium. These quasi-mechanical processes were facilitated by a set of beliefs and techniques (the group's knowledge of how and why to pursue its aims), but the persistence of these beliefs and techniques were themselves dependent on the operation of the stabilising processes. It was concluded that viable groups were constituted as irreductable cybernetic wholes. All processes, physical and informational, supported, but were dependent on, all other process.