Many external parties such as investors, creditors, and regulatory agencies, use a company’s financial statements in their decision-making. In doing so, they rely on audit opinions on whether financial statements are fairly stated. However, evidence suggests that there are factors in the audit environment that influence auditor judgments. For example, nondiagnostic client information dilutes auditor judgments when compared to judgments based on diagnostic information alone, especially for less experienced auditors (Hackenbrack 1992; Hoffman and Patton 1997; Glover 1994; Shelton 1999). High time pressure conditions mitigate this effect by refocusing auditor attention toward relevant client information, therefore reducing the impact of nondiagnostic information (Glover 1994, 1997). This research study examines other common audit environment factors to determine if they too influence audit judgment results. An online questionnaire of 149 auditors, CPAs and other accounting professionals indicate that the inclusion of nondiagnostic client information results in a significant change in auditor judgments. The direction of this change follows a theorized pattern; risk assessments that were initially high are reduced, while those that were initially low are increased. Significance was not consistently found for a workload and PCAOB effect on auditor judgment. However, a comparison of the absolute value of dilution effect means across conditions reveals some trending for the proposed unwanted effect of high workload, and the beneficial effect of PCAOB guidance. These results have important implications for auditing research and practice. It extends previous archival research on workload effects and uses a unique questionnaire design to reexamine workload pressures in a behavioral setting. The results of hypothesis testing on workload pressure and PCAOB guidance, although lacking consistent statistical significance; exhibit trends that agree with proposed theoretical relationships. Tests on the effects of nondiagnostic information show strong statistical support for previous studies in the area of psychology and audit. This study’s greatest contribution suggests that audit pressures do not produce equivalent effects on auditor judgment; time pressure improves audit judgment, while workload pressure does not (Glover 1994, 1997). These results can be explained by examining the relationship between stress and audit judgment performance (Choo 1995, Yerkes and Dodson 1908). Different types and different degrees of audit pressures may correspond to different levels of audit pressure. Low to moderate levels of audit pressure, such as the level of time pressure used in Glover’s (1994, 1997) study improve audit performance. Higher audit pressures, such as high workload during an auditor’s busy season, may lower audit performance.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In the Critique of the Power of Judgment Kant is concerned with the problem of Beauty s transcendental philosophy, seeking the possibility of a universally valid, a priori and necessary aesthetic judgment. The strategy adopted by the author starts by defining what the Beauty is not (in this case, a judgment of knowledge). Among other things, the complacency in Beauty is distinguished from complacency in Good, being the former disinterested, whereas the latter has an interest in the existence of the judged object. This difference is already made in the opening paragraphs of the first book of the Analytic of the Beauty. Nevertheless, insofar as Kant advances in his analysis of the feeling of the Beauty (and later, the Sublime), the author suggests that the separation between an aesthetic judgment (of the Beauty) and a moral judgment (of the Good) is not necessarily abrupt and sometimes such judgments constitute an ambiguous relationship. The work to be done intend to investigate the sinuosity of the Kantian discourse developed along the third Critique about the problem of the Beauty and the Good, especially the apparent change in Kant s argument at the §§16 and 17, and affirmation of the "Beauty as a Symbol of Morality" [KU, B253] in § 59 of this book. / Na Crítica da Faculdade do Juízo Kant preocupa-se com o problema da filosofia transcendental do Belo, buscando a possibilidade de um juízo estético universalmente válido, a priori e necessário. A estratégia adotada pelo autor inicia por definir o que o Belo não é (no caso, um juízo de conhecimento). Dentre outras coisas, distingue-se o comprazimento no Belo do comprazimento no Bom, sendo aquele desinteressado, ao passo que este contém um interesse na existência do objeto ajuizado. Esta diferença é feita já nos parágrafos iniciais do primeiro livro da Analítica do Belo. Não obstante, na medida em que Kant avança em sua análise sobre o sentimento do Belo (e posteriormente, do Sublime), o autor deixa transparecer que a separação entre um juízo estético (do Belo) e um juízo moral (do Bom) não é necessariamente abrupta e, por vezes, tais juízos constituem uma relação ambígua. No trabalho a ser realizado pretendo investigar a sinuosidade do discurso kantiano desenvolvido ao longo da terceira Crítica acerca da questão do Belo e do Bom, em especial a aparente mudança na argumentação de Kant a partir dos §§16 e 17, e afirmação da Beleza como Símbolo da Moralidade [KU, B253] no § 59 desta obra.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate how USA justified the military intervention of Iraq 2003 by using an idea analytical method. The source material consists of speeches led by President George W. Bush in regard to the 9/11 terror attacks and Iraq between the years 2001 and 2003. Quotes have been categorized by using reality judgment, value judgment and regulation of action to analyze how the intervention was justified. The central question this study aim to answer is: what factors and aspects can be analyzed in Gorge W. Bush’s speeches that justified the intervention in Iraq? Results concludes factors that explain how the United States justifies the intervention of Iraq are thus, the possible security policy threats that could arise in the future as a consequence of an ignored Iraq. The decision was communicated in aspects of good values ​​and altruistic reasons. The combination of the factors and aspects above, mediated by George W. Bush to justify the final course of action: military intervention in Iraq. The conclusion is that the Bush doctrine was primarily a doctrine of security and secondly a doctrine of ideology.

No description available.

No description available.

The aim of the thesis was to develop and evaluate a Computerised Decision Support System (CDSS) for use in pre-hospital care.The thesis was guided by a theoretical framework for developing and evaluating a complex intervention. The four studies used different designs and methods. The first study was a systematic review of randomised controlled trials. The second and the last studies had experimental and quasi-experimental designs, where the CDSS was evaluated in a simulation setting and in a clinical setting. The third study included in the thesis had a qualitative case study design.The main findings from the studies in the thesis were that there is a weak evidence base for the use of CDSS in pre-hospital care. No studies have previously evaluated the effect of CDSS in pre-hospital care. Due to the context, pre-hospital care is dependent on protocol-based care to be able to deliver safe, high-quality care. The physical format of the current paper based guidelines and protocols are the main obstacle to their use. There is a request for guidelines and protocols in an electronic format among both clinicians and leaders of the ambulance organisations. The use of CDSS in the pre-hospital setting has a positive effect on compliance with pre-hospital guidelines. The largest effect is in the primary survey and in the anamnesis of the patient. The CDSS also increases the amount of information collected in the basic pre-hospital assessment process. The evaluated CDSS had a limited effect on on-the-scene time.The developed and evaluated CDSS has the ability to increase pre-hospital patient safety by reducing the risks of cognitive bias. Standardising the assessment process, enabling explicit decision support in the form of checklists, assessment rules, differential diagnosis lists and rule out worst-case scenario strategies, reduces the risk of premature closure in the assessment of the pre-hospital patient. / För avläggande av doktorsexamen i Kvalitetsförbättring och ledarskap inom hälsa och välfärd som med tillstånd av Nämnden för utbildning och forskarutbildning vid Högskolan i Jönköping framläggs till offentlig granskning torsdagen den 5 juni 2014 kl.13.00 i sal M 204, Högskolan i Borås.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychological Sciences / Satoris S. Culbertson / Developing effective strategic thinkers in an organization requires a dedication to early identification, selection, development, and practice, along with the conceptual understanding and measurement tools to make it happen. In support of this, the current research focused on three objectives: 1) establishing theoretical support across multiple disciplines for the concept of a strategic thinking mindset, 2) developing the Strategic Thinking Mindset Test (STMT) using situational judgment test methodology for the U.S. Army, and 3) evaluating the results of a pilot test of the STMT for reliability and construct validity. The STMT focuses on three characteristics of a strategic mindset: Flexibility, Humility, and Inclusiveness. These characteristics were derived from themes found common to strategic thinking literature across the disciplines of psychology, management, and military science. In all stages of this research, officers and non-commissioned officers of the U.S. Army served as participants. The first three stages involve the development and keying of content for the STMT. A sample of 125 participants provided scenarios in Stage 1. In Stage 2, 75 participants gave feedback on the scenarios and provided realistic response options. In Stage 3, 224 participants rated the response options according to expression of the characteristic and effectiveness. In Stage 4, the pilot version of the STMT was administered to 229 participants, along with several other measures used to establish construct validity evidence. The results of the pilot test revealed that, although there is some evidence supporting the construct validity of the STMT as a three-factor test of flexibility, humility, and inclusiveness, the overall profile of evidence suggests that the construct(s) being measured are unclear. Low inter-item correlations contribute to a low internal consistency in the measure, which further limits the STMT’s use as a predictor. The pilot test revealed interesting results related to cognitive ability, specifically a negative relationship between the mindset and cognitive ability under best/worst response instructions, rather than a positive relationship or no relationship, as was the case under most/least likely response instructions. Future research recommendations are discussed in the areas of SJT development, scoring, format, and the further refinement and measurement of the strategic thinking mindset.

Thesis (MA) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Judgement of risk for negative events in certain situations was investigated in a group of emergency medical service (EMS) personnel with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; n = 27) and a group without PTSD (n = 74). Participants completed the PTSD Symptom Scale: Self-Report version (Faa, Riggs, Dancu, & Rothbaum, 1993), an EMS work experiences questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979), and an event probability questionnaire designed to assess judgement of risk. Participants with PTSD overestimated amount of risk involved in comparison to participants without PTSD, thereby demonstrating a judgement bias for risk related events. The present study found that the judgement bias in PTSD participants extended to include not just external harm related events but also general negative events (without potential threatening/harmful consequences), negative social events, and negative workrelated events. Of the posttraumatic symptomatology assessed, avoidance symptomatology was found to be the best predictor of judgement bias. The results of the present study are discussed in terms of the cognitive clinical psychology theories of PTSD, which predict the manifestation of judgement bias in PTSD, and cognitive experimental psychology explanations of the effect of negative emotional states on judgement processes. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Oordeeloor risiko vir negatiewe gebeurtenisse in sekere situasies is ondersoek by "n groep mediese nooddienspersoneel met "n diagnose van posttraumatiese stresversteuring (PTSV; n = 27) en "n groep sonder PTSV (n = 74). Deelnemers het die PTSD Symptom Scale: Self-Report version (Foa, Riggs, Dancu, & Rothbaum, 1993), "n mediese nooddiens werkservaringe-vraelys, die Beck Depression Inventory (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979), en "n gebeurtenis-waarskynlikheidsvraelys wat opgestel is om oordeeloor risiko te meet, voltooi. Deelnemers met PTSV het die mate van risiko betrokke oorskat in vergelyking met deelnemers sonder PTSVen sodoende "n beoordelingsydigheid vir risiko-verbandhoudende situasies gedemonstreer. In die huidige studie is gevind dat beoordelingsydigheid by PTSV deelnemers nie beperk was tot eksterne skade-verbandhoudende gebeurtenisse nie, maar dat dit ook veralgemeen het na algemene negatiewe gebeurtenisse (sonder potensieel skadelike gevolge), negatiewe sosiale gebeurtenisse, en negatiewe werksverwante gebeurtenisse. Daar is gevind dat, wat PTSV-simptomatologie betref, vermyding die beste voorspeller van beoordelingsydigheid was. Die resultate van die huidige studie word bespreek in terme van kognitiewe klinies-sielkundige teorieë van PTSV, wat die aanwesigheid van beoordelingsydigheid voorspel, en kognitiewe eksperimentele-sielkunde verklarings van die effek van negatiewe emosionele toestande op beoordelingsprosesse.

Behavior-analytic accounts of rule-adherence behavior suggest that rule-governance is a general class of functional (i.e., instrumental) behavior maintained by social consequences (Baum, 2005; Malott & Suarez, 2004; Jacobs et al., in prep.). Evolutionary Life-History (LH) theory suggests that LH strategy may underlie variation in rule-adherence behavior. Based on an integration of these two theories, a theoretical structural model of rule-governance was developed and tested. The structure of this model was used to develop follow-up experiments to test particularly salient links in the model. Consistent with theory, the structural model indicated that slow LH strategy directly and indirectly (through increased moral emotions and increased executive functioning) contributed to strength of rule-governance. Two experiments failed to replicate previously demonstrated effects of executive function depletion or moral identity priming (on moral behavioral outcome measures). Further, self-report measures of slow LH strategy, executive functioning, and rule-governance did not predict prosocial (donating) or rule-defiance (cheating) behavior in laboratory tasks. The limitations of relying solely on either self-report or behavioral tasks of unknown external validity are discussed.

God expresses Himself with emotions. This is well attested in Scripture, with statements of love (1Jn 4:8), anger (Ex 4:14), and delight (Isa 62:4). But the real question is not whether God has emotions, but what is the source of those emotions. If God emotes in the context of our suffering, and our suffering is not abated, does this mean that God is impotent or indifferent? Both possibilities yield a frightening conclusion. Rightly understanding the character and nature of God in this regard is paramount. For the past two thousand years, the prevailing doctrine was that God was in some way impassible, in that He is without passions or emotions with respect to his creation. This means that God does not change his feelings or thoughts about events on the earth. Even though certain passages called the “divine repentance” passages in the Old Testament (Ge 6:6-7; Ex 32:12-14; 1Sa 15:11, 35; Nu 23:19) appeared to contradict God’s impassibility, this was solved through the idea of anthropopathism, that is, the belief that God describes Himself with emotional terms. Prior to 1930, most of the English Bible renderings of the divine repentance passages preferred the word “repent,” because the prevailing theology was rooted in the impassibility of God, and these passages were deemed to be anthropopathic. But with the doctrine of God’s impassibility now in question, English Bible translations began to reflect the view that God actually reacts to our suffering with strong emotion. Words such as “sorry,” “grief,” “regret,” and even “changed his mind” were now used to describe the reaction of God whenever God appeared to be disappointed with his creation, or worse, if He was disappointed with his own plan. The purpose of this study is to provide an exegetical solution to the problem of God’s response in the divine repentance passages in four Old Testament historical texts. These passages are labelled as such because of the use of the Hebrew verb ~xn which describe God as “sorry” or “repenting.” For those who hold to God’s full immutability, the preferred view through the ages was that the Hebrew ~xn was to be taken as anthropopathically. This study will want to explore the possibilities of an alternative view for the Hebrew ~xn in the divine repentance passages which allow for God’s passibility while holding to his full immutability. Specifically, this study not only strives to answer the question “Does God repent?”, but through a sound methodology also wants to answer the larger question of the source of God’s emotion when his judgment or grace is in view. The methodology followed in this study is two-fold. First, it is biblical-theological, meaning that it utilises a whole-Bible theology, and following the work of Walter Kaiser and James Hamilton, posits that the Old Testament contains a theme or centre of grace within judgment. At the Fall in Ge 3, God simultaneously introduced judgment and grace into the world. That judgment and grace has never left. As one looks through the Bible, these are the two unbroken strands that weave their way through every chapter and every book. In addition, this study is also an exegetical study, and follows the grammaticalhistorical- lexical-syntactical methodology of Walter Kaiser. God disclosed Himself objectively through the words of a book. This book records actual historical events, as well as specific declarations and commands from God Himself. It is necessary that the words of this book be correctly understood in their context so that a correct understanding of God will result. Using this methodology, this study will explore the meaning of God’s ~xn in each divine repentance passage. The lexical study will be combined with the biblical-theological approach of a theme or centre of “grace within judgment” that flows through the Old Testament. Because of this, is it possible that God, who is fully immutable, provide us everything that we need to navigate a world of sin, suffering and uncertainty? The answer could very well be in the understanding of God’s ~xn in light of our suffering and sin. / PhD (Old Testament), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014