The aim of the research is to investigate comprehension-knowledge of teenagers and the youth in engineering as an assessment construct, to define educational and psychosocial factors influencing its expression. The aim of the research has been achieved by solving research tasks: • defining comprehension-knowledge in engineering as an assessment construct; • preparing assessment instruments for measuring comprehension-knowledge in engineering; • selecting and testing assessment instruments for measuring the expression of educational and psychosocial factors related to comprehension-knowledge in engineering; • defining the relationship of comprehension-knowledge in engineering with cognitive and non-cognitive factors, processing the data statistically by using modern methods of multidimensional statistics; • defining statistical types of teenagers and the youth in the aspect of the expression of comprehension-knowledge in engineering by using multidimensional methods; • discussing feasibility of improving technical education in this country in the context of data obtained from this research.

The aim of the research is to investigate comprehension-knowledge of teenagers and the youth in engineering as an assessment construct, to define educational and psychosocial factors influencing its expression. The aim of the research has been achieved by solving research tasks: • defining comprehension-knowledge in engineering as an assessment construct; • preparing assessment instruments for measuring comprehension-knowledge in engineering; • selecting and testing assessment instruments for measuring the expression of educational and psychosocial factors related to comprehension-knowledge in engineering; • defining the relationship of comprehension-knowledge in engineering with cognitive and non-cognitive factors, processing the data statistically by using modern methods of multidimensional statistics; • defining statistical types of teenagers and the youth in the aspect of the expression of comprehension-knowledge in engineering by using multidimensional methods; • discussing feasibility of improving technical education in this country in the context of data obtained from this research.

Mycket forskning har gjorts på konformitet och dess negativa konsekvenser. Denna experimentella studie var en delvis replikering av M. Rosander och O. Erikssons (2012) studie om konformitet på internet men med fokus på hur konformitet kan ge förbättrade resultat. Det övergripande syftet var att undersöka om det lönade sig att göra som andra, relationen mellan konformitet och säkerhet samt förekomsten av överkonfidens. Två enkätstudier i form av kunskapstest genomfördes med 38 respektive 92 studenter. Deltagarna delades upp i en konformitetsgrupp som fick information om tidigare deltagares svar och en kontrollgrupp som inte fick denna information. Resultatet visade att konformitet ledde till fler rätta svar samt att det förekom ett positivt samband mellan säkerhet och antal rätta svar. Ingen överkonfidens kunde bevisas men däremot förekom en underskattning av antal rätta svar. Studiens slutsats var att det mest lönade sig att göra som andra vid medelsvåra uppgifter. Vid mycket svåra uppgifter fanns det ingen fördel i att följa strömmen.

Konformitet ses som att människor anpassar sitt beteende utifrån andra och betraktas ofta som något negativt i västerlänska samhällen. Syftet med undersökningen var att framhäva om konformitet gynnade människor när andra ansågs bidra med nyttig information, konstruera ett mätinstrument för normativ och informativ social influens samt undersöka samband mellan personlighetsindexar och konformitet. En enkätstudie genomfördes med totalt 83 deltagare från en högskola i Mellansverige. Deltagarna delades in i två grupper, där konformitetsgruppen fick, tillskillnad från kontrollgruppen, en procentsats vid varje kunskapsfråga. Resultaten visade att konformitet förekom och att det gynnade sig att följa strömmen vid lätta och medelsvåra kunskapsfrågor. Ytterligare förekom det inga samband mellan personlighetsindexarna och konformitet. Slutsatsen var att människor inte borde se konformitet som något negativt, utan bör ibland ta del av det majoriteten har att erbjuda i vardagliga situationer. Förhoppningsvis kommer det konstruerade mätinstrumentet användas i framtida forskningar.

The purposes of this study were to develop an instrument to measure knowledge of leisure opportunities, and determine the reliability of the instrument. Subjects included 292 orthopedically impaired, nine to fourteen year old children. A multiple-choice format is used. The content is based on four domains. These are entertainment, games, sports, and arts and crafts. The domains are subcategorized into who, where, what, when, and cost of activities. The Kuder-Richardson formula 20 showed a reliability coefficient of .81. The Pearson, point biserial correlation was used to determine item-test correlations. Correlations below .20 were revised. Items with a difficulty level of 70 percent and above were also revised. The results indicated that the instrument had been successfully developed.

The Correct Response Negativity (CRN) is an event-related potential component that is affected by the act of deception. However, there have been inconsistent findings on the effect of deception on the CRN. Suchotzki, et al. (2015) suggested that the design of the paradigm used to elicit the deceptive response is what controls the size of the CRN. Specifically, motivation to deceive changes the size of deception relative to telling the truth. This study attempted to follow up on suggestions made by Suchotzki et al. (2015) to investigate if extraneous motivation to lie does indeed invert the ratio of CRN in lie compared to truth responses in a deception experiment by manipulating the motivation to lie. This study used a modification of the image-based guilty knowledge test (GKT) paradigm used in Langleben et al. (2002). The first hypothesis of this experiments was that a larger CRN during deception relative to truth-telling will be observed when participants are not motivated to lie, while a larger CRN during truth-telling relative to deception will be observed when participants are motivated to lie. The hypothesis was not supported. The second hypothesis of this experiment was that the P300 component would be larger when participants were motivated to lie, as compared to when they were instructed to lie. Results indicated that P300 was significantly higher in the lie conditions than in the truth conditions; however, there was no difference in amplitude as a function of whether they were in the informed or motivated lie condition.

This dissertation presents two individual-difference measures that could be used to assess the validity of eyewitness identification decisions. We designed a non-forced two-alternative face recognition task (consisting of mini-lineup test pairs, half of which included a studied face and half of which did not). In three studies involving a total of 583 subjects, proclivity to choose on pairs with two unstudied faces weakly predicted mistaken identifications on culprit-absent lineups, with varying correlation coefficients that failed to reach the value r = 0.4 found in Baldassari, Kantner, and Lindsay (under review). The likelihood of choosing correctly on pairs that included a studied face was only weakly predictive of correct identifications in culprit-present lineups (mean r of .2). We discuss ways of improving standardized measures of both proclivity to choose and likelihood to be correct when choosing. The second measure is based on the Guilty Knowledge Test (GKT), a lie detection method that utilizes an oddball paradigm to evoke the P300 component when a witness sees the culprit. This GKT-based lineup was intended to postdict identification accuracy regardless of witnesses’ overt responses, thus faces are used as stimuli. Half of participants were instructed to respond as if they knew the culprit and wanted to falsely exonerate him. P300 amplitudes evoked by the culprit were indistinguishable from those evoked by a different learned face but were larger than P3s evoked by unfamiliar faces in both the described lying condition and the group of participants who intentionally told the truth. / Graduate / 2018-12-05

I Sverige är skogen en viktig resurs, men det råder brist på bland annat skogsmaskinförare och skogsvårdspersonal. Många organisationer arbetar för att öka intresset och kunskapen om skog och skogsbruk, vilket skulle kunna påverka ungas framtida utbildnings- och yrkesval. Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva vilken kunskap om och intresse för skog och skogsbruk elever i årskurs 9 innehar och om det finns ett samband mellan elevers och lärares kunskap och intresse. Vidare att beskriva elevernas gymnasieval och intresse för och syn på skogsbranschen.Sju högstadieskolor i Västerbottens län undersöktes där elever och lärare fick svara på en enkät. Enkäten innehöll ett kunskapstest och en del med bakgrundsfrågor. Totalt svarade 273 elever och 11 lärare på enkäten.Resultaten av studien visade att det inte var någon skillnad mellan pojkars och flickors kunskap och att kunskapen om skog och skogsbruk hos eleverna i huvudsak kommer hemifrån. Det fanns heller inget samband mellan elever och lärares kunskap och intresse. Av eleverna kunde 14 % mycket väl tänka sig arbeta inom skog och skogsbruk i framtiden, men intresset för skog och skogsbruk är generellt lågt bland eleverna. 9 elever sökte till ett naturbruksprogram på gymnasiet. 99,4 % svarade att även kvinnor kan arbeta inom skog och skogsbruk. / The aim of this study was to find out what knowledge of and interest in forest and forestry students in grades 9 have, to describe student’s choice of secondary school program and interest in forestry professions, and to find out if there is a relationship between students and teachers knowledge of and interest in forest and forestry. The study was performed with a questionnaire answered by 273 students and 11 teachers in Västerbotten county. The results showed that there was no difference in knowledge between gender and that much of the knowledge come from home. There was no clear relationship between students and teacher’s knowledge and interest. 9 students applied for an agricultural program in high school. 14% of the students could well imagine work in forestry in the future, but the interest in forests and forestry were generally low.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is used worldwide to improve the quality of patient care to provide cost-effective care. EBP is a mandate for nursing practice combining individual clinical judgment with available expertise to generate a positive outcome for the patient. Investigators have documented that nurses have varying degrees of confidence and knowledge about EBP. The purpose of this project was to improve knowledge of EBP among registered nurses (RNs). The ACE Star Model of Knowledge transformation was used as the conceptual model. The key project question was to assess the level of knowledge and confidence about EBP among RNs in a cardio-thoracic (CT) intensive care unit (ICU) before and after viewing a computer-based EBP educational module. The quasi-experimental project used a 1 group pretest-posttest design. In the pretest, a convenience sample (n = 29) completed ACE-ERI competencies to self-assess confidence in EBP and an EBP Knowledge Test. The participants then viewed an EBP educational module based on major steps in EBP practice. Afterward, they repeated both tests. As a group, the paired t test showed a significant increase in scores for the ACE-ERI competencies between pretest and posttest scores. Using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, knowledge scores increased but were not statistically significant. These findings suggested that there was improvement in both confidence and knowledge supporting the use of the educational module. In order to effectively implement EBP, nurses require knowledge to assess the quality and evidence for improved patient outcome. These results can guide administrators and educators to enhance RN EBP by the use of educational modules to improve the quality of patient care creating positive social change.

E-learning växer och får en mer och mer betydande roll i dagens digitaliserade samhälle. Forskarna blev introducerade i ett digitalt kunskapstest som används av 126 kommuner i Sverige för att finna individers rätta studienivå. Det som undersöktes var vilken nytta och användbarhet som kan ses med de digitala kunskapstesten inom kommuners utbildningsverksamhet - SFI, Komvux och gymnasiets IM-program. I denna studie användes DeLone och McLeans Information System Success Model där fokus var på begreppen användbarhet och nytta som också definieras i rapporten. För att kunna besvara frågeställningarna om de digitala kunskapstesten ansågs vara användbara och vilken nytta de bidrog med valdes en kvantitativ ansats. Enkäter skickades ut till samtliga kommuner där en person per kommun fick möjlighet att besvara frågorna. Resultatet visade att det fanns både för-och nackdelar med de digitala kunskapstesten. Av de 126 kommuner som en gång köpt in testen användes de idag endast av 120 kommuner. Testen var olika användbara för kommunerna då vissa använde dem ofta och andra mer sällan. En fördel med testen var att de bidrog till nytta då de sågs som ett hjälpverktyg att hitta rätt kunskapsnivå på varje elev. Kunskapstesten ansågs däremot för en del vara otillräckligt omfattande, då muntliga tester inte existerade i systemet. Slutsatsen som drogs var att de digitala kunskapstesten till större del var användbara och bidrog till olika typer av nytta för kommuners utbildningsverksamhet. / E-learning is growing and have a significant role in today’s digital society. The researchers were introduced in a digital knowledge test used by 126 municipalities in Sweden, to find the correct study level in individuals. The research were about what benefit and usability these digital knowledge tests has within the municipalities educational activities -SFI, municipality adult education or high schools orientation programme. DeLone and McLean’s Information System Success Model was used in this study and focused on the concepts of usability and utility that also are defined in the report. A quantitative approach was selected to answer the questions about if the digital knowledge test was considered to be useful and what benefit they contributed. Questionnaires were sent to all municipalities in which one person per municipality was able to answer the questions. The results showed that there were both advantage and disadvantage with the digital knowledge test. It also showed that the tests currently only is used by 120 municipalities instead of the 126 municipalities that once purchased the tests. The tests were various useful as some municipalities used it often and others more rarely. One advantage with the test was that they contributed to the benefit because they were seen as an auxiliary tool to find the right level of knowledge of each student. For some municipalities the knowledge tests were considered to be insufficiently comprehensive because oral tests did not exist in the system. The conclusion was that the digital knowledge tests to the greater part was useful and contributed to various types of benefit to the municipalities educational activities.