Nonetheless, understanding the childhood experiences that individuals bring with them into their later lives still may be important in fostering the best possible academic outcomes.; Previous research indicated that childhood abuse experiences are important factors in determining the length and achievement of individuals' academic careers (Braver, Bumberry, Green, & Rawson, 1992). Several additional studies suggested that there is a relationship between childhood abuse experiences and social support (i.e., parental, peer, and teacher; Ezzell, Swenson, & Brondino, 2000; Goebbels, Nichols, Walsh, & De Vries, 2008). Although these relationships were documented, few studies examined the relationships between childhood abuse experiences, social support, and academic success in one comprehensive analysis. As a result, the current study examined the relationships among childhood abuse experiences, social support, and academic success. More specifically, the current study examined the mediational role of social support in the relationship between childhood abuse experiences and academic success. Participants completed four empirically validated questionnaires online. These questionnaires included a demographics questionnaire, the Student Perceived Availability of Social Support Questionnaire (SPASSQ; Vedder, Boekaerts, & Seegers, 2005), the Motivation to Achieve Academically Questionnaire (MAAQ; Waugh, 2002), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ; Bernstein & Fink, 1998)). Using correlational analyses and regression analyses, results of the current study indicated that those individuals who reported childhood abuse experiences are more likely to have reported lower levels of parental support and that those who received a higher level of teachers' support are more likely to endorse academic success. Finally, childhood abuse experiences and social support generally were not significant predictors of academic success, and social support did not serve as a mediator in the relationship between childhood abuse experiences and academic success.

abstract: A pressing question in public policymaking is how best to allocate decision-making authority and to facilitate opportunities for input. When it comes to science, technology, and environmental (STE) policy decisions, persons impacted by those decisions often have relevant information and perspectives to contribute yet lack either the specialized, technical knowledge or the means by which to effectively communicate that knowledge. Consequently, due to a variety of factors, they are frequently denied meaningful involvement in making them. In an effort to better understand why this is so, and how this might change, this dissertation uses an activity systems framework to examine how three factors mediate the circulation of information in STE public engagement mechanisms. In this project, I examine the transcripts of a 2015 administrative hearing and community meeting about the Santa Susana Field Lab—a former nuclear- and rocket engine-testing facility 30 miles from Los Angeles, where an experimental nuclear reactor suffered a partial meltdown in 1959. Specifically, I identify (1) who was designated as an "expert" versus a member of "the public," (2) the structural features, and (3) the stylistic features of participants' remarks at these events; and I study how these factors mediated the flow of information at each. To do so, I view "expert" and "public" as what Michael McGee has termed ideographs, and consider the structural and stylistic features that prior scholarship has identified to impact information flow. Based on my analysis, I theorize that role designations, structural features, and stylistic features work together to mediate whose, what, and how information flows in public engagement mechanisms. Based on my findings, I also suggest that this mediation impacts policy outcomes. As such, I contend that better understanding the relationships among these mediational means, information flow, and policy outcomes is an important step towards developing public engagement mechanisms that most effectively use the relevant knowledge and other insights of all who have a stake in policy decisions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation English 2016

<p>The literature on how employees conceptualize organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) has not been well integrated. Research on employee conceptualizations of OCB is comprehensively reviewed and a model is proposed linking leader-member exchange (LMX), employee conceptualizations of OCB and supervisory ratings of OCB. I found support for the discriminant validity of three key facets of how employees conceptualize OCB: perceived role breadth, perceived instrumentality of OCB and perceived leader expectations for OCB. These facet conceptualizations mediated the relationship between LMX and OCB. My findings challenge past practices of blurring distinctions among facets of employee conceptualizations of OCB and provide new insights into the process by which LMX influences OCB. Implications for research and for practice are discussed.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the actions of online language learners from an activity theoretical perspective. It also attempted to explain how the students' learning outcomes evolved from their online learning experiences. This explanation placed an emphasis on the learners' previous experiences, defining their activity systems, the use of mediational tools, and the resolution of contradictions. Within this activity theoretical case study a background survey, four interviews, and three field observations were conducted with seven foreign language students of an online Spanish course. The students' on-screen actions were recorded and subsequently documented in a video episode log. This log, the background survey, and the interview transcripts were coded for the a priori categories established in the research questions and for emergent themes. Seven mediational tools were identified, including a widespread use of online dictionaries and translators. The students attempted to use the mediational tools to gain control over their online language learning; however, as exhibited by the students' varying levels of regulation, some students were unable to reach or maintain self-regulation while using computer-based tools. In addition, the nature of the mediational tool use appeared to be influenced by the variety of linguistic backgrounds. Three levels of contradictions were identified including: conflicting-object contradictions, inter-activity contradictions, and technology-related contradictions. The findings of this study indicated that contradictions may be invisible to the subject of the activity. Furthermore, it was noted in this research that some students may have the capacity to identify the contradiction, yet they may not have the desire or motivation required to make the necessary change to further learning and development within the activity. Thus, contradictions may not always be resolved even when they are visible.

In self-defense cases of battered women who kill their abusive husbands, defendants have used Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) expert testimony to help justify their acts of self-defense. However, past research demonstrates that BWS is ineffective in persuading jurors because it pathologizes the defendant rather than rationalizing her behavior. Additionally, BWS highlights passive (i.e., stereotypical) features of a battered woman, and such testimony may not apply to a defendant with active (i.e., atypical) features of a battered women. The current study hypothesized that another type of expert testimony, Social-Agency Framework (SAF), will persuade jurors to render more lenient verdicts, and that the defendant’s passive or active response history will affect verdict decisions. Additionally, a meditational model predicted that the effect of mock jurors’ gender on verdict decisions will be mediated by their attitudes toward battered women. In a 3(expert testimony: BWS vs. SAF vs. control) x 2(response history: passive vs. active) x 2(gender: male vs. female) model, jury-eligible participants (expected N = 510) recruited from the website mTurk answered a survey measuring their attitudes toward battered women, read a mock trial transcript, and rendered a verdict. The results indicated non-significant findings for the effects of expert testimony and response history on verdict outcomes. A full mediation was found, indicating that gender acted as a proxy for jurors’ attitudes, influencing their verdict decisions. This study has strong legal implications that highlight the prevailing effect of attitudes and how those attitudes may override the effects of expert testimony and defendant response history.

O Sistema Penitenciário é objeto de estudos e pesquisa nas mais diversas áreas do conhecimento: direito, educação, assistência social, economia, sociologia, psicologia. Considerando a importância e diversidade das relações eu-outro- mundo que este sistema cria e perpetua, nos propusemos a responder à seguinte indagação: de que forma se dão, e que implicações trazem, as relações eu-outro- mundo no âmbito das relações entre psicólogos e sentenciados do sistema penitenciário no contexto do Exame Criminológico? Levantamos questões e tentamos respondê-las a partir da perspectiva do Construtivismo Semiótico-Cultural (Simão, 2010). A pesquisa se deu por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas com psicólogos funcionários desta instituição que realizam ou já realizaram Exames Criminológicos. Os resultados apontaram para a procedência e relevância, para as relações em questão, de se tomar o Exame Criminológico como meio mediacional, desde a perspectiva de Wertsch (1995) / The correctional system is a research and study object in areas as diverse as: law, education, social work, economy, sociology, psychology. Considering the importance and diversity of the I-other-world relations that this system creates and perpetuates, we proposed to address the following issue: how do the I-other-world relations take place in the scope of the relations between psychologists and convicts, in the context of the Criminological Examination, and what are their implications? We put forth questions and attempted to answer them from the perspective of the Semiotic-Cultural Constructivism (Simão, 2010). The research was carried out through semi-structured interviews with psychologists employed in this institution who perform or have performed criminological examinations. The results suggest that the criminological examination is justified and relevant for the relations in question. It is suggested that the criminological examination may be used as a mediational means, from Wertschs perspective (1995)

O Sistema Penitenciário é objeto de estudos e pesquisa nas mais diversas áreas do conhecimento: direito, educação, assistência social, economia, sociologia, psicologia. Considerando a importância e diversidade das relações eu-outro- mundo que este sistema cria e perpetua, nos propusemos a responder à seguinte indagação: de que forma se dão, e que implicações trazem, as relações eu-outro- mundo no âmbito das relações entre psicólogos e sentenciados do sistema penitenciário no contexto do Exame Criminológico? Levantamos questões e tentamos respondê-las a partir da perspectiva do Construtivismo Semiótico-Cultural (Simão, 2010). A pesquisa se deu por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas com psicólogos funcionários desta instituição que realizam ou já realizaram Exames Criminológicos. Os resultados apontaram para a procedência e relevância, para as relações em questão, de se tomar o Exame Criminológico como meio mediacional, desde a perspectiva de Wertsch (1995) / The correctional system is a research and study object in areas as diverse as: law, education, social work, economy, sociology, psychology. Considering the importance and diversity of the I-other-world relations that this system creates and perpetuates, we proposed to address the following issue: how do the I-other-world relations take place in the scope of the relations between psychologists and convicts, in the context of the Criminological Examination, and what are their implications? We put forth questions and attempted to answer them from the perspective of the Semiotic-Cultural Constructivism (Simão, 2010). The research was carried out through semi-structured interviews with psychologists employed in this institution who perform or have performed criminological examinations. The results suggest that the criminological examination is justified and relevant for the relations in question. It is suggested that the criminological examination may be used as a mediational means, from Wertschs perspective (1995)

The subject of this study is engineers’ activities, writing and texts in their profession and education. Fieldwork for the study was conducted in three professional workplaces and a major technical university (called Tekniska Institutet in the study). The aim of the study is to explore what kind of writing the engineers are supposed to handle and practice, situated in their professional environment, and to compare this with the writing practices and texts engineering students are prepared for in their higher education. The theoretical framework is a sociocultural approach inspired by Lave &amp; Wenger (1991), Wenger (1998), Wertsch (1998) and Engeström (1987). The theoretical concepts of activity systems, mediational means or cultural tools and trajectory of practice are applied, partly on a linguistic level, to the writing and the work that engineers carry out in their professional community and the university. The engineers in the study write every day in their profession, in different roles, something they are not quite prepared for in their higher education. The study examines whether there are cultural tools that are typical for engineers and their work. One central construction is the list, which can be seen as a cultural tool on both a cognitive and a social or communicative level: the study shows that the list is used both to structure or construct content and to instruct readers, for example, or show them how a soft ware system or a computer programme is structured. The list is also used within the education community, in teachers’ instructions and course material as well as in the students’ texts, such as lab reports and different types of essays.

This study use the theory of community of practice and the theory of mediating tools to explore how teachers develop student’s writing in the Swedish subject in Swedish upper secondary school. The aim of the study is to display the potential to learn and develop writing through participating in the community of practice that is the classroom, as well as with the help of mediational means in the classroom and in other contexts. Five teachers are interviewed on their ideas about teaching students to develop writing. Results from the study show potential for learning through communities of practice and mediational means in the teachers’ use of collaborative writing and interaction between students as well as their aspiration to connect school writing with writing in other contexts. The way in wich some teacher’s switch from collaborative and interactive work forms to individual, when the student’s texts are to be assessed and graded, could on the other hand be considered problematic. The results also imply that the teachers’ choices and positions must be understood in relation to ideas on writing expressed by the students and in the curriculum and in national writing tests.

Cette thèse envisage les effets occasionnés par la créativité collective contextualisée, plus particulièrement à l’échelle des groupes restreints, à partir d’une approche communicationnelle par les « constructions médiatrices ». Elle poursuit trois grands objectifs. Premièrement, elle s’inscrit dans une volonté d’éclaircissement de la notion de créativité de groupe en tant que phénomène (tel qu’abordé par Woodman, Sawyer et Griffin, 1993) et propose d’en faire la distinction par rapport à la méthode employée par le groupe de créativité (Demory, 1986; Aznar, 2011). Deuxièmement, elle cherche à clarifier les formes d’échanges et d’interactions au cours du processus de création-communication. Troisièmement, elle interroge les effets de ce phénomène collectif complexe de manière à mieux comprendre les conditions de déploiement de la créativité contextualisée.En prenant pour objet d’étude l’expérience vécue d’acteurs en situation par le biais d’un dispositif pédagogique, nous avons convié une communauté d’apprenants à vivre une expérience de création collective immersive et originale qui, par sa nature engageante et déroutante, était susceptible de heurter les habitudes et le cadre traditionnel d’apprentissage. Nous avons émis l’hypothèse que la tension créative entraine la réorganisation constante de l’activité des groupes en influençant les « constructions médiatrices » puis, que la nature de ce contexte cristallise la cohésion et l’engagement des groupes impliqués. Par une analyse de l’activité-créativité (la créactivité) de groupe, et plus particulièrement par l’observation des actions conjointes, des rapports d’interactions et de l’implication des membres, cette étude postule que la créativité collective contextualisée participe à l’émergence de formes d’interactions. Puis, que le recours aux moyens médiateurs (aux artefacts, à la division du travail et aux règles d’interactions) s’effectue dans un mouvement constant de réorganisation de l’activité par dépassements successifs des contradictions, par la formation de noeuds de médiations. Les constructions médiatrices sont ainsi le reflet du processus de transformation du sens des interactions sociales au cours de l’activité. / This thesis considers the effects caused by contextualized collective creativity, especially in small groups, based on a communicational approach by “mediational constructs". It has three main objectives. First, it wishes to clarify the concept of group creativity as a phenomenon (as discussed by Woodman, Sawyer and Griffin, 1993) and to propose its distinction from the method used by creativity groups (Demory, 1986; Aznar, 2011). Secondly, it seeks to clarify the forms of exchange and interactions during the communicative-creative process. Third, it investigates the effects of this complex collective phenomenon for a better understanding of contextualized creativity conditions and deployment.Using a pedagogical framework, we have invited a community of learners to experiment an immersive and original collective creation experience which was likely to upset habits and the traditional framework of learning by its engaging and confusing nature. We hypothesized that creative tension leads to the constant reorganization of group activity by influencing " mediational constructs " and that the nature of this context crystallizes the group cohesion and commitment. Through an analysis of group activity-creativity (creactivity), and more specifically by observing joint actions, interactions relationships and the involvement of members, this study postulates that contextualized collective creativity participates in the emergence of forms of interactions. Then, that the use of meditational means (artefacts, division of labor and rules of interactions) takes place in a constant movement of activity reorganization by overcoming contradictions by successive formation of “mediation nodes”. Thus, the mediational constructs represent a reflection of the transformation process of the social interactions meaning during the activity.