Thesis (M.A.)--Wisconsin. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-66).

The aims of the current research programme were, first, to examine expertise effects with regard to anticipation skill and the perception of deceptive movement, and, second, to examine how knowledge of the probability of behavioural events influences anticipation performance and visual search behaviour. In addition, this thesis sought to test the predictions of attentional control theory (ACT) in examining how anxiety affects the influence of top-down probability information on anticipation skill and visual search behaviour. In Chapter 3, skill-based differences in anticipation and decision making were examined using judgement accuracy and confidence ratings. High-skilled soccer players demonstrated superior anticipatory performance and were less susceptible to deception compared with low-skilled players. In Chapters 4 and 5 Posner’s spatial cueing paradigm was adapted to examine the influence of top-down probability information on anticipation skill and visual search behaviour. High-skilled participants were found to be more accurate and demonstrate more efficient visual search behaviour compared to low-skilled participants. However, findings demonstrated that both groups benefited from the provision of probability information, and performance was moderated by the degree of certainty conveyed through the probability information. In Chapter 6, the same anticipation task and process tracing measures were used to examine the effects of heightened anxiety on the processing of probability and visual information. The findings supported the predictions of ACT, as the influence of top-down information was suppressed during high-pressure conditions, owing to an increased influence of the stimulus-driven attentional control system. The series of studies in this thesis are the first to explore the influence of top-down probability information on anticipation performance and the perception of deception. Study 4 is also the first to test the predictions of ACT regarding the processing of (top-down) explicit knowledge and (bottom-up) visual information under pressure during a simulated soccer anticipation task. The use of probability information through performance analysis feedback plays a prominent role across a number of sports, and the present findings highlight the importance of understanding the costs and benefits associated with such information. It is concluded that future perceptual training interventions should incorporate context-specific information that mimics the real-life demands of competitive sport, and should be directed towards enhancing players' ability to detect deception rather than training players to become attuned to non-deceptive movement.

The somatic marker hypothesis posits that physiological arousal is partially responsible for decision-making behavior. Arousal, measured by skin conductance responses (SCR), increases before deck choice in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). These markers co-vary with performance -- pathological gamblers lack these markers and perform poorly. Personality also modulates IGT behavior – high-novelty-seeking (NS) individuals tend to perform worse. In the IGT, participants decide which deck to select, creating a potential confound between personality, performance, and arousal. For example, high-NS individuals select the bad decks more often, potentially causing habituation and a muted SCR. The first goal of this research was to replicate the finding that personality modulates arousal in a task which removes these confounds. Participants selected a series of cards from two decks. Each card was either a win or loss. Real money was used. To remove the potential confound between choice and outcome, all participants experienced the same outcomes regardless of choice. SCR was measured during the task. Personality characteristics previously shown to modulate gambling behavior, such as sensation seeking (SS), were measured. Arousal may also occur during other phases of gambling, for example, before or after the outcome is revealed. To date, few studies have examined the relationship between arousal in these different phases. The second goal was to determine this relationship. The phases of gambling (pre-choice, anticipation, and outcome) were temporally separated to allow for precise SCR measurement in each phase. The final goal was to determine the relationship between perceived control and physiological arousal. An 'illusion of control', e.g., pulling the lever on a slot machine, promotes gambling, especially in pathological gamblers. Little work has addressed the relationship between personality, control, and arousal. In different sessions, participants either selected the next card or the next card was selected for them. SS decreased arousal during all three gambling phases. The perception of control decreased arousal during the pre-choice phase only. This latter effect was strongest for low-SS individuals. The ramifications of this study are clear: identifying how physiological responses vary with personality opens up avenues for potential treatment of problem gambling.

No description available.

Enhancing Quality of Life: The Effects of Positive Cognitions by Claudine Antoniette Gerald M.S., Walden University, 2009 B.S., Florida Atlantic University, 2002 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy General Psychology Walden University August 2015 The purpose of this study was to test the nature of the relationship among cognitive factors to determine quality of life in a sample of 180 adult internet users. Theories of the positive psychology paradigm, salutogenesis, dynamic equilibrium model, family systems, and family resilience theories were the bases for examining the relative significance of the cognitive factors, positive illusions, optimism, perception of control, meaning in life, resilience, and sense of coherence to the development of quality of life. Factor analysis revealed the order of significance of these variables from the most influential to least influential: sense of coherence, meaning in life, positive illusions, perception of control, resilience, and optimism. Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that positive illusions have a negative influence on quality of life β = -0.198, t = -2.36, F = 5.58, p = 0.02. Standard multiple regression analysis indicated that these cognitive factors do not significantly contribute to quality of life when grouped together. These findings corroborate current research that cognitive factors do not work alone in enhancing quality of life and there must be a balance along factors on other levels, such as psychological, physiological, behavioral, and sociocultural to enhance quality of life. Social change may be influenced by this study's unique and exclusive emphasis on the effects of cognitive factors, demonstrating the relative significance of these cognitive factors, individually and combined, for the promotion of quality of life. This study has filled two research gaps because positive cognitions had not been studied together and the association between positive illusions and the known quality of life promoting cognitive factors needed clarification.

為了解現今青少年對父母管教態度的知覺，青少年在學業、人際、運動、一般等事件層面上於成功及失敗事件結果的控制知覺差異，以及父親和母親的管教態度分別與不同性別子女控制知覺的相關情況，本研究以台北縣市國一、國二學生六百一十六人為研究對象，藉由父母管教態度問卷和兒童多維控制感知測驗等研究工具，蒐集所需資料，再以變異數分析、典型相關分析等方法進行統計。 　　主要結果發現：(1)青少年子女知覺父親管教態度較偏權威，母親管教態度較偏引導。(2)在成功事件中，青少年對學業層面的內控知覺最高，未知控制知覺最低，人際層面的外控和未知控制知覺最高；在失敗事件中，青少年對學業的內控知覺仍最高，運動層面的外控知覺最高，一般層面的未知控制知覺最高。(3)父母管教態度分別與不同性別子女控制知覺的典型相關呈現引導和權威、引導和放任、引導和回收愛、權威和回收愛及引導等五種組型，對於子女在不同事件層面的事件結果控制知覺上有優劣互見的影響。最後，本研究並根據研究結果，對親職教育中父母管教態度、控制知覺以及未來研究提出建議。 第一章 緒論 第一節 研究動機與目的 ................................... 1 第二節 名詞詮釋 ........................................ 5 第二章 文獻探討 第一節 父母管教態度 .................................... 6 第二節 控制知覺 ........................................ 14 第三節 父母管教態度與控制知覺 ........................... 19 第三章 研究方法 第一節 研究對象 ......................................... 22 第二節 研究工具 ......................................... 22 第三節 實施程序 ......................................... 25 參考文獻 ................................................ 27 / The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions of teenagers toward the parenting, the differences in perceptions of control over success and failure outcomes on cognitive performance, social relationship, physical and general domains , and the correlation between the parenting and the perceptions of control of male and female children.The subjects were 616 junior high school students in Taipei area, and data was collected by Questionnaire of Parenting and the Multi-dimensional Measure of Children's Perception of Control, and analyzed with ANOVA and Canonical correlation. The major results of this study were: the adolescents acknowledge that fathers are inclined to adopt the discipline of authority and mothers are inclined to adopt the discipline of induction, perceptions of control over success outcomes, the adolescent have the highest level of perceptions of internal control toward the cognitive performance, the lowest level of the perceptions of unknown control, as well as the highest level of perceptions of external control toward social relationship; and over failure outcomes , the adolescents still have the highest level of perception of internal control, the highest level of perceptions of external control toward physical domains, and the highest level of the perceptions of unknown control toward general domains.In addition, suggestions for parenting education, perceptions of control and further study were proposed.

Merger integration includes taking decisions to ensure procedures are shared within a company to achieve common goals. Simultaneously, research shows a need for adaption to specific units’ practices. Consequently, this paper aims to increase the understanding in the interaction between central and local views of management control in terms of the key concepts of budgets and key performance indicators. We pose the question of how intended and perceived control differs, as differences may implicate that control is not followed. It is examined by a theoretical framework built upon four archetypes of change. We used semi-structured interviews to achieve a deep understanding in one merger case. The results show that top management use centralized control by commanding and informing employees in order to gain information from the local units. Yet, local units perceive the intended control as adapted due to that dialogue is used at this level. This amounts to the concept of “false socializing” that is argued to create a deeper understanding of merger integration. It depicts how local units can carry out and perceive control intentions made by a central unit.

The study examined the relationships between various parental discipline styles and perceived powerlessness in antisocial adolescents. The literature on adolescent antisocial behavior frequently describes states of disaffection, alienation, and powerlessness as characteristic of the delinquent youth. The parent-child relationship is also frequently implicated as the significant precursor of antisocial behavior in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to determine if perception of control orientations function as cognitive mediators between perceived styles of parental discipline and subsequent behavior in adolescents. It was concluded, on the basis of the data obtained from this study, that antisocial adolescents do not perceive themselves to be more powerless than non-antisocial adolescents. It was recommended that caution should be exercised in applying such a label to those exhibiting antisocial patterns of behavior. It was also concluded that punishment applied in an unpredictable fashion may have detrimental effects on the development of female adolescents.

No description available.

Der Mensch erfasst die Umwelt mithilfe seiner Sinnessysteme. Licht macht die physikalische Welt sichtbar und liefert dem visuellen System dadurch wichtige Informationen über unsere Umgebung. Im Straßenverkehr wird die visuelle Wahrnehmung durch die Fahrzeugbeleuchtung unterstützt. Dabei erfüllen Heckleuchten zwei zentrale Funktionen: Zum einen wird die Sichtbarkeit des Fahrzeugs bei Dunkelheit und schlechter Sicht für andere Verkehrsteilnehmer erhöht. Das Schlusslicht übermittelt Informationen über die Anwesenheit eines Fahrzeugs, über den Fahrzeugtyp und über die Fahrzeugbreite. Diese Informationen sind notwendig, um während der Fahrt einen angemessenen Abstand zu einem vorausfahrenden Fahrzeug einschätzen und einhalten zu können. Die zweite zentrale Funktion von Heckleuchten ist die Kommunikation und Interaktion mit dem rückwärtigen Verkehr. Mithilfe von Lichtsignalen der Bremsleuchte und des Fahrtrichtungsanzeigers wird die Aufmerksamkeit auf das vorausfahrende Fahrzeug gelenkt und es werden gezielt Informationen an andere Verkehrsteilnehmer übertragen. So werden Verzögerungen in Längsrichtung, Fahrtrichtungsänderungen und der Hinweis auf eine mögliche Gefahrenquelle durch die Heckleuchte kommuniziert. Für alle Lichtfunktionen gilt, dass die ausgesendeten Signale in jeder Situation gut wahrnehmbar und intuitiv verständlich sein müssen. In dieser Arbeit wurde der mögliche Einfluss verschiedener Heckleuchtenattribute auf den Straßenverkehr untersucht. Eine Unfallanalyse ergab, dass der Großteil der Auffahrunfälle durch ein angemessenes Geschwindigkeits- und Abstandsverhalten sowie eine adäquate Aufmerksamkeitsverteilung vermieden werden könnte. Adaptive Schlusslichtfunktionen weisen das Potenzial auf, bei schlechter Sicht die Erkennbarkeit des Fahrzeugs zu erhöhen, ohne dabei den Hinterherfahrenden zu blenden. In der Literatur finden sich Hinweise darauf, dass die Anbauhöhe und Position von Heckleuchten sowie die Helligkeit des Schlusslichts die Entfernungsschätzung zwischen zwei Fahrzeugen beeinflussen können. Im Rahmen von verkehrspsychologischen Untersuchungen wurde der Einfluss einer adaptiven Helligkeitssteuerung im Schlusslicht auf die Wahrnehmung untersucht. Es zeigte sich, dass eine kontinuierliche Helligkeitsanpassung des Schlusslichts an den Abstand zum Hinterherfahrenden die Entfernungsschätzung nicht beeinflusste. Um die Bedeutung der Gestaltungsform einer Heckleuchte für die Güte der Entfernungsschätzung beurteilen zu können, wurden zwei psychophysikalische Experimente durchgeführt. Diese Experimente zeigten, dass der Abstand zwischen zwei Elementen durch das Hinzufügen einer Verbindungslinie minimal verändert wahrgenommen wurde. Auf Heckleuchten übertragen könnte man daher von einer leichten Überschätzung der Breite des Fahrzeughecks bei verbundenen Schlussleuchten ausgehen. Dies könnte das Abstandsverhalten eines Hinterherfahrenden tendenziell positiv beeinflussen, indem der Fahrer durch diese Wahrnehmungstäuschung den Abstand zum Fahrzeug minimal unterschätzen würde. Da Licht und Bewegung durch ihre Salienz ein großes Potenzial zur Aufmerksamkeitslenkung aufweisen, beschäftigte sich eine weitere Versuchsreihe mit der Wirkung dynamischer Lichtfunktionen. Die Reaktionszeiten auf die Deaktivierung eines Bremslichts konnten durch eine Dynamik im Bremslicht nicht weiter verbessert werden. Die Untersuchung von Dynamiken im Schlusslicht zeigte jedoch, dass in Abhängigkeit bestimmter Umgebungsbedingungen, der Bewegungsart und -geschwindigkeit unterschiedliche Reaktionen hervorgerufen werden können. Durch die Entwicklung salienter und intuitiv verständlicher Lichtfunktionen könnten somit die Kommunikationsmöglichkeiten im Straßenverkehr erweitert und differenziert werden. Die gezielte Steuerung der Aufmerksamkeit durch Heckleuchtenfunktionen in kritischen Situationen kann zur Erhöhung der Verkehrssicherheit führen. Ziel der automobilen Lichtentwicklung ist eine innovative, allgemein akzeptierte und sicherheitsfördernde Heckleuchtengestaltung. Die Arbeit zeigte im Rahmen einer Unfallanalyse und verschiedenen wahrnehmungspsychologischen Experimenten die sicherheitsrelevanten Anforderungen an Heckleuchten auf. Dabei weisen verschiedene Heckleuchtenattribute und -funktionen das Potenzial auf, positiven Einfluss auf die Verkehrssicherheit nehmen zu können. / Humans perceive the world through their senses. Light makes the world visible and provides the visual system with important information about our environment. On the road, visual perception is supported by automotive lighting. Tail lights have two main functions: firstly, they improve the visibility of the vehicle for other road users at night time and in bad weather conditions. The tail light gives information about the presence of a car and the type and width of the vehicle. This information is necessary to assess and keep the appropriate distance to a vehicle in front. The second important function of tail lights is the communication and interaction with the following traffic. The lighting signals of the brake light and the turn signal draw attention to the car in front and specific information can be transmitted to other road users. In this manner, the tail light communicates decelerations in the longitudinal direction, changes in the driving direction and the indication of a possible source of danger. It is essential for every lighting signal that it is detectable in all situations and that it is highly intuitive at any time. This doctoral thesis studied the potential influence of distinct attributes of tail lights on the road traffic. Accident analysis showed that the majority of rear end crashes could be prevented by an appropriate speed and distance behavior as well as an adequate allocation of attention. Adaptive rear lighting shows potential to improve the perceptibility of the vehicle in poor visibility conditions without excessive glare for the following driver. Evidence from literature shows that the distance estimation between two vehicles could be influenced by the mounting height and the position of tail lights as well as by the brightness of the rear position lamp. Psychological experiments showed the influence of adaptive brightness control in the rear position lamp on the human perception. There was no effect on the distance perception by continuous adjustment of the brightness of the rear position lamp to the distance of the following vehicle. To evaluate the importance of the design of a tail light, two psychophysical experiments were conducted. These experiments showed a minimal influence on the perceived distance between two elements by adding a connection line. Transferred to tail lights, this effect implies a small overestimation of the width of the vehicle rear with connected rear position lamps. This could have a small positive effect on the distance behavior of the following driver due to the sensory illusion of slightly underestimating the distance. Because of the high potential for attention control by light and movement, another series of experiments was conducted, to assess the effect of dynamic light functions. Reaction times were not further improved through the use of dynamic functions in the brake light deactivation. However, the use of dynamics in the rear position lamp produced different responses as a function of distinct environment variables, the type of movement and the speed of animation. The development of salient and intuitive understandable light functions points out various communication possibilities for use within road traffic. Capturing the attention of other road users in critical situations through tail light functions could lead to an improvement in road safety. The aim of automotive lighting development is an innovative, universally accepted and safety enhancing tail light design. The dissertation demonstrated the safety requirements for tail lights through accident analysis and different perception experiments. Different attributes and functions of the tail light show the potential to have a positive influence on road safety.