Charities provide many vital services for New Zealand society; however, charities are in constant need of donations from the public in order to provide these services. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between situational optimism/pessimism and donating intentions. Two hundred and fifty three people from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand took part in experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to one of five conditions in which they viewed an optimistic, pessimistic or neutral (control) image and were asked to rate their intention to donate to a disaster relief charity. When covariates were controlled for, the results revealed that people who saw the pessimistic image were more likely to intend to donate than participants who looked at optimistic image. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

This thesis focuses on evaluating the measurement errors in the gimbal system of the SUAV autonomous aircraft developed at NPS. These measurements are used by the vision based target position estimation system developed at NPS. Analysis of the errors inherent in these measurements will help direct future investment in better sensors to improve the estimation system's performance.

The current study sought to explain when and why situational constraints negatively influence performance on a complex task. In particular, perceived control and affective reactions (frustration and satisfaction) were examined as potential explanatory mechanisms, while ability and motivation were tested as moderators. The influence of situational constraints on task strategies was also examined and tested for possible nonlinearity. Finally the extent to which task strategy use moderates the situational constraint-task performance relationship was investigated. A laboratory study using 158 undergraduate psychology students was conducted. Three levels of situational constraints (low, moderate, high) were experimentally manipulated. Performance on a problem solving execution task, as well as experimenter observations of strategy use, were used to represent the constructs of interest in the study. Results indicated that situational constraints were directly related to task satisfaction and frustration and performance. In addition task strategy use was directly related to performance. However, there was no evidence for mediation or moderation effects. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Thesis (M.S. in Information Systems and Operations)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2008. / Thesis Advisor(s): Gallup, Shelley. "March 2008." Description based on title screen as viewed on May 16, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-60). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S. in Information Systems and Operations)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2008. / Thesis Advisor(s): Gallup, Shelley. "March 2008." Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Jul 3, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-60).

Thesis (M.S. in Systems Engineering)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2009. / Thesis Advisor(s): Paulo, Eugene. "June 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on July 14, 2009. Author(s) subject terms: improvised explosive device, counter-IED, ,situational awareness, unmanned sensor systems. Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-97). Also available in print.

This quantitative research study was designed and conducted to determine if the situational leadership model could be used successfully for teacher classroom management. This study drew from Hersey and Blanchard's (1982) Situational Leadership Model and Babkie's (2006) outline for proactive management of classroom behavior. The study was conducted with sixteen teachers employed at six public schools serving grades 6-8 in traditional regular education classrooms within Region #30 in the State of Illinois. Three data collection instruments were utilized in this study. Subjects' mean scores from the Leadership Style Assessment for Classroom Teachers - Self (Hayden, 1982) and Other were compared with mean scores attained on the Classroom Behavior Management Checklist. Findings revealed that a positive correlation was achieved between the Leadership Style Assessment for Classroom Teachers and the Classroom Behavior Management Checklist beyond the predetermined level of significance (Olds, 1938 and Fisher & Yates, 1963).

In today’s industry, many occupations require manpower resources to include both labor and cognitive resources. As the technology is rapidly changing and businesses are becoming more dependent on cognitive performance, it is essential to find any effect physical stress might have on task performance. Situational awareness is also becoming an integral part of human task performance. It is critical for many operations to design systems such that the effects of physical stress, however minute, on task performance and situational awareness are considered. The test methodology developed here measures the effect of stress on cognitive task performance as a result of situational awareness related to the task. The test measured and compared task capacity among different age groups and different working groups. A comparison was made on task performance based on the effects of low level physical stress and lack of it. Response time and accuracy were measured for statistical analysis. The subject’s stress levels were measured before starting the test to create a baseline for the candidates stress level. The developed tool was able to detect the effect of stress on task performance successfully and efficiently. Subjects with previous work experience performed better both in Phase I and Phase II of the experiment as compared to subjects with no previous work experience. The analysis indicates low level stress does have significant effects on task performance. In reality, stress is an unavoidable factor in daily activities. When designing any system that requires cognitive tasks, stress needs to be considered as a contributing factor to the variability of operation.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

A new approach was taken to identify a specific construct or dimension being measured by a video-based situational judgment test (VBSJT). Appropriate exertion of control was specifically explored in relation to a VBSJT test designed for entry-level selection of law enforcement officers. Ratings from ten law enforcement experts were utilized to identify this construct. The VBSJT items scored toward overexertion of control were significantly related to performance (r = .23) in a sample of 334 incumbent police officers, capturing a large portion of the effective variance of the test which had an overall validity of r = .34. Situational variables within the items were then compared to ratings of exertion of control within a sample of 5426 applicants. General provocation toward overexertion of control and ethnicity significantly affected appropriate exertion of control. Gender and likeability also had significant impact on appropriate exertion, but the practical significance was limited. Specific character manipulations (i.e., rudeness, aggressiveness, pleasantness, cooperativeness, sympathy, and suspiciousness) also had a significant impact on appropriate exertion of control. Specific information manipulations (i.e., warrants, complaints, contemptible crimes and laws being broken) also had an impact on appropriate exertion of control. Some unexpected findings suggest that the character manipulations may actually override the effect of other provocation. The overexertion of control scale was also applied to test hypotheses about the likely behavior of police officers. It was found that the location of the organization had an affect on overexertion of control. Contrary to the hypothesis, suburban locations had more overexertion of control than urban locations. Length of tenure for police officers did not have an effect on overexertion of control. This difference did not affect validity across organizations. Implications and further research are discussed. / Ph. D.