This study examines a new method for conceptualizing and measuring roletaking ability. Role-taking is defined in a manner that facilitates further theory building and testing. The task of designing and validating a measure of role-taking that departs from the self-evaluative measures currently used is undertaken and validated with an experimental design. A computer-based survey instrument is created consisting of video and written vignettes designed to test subjects’ ability to predict their study partner’s behavior. It is found that one type of vignette is more suitable for measuring role-taking accuracy than is the other. Females, regardless of experimental condition, record higher role-taking scores than do their male counterparts. Subjects’ self-reported role-taking accuracy is not correlated with their actual role-taking accuracy scores. Because this is the case, it leads to a re-thinking of the meaning of studies that use self-reported ability as the sole measure of role-taking ability. An additional finding is that participants seem to overestimate individual differences. Personality factors measured by the Big Five Inventory were not correlated with role-taking accuracy.

Adolescents engage in more risky behavior when they are with peers and show heightened susceptibility to peer influence relative to children and adults. Recent experimental studies suggest that peer influence on adolescent risk-taking may be mediated by activity in reward-related regions of the brain (Gardner & Steinberg, 2005; Chein et al., 2011). Because reward-related regions are modified by the hormonal changes of puberty, it is possible that the heightened influence of peers on adolescent risk-taking is more closely linked to pubertal development than chronological age. The current study examined whether the effect of peers on risk-taking was moderated by pubertal status. Participants (62 youth, ages 11-16) completed a performance-based measure of risky decision-making, once alone and once in the presence of two peers. Pubertal timing was assessed using self-report. Adolescents made riskier decisions in the presence of peers, and more advanced pubertal development predicted greater risky decision-making, controlling for chronological age. However, the relationship between pubertal timing and risk-taking was only apparent when adolescents completed the task alone. The effect of peer presence on risky decision-making was attenuated for adolescents with more advanced pubertal development. These findings suggest that the presence of peers may override biologically-based individual differences in propensity for risk-taking. / text

Graduate

Two direct elicitation of utility (D.E.U.) techniques were used to estimate risk attitudes of a group of agricultural producers. The two elicitation techniques used in the study were 1) an error-in-response model using a modified Ramsey method, and 2) stochastic dominance with respect to a function (SDF). The primary objective of the study was to determine whether the two elicitation techniques yield consistent estimates of risk attitudes. A second major objective of the study was to provide additional information about the distribution of risk attitudes among agricultural producers. The study confirmed the results of other research efforts that the majority of risk attitude parameters of agricultural producers lie within the range -.0001 and .001 with income measured in dollars [King and Robison, 1980]. The study also supports previous research results which indicate that a significant portion of decision makers exhibit risk preferring behavior, at least over some ranges of incomes. The error-in-response model classified 38.1% of the respondents as risk preferring, 47.6% as risk neutral, and 14.3% as risk averse. With only one exception, the SDF technique elicited risk preferring attitudes for every respondent over some range of income values. Individual and aggregate tests for decreasing (increasing) absolute risk aversion were conducted. No respondents were found to exhibit increasing or decreasing absolute risk aversion. The statistical comparison of the two elicitation techniques was inconclusive. A paired t-test failed to reject the null hypothesis of no difference in the estimated risk attitudes. However, the correlation between the two measures was virtually zero (-.046) suggesting that the two measures of risk attitudes are not closely related. The two elicitation techniques were also compared on other grounds. Both elicitation techniques are designed to prevent certainty bias that has plagued other D.E.U. methods. The SDF technique is found to be superior in overcoming possible interviewer bias. Neither technique is superior in coping with probability bias. The SDF technique is easier to implement but the error-in- response questionnaire is easier to formulate. The error-in- response model results in a specific estimate of the respondent's risk attitude when the negative exponential utility function is used. Based on the comparisons made in the study, the SDF procedure is considered to be superior to the error-in-response model for eliciting risk attitudes. / Graduation date: 1986

Reliable measurement of student capability for a skill allows educators to verify student mastery. A major part of a physician's ability to gather information involves patient interviewing, and instruction of this skill is a substantial portion of a medical curriculum. Since 1974, the University of Arizona College of Medicine has employed patient-instructors (PIs), lay persons who function in the roles of patient and teacher for training of interview skills in the Preparation for Clinical Medicine (PCM) program. PIs provide "real" patient-interview experiences and immediate feedback to the students. The PCM program currently has four topic areas: Adult, Pediatric, Geriatric, and Psychiatric. The Arizona Clinical Interview Rating (ACIR) Scale was developed in 1976 to measure the technical performance aspects of interviewing. This study was undertaken to determine reliability of the ACIR. Implication of the results are discussed and suggestions made for the continued application of the ACIR Scale. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

No description available.

Thesis advisor: Robert Murphy / Thesis advisor: Hiroshi Nakazato / Microfinance and the notion of helping the poor help themselves by providing small loans to serve as startup capital and encourage entrepreneurship has been increasing in popularity as the new panacea to poverty since its development by Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. In order to accurately identify the validity of this claim, this thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of the academic studies that have been done to date in order to determine what we know about the effectiveness of these programs. By analyzing studies based on three major questions: Who is being studied? What variables are being studied? and How is the analysis done? This research addresses the differences between conclusions and finds that overall, microfinance may be effective for some populations, but is not necessarily worthy of such high acclaim. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: International Studies Honors Program. / Discipline: International Studies.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Boston University. / The aims of this study were: (1) to test whether hypotheses regarding the behavior of schizophrenics which had received support in level of aspiration studies would also be supported by decision theory type chance taking measures; and (2) to examine the kinds of risks toward which schizophrenics were most sensitive. Two theoretical models, decision theory and level of aspiration theory, dealing with decision making in situations involving the threat of failure, were shown to be basically similar in their formulation; they differed, however, in regard to the independence of probability and reward, and the degree of the individual's control over the outcome and the motive of achievement. "Risk," which was considered to be the objective equivalent of the clinical concept "threat of failure," was defined operationally as the negative term of the expected value model (i.e., as the product of the probability of loss and the amount of possible loss). [TRUNCATED]

This study examined the effect a structured note taking technique had upon student achievement and note taking skill. The students' loci of control was determined to examine if this variable had an effect upon the students' achievement after they had received one of three treatment conditions. The three treatment conditions were: no instruction in note taking; instruction and practice from a videotape presentation in the Cornell method of note taking; and the same instruction and practice plus an application component.The sample was one hundred sixty-six students who were enrolled in Reading Improvement winter quarter 1981-1982 at Ball State University. The students were identified as "high risk".The classes were treated as intact groups. A pretest, Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes by Brown and Holtzman, was used to ascertain that initial differences in study habits did not exist. This test also served as a posttest measure. The Internal-External Locus of Control Scale by Rotter was administered to determine the locus of control of each student.Three 3X2X2 univariate analyses of variance were performed on the three dependent measures of Work Habits, Study Habits, and Study Orientation. Due to initial sex and locus of control differences, means were found for each of the following groups: male internals, male externals, female internals, and female externals. Multivariate and univariate statistical procedures were used in analyzing the data. Upon the completion of the study, the students responded to a student evaluation form which was analyzed by Chi-Square statistical procedures.The following conclusions resulted from this study:1. The treatment did not significantly affect the achievement of the students' note taking skill2. Female internals obtained the highest mean scores, and male externals had the lowest mean scores on both the pretest and posttest3. The responses on the student evaluation form were very favorable toward the Cornell methodThe Cornell method did not significantly affect the note taking skill of the students; however, the students reported a favorable impression of the technique. This reinforces the notion that high risk students are receptive to a very structured approach of instruction.

No description available.