Predicting jurors' decisions: The effects of repeated expression and forewarning in civil voir dire

To help lawyers uncover jurors' attitudes and predict verdict, litigation experts recommend that attorneys encourage jurors to repeatedly express their attitudes during voir dire. While social cognitive literature has established that repeated expression of attitudes increases accessibility and behavior predictability, the persuasive twist on the method exercised in trials deserves empirical investigation. Only one study has examined the use of repeated expression within a legal context with the results finding that the tactic increased accessibility, but did not influence the attitude verdict relationship. This dissertation reexamines the ability of civil attitudes to predict verdict in a civil trial and investigates the use of repeated expression as a persuasive tactic utilized by both parties (Plaintiff and Defense) within a civil voir dire in an attempt to increase attitudinal strength, via accessibility, and change attitudes to better predict verdict. This project also explores potential moderators, repetition by the opposing party and the use of a forewarning, to determine their ability to counter the effects of repeated expression on attitudes and verdict.^ This dissertation project asked subjects to take on the role of jurors in a civil case. During the voir dire questioning session, the number of times the participants were solicited to express their attitudes towards litigation crisis by both parties was manipulated (one vs. five). Also manipulated was the inclusion of a forewarning statement from the plaintiff, within which mock jurors were cautioned about the repeated tactics that the defense may use to influence their attitudes. Subsequently, participants engaged in a response latency task which measured the accessibility of their attitudes towards various case-related issues. After reading a vignette of a fictitious personal injury case, participants rendered verdict decisions and responded to an attitude evaluation scale. Exploratory factor analyses, Probit regressions, and path analyses were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that the act of repeated expression influenced both the accessibility and value of litigation crisis attitudes thus increasing the attitude-verdict relationship, but only when only one party engaged in it. Furthermore, the forewarning manipulation did moderate the effect of repeated expression on attitude change and verdict, supporting our hypothesis.^

Development and validation of an instrument to predict online student success using faculty perceptions

Distance learning is growing and transforming educational institutions. The increasing use of distance learning by higher education institutions and particularly community colleges coupled with the higher level of student attrition in online courses than in traditional classrooms suggests that increased attention should be paid to factors that affect online student course completion. The purpose of the study was to develop and validate an instrument to predict community college online student course completion based on faculty perceptions, yielding a prediction model of online course completion rates. Social Presence and Media Richness theories were used to develop a theoretically-driven measure of online course completion. This research study involved surveying 311 community college faculty who taught at least one online course in the past 2 years. Email addresses of participating faculty were provided by two south Florida community colleges. Each participant was contacted through email, and a link to an Internet survey was given. The survey response rate was 63% (192 out of 303 available questionnaires). Data were analyzed through factor analysis, alpha reliability, and multiple regression. The exploratory factor analysis using principal component analysis with varimax rotation yielded a four-factor solution that accounted for 48.8% of the variance. Consistent with Social Presence theory, the factors with their percent of variance in parentheses were: immediacy (21.2%), technological immediacy (11.0%), online communication and interactivity (10.3%), and intimacy (6.3%). Internal consistency of the four factors was calculated using Cronbach's alpha (1951) with reliability coefficients ranging between .680 and .828. Multiple regression analysis yielded a model that significantly predicted 11% of the variance of the dependent variable, the percentage of student who completed the online course. As indicated in the literature (Johnson & Keil, 2002; Newberry, 2002), Media Richness theory appears to be closely related to Social Presence theory. However, elements from this theory did not emerge in the factor analysis.

Graduate program culture and intention to persist: Working adults in cohort and non-cohort programs

Cohort programs have been instituted at many universities to accommodate the growing number of mature adult graduate students who pursue degrees while maintaining multiple commitments such as work and family. While it is estimated that as many as 40–60% of students who begin graduate study fail to complete degrees, it is thought that attrition may be even higher for this population of students. Yet, little is known about the impact of cohorts on the learning environment and whether cohort programs affect graduate student retention. Retention theory stresses the importance of the academic department, quality of faculty-student relationships and student involvement in the life of the academic community as critical determinants in students' decisions to persist to degree completion. However, students who are employed full-time typically spend little time on campus engaged in the learning environment. Using academic and social integration theory, this study examined the experiences of working adult graduate students enrolled in cohort (CEP) and non-cohort (non-CEP) programs and the influence of these experiences on intention to persist. The Graduate Program Context Questionnaire was administered to graduate students (N = 310) to examine measures of academic and social integration and intention to persist. Sample t tests and ANOVAs were conducted to determine whether differences in perceptions could be identified between cohort and non-cohort students. Multiple linear regression was used to identify variables that predict students' intention to persist. While there were many similarities, significant differences were found between CEP and non-CEP student groups on two measures. CEP students rated peer-student relationships higher and scored higher on the intention to persist measure than non-CEP students. The psychological integration measure, however, was the strongest predictor of intention to persist for both the CEP and non-CEP groups. This study supports the research literature which suggests that CEP programs encourage the development of peer-student relationships and promote students' commitment to persistence.

The economic well -being of low -income immigrants in the U.S.: An examination of the impact of the 1996 welfare reform on immigrants

The 1996 welfare reform, for the first time in U.S. history, set a five-year residence requirement for immigrants to be eligible for federal welfare benefits. This dissertation assessed the impact of the 1996 welfare reform, specifically the immigrant provisions, on the economic well-being of low-income immigrants. This dissertation also explored the roles that migration selection theory and social capital theory play in the economic well-being of low-income immigrants. ^ This dissertation was based on an analysis of the March 1995, March 2002, and March 2006 Annual Demographic Supplement Files of the Current Population Survey (CPS). Both logistic regression and multiple regression were used to analyze economic well-being, comparing low-income immigrants with low-income citizens. Economic well-being was measured in the current survey year and the year before on the following variables: employment status, full-time status (35 or more hours per week), the number of weeks worked, and the total annual wage or salary.^ The major findings reported in this dissertation were that low-income immigrants had advantages over low-income citizens in the labor market. This may be due to immigrants' stronger motivation to obtain success, consistent with migration selection theory. Also, this research suggested that immigrant provisions had not ameliorated employment outcomes of low-income immigrants as policymakers may have expected.^ The study also confirmed the role of social capital in advancing the economic well-being of qualified immigrants. Ultimately, this dissertation contributed to our understanding of low-income immigrants in the U.S. The study questioned the claim that immigrants are attracted to the U.S. by welfare benefits. This dissertation suggested that immigrants come to the U.S., to a large extent, to pursue the goal of upward mobility. Consequently, immigrants may employ greater initiative and work harder than native-born Americans.^

Commitment language as a predictor of alcohol and marijuana use outcomes among adolescents in school -based group treatment

Despite widespread recognition of the problem of adolescent alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse, research on its most common treatment modality, group work, is lacking. This research gap is alarming given that outcomes range from positive to potentially iatrogenic. This study sought to identify change mechanisms and/or treatment factors that are observable within group treatment sessions and that may predict AOD use outcomes. This NIH (F31 DA 020233-01A1) study evaluated 108, 10-19 year olds and the 19 school-based treatment groups to which they were previously assigned (R01 AA10246; PI: Wagner). Associations between motivational interviewing (MI) based change talk variables, group leader MI skills, and alcohol and marijuana use outcomes up to 12-months following treatment were evaluated. Treatment session audio recordings and transcripts (1R21AA015679-01; PI: Macgowan) were coded using a new discourse analysis coding scheme for measuring group member change talk (Amrhein, 2003). Therapist MI skills were similarly measured using the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity instrument. Group member responses to commitment predicted group marijuana use at the 1-month follow up. Also, group leader empathy was significantly associated with group commitment for marijuana use at the middle and ending stages of treatment. Both of the above process measures were applied in a group setting for the first time. Building upon MI and social learning theory principles, group commitment and group member responses to commitment are new observable, in-session, process constructs that may predict positive and negative adolescent group treatment outcomes. These constructs, as well as the discourse analysis method and instruments used to measure them, raise many possibilities for future group work process research and practice.

Efficacy of educational interventions to reduce homophobia on the *college campus

Homophobic attitudes, irrational fears and negative attitudes against gay men and lesbians exist on the college campus (Lance, 2002; Rankin, 2003). Educators wishing to change these attitudes need to know what types of intervention would be effective. This investigation empirically assessed the degree of homophobia in a group of college students, and changes in the degree of homophobia following two levels of educational intervention that were rooted in educational theories and social contact theory. A 25-item scale developed by Hudson and Ricketts to measure the degree of negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians was used in English classes at a southeastern university. This study examined the relationship between different demographic groups and the degree of change obtained as a result of the interventions. ^ Findings did not suggest that either interaction with gay men and lesbians in the form of a speaker panel or viewing a “coming out” episode of the Ellen show reduced homophobia to a significant extent. Results did demonstrate the Caribbeans and right wing authoritarians tend to be more homophobic. Post hoc analysis investigated factors that may have contaminated the interventions. Speaker Identification was a significant predictor of change in degree of homophobia. ^

Efficacy of Educational Interventions to Reduce Homophobia on the College Campus

Homophobic attitudes, irrational fears and negative attitudes against gay men and lesbians exist on the college campus (Lance, 2002; Rankin, 2003). Educators wishing to change these attitudes need to know what types of intervention would be effective. This investigation empirically assessed the degree of homophobia in a group of college students, and changes in the degree of homophobia following two levels of educational intervention that were rooted in educational theories and social contact theory. A 25-item scale developed by Hudson and Ricketts to measure the degree of negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbians was used in English classes at a southeastern university. This study examined the relationship between different demographic groups and the degree of change obtained as a result of the interventions. Findings did not suggest that either interaction with gay men and lesbians in the form of a speaker panel or viewing a “coming out” episode of the Ellen show reduced homophobia to a significant extent. Results did demonstrate the Caribbeans and right wing authoritarians tend to be more homophobic. Post hoc analysis investigated factors that may have contaminated the interventions. Speaker Identification was a significant predictor of change in degree of homophobia.

A conceptualização de RAIVA na perspectiva da Teoria Cognitiva da Metáfora: uma análise da emergência de sentido

The objective of this research is to describe and analyze in literary corpus, the way we conceptualize emotions, especially anger. Using the assumptions of the call Cognitive Theory of Metaphor, present a general overview of cognition metaphor on the basis of Cognitive Linguistics, and in a deeper way, we analyze the metaphorical conceptualization of anger. The proposal embodied mind, prevalent in current cognitive science, is fundamental for studies involving mental simulation. Recent research shows that the metaphor is the result of cognitive processes that involve our perception sensorimotor combined with socio-cultural experiences. The ability to build via frequency standards for our experiments is crucial to our language, including metaphorical constructions. Such constructions are the result of cognitive processes that involve the relationship between image schemas and frames. Image schemas comes from our sensorimotor experience, which lists the limits of our bodies to the limits of our surroundings, and frames, in turn, comes from our ability to stock sociocultural events. The metaphorical construction is the result of this constant relationship between body, mind and culture, situating us in bodily experiences and cultural. By analyzing five national literary works, we created an analytical framework on how anger is understood, specifically in Portuguese language. The results are important to understand, through language, how culture is part of our cognition, in conjunction with the sensorimotor aspects.

A docência na educação infantil: representações sociais dos professores cursistas do proinfantil do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte sobre o trabalho docente

The overall objective of this research is to identify and analyze social representations of (the) teachers(the) Ranciere the Initial Training Program for Teachers in Office in Early Childhood Education - PROINFANTIL - UFRN/MEC on the teaching work, seeking to identify their constituent elements and understand the dynamics of your organization. We assume that these teachers work fundamentally, in the institutions of Early Childhood Education, with knowledge of common sense and related cultural inherent to be/do professor in the design of education guardian/giving handouts to ensure the physical integrity of children, causing a rift between the caring and educating. From this general objective, we elected as specific objectives: identify the social, economic and cultural backgrounds of these (the) teachers (sa); identify what is teaching work for them (the) as well as identify which the psychosocial implications driven by RS on teaching work that point to tensions between the training and the exercise teacher as activity profissional.Como theoretical foundation we opted for Social Representations Theory of Moscovici (2003), Jodelet (2001); Specificities of the teaching Work in Early Childhood Education: Kramer (2002; 2006); OliveiraFormosinho (2007); Zilma de Oliveira (2007), Teacher Training: Ramalho, Nunez and Galthier (2003) and Tardif and Lessard (2008), content Analysis: Bardin (2004). As methodological procedure, we chose the Central Nucleus theory, developed by Jean Claude Abric (2000). Contributed to the scope of this objective the 171 teachers (the) that concluded the Proinfantil NBs to participate of TALP with justifications. The corpus arising from evocations around the words suggested by Carlos Chagas Foundation: give classrooms, teacher, pupil and added the word Child Education, were subjected to a treatment with the aid of the EVOC software (2000), identifying the central nucleus. The results indicate the words more evoked and significant: Planning, child care, educating, and play. Indicating that for these (the) teachers (the) the teaching work in Early Childhood Education must have a systematic pedagogical to educate children. These words correspond to the specificity of being/doing teaching in Early Childhood Education. However, the data shows that it is a job with different characteristics of the teaching work in other stages of education

Narratividade e estruturas cognitivas: o encontro entre a linguagem, a cognição e a experiência sociocultural

This work is within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics, which, as opposed to generative modular approach posits that language is not autonomous but part of human cognition manifest mental processing, socio-cultural and bodily experiences. Our goal is to describe and analyze cognitive mechanisms of understanding who work in the formal and meaningful organization of the narrative. In order to study and verification of this phenomenon, this project was based in the theoretical framework of Rapaport et al (1994) with the treatment of deictic center, Zwaan (1999) and Zwaan and Radvansky (1998) with situation models, Minsky (1974) with the concept frame, Johnson (1987) and Duke and Costa (2012) with pictorial schemes. To this end, we focused on the deictic perspective (WHERE, WHEN, WHO), social cognitive structures (frames) and body (pictorial diagrams) and the situation of models built by compreendedor from these cognitive structures. Methodologically, it is a qualitative research (BAUER and GASKELL, 2002), of interpretive base (MOITA LOPES, 1994), based on introspection (Talmy, 2005). The corpus selected is a sample of twelve texts written by 8th grade students, whose production consists of fictional narrative, the production of diary pages. The analyses were conducted by cognitive structures known as constructional blocks (BCs)(SANTOS, 2011), which guid the discussion about how we build understanding and creation of meanings in narratives. The result shows that the narrative events are mentally represented by the understander that conceives a deictic center and that, guided by it, has access to understanding and construction of meaning in narrative by means of cognitive domains established by bodily and socio-cultural experiences.

Gestão e gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos: diretrizes jurídico-ambientais para a sustentabilidade

rates in the Brazilian cities, which time there is an inexistent theoretical reflection about public policy statement adding the way of Urban Solid Waste (USW) and tailing integrated management plans in the majorly Brazilian cities. The unappropriated solid waste disposal and final pollution result in a strong socioenvironmental problems and material extravagancies that should be used to recycling and reusing waste material, besides bringing immense challenges for the thematic Strategy Urban and Environmental Management it considers the Sustainable City Model. Moreover, this labor projects a discussion about USW problematic through legally and environmentally point of view, including the public environmental policy and the social technologies as resolution tactics. At that time, it reports rights, scientific articles, documents and Environmental Law Doctrine on findings thematic studies, also the propose displays an interdisciplinary research methodology which combines bibliographic method - focusing theory aspects of the legally environmentally guiding principle, public policy and social technologies. Those are theorist features very important to create a Municipal Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan (PMGIRS) - modus operandi of the Federal Law n. 12.305/2010 (National Solid Waste Policy - PNRS). That policy is interesting to receive financial resources from federal government (Cities Ministry; idem, Federal Decree n. 7.404/2010 and Federal Law n. 10.257/2001) helping the preservation of the environment, regional development, generation of jobs and income (art. 6º), in addition broadening spreading’s private companies dedicated to waste management. Consequently, the PNRS contains a set of guidelines and general procedures; it should be an operation of this legal policy contextualized by Social Technologies theory (TS) into social issues, legal, economic and environmental aspects. Therefore, this research notes the possibility of public policy statement implementation over and done with the PNRS by the terms of development and sustainability in the urban space.

Restorative Justice and Political Forgiveness: A Comparative Study of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions

This research project involves a comparative, cross-national study of truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs) in countries around the world that have used these extra-judicial institutions to pursue justice and promote national reconciliation during periods of democratic transition or following a civil conflict marked by intense violence and severe human rights abuses. An important objective of truth and reconciliation commissions involves instituting measures to address serious human rights abuses that have occurred as a result of discrimination, ethnocentrism and racism. In recent years, rather than solely utilizing traditional methods of conflict resolution and criminal prosecution, transitional governments have established truth and reconciliation commissions as part of efforts to foster psychological, social and political healing.

The primary objective of this research project is to determine why there has been a proliferation of truth and reconciliation commissions around the world in recent decades, and assess whether the perceived effectiveness of these commissions is real and substantial. In this work, using a multi-method approach that involves quantitative and qualitative analysis, I consider the institutional design and structural composition of truth and reconciliation commissions, as well as the roles that these commissions play in the democratic transformation of nations with a history of civil conflict and human rights violations.

In addition to a focus on institutional design of truth and reconciliation commissions, I use a group identity framework that is grounded in social identity theory to examine the historical background and sociopolitical context in which truth commissions have been adopted in countries around the world. This group identity framework serves as an invaluable lens through which questions related to truth and reconciliation commissions and other transitional justice mechanisms can be explored. I also present a unique theoretical framework, the reconciliatory democratization paradigm, that is especially useful for examining the complex interactions between the various political elements that directly affect the processes of democratic consolidation and reconciliation in countries in which truth and reconciliation commissions have been established. Finally, I tackle the question of whether successor regimes that institute truth and reconciliation commissions can effectively address the human rights violations that occurred in the past, and prevent the recurrence of these abuses.

The Political Economy of Climate Adaptation and Environmental Health: The Case of Ethiopia

The environment affects our health, livelihoods, and the social and political institutions within which we interact. Indeed, nearly a quarter of the global disease burden is attributed to environmental factors, and many of these factors are exacerbated by global climate change. Thus, the central research question of this dissertation is: How do people cope with and adapt to uncertainty, complexity, and change of environmental and health conditions? Specifically, I ask how institutional factors, risk aversion, and behaviors affect environmental health outcomes. I further assess the role of social capital in climate adaptation, and specifically compare individual and collective adaptation. I then analyze how policy develops accounting for both adaptation to the effects of climate and mitigation of climate-changing emissions. In order to empirically test the relationships between these variables at multiple levels, I combine multiple methods, including semi-structured interviews, surveys, and field experiments, along with health and water quality data. This dissertation uses the case of Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation, which has a large rural population and is considered very vulnerable to climate change. My fieldwork included interviews and institutional data collection at the national level, and a three-year study (2012-2014) of approximately 400 households in 20 villages in the Ethiopian Rift Valley. I evaluate the theoretical relationships between households, communities, and government in the process of adaptation to environmental stresses. Through my analyses, I demonstrate that water source choice varies by individual risk aversion and institutional context, which ultimately has implications for environmental health outcomes. I show that qualitative measures of trust predict cooperation in adaptation, consistent with social capital theory, but that measures of trust are negatively related with private adaptation by the individual. Finally, I describe how Ethiopia had some unique characteristics, significantly reinforced by international actors, that led to the development of an extensive climate policy, and yet with some challenges remaining for implementation. These results suggest a potential for adaptation through the interactions among individuals, communities, and government in the search for transformative processes when confronting environmental threats and climate change.

The acquisition of abstract words by young infants.

Young infants' learning of words for abstract concepts like 'all gone' and 'eat,' in contrast to their learning of more concrete words like 'apple' and 'shoe,' may follow a relatively protracted developmental course. We examined whether infants know such abstract words. Parents named one of two events shown in side-by-side videos while their 6-16-month-old infants (n=98) watched. On average, infants successfully looked at the named video by 10 months, but not earlier, and infants' looking at the named referent increased robustly at around 14 months. Six-month-olds already understand concrete words in this task (Bergelson & Swingley, 2012). A video-corpus analysis of unscripted mother-infant interaction showed that mothers used the tested abstract words less often in the presence of their referent events than they used concrete words in the presence of their referent objects. We suggest that referential uncertainty in abstract words' teaching conditions may explain the later acquisition of abstract than concrete words, and we discuss the possible role of changes in social-cognitive abilities over the 6-14 month period.

Toddlers' prosocial behavior: from instrumental to empathic to altruistic helping.

The study explored how the meaning of prosocial behavior changes over toddlerhood. Sixty-five 18- and 30-month-olds could help an adult in 3 contexts: instrumental (action based), empathic (emotion based), and altruistic (costly). Children at both ages helped readily in instrumental tasks. For 18-month-olds, empathic helping was significantly more difficult than instrumental helping and required greater communication from the adult about her needs. Altruistic helping, which involved giving up an object of the child's own, was the most difficult for children at both ages. Findings suggest that over the 2nd year of life, prosocial behavior develops from relying on action understanding and explicit communications to understanding others' emotions from subtle cues. Developmental trajectories of social-cognitive and motivational components of early helping are discussed.