Theoretical Modeling for Curious Leadership and Instrument Development and Validation for Measuring Curious Leader Capacity

When curious, we admit we do not know. With the contemporary workplace emerging through increased complexity, leaders are compelled to shift mindsets and practices from more traditional methods to those more in service to the uncertainty of the day. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to generate an integrated theoretical framework for curious leadership, a validated scale for its measurement, and practical methods for engaging differently in the context and practice of leading. Drawing from the literature review of relational leadership, adaptive leadership, complexity leadership, growth mindsets, and curious behavior, and from my practice, 12 sub-constructs were identified as possible scale components of curious leader behavior. A mixed-methods approach was taken with three differently composed focus groups who reviewed the 12 sub-constructs and honed them to four based on their intersections in Phase 1 of the study. In Phase 2, a survey was thereby developed identifying 66 items for further subsequent appraisal. A finalized survey was undertaken with 274 respondents. From principal and confirmatory factor analysis, four sub-scales were eventually identified: Encourage Emergence, Enable Openness, Engage Experiments, and Honor Humanness resulting in the development of the Gick Curious Leader Capacity Scale. The scale\u27s application and future implications for research and practice are discussed. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, https://aura.antioch.edu/, and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu

Algorithmic Bayesian Persuasion

Persuasion, defined as the act of exploiting an informational advantage in order to effect the decisions of others, is ubiquitous. Indeed, persuasive communication has been estimated to account for almost a third of all economic activity in the US. This paper examines persuasion through a computational lens, focusing on what is perhaps the most basic and fundamental model in this space: the celebrated Bayesian persuasion model of Kamenica and Gentzkow. Here there are two players, a sender and a receiver. The receiver must take one of a number of actions with a-priori unknown payoff, and the sender has access to additional information regarding the payoffs. The sender can commit to revealing a noisy signal regarding the realization of the payoffs of various actions, and would like to do so as to maximize her own payoff assuming a perfectly rational receiver. We examine the sender's optimization task in three of the most natural input models for this problem, and essentially pin down its computational complexity in each. When the payoff distributions of the different actions are i.i.d. and given explicitly, we exhibit a polynomial-time (exact) algorithm, and a "simple" $(1-1/e)$-approximation algorithm. Our optimal scheme for the i.i.d. setting involves an analogy to auction theory, and makes use of Border's characterization of the space of reduced-forms for single-item auctions. When action payoffs are independent but non-identical with marginal distributions given explicitly, we show that it is #P-hard to compute the optimal expected sender utility. Finally, we consider a general (possibly correlated) joint distribution of action payoffs presented by a black box sampling oracle, and exhibit a fully polynomial-time approximation scheme (FPTAS) with a bi-criteria guarantee. We show that this result is the best possible in the black-box model for information-theoretic reasons

The diffusion of water and aviation fuel in polysulphide sealants

The diffusion and permeation of aviation fuel (Avtur) and water in commercial and 'model' polysulphide sealants have been studied using simple gravimetric techniques. For Avtur, the mass uptake behaviour is explicable in terms of normal, Fickian diffusion, and the diffusion coefficient determined has been found to be independent of the experimental method and concentration of the liquid. Water, however, exhibits anomalous diffusion behaviour. Mass uptake by the polysulphides is high and equilibrium is not reached after several months. There is no correlation between the results of permeation, absorption and desorption experiments except at low water concentration. These anomalies have been explained in terms of the formation of water droplets within the rubber. This study shows that the amount of water absorbed is dependent upon the amount and nature of the curing agent residues. The results have been analysed in terms of the osmotic and water vapour pressure and two equations have been derived which satisfactorily predict the amount of water absorbed at equilibrium. It has been shown that the effect of the water droplets on permeation is negligible, and hence the diffusion coefficient found is a measure of the true rate of diffusion. In contrast, the effect of the droplets on mass uptake experiments is large and the apparent overall diffusion rate is greatly reduced. The apparent diffusion coefficient found is dependent upon the water concentration and the concentration of the water-soluble impurities. An equation has been derived showing the relationship between these variables. The results of this work show that the elastic strength of the rubber has negligible effect in determining the water uptake at equilibrium and the apparent diffusion coefficient. However, deterioration in adhesive and cohesive strength occurs with water uptake. At high uptake some of this loss is irreversible. The deterioration in properties is mainly due to breakage of weak physical bonds and plasticisation effects

Dificultades para codificar, relacionar y categorizar problemas verbales algebraicos: dos estudios con estudiantes de secundaria y profesores en formación

En resolución de problemas verbales por transferencia, la activación de problemas ya conocidos que sirvan de guía, depende de las analogías percibidas entre éstos y el problema a resolver. Se desarrollan dos estudios relacionados para analizar en qué características se basan los estudiantes para codificar problemas y detectar sus analogías, en tareas de categorización (sorting). Se utilizaron técnicas cuantitativas y cualitativas combinadas. Primero se analizó cómo los estudiantes de secundaria son influidos por diferentes variables características de problemas de ciencias. Una gran proporción de sujetos no fue capaz de percibir las analogías y diferencias adecuadas entre problemas. El segundo estudio trató de avanzar una explicación de estos resultados. El nivel académico y la familiaridad con las temáticas fueron factores significativos, pero los futuros profesores participantes mostraron demasiadas dificultades, alertando sobre la conveniencia de revisar algunos supuestos instruccionales habituales

Posterior Beta and Anterior Gamma Oscillations Predict Cognitive Insight

Pioneering neuroimaging studies on insight have revealed neural correlates of the emotional “Aha!” component of the insight process, but neural substrates of the cognitive component, such as problem restructuring (a key to transformative reasoning), remain a mystery. Here, multivariate electroencephalogram signals were recorded from human participants while they solved verbal puzzles that could create a small-scale experience of cognitive insight. Individuals responded as soon as they reached a solution and provided a rating of subjective insight. For unsolved puzzles, hints were provided after 60 to 90 sec. Spatio-temporal signatures of brain oscillations were analyzed using Morlet wavelet transform followed by exploratory parallel-factor analysis. A consistent reduction in beta power (15–25 Hz) was found over the parieto-occipital and centro-temporal electrode regions on all four conditions—(a) correct (vs. incorrect) solutions, (b) solutions without (vs. with) external hint, (c) successful (vs. unsuccessful) utilization of the external hint, and d) self-reported high (vs. low) insight. Gamma band (30–70 Hz) power was increased in right fronto-central and frontal electrode regions for conditions (a) and (c). The effects occurred several (up to 8) seconds before the behavioral response. Our findings indicate that insight is represented by distinct spectral, spatial, and temporal patterns of neural activity related to presolution cognitive processes that are intrinsic to the problem itself but not exclusively to one's subjective assessment of insight

Fostering students’ evaluation behaviour while searching the internet

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