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Attitudes are "the most distinctive and indispensable concept in contemporary social psychology" (Allport, 1935, p. 798). This outstanding position of the attitude concept in social cognitive research is not only reflected in the innumerous studies focusing on this concept but also in the huge number of theoretical approaches that have been put forth since then. Yet, it is still an open question, what attitudes actually are. That is, the question of how attitude objects are represented in memory cannot be unequivocally answered until now (e.g., Barsalou, 1999; Gawronski, 2007; Pratkanis, 1989, Chapter 4). In particular, researchers strongly differ with respect to their assumptions on the content, format and structural nature of attitude representations (Ferguson & Fukukura, 2012). This prevailing uncertainty on what actually constitutes our likes and dislikes is strongly dovetailed with the question of which processes result in the formation of these representations. In recent years, this issue has mainly been addressed in evaluative conditioning research (EC). In a standard EC-paradigm a neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus, CS) is repeatedly paired with an affective stimulus (unconditioned stimulus, US). The pairing of stimuli then typically results in changes in the evaluation of the CS corresponding to the evaluative response of the US (De Houwer, Baeyens, & Field, 2005). This experimental approach on the formation of attitudes has primarily been concerned with the question of how the representations underlying our attitudes are formed. However, which processes operate on the formation of such an attitude representation is not yet understood (Jones, Olson, & Fazio, 2010; Walther, Nagengast, & Trasselli, 2005). Indeed, there are several ideas on how CS-US pairs might be encoded in memory. Notwithstanding the importance of these theoretical ideas, looking at the existing empirical work within the research area of EC (for reviews see Hofmann, De Houwer, Perugini, Baeyens, & Crombez, 2010; De Houwer, Thomas, & Baeyens, 2001) leaves one with the impression that scientists have skipped the basic processes. Basic processes hereby especially refer to the attentional processes being involved in the encoding of CSs and USs as well as the relation between them. Against the background of this huge gap in current research on attitude formation, the focus of this thesis will be to highlight the contribution of selective attention processes to a better understanding of the representation underlying our likes and dislikes. In particular, the present thesis considers the role of selective attention processes for the solution of the representation issue from three different perspectives. Before illustrating these different perspectives, Chapter 1 is meant to envision the omnipresence of the representation problem in current theoretical as well as empirical work on evaluative conditioning. Likewise, it emphasizes the critical role of selective attention processes for the representation question in classical conditioning and how this knowledge might be used to put forth the uniqueness of evaluative conditioning as compared to classical conditioning. Chapter 2 then considers the differential influence of attentional resources and goal-directed attention on attitude learning. The primary objective of the presented experiment was thereby to investigate whether attentional resources and goal-directed attention exert their influence on EC via changes in the encoding of CS-US relations in memory (i.e., contingency memory). Taking the findings from this experiment into account, Chapter 3 focuses on the selective processing of the US relative to the CS. In particular, the two experiments presented in this chapter were meant to explore the moderating influence of the selective processing of the US in its relation to the CS on EC. In Chapter 4 the important role of the encoding of the US in relation to the CS, as outlined in Chapter 3, is illuminated in the context of different retrieval processes. Against the background of the findings from the two presented experiments, the interplay between the encoding of CS-US contingencies and the moderation of EC via different retrieval processes will be discussed. Finally, a general discussion of the findings, their theoretical implications and future research lines will be outlined in Chapter 5.
Startups are essential agents for the evolution of economies and the creative destruction of established market conditions for the benefit of a more effective and efficient economy. Their significance is manifested in their drive for innovation and technological advancements, their creation of new jobs, their contribution to economic growth, and their impact on increased competition and increased market efficiency. By reason of their attributes of newness and smallness, startups often experience a limitation in accessing external financial resources. Extant research on entrepreneurial finance examines the capital structure of startups, various funding tools, financing environments in certain regions, and investor selection criteria among other topics. My dissertation contributes to this research area by examining the becoming increasingly important funding instrument of venture debt. Prior research on venture debt only investigated the business model of venture debt, the concept of venture debt, the selection criteria of venture debt providers, and the role of patents in the venture debt provider’s selection process. Based on qualitative and quantitative methods, the dissertation outlines the emergence of venture debt in Europe as well as the impact of venture debt on startups to open up a better understanding of venture debt.
The results of the qualitative studies indicate that venture debt was formed based on a ‘Kirznerian’ entrepreneurial opportunity and venture debt impacts startups positive and negative in their development via different impact mechanisms.
Based on these results, the dissertation analyzes the empirical impact of venture debt on a startup’s ability to acquire additional financial resources as well as the role of the reputation of venture debt providers. The results suggest that venture debt increases the likelihood of acquiring additional financial resources via subsequent funding rounds and trade sales. In addition, a higher venture debt provider reputation increases the likelihood of acquiring additional financial resources via IPOs.
The Second Language Acquisition of English Non-Finite Complement Clauses – A Usage-Based Perspective
(2022)
One of the most essential hypotheses of usage-based theories and many constructionist approaches to language is that language entails the piecemeal learning of constructions on the basis of general cognitive mechanisms and exposure to the target language in use (Ellis 2002; Tomasello 2003). However, there is still a considerable lack of empirical research on the emergence and mental representation of constructions in second language (L2) acquisition. One crucial question that arises, for instance, is whether L2 learners’ knowledge of a construction corresponds to a native-like mapping of form and meaning and, if so, to what extent this representation is shaped by usage. For instance, it is unclear how learners ‘build’ constructional knowledge, i.e. which pieces of frequency-, form- and meaning-related information become relevant for the entrenchment and schematisation of a L2 construction.
To address these issues, the English catenative verb construction was used as a testbed phenomenon. This idiosyncratic complex construction is comprised of a catenative verb and a non-finite complement clause (see Huddleston & Pullum 2002), which is prototypically a gerund-participial (henceforth referred to as ‘target-ing’ construction) or a to-infinitival complement (‘target-to’ construction):
(1) She refused to do her homework.
(2) Laura kept reading love stories.
(3) *He avoids to listen to loud music.
This construction is particularly interesting because learners often show choices of a complement type different from those of native speakers (e.g. Gries & Wulff 2009; Martinez‐Garcia & Wulff 2012) as illustrated in (3) and is commonly claimed to be difficult to be taught by explicit rules (see e.g. Petrovitz 2001).
By triangulating different types of usage data (corpus and elicited production data) and analysing these by multivariate statistical tests, the effects of different usage-related factors (e.g. frequency, proficiency level of the learner, semantic class of verb, etc.) on the representation and development of the catenative verb construction and its subschemas (i.e. target-to and target-ing construction) were examined. In particular, it was assessed whether they can predict a native-like form-meaning pairing of a catenative verb and non-finite complement.
First, all studies were able to show a robust effect of frequency on the complement choice. Frequency does not only lead to the entrenchment of high-frequency exemplars of the construction but is also found to motivate a taxonomic generalisation across related exemplars and the representation of a more abstract schema. Second, the results indicate that the target-to construction, due to its higher type and token frequency, has a high degree of schematicity and productivity than the target-ing construction for the learners, which allows for analogical comparisons and pattern extension with less entrenched exemplars. This schema is likely to be overgeneralised to (less frequent) target-ing verbs because the learners perceive formal and semantic compatibility between the unknown/infrequent verb and this pattern.
Furthermore, the findings present evidence that less advanced learners (A2-B2) make more coarse-grained generalisations, which are centred around high-frequency and prototypical exemplars/low-scope patterns. In the case of high-proficiency learners (C1-C2), not only does the number of native-like complement choices increase but relational information, such as the semantic subclasses of the verb, form-function contingency and other factors, becomes also relevant for a target-like choice. Thus, the results suggests that with increasing usage experience learners gradually develop a more fine-grained, interconnected representation of the catenative verb construction, which gains more resemblance to the form-meaning mappings of native speakers.
Taken together, these insights highlight the importance for language learning and teaching environments to acknowledge that L2 knowledge is represented in the form of highly interconnected form-meaning pairings, i.e. constructions, that can be found on different levels of abstraction and complexity.
The startle response in psychophysiological research: modulating effects of contextual parameters
(2013)
Startle reactions are fast, reflexive, and defensive responses which protect the body from injury in the face of imminent danger. The underlying reflex is basic and can be found in many species. Even though it consists of only a few synapses located in the brain stem, the startle reflex offers a valuable research method for human affective, cognitive, and psychological research. This is because of moderating effects of higher mental processes such as attention and emotion on the response magnitude: affective foreground stimulation and directed attention are validated paradigms in startle-related research. This work presents findings from three independent research studies that deal with (1) the application of the established "affective modulation of startle"-paradigm to the novel setting of attractiveness and human mating preferences, (2) the question of how different components of the startle response are affected by a physiological stressor and (3) how startle stimuli affect visual attention towards emotional stimuli. While the first two studies treat the startle response as a dependent variable by measuring its response magnitude, the third study uses startle stimuli as an experimental manipulation and investigates its potential effects on a behavioural measure. The first chapter of this thesis describes the basic mechanisms of the startle response as well as the body of research that sets the foundation of startle research in psychophysiology. It provides the rationale for the presented studies, and offers a short summary of the obtained results. Chapter two to four represent primary research articles that are published or in press. At the beginning of each chapter the contribution of all authors is explained. The references for all chapters are listed at the end of this thesis. The overall scope of this thesis is to show how the human startle response is modulated by a variety of factors, such as the attractiveness of a potential mating partner or the exposure to a stressor. In conclusion, the magnitude of the startle response can serve as a measure for such psychological states and processes. Beyond the involuntary, physiological startle reflex, startle stimuli also affect intentional behavioural responses, which we could demonstrate for eye movements in a visual attention paradigm.
As a target for condemnation, the thematic prevalence of racism in African American novels of satire is not surprising. In order to confront this vice in its shifting manifestations, however, the African American satirist has to employ special techniques. This thesis examines some of these devices as they occur in George Schuyler- Black No More, Charles Wright- The Wig, and Percival Everett- Erasure. Given the reciprocity of target and technique in the satiric context, close attention is paid to how the authors under study locate and interrogate racism in their narratives. In this respect, the significance of anti-essentialist Marxist criticism in Schuyler- Black No More and the author- portrayal of the society of his time as capitalist machinery is examined. While Schuyler is concerned with exposing the general socioeconomic workings of the 1920s from a Marxist perspective, Wright offers the reader perspective into how this oppressive machinery psychologically manipulates and corrupts the individual in the historic context of Lyndon B. Johnson- political vision of the Great Society. Everett then elaborates on the epistemological concern which is traceable in Wright- work and addresses the role media representation plays in manufacturing images and rigid categories that shape systematic racism. As such, the present study not only highlights the versatility of satire as a rhetorical secret weapon and thus ventures toward the idiosyncrasies of the African American novel of satire, it also makes an effort to trace the ever-changing face of racial discrimination.
Reptiles belong to a taxonomic group characterized by increasing worldwide population declines. However, it has not been until comparatively recent years that public interest in these taxa has increased, and conservation measures are starting to show results. While many factors contribute to these declines, environmental pollution, especially in form of pesticides, has seen a strong increase in the last few decades, and is nowadays considered a main driver for reptile diversity loss. In light of the above, and given that reptiles are extremely underrepresented in ecotoxicological studies regarding the effects of plant protection products, this thesis aims at studying the impacts of pesticide exposure in reptiles, by using the Common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) as model species. In a first approach, I evaluated the risk of pesticide exposure for reptile species within the European Union, as a means to detect species with above average exposure probabilities and to detect especially sensitive reptile orders. While helpful to detect species at risk, a risk evaluation is only the first step towards addressing this problem. It is thus indispensable to identify effects of pesticide exposure in wildlife. For this, the use of enzymatic biomarkers has become a popular method to study sub-individual responses, and gain information regarding the mode of action of chemicals. However, current methodologies are very invasive. Thus, in a second step, I explored the use of buccal swabs as a minimally invasive method to detect changes in enzymatic biomarker activity in reptiles, as an indicator for pesticide uptake and effects at the sub-individual level. Finally, the last part of this thesis focuses on field data regarding pesticide exposure and its effects on reptile wildlife. Here, a method to determine pesticide residues in food items of the Common wall lizard was established, as a means to generate data for future dietary risk assessments. Subsequently, a field study was conducted with the aim to describe actual effects of pesticide exposure on reptile populations at different levels.
The vision of a future information and communication society has prompted leading politicians in the United States, the European Union and Japan to influence or even lead the economic and social transition in the context of an active technology policy. The technological development of society, however, is a product of a complex interplay of technological, economic and socio-political constraints. These constraints limit the political decision-making and implementation abilities. Moreover, facts and information are continuously changing during a paradigmatic technological, economic and social shift, which limits political decision-making abilities. This study compares political decision-making to promote computer-mediated communications in the Triad since the beginning of the 1980s, on four levels: the development of a political vision, the long-term aims and strategies, technology policy (e.g. the promotion of technological development and competition policy) and regulatory policy (e.g. universal access, protection of privacy and intellectual property). While technology policy tends to be uncontroversial, during a paradigmatic shift regulatory policy is difficult and lengthy. Nevertheless, the inclusion of interest groups, which rise during this paradigmatic shift and which are close to the technologies and their societal consequences, help to aid decision-making processes. In this context, politics in the United States has been more successful that in the European Union and especially Japan. Although this study predates the rise of eCommerce over the Internet, it addresses many of the themes underlying it. Of these themes, many remain politically unsettled, both on national, supranational and especially international levels. For example, for encryption and secure payments, which are necessary for eCommerce, no international standards do yet exist. The issue of taxation has hardly been opened for discussions. In sum, this study does not only offer a historical overview of the development of the Internet, but it also discusses issues of continuing present concern.
The influence of affect on vocal parameters has been well investigated in speech portrayed by actors, but little is known about affect expression in more natural or authentic speech behavior. This is partly due to the difficulty of generating speech samples that represent authentic expression of speaker affect. The present work investigates the influence of speaker affect on the vocal fundamental frequency (F0) in comparatively authentic speech samples. Three well-documented psychophysiological research methods were applied for the induction of affective states in German native speakers in order to obtain speech samples with authentic affect expression: the Cold Pressor Test (CPT), the Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT) and the presentation of slides from the International Affective Pictures System (IAPS). The here reported results show that the influence of affect on F0 is differentially modulated by psychophysiological processes as well as socio-cultural influences. They also indicate that this approach may be useful for future research and further to gain a deeper understanding of authentic vocal affect expression. Moreover, F0 may constitute an additional non-invasive, easy to obtain measure for the established psychophysiological research methodology.
Global food security poses large challenges to a fast changing human society and has been a key topic for scientists, agriculturist, and policy makers in the 21st century. The United Nation predicts a total world population of 9.15 billion in 2050 and defines the provision of food security as the second major point in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. As the capacities of both, land and water resources, are finite and locally heavily overused, reducing agriculture’s environmental impact while meeting an increasing demand for food of a constantly growing population is one of the greatest challenges of our century. Therefore, a multifaceted solution is required, including approaches using geospatial data to optimize agricultural food production.
The availability of precise and up-to-date information on vegetation parameters is mandatory to fulfill the requirements of agricultural applications. Direct field measurements of such vegetation parameters are expensive and time-consuming. On the contrary, remote sensing offers a variety of techniques for a cost-effective and non-destructive retrieval of vegetation parameters. Although not widely used, hyperspectral thermal infrared (TIR) remote sensing has demonstrated being a valuable addition to existing remote sensing techniques for the retrieval of vegetation parameters.
This thesis examined the potential of TIR imaging spectroscopy as an important contribution to the growing need of food security. The main scientific question dealt with the extraction of vegetation parameters from imaging TIR spectroscopy. To this end, two studies impressively demonstrated the ability of extracting vegetation related parameters from leaf emissivity spectra: (i) the discrimination of eight plant species based on their emissivity spectra and (ii) the detection of drought stress in potato plants using temperature measures and emissivity spectra.
The datasets used in these studies were collected using the Telops Hyper-Cam LW, a novel imaging spectrometer. Since this FTIR spectrometer presents some particularities, special attention was paid on the development of dedicated experimental data acquisition setups and on data processing chains. The latter include data preprocessing and the development of algorithms for extracting precise surface temperatures, reproducible emissivity spectra and, in the end, vegetation parameters.
The spectrometer’s versatility allows the collection of airborne imaging spectroscopy datasets. Since the general availability of airborne TIR spectrometers is limited, the preprocessing and
data extraction methods are underexplored compared to reflective remote sensing. This counts especially for atmospheric correction (AC) and temperature and emissivity separation (TES) algorithms. Therefore, we implemented a powerful simulation environment for the development of preprocessing algorithms for airborne hyperspectral TIR image data. This simulation tool is designed in a modular way and includes the image data acquisition and processing chain from surface temperature and emissivity to the final at-sensor radiance data. It includes a series of available algorithms for TES, AC as well as combined AC and TES approaches. Using this simulator, one of the most promising algorithms for the preprocessing of airborne TIR data – ARTEMISS – was significantly optimized. The retrieval error of the atmospheric water vapor during the atmospheric characterization was reduced. As a result, this improvement in atmospheric characterization accuracy enhanced the subsequent retrieval of surface temperatures and surface emissivities intensely.
Although, the potential of hyperspectral TIR applications in ecology, agriculture, and biodiversity has been impressively demonstrated, a serious contribution to a global provision of food security requires the retrieval of vegetation related parameters with global coverage, high spatial resolution and at high revisit frequencies.
Emerging from the findings in this thesis, the spectral configuration of a spaceborne TIR spectrometer concept was developed. The sensors spectral configuration aims at the retrieval of precise land surface temperatures and land surface emissivity spectra. Complemented with additional characteristics, i.e. short revisit times and a high spatial resolution, this sensor potentially allows the retrieval of valuable vegetation parameters needed for agricultural optimizations. The technical feasibility of such a sensor concept underlines the potential contribution to the multifaceted solution required for achieving the challenging goal of guaranteeing global food security in a world of increasing population.
In conclusion, thermal remote sensing and more precisely hyperspectral thermal remote sensing has been presented as a valuable technique for a variety of applications contributing to the final goal of a global food security.
Das erste Kapitel "ECOWAS" capability and potential to overcome constraints to growth and poverty reduction of its member states" diskutiert die Analyse wirtschaftlicher und sozialer Barrieren für ökonomisches Wachstum " eine der Hauptelemente für Entwicklungs- und Armutsreduktionsstrategien in Entwicklungsländern. Die Form der länderspezifischen Analyse von Wachstumsbarrieren wurde nach dem Scheitern der auf alle Länder generalisierten Entwicklungsstrategie des Washington Consensus insbesondere durch den Ansatz der "Growth Diagnostics" der Harvard Professoren Hausman, Rodrik und Velasco eingeführt. Es zeigt sich jedoch, dass bisher der Fokus rein auf den länderspezifischen Analysen bzw. Strategieentwicklungen liegt. Diese Arbeit erweiterte die Diskussion auf die regionale Ebene, indem es beispielhaft an der Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) die länderspezifischen Wachstumsbarrieren mit den regionalen Wachstumsbarrieren vergleicht. Dies erfolgt mittels einer Darstellung der in Studien und Strategien bereits identifizierten, länderspezifischen Wachstumsbarrieren in den jeweiligen Ländern sowie mit der Auswertung der regionalen Strategien der ECOWAS. Dazu wird ermittelt, inwieweit auf der regionalen Ebene auch messbare Ergebnisse bei der Bekämpfung von Wachstumsbarrieren erzielt werden. Es zeigt sich, dass ,trotz der wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Diversität der Region, die ECOWAS den Großteil der in den Ländern identifizierten Wachstumsbarrieren ebenfalls auflistet und darüber hinaus sogar mit messbaren Ergebnissen dazu beiträgt, Veränderungen des Status Quo zu erreichen. Die Erweiterung des Ansatzes der Growth Diagnostics auf die regionale Ebene sowie die Erweiterung um das vergleichende Element von länderspezifischen und regionalen Wachstumsbarrieren zeigen sich als praktikabler Weg, Entwicklungsstrategien auf regionaler Ebene zu prüfen und subsidiär weiterzuentwickeln. Das zweite Kapitel "Simplifying evaluation of potential causalities in development projects using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)" diskutiert die Methode der qualitativen komperativen Analyse (QCA) als Evaluierungsmethodik für Projekte der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit. Hierbei stehen die adäquate Messung sowie die verständliche Darstellung der Wirkung von Entwicklungszusammenarbeit im Vordergrund. Dies ist ein Beitrag zu der intensiv geführten Diskussion, wie Wirkung von Hilfe in Entwicklungsländern gemessen und daraus für weitere Projekte gelernt werden kann. Mit der beispielhaften Anwendung der QCA auf einen Datensatz der deutschen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit im Senegal wird erstmalig diese Methode für die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit in der Praxis angewandt. Der Fokus liegt dabei auf der Überprüfung von bestimmten Programmtheorien, d.h. der Annahme bestimmter Zusammenhänge zwischen eingesetzten Mitteln, äußeren Umständen und den Projektergebnissen bei der Implementierung von Projekten. Während solche Programmtheorien in dem Großteil der Projektskizzen der deutschen Entwicklungszusammenarbeit enthalten sind, werden die wenigsten dieser Programmtheorien geprüft. Diese Arbeit zeigt QCA als eine effiziente Methode für diese Überprüfung. Eine eindeutige Bestätigung oder Falsifizierung dieser Theorien ist mittels dieser Methodik möglich. Dazu können die Ergebnisse bei den beiden einfacheren Formen der QCA, der crisp-set sowie der multi-value QCA, leicht nachvollziehbar vermittelt werden. Des Weiteren zeigt die Arbeit, dass QCA ebenfalls die Weiterentwicklung einer Programmtheorie ermöglicht, allerdings ist diese Weiterentwicklung nur begrenzt effizient und stark von den vorliegenden Daten sowie der Datenstruktur abhängig. Die Arbeit zeigt somit das Potential der QCA insbesondere für den Test von Programmtheorien auf und stellt die praktische Anwendung für mögliche Replizierung beispielhaft dar. Das dritte und letzte Kapitel der Doktorarbeit "The regional trade dynamics of Turkey: a panel data gravity model" analysiert den türkischen Handel, um die Veränderungen der letzten Jahrzehnte aufzuzeigen und daran zu diskutieren, inwieweit sich die Türkei als aufstrebendes Schwellenland von den bestehenden Handelsstrukturen loslöst. Diese Arbeit ist ein Beitrag zur Diskussion der sich Verschiebenden Machtkonstellationen durch das wirtschaftliche Aufholen der Schwellenländer. Bei der Türkei ist diese Diskussion zusätzlich interessant, da die Frage, ob die Türkei sich von der westlichen Welt, Nordamerika und Europa, abwendet, berücksichtigt wird. Mittels Dummy-Variablen für verschiedene Regionen in einem Gravitätsmodell werden die türkischen Handelsdaten zuerst insgesamt und nach Sektoren analysiert und die Veränderungen über verschieden Perioden des türkischen Außenhandels betrachtet. Es zeigt sich, dass in den türkischen Handelsbeziehungen eine Regionalisierung und eine Diversifizierung der Handelspartner stattfinden. Allerdings geht dies nicht mit einer Abkehr von westlichen Handelspartnern einher.