Browsing by Subject "Performance"
Now showing 1 - 20 of 134
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item A comparison of the performance of structured and unstructured groups in three levels of time pressure(Texas Tech University, 1999-12) Sprague, Vicki L.Few comparisons of structured and unstructured group performance in various stressfiil situations exist (e.g., Sprague, 1997; Worchel & Shackelford, 1991; Urban, Bowers, Monday, & Morgan, 1995). Given that time pressure Is the most common stressor in organizations. Experiment 1 compared the performance of three-member structured and unstructured groups in three time-pressure condhions. Structured and unstructured group performance was also compared to the performance of nominal groups. A 3 (no, low, and high levels of time pressure) x 5 (structured and unstructured groups and the best, middle, and worst members of nominal groups) ANOVA using the quaUty of group performance as the dependent variable revealed that structured and unstructured group performance did not differ significantly. The quality of structured and unstructiued group performance was significantly lower than the best nominal groupmember, indicating that structured and unstructured groups experienced a process loss when working on the logic problem task. Although performance quaUty differed significantly between all three time-pressure condhions, the predicted curvilinear relationship between time pressure and performance did not occur. Finally, the rate of group performance did not differ significantly across the three time-pressure conditions. Experiment 2, in a test of the social entrainment hypothesis proposed by Kelly, McGrath, and colleagues (e.g., Kelly & Karau, 1993; Kelly & McGrath, 1985; McGrath & Kelly, 1986), compared the performance of structured, unstructured, and nominal groups in two consecutive high time-pressure conditions. A 5 (structured and unstructured groups and the best, middle, and worst nominal group members) x 2 (costume and skiing versions of the logic problem task) mixed subjects ANOVA revealed that groups and Individuals worked at a lower rate in the second consecutive high timepressure condhion than in the first condhion. This unpredicted finding was attributed to the fact that groups and individuals faced a problem of capability when working on the logic problem task (i.e., the demands of the task exceeded available processing resources; Kelly, Futoran, & McGrath, 1990). Possible explanations for the lack of significant differences between structured and unstructured group performance and the failure to find the predicted curvilinear relationship between time pressure and performance quality are explored.Item A Scalable Framework for Parallelizing Sampling-Based Motion Planning Algorithms(2014-04-29) Jacobs, Samson AdeMotion planning is defined as the problem of finding a valid path taking a robot (or any movable object) from a given start configuration to a goal configuration in an environment. While motion planning has its roots in robotics, it now finds application in many other areas of scientific computing such as protein folding, drug design, virtual prototyping, computer-aided design (CAD), and computer animation. These new areas test the limits of the best sequential planners available, motivating the need for methods that can exploit parallel processing. This dissertation focuses on the design and implementation of a generic and scalable framework for parallelizing motion planning algorithms. In particular, we focus on sampling-based motion planning algorithms which are considered to be the state-of-the-art. Our work covers the two broad classes of sampling-based motion planning algorithms--the graph-based and the tree-based methods. Central to our approach is the subdivision of the planning space into regions. These regions represent sub- problems that can be processed in parallel. Solutions to the sub-problems are later combined to form a solution to the entire problem. By subdividing the planning space and restricting the locality of connection attempts to adjacent regions, we reduce the work and inter-processor communication associated with nearest neighbor calculation, a critical bottleneck for scalability in existing parallel motion planning methods. We also describe how load balancing strategies can be applied in complex environments. We present experimental results that scale to thousands of processors on different massively parallel machines for a range of motion planning problems.Item Akoben : performance, politics and foundational narratives of Blackness(2015-12) Soares, Maria Andrea dos Santos; Vargas, João Helion Costa; Gordon, Edmund; James, Joy; Jones, Omi Joni; Hale, CharlesThis work investigates Black performances and the performance of Blackness as expression of narratives centered in the fact of existing in this world while a Black being. The themes investigated in this study are ontology, performance, and politics of Blackness deployed by Black Brazilian artists in Rio de Janeiro. In March 2012, several Black artists mobilized to protest against the systematic exclusion of artists and cultural producers of African descent from Brazilian state-sponsored funding opportunities. The Akoben movement—a word that represents the Adinkra symbol meaning “War Horn”—has the goals of Akoben of: to demand transparency from the state in funding decisions, to assure that selection committees will represent Brazilian diversity, and to implement Affirmative Action policies in state-sponsored funding opportunities. Departing from the review of how cultural expressions and art forms associated with African descendants have been used, I will discuss how Akoben brings questions of cultural appropriation and of material and symbolic alienation as effects of racism to the forefront of public debate. I will also discuss the subject of state co-optation of Black activists and the withdrawal of leaders from the social movement to engage within the state or with political parties. In the process of engaging with the state, the Akoben mobilization creates grounds for a racial identity that these artists’ aesthetic creations and activist trajectories feed. Such aesthetic and political processes resist material and symbolic forms of racial subjugation while simultaneously creating a space for exchange and learning, for the establishment of professional networks, and for political action. However, the internal contradictions and limitations, the disputes generated from alignments of Black social movements and of individuals with state institution and political parties, constrain the possibilities of more radical projects of Black liberation either in political, in aesthetic or in ontological terms.Item An evaluation of the effects of vigilance performance upon the automatic process of frequency estimation(Texas Tech University, 1986-05) Brenner, Richard NeilPast research has shown that subject gender and mental load may have significant effects upon performance. In studies where gender differences have been reported, males have been found to be superior to females on vigilance tasks. However, it was suggested here that this is resultant from traditional male superiority on symbolic tasks, in that vigilance tasks have traditionally utilized symbolic stimuli. It was expected that the traditional performance, as would increased mental load. The Hasher and Zacks' (1979) hypothesis of event frequency as an automatic process was examined, as subjects in this study were asked to estimate the frequency of the stimuli they saw during the vigilance phase of the experiment. The automaticity • hypothesis in question suggests that frequency estimation should not be affected by subjects' performance on a distractor task, assuming exposure to the stimuli to be tested is sufficient. The vigilance task served as a means of measuring subjects' attention to the to-be-tested stimuli. It was hypothesized here that, contrary to the automaticity hypothesis, vigilance performance would be positively related to frequency estimation performance. It was found that for verbal stimuli, males and females performed equally on both vigilance and frequency estimation tasks, and that performance was better for verbal stimuli than for symbolic stimuli on both tasks. Males outperformed females on vigilance for symbolic stimuli, providing some support for the concept that male vigilance superiority is related to the type of information presented. While the automaticity hypothesis does not explain why frequency estimation of symbolic stimuli is poorer than that of verbal stimuli, the lack of a clear relationship between attention and frequency estimation found in this study does support Hasher and Zacks' contention.Item An investigation of the effect of spacing of practice on the performance-efficacy relationship(2009-05-15) Bhupatkar, Alok AshutoshThe objective of the current study was to investigate the relationship between training performance and self?efficacy using a longitudinal design (approximately 11 weeks) in the context of massed and distributed practice. Limited attention in the training performance and efficacy literature has been paid to the spacing of practice (massed and distributed). However, it is conceivable that both the spacing of practice as well as the time frames over which it operates could influence the performance and efficacy relationship. Based on the practice schedule (massed versus distributed) and longitudinal study design, it was posited that the nature of the performance and efficacy relationship is likely to be quite different during two phases of learning (acquisition and reacquisition). Data were obtained from 198 undergraduate students over an 11?week training protocol using a 2 (distributed versus massed acquisition) ? 2 (distributed versus massed reacquisition) ? 16 (session) mixed design. Contrary to the first set of hypotheses, results indicated that the performance and efficacy relationship did not vary as a function of practice protocols (massed versus distributed) during acquisition and reacquisition. Also, no support was found for the hypothesis that the performance and efficacy relationship will vary as a function of whether the practice condition during acquisition is the same or different from the practice condition during reacquisition such that the relationships will be stronger when the practice condition is the same as opposed to when it is different. However, support was found for the hypothesis that when past performance is controlled the unique contribution of self?efficacy to subsequent task performance will be attenuated. Implications of these findings for research on the performance and efficacy relationship and training practice are discussed.Item An investigation of the relationship between similarity in cognitive processing and time-sharing performance in a computer-windowing environment(Texas Tech University, 1994-05) Eaglin, Jennifer WillisRecent advancements in computer systems have led to highly complex human-computer interfaces. One of the most notable developments is the multiple-window display technology which allows the user of a computer generated display to simultaneously access and act upon multiple sources of information (Gaylin, 1986). Although preliminary research involving computer windowing has been favorable, little research is available concerning the effects of window management techniques on operator performance involving complex, concurrent task combinations. Furthermore, some information processing theories indicate that human time-sharing capabilities may be affected by various task factors. This study examined possible performance variations that may result from combinations of cognitive tasks presented via computer generated multiple-window displays. The experiment employed a computerized assessment battery. Complex Cognitive Assessment Battery (CCAB), to generate four sets of dual tasks that varied in terms of cognitive processing similarity. The results suggested that similarity of cognitive processes affected time-sharing task performance. Specifically, subjects' performances were not affected by task similarity in the single-task conditions; however, performance levels for one of the dual tasks decreased as the similarity of cognitive processes in the multi-task conditions decreased. Additionally, test assessment procedures significantly affected subjects' response strategies. Subjects performed tasks with freestyle solutions more slowly but more accurately than tasks with multiple-choice answers. These findings were translated into design considerations for real-world systems.Item Analysis of performance and reliability of offshore pile foundation systems based on hurricane loading(2011-05) Chen, Jiun-Yih; Gilbert, Robert B. (Robert Bruce), 1965-; Stokoe, II, Kenneth H.; Manuel, Lance; Bickel, J. Eric; Murff, James D.Jacket platforms are fixed base offshore structures used to produce oil and gas in relatively shallow waters worldwide. Their pile foundation systems seemed to perform better than what they were designed for during severe hurricanes. This observation has led to a common belief in the offshore oil and gas industry that foundation design is overly conservative. The objective of this research is to provide information to help improve the state of practice in designing and assessing jacket pile foundations to achieve a consistent level of performance and reliability. A platform database consisting of 31 structures was compiled and 13 foundation systems were analyzed using a simplified foundation collapse model, supplemented by a 3-D structural model. The predicted performance for most of the 13 platform foundations is consistent with their observed performance. These cases do not preclude potential conservatism in foundation design because only a small number of platform foundations were analyzed and only one of them actually failed. The potential failure mechanism of a foundation system is an important consideration for its performance in the post-hurricane assessment. Structural factors can be more important than geotechnical factors on foundation system capacity. Prominent structural factors include the presence of well conductors and jacket leg stubs, yield stress of piles and conductors, axial flexibility of piles, rigidity and strength of jackets, and robustness of foundation systems. These factors affect foundation system capacity in a synergistic manner. Sand layers play an important role in the performance of three platform foundations exhibiting the largest discrepancy between predicted and observed performance. Site-specific soil borings are not available in these cases. Higher spatial variability in pile capacity can be expected in alluvial or fluviatile geology with interbedded sands and clays. The uncertainties in base shear and overturning moment in the load are approximately the same and they are slightly higher than the uncertainty in the overturning capacity of a 3-pile foundation system. The uncertainty in the overturning capacity of this foundation system is higher than the uncertainty in shear capacity. These uncertainties affect the reliability of this foundation system.Item Analysis of supervisor's expectations concerning extension agent performance(Texas Tech University, 1983-12) Wright, Susan ENot availableItem Applying the performance concepts of Eugenio Barba to the stage direction of "The Romance of Erin"(2008-05) Marshall, Brian; Chansky, Dorothy; Mann, LaurinIn the fall semester of the 2006-2007 school year, I directed James McDermott’s play, The Romance of Erin, as part of Texas Tech University’s Lab Theatre Season. I directed the play in order to fulfill the requirements of the Department of Theatre and Dance’s Master of Fine Arts in Performance and Pedagogy degree plan. I also directed the play with the knowledge that it would be the subject of a thesis that would be an additional requirement for the completion of my desired degree. What follows is the thesis that resulted from my work as the director of The Romance of Erin. In giving my account of my direction of McDermott’s script, I discuss my preparations for directing it, an analysis of the script in terms of how I believed it could be communicated to and received by an audience, and an account of the actual rehearsal and production process that resulted. More specifically, I detail how I applied the performance and directing concepts of Eugenio Barba in addressing the challenges with which the script presented me in both the preparation and actual directing processes. I also employ the idea of open and closed performances in Marco De Marinis’s essay, “Dramaturgy of the Spectator,” in order to argue that the intention of Barba’s productions is to invite a plurality of interpretations among spectators, and that The Romance of Erin has the potential to also invite this plurality until its final scenes in which it explains itself to the audience. Finally, I describe how I was able to integrate both the performance techniques of Barba (who rejects “realism” on stage) with acting techniques associated with the Method.Item Approaches to the performance of the Odyssey(2010-08) Tosa, Dygo Leo; Beck, Deborah; Palaima, Thomas G.This report examines different approaches to the performance of the Odyssey. The first approach focuses on the internal evidence of the Odyssey, looking at how the Homer’s poems define the singer as a type. The second approach analyzes a selection of sources from the classical period that attests to the performance of the Odyssey. The third approach uses material evidence as a means to reconstruct the music of performance. The internal evidence provides a consistent model for performance that can be correlated with external context. This model can then be used to show how the Odyssey makes use of its own performance. These approaches demonstrate that the material of the poem provides the most compelling account of performance of the Odyssey. The Odyssey presents a consistent model of performance that describes the performer, the manner of performance, and makes use of performance in its own poetry.Item Automatic static analysis of software performance(2016-05) Olivo, Oswaldo Luis; Lin, Yun Calvin; Dillig, Isil; Dillig, Thomas; Lahiri, Shuvendu; Shmatikov, VitalyPerformance is a critical component of software quality. Software performance can have drastic repercussions on an application, frustrating its users, breaking the functionality of its components, or even rendering it defenseless against hackers. Unfortunately, unlike in the program verification domain, robust analysis techniques for software performance are almost non-existent. In this thesis we formalize important classes of performance-related bugs and security vulnerabilities, and implement novel static analysis techniques for automatically detecting them in widely used open-source applications. Our tools are able to uncover 92 performance bugs and 47 security vulnerabilities, while analyzing hundreds of thousands of lines of code and reporting a modest amount of false positives. Our work opens a new avenue for research: the development of rigorous automatic analyses for effective software performance understanding, inspired by traditional research in functional verification.Item The body rockers : New Orleans "Sissy” Bounce and the politics of displacement(2013-12) Chapman, Alix Andrew; Smith, Christen A., 1977-; Costa-Vargas, Joao H.; Gordon, Edmund T.; Jones, Omi Joni L.; Gill, Lyndon; Allen, Jafari S.This dissertation in an ethnographic analysis of the ways in which black cultural performance is mobilized to produce and maintain social relationships and space in times of economic and sociocultural displacement. New Orleans Bounce music is a dynamic cultural performance of locality and blackness that prompts conflicting debates about the meaning of identity, place, and cultural heritage in “post-Katrina” New Orleans. Focusing on “Sissy” Bounce, an emergent subgenre defined by sexuality and gender, I investigate its significance as an expression of blackness marked by deviance within the socio-historical context of "post-Katrina" New Orleans. Specifically, the project frames “Sissy” Bounce as a cultural medium for the production of black space in a time of crisis, and argues that Bounce's symbolic form frames "queerness" as a tool of survival for young black people facing the politics of displacement, disorientation, and disaster. The quick rise of Bounce to national popularity has made it representational of the deviant black dancing body within the national imagination. Consequently, this dissertation also asks how these dances and representations effect meanings of blackness at home and throughout the nation? What does the resonance of “Sissy” Bounce in New Orleans and among its diaspora tell us about the political significance of queerness and displacement as nodal points of the contemporary black experience in the United States? The “Sissy” Bounce music scene’s ubiquity points to the resilience of black people living on the margins of family, community, and nation.Item Bridging theatre and visual art : the role of an applied theatre practitioner in a fine art museum(2011-05) Genshaft, Lindsay Michelle; Alrutz, Megan; Dawson, Kathryn; Garner, JenniferThis thesis document details the theoretical and practical implications of using theatrical techniques and drama-based instruction in the visual art museum setting. Presented are four diverse museum theatre programs created and implemented at The Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin. These programs support the argument that drama-based instruction and theatrical techniques can help deepen and/or complicate the notion of visitor engagement in a visual art museum. The theoretical underpinnings of museum theatre are investigated by examining elements of applied theatre and museum learning and the progressive education theory which shapes their practice. The belief is put forth that creative participation in museum education is essential for personal and critical connection with visual art. Theatre is a dynamic and powerful tool to support this creative participation. Findings include recommendations for utilizing museum theatre programming implemented by an applied theatre practitioner as it promotes the use of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, engages the senses, and stimulates meaningful dialogue.Item Bringing lIfe to life : cultivating authenticity, freedom, and holistic integration in the art and practice of acting(2013-05) Kimball, Elizabeth Lee; Abraham, Lee E.This MFA thesis document explores the development of my acting craft and artistic development over a three-year period of intensive graduate training. The document includes an in-depth discussion of the preparation, rehearsal, and performance process of my culminating graduate production – Suzan Zeder’s The Edge of Peace – as it relates to my approaches to acting. The document also includes a discussion of various other areas of my acting process, including the importance of bringing my authentic self to every role, letting go of results, and the integration of body, voice, heart, and mind as well as the productions and experiences in my graduate work that proved essential to the development of these practices.Item Choreographing borderlands : Chicanas/os, dance, and the performance of identities(2015-12) Salinas, Roén René; Rossen, Rebecca; Canning, Charlotte; Gutiérrez, Laura; Jones, Joni L.; Bonin-Rodriguez, Paul“Choreographing Borderlands: Chicanas/os, Dance, and the Performance of Identities” examines the unexplored work of barrio-based dancemakers who choreograph and rehearse the diverse political, cultural and emotional contours of Chicana/o life, thought, and borderlands worldviews. As creative concert dance practices that figuratively and literally per/form at the margins, the borders of both American and Mexican national cultures, I argue Chicana/o concert dance operates as an embodied site to house memory, acts as an important archive for Chicana/o history, structures space to interrogate culture, and in the process asserts a new aesthetics (repertoire) for Chicana/o dance and American concert dance more broadly. My project departs from the 1960-70s Chicano Arts Movement and situates today’s contemporary works within the cultural and artistic legacies produced through decades of innovation and reinvention. My dissertation brings the fields of dance, performance, and Mexican-American/Chicana/o Studies into conversation to consider the Chicana/o dance body as a site for identity production and contributes to larger conversations about race, class, gender and ethnicity and how they are per/formed through body and movement. The choreographies I analyze are Danza Floricanto/USA’s Alma Llanera: Spirit of the Plains (2009, 2014), Guadalupe Dance Company’s Historias y Recuerdos (2010), Latina Dance Project’s Coyolxauhqui ReMembers (2009), and the Aztlan Dance Company’s Loterialandia (2013). These case studies illustrate how dance chronicles Chicana/o barrio history, claims agency to remake tradition, and opens space to articulate contemporary Chicana/o aesthetics in movement culture. Each chapter is arranged thematically around recurring Chicana/o tropes and aesthetics practices. By locating Chicana/o choreographers and their respective companies in space, place, and time, I demonstrate how dancemakers actively participate in giving voice, body, and visibility to Chicana/o subjectivity through dance and contribute to larger genealogies and trajectories of Chicana/o cultural production and performance.Item Come, let's wrestle : language and the struggle for authority in online Persian social networking sites(2016-05) Afrasiabi, Dena; Atwoord, Blake Robert, 1983-; Brustad, Kristen; Keating, Elizabeth; Urrieta, Luis; Aghaie, KamranThis dissertation builds on prior scholarship in linguistic anthropological studies of performance to examine transnational spaces in online social networks where members of the Iranian diaspora use emerging technologies to interact with one another in ways that highlight the tensions between them. The focal point of this project will be the Facebook page Iranian Vines, which features short (5-15 second long) comedic videos that address issues unique to the experiences of Iranians living in diaspora. While many second-generation Iranians use online spaces to linguistically construct a hybridized identity, first-generation Iranians use these same spaces to evaluate the authenticity of these constructed identities by policing the language used by performers and deciding on the linguistic legitimacy of their performances. I argue that the performative nature of the Iranian Vines page creates a space for first-generation Iranians to respond to global sociolinguistic hierarchies that value English over Persian by acting as gatekeepers of Iranian authenticity through linguistic prescriptivism. Second-generation Iranians, on the other hand, use performance to decontextualize (and thus make visible) the moments of difference that define their particular vantage point and to acquire sociolinguistic capital through humor. These performers use “identity-switching,” a practice in which they juxtapose performances of non-Iranian and Iranian identity for comedic effect to challenge sociolinguistic hierarchies within the Iranian community that value monolingualism or parallel bilingualism. A core focus of this dissertation will be the ways that emerging technologies shape power relations between members of this community by making visible the processes by which members of ethnolinguistic communities negotiate the relationship between identity and language.Item Comparison of Different Forms of Creatine on Creatine Availability, Retention, and Training Adaptations(2013-03-25) Jagim, Andrew RyanThe purpose of this study was to determine if a buffered creatine monohydrate (KA) that has been purported to promote greater creatine retention and training adaptations with fewer side effects at lower doses is more efficacious than creatine monohydrate (CrM) supplementation in resistance-trained individuals. In a double-blind manner, 36 resistance-trained participants (20.2?2 years, 181?7 cm, 82.1?12 kg, and 14.7?5 % body fat) were randomly assigned to supplement their diet with CrM or KA at two different dosages. Muscle biopsies from the vastus lateralis, fasting blood samples, body weight, DEXA determined body composition, and Wingate Anaerobic Capacity (WAC) tests were performed at 0, 7, and 28-days while 1RM strength tests were performed at 0 and 28-days. Data were analyzed by a repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and are presented as mean ? SD changes from baseline after 7 and 28-days, respectively. Muscle free creatine content obtained in a subgroup of 25 participants increased in all groups over time (p=0.03) after 7 and 28-days, respectively, with no significant differences among groups (p=0.46). Although some significant time effects were observed, no significant group x time interactions (p>0.05) were observed in changes in body mass, fat free mass, fat mass, percent body fat, or total body water; bench press and leg press 1RM strength; WAC mean power, peak power, or total work; serum blood lipids, markers of catabolism and bone status, and serum electrolyte status; or, whole blood markers of lymphocytes and red cells. Neither manufacturers recommended doses (1.5 g/d) or KA with equivalent loading (20 g/d for 7-days) and maintenance doses (5 g/d for 21-days) of CrM promoted greater changes in muscle creatine content, body composition, strength, or anaerobic capacity than CrM (20 g/d for 7-days, 5 g/d for 21-days). There was no evidence that supplementing the diet with a buffered form of creatine resulted in fewer side effects than CrM. These findings do not support claims that consuming a buffered form of creatine is a more efficacious and/or safer form of creatine to consume than creatine monohydrate.Item Comparison of mother-child interactions in hyperactive and nonhyperactive groups under distraction conditions(Texas Tech University, 1978-08) Lundy, Nancy CatherineNot availableItem Conversation with an Apple : play development as movement-building against mass incarceration(2015-05) Goodnow, Natalie Marlena; Gutierrez, Laura G., 1968-; Alrutz, Megan; Jones, Omi Osun Joni L.This reflective practitioner research project explores if and how viewing and responding to drafts of my original solo play in development, "Conversation with an Apple," contributes to efforts to build a movement against mass incarceration, with a particular focus on dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline. I draw upon Michelle Alexander's theorization of mass incarceration in the United States, social movement theory elaborated and archived by contemporary activists, and theories in performance and affect studies to contextualize my investigation. I describe how I utilized Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process to elicit audience responses to staged readings of "Conversation with an Apple," and also how I employed modified grounded theory techniques to analyze those responses. I then explain how insights gained through these methodologies informed revisions of the "Conversation with an Apple" script and my plans for future post-show workshops. I conclude with an evaluation of the usefulness of these play development and research methodologies in my artistic practice. I find that both Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process and the modified grounded theory analysis I utilized, along with a return to my guiding theoretical frameworks, contributed meaningfully to my reflective practice, yielding several key insights. First, I discovered that the play does seem to have the potential to raise consciousness among audience members regarding multiple manifestations of mass incarceration as it affects young people, although I decided that a few key mechanisms of mass incarceration might be more fully elaborated through script revisions. Second, I found that when audiences responded to the play, the shared experience of viewing the performance functioned as a springboard for conversation about other shared experiences in their lives, thus building a sense of community in at least a small way. I also theorize that the act of transmitting heightened affect together while viewing this play built community. Finally, my analyses revealed that although some audience members felt outraged at the realities of mass incarceration and inspired to make a change, many felt hopeless after viewing the play. These analyses informed my most significant revisions to the "Conversation with an Apple" script and plans for post-show workshops.Item Coordination, natural and concocted groups, and dyadic performances(Texas Tech University, 1989-12) Staples, Jane GregoryThe majority of the group Hterature has been generated in a laboratory setting using concocted groups. A large portion of this Hterature is based on the ad hoc laboratory group, the most restrictive of all of the types of concocted groups. Concocted groups are social units that are composed of an arbitrary combination of individuals, previously unacquainted, brought together to participate in an experimental study. In contrast, natural groups are intact social units or systems that exist independent of any research study. The central thmst of this study was to examine the influence of the personal predisposition of Team Task Motivation (TTM) on dyadic performance in natural and concocted groups. Team Task Motivation, a subscale of the Worker Motivation Scale, measures the degree of individual motivation to aid the group in attaining its task. Previous research has demonstrated a positive relationship between I'lM and effective helping among group members. More specifically, groups composed of individuals scoring high on TTM outperformed groups scoring low on TTM. Also, it has been demonstrated that effective helping resulted in increased group productivity in the groups scoring high on TTM. Subsequent smdies have provided inconsistent or partial support for these findings. A total of 90 general psychology subjects and their friends played a series of motorattention performance games designed to differ in the degree of cognitive demand, interdependency, and system stability. Additionally, the task was designed to provide ample rewards or reinforcements for individuals predisposed to prominence seeking or team task motivation. Subjects performed the task with either their friend of with a stranger. The results of this study did not support TTM as a predictor of helping behavior, the correlations between TTM scores and the amount of helping behaviors exhibited were essentiaUy zero. Members of natural dyads exhibited significandy more helping behaviors than members of concocted dyads, but the increased helping did not convert into higher group performances. The results of this study are discussed in the context of other studies involving TTM, helping behavior, and group performance. Finally, recommendations for future research are discussed.