Current Search: hedonics (x)
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Title
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ASSOCIATION BETWEEN UNIRHINAL OLFACTORY PROCESSING AND SELF-REPORTED EMPATHY IN SCHIZOPHRENIA.
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Creator
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Kamath, Vidyulata, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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Empathy represents one multifaceted component of social cognition that is thought to be significantly impaired in individuals with schizophrenia. Psychophysical tasks of smell identification and hedonic processing of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant odors share common neural networks involved in empathy. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between odor identification, odor ratings, and self-reported empathy in 25 outpatients with schizophrenia and 25 nonpsychiatric individuals. Group...
Show moreEmpathy represents one multifaceted component of social cognition that is thought to be significantly impaired in individuals with schizophrenia. Psychophysical tasks of smell identification and hedonic processing of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant odors share common neural networks involved in empathy. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between odor identification, odor ratings, and self-reported empathy in 25 outpatients with schizophrenia and 25 nonpsychiatric individuals. Group differences on empathy scores and unirhinal smell identification performance (with hedonic and intensity ratings) were examined, along with the relationships between smell identification scores, self-reported empathy, and schizophrenia symptomatology. The preliminary findings suggest that individuals with schizophrenia display significant differences from controls on measures of self-reported empathy, odor identification, and hedonic ratings of odors. Deficits in self-reported global and affective empathy were influenced by group and sex, whereas cognitive empathy was reduced across all patients in comparison to controls. Patients displayed reduced unirhinal odor identification accuracy for pleasant but not neutral or unpleasant odors in comparison to controls. Central to the overall aim of the current study, a robust positive correlation was observed between left- and right-nostril hedonic ratings for pleasant odors and self-reported global and affective empathy scores across all participants. In patients, we also found a statistical trend between affective empathy and left-nostril identification accuracy across all odors. Collectively, the results lend support to the role of olfactory-limbic brain regions in the hedonic processing of odors and suggest that aberrant performance observed in schizophrenia may be related to abnormalities in the anatomical and physiological substrates that also subserve empathy.
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Date Issued
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2009
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Identifier
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CFE0002759, ucf:48132
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002759
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Title
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EFFECTS OF REAL ESTATE CYCLES ON RESIDENTIAL AMENITY VALUES FOR WATER RESOURCES.
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Creator
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Hillard, Amy, Milon, Walter, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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Little research has been conducted on the effects of housing price cycles on preferences for environmental landscape attributes over time (Cho, Kim, & Roberts, 2011). If the economic value of scarce resources like water resource amenities depends on consumer preferences, then it is useful to address possible effects of cyclical variation in the housing market on these values. This issue is addressed in the primary research question for this thesis: Did the 2007-2009 recession and consequent...
Show moreLittle research has been conducted on the effects of housing price cycles on preferences for environmental landscape attributes over time (Cho, Kim, & Roberts, 2011). If the economic value of scarce resources like water resource amenities depends on consumer preferences, then it is useful to address possible effects of cyclical variation in the housing market on these values. This issue is addressed in the primary research question for this thesis: Did the 2007-2009 recession and consequent real estate bust affect marginal willingness to pay for water resource amenities for properties in proximity to the lower St. Johns River (SJR) in Duval County, FL? Prior published studies on the most recent real estate cycle were used to evaluate the timing of housing market impacts during the most recent recession. Also, sales price and sales volume distributions for Duval County were evaluated to compare trends. Based on prior research and results, three separate hypotheses were generated and tested using the hedonic pricing method for residential properties in Duval County. The first hypothesis was that the recent recession impacted the implicit prices of water resource amenities for residential properties in proximity to the SJR. Two separate regression models were developed to test different recession periods (2007-2012 and 2008-2012) based on sample data. Time fixed effect binary variables were used to construct recession interaction effects with water related amenities (proximity to the SJR as well as tributary and riverfront properties). Results showed that during the recession period, sales prices for houses further away from the river experienced a greater negative impact than those closer to the river. This result is similar to research by Cohen, Coughlin, and Lopez (2012) who suggest that, higher priced or high tier residential houses (in this case, those closer to river) tend to hold their value more than low tier residential houses. Also, consistent with research by Bin, Czajkowski, Jingyuan, and Villarini (2015), sales prices for tributary and riverfront homes were not impacted by the recession. A second hypothesis was developed to test whether sales prices for houses in Duval County recovered to pre-recession levels. A regression model was constructed with a separate recession interaction effect variable for 2013-2015 and results indicated that the housing market did not make a full recovery from the recession. A final hypothesis was developed on the significance of interaction variables water quality indicator Chlorophyll-A and a recession effects binary variable. All water quality interaction variables introduced within the model were not significant at the 1% or 5% levels. Future research might include testing interactions with parcel land area and recession time effects and also examining other water quality indicators including Secchi Disk, dissolved oxygen, or turbidity. It may also be useful in the future to use an alternative method of measuring implicit prices of environmental characteristics, such as the repeat sales method.
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Date Issued
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2015
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Identifier
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CFH0004890, ucf:45423
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004890
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Title
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A HEDONIC ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF EXPERT WINE RATINGS ON PRICE AND RETAILER PROFITS.
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Creator
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Neill, Kaitlin, Caputo, Michael, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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During the last few decades, economists have become interested in the wine industry and several of them have focused on the determinants of price. One characteristic that has been identified as an important determinant is expert wine ratings. Much of the previous research on this topic has focused on relating expert grades to the retail price of wine. Using proprietary data, this paper will test whether these grades influence retail prices as well as retailer profits and wholesale pricing. By...
Show moreDuring the last few decades, economists have become interested in the wine industry and several of them have focused on the determinants of price. One characteristic that has been identified as an important determinant is expert wine ratings. Much of the previous research on this topic has focused on relating expert grades to the retail price of wine. Using proprietary data, this paper will test whether these grades influence retail prices as well as retailer profits and wholesale pricing. By analyzing an individual wholesale firm in South Florida and their distribution network, this paper determines the effect expert ratings have on these dependent variables. Empirical evidence confirms that expert ratings have a positive effect on wholesale and retail wine prices and that they exhibit a parallel influence on retailer profits. This thesis aims to contribute new information to aid both the end consumers purchasing decisions as well as busi-ness pricing strategies.
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Date Issued
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2011
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Identifier
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CFH0004129, ucf:44879
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004129
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Title
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Comparative Analysis of The Effects Of Virtual Reality Active Video Game And Controller-Free Active Video Game Play On Physiological Response, Perceived Exertion, And Hedonic Experience.
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Creator
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Wooden, Shanon, McCauley, Pamela, Rabelo, Luis, Karwowski, Waldemar, Fukuda, David, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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Over 60% of US adults are overweight or obese. Sedentary lifestyles are considered major contributors to the high rates and increasing prevalence of obesity. Physical activity is a critical component in shifting from sedentary lifestyles. Studies indicate that less than half of U.S. adults meet the CDC/ACSM physical activity recommendations. Interactive video games can increase PA, but no study has yet assessed physiologic effort, hedonics, and perceived exertion for playing immersive virtual...
Show moreOver 60% of US adults are overweight or obese. Sedentary lifestyles are considered major contributors to the high rates and increasing prevalence of obesity. Physical activity is a critical component in shifting from sedentary lifestyles. Studies indicate that less than half of U.S. adults meet the CDC/ACSM physical activity recommendations. Interactive video games can increase PA, but no study has yet assessed physiologic effort, hedonics, and perceived exertion for playing immersive virtual reality (VR) and controller-free screen-based active video games (AVGs), compared to treadmill walking and resting. We ran 25 subjects (9 female, 16 male) in 10-minute sessions of five conditions. Head Mounted Display VR: Oculus (Fruit Ninja and Boxing), Screen-based AVG: Kinect (Fruit Ninja and Boxing), and Treadmill walking at 3 mph. One, six-condition (Rest, Treadmill 3.0, Kinect Boxing, Kinect Fruit Ninja, Oculus Boxing, Oculus Fruit Ninja) repeated-measures ANOVA was used to examine differences in HRmean. Three, five-condition (Treadmill 3.0, Kinect Boxing, Kinect Fruit Ninja, Oculus Boxing, Oculus Fruit Ninja) repeated-measures ANOVA were used to examine differences in HRpeak, ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and Hedonics (Liking). Post hoc analyses using pairwise comparisons were used to further assess significant main effects of the condition. A Pearson's product-moment correlation was run to assess the relationship between activity condition HRmean and RPE VR Boxing elicited the greatest physiological effort, producing vigorous-intensity PA. There was no significant difference in average heart rate for the Treadmill, Kinect Fruit Ninja, Kinect Boxing, and VR Fruit Ninja. Thus, the Kinect and VR sport and casual games are comparable to treadmill walking PA levels and qualify as moderate-intensity activity. The VR Fruit Ninja, VR Boxing, Kinect Fruit Ninja were the most enjoyed activities. Despite having the highest Heart rate and the highest self-reported Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE), VR Boxing was significantly more enjoyable than Treadmill Walking. There was no statistically significant correlation between Activity Condition HRmean and RPE.Both casual and sports VR and AVG activities are enjoyable activities for adults, stimulating moderate-to-vigorous activity through a traditionally sedentary medium. This research extends previous works in active video gaming effects on physiological cost, perceived exertion and hedonics and fills the gap relating virtual reality active video games. The significance of the research outcomes is that this analysis provides a scientifically validated approach to support the establishment of physical activity level goals and guidelines in the development of active video games as a response and/or remedy to address the sedentary lifestyles that are contributing to American and global obesity.
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Date Issued
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2018
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Identifier
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CFE0007383, ucf:52065
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007383
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Title
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HEDONIC PROPERTY VALUE MODELING OF WATER QUALITY, LAKE PROXIMITY, AND SPATIAL DEPENDENCE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA.
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Creator
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Walsh, Patrick, Milon, J. Walter, University of Central Florida
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Abstract / Description
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Hedonic property value analysis is one of the leading methods of environmental valuation. This non-market technique uses variation in home sales to infer the values of amenities or disamenities. While there have been numerous studies about air quality and hazardous waste, the number of papers focusing on water quality is much smaller. Consequently, there are still many unanswered questions about the proper handling of water quality through hedonic methods. Furthermore, estimates from hedonic...
Show moreHedonic property value analysis is one of the leading methods of environmental valuation. This non-market technique uses variation in home sales to infer the values of amenities or disamenities. While there have been numerous studies about air quality and hazardous waste, the number of papers focusing on water quality is much smaller. Consequently, there are still many unanswered questions about the proper handling of water quality through hedonic methods. Furthermore, estimates from hedonic property price analyses are rarely used in government cost benefit analyses. This dissertation investigates several important hedonic issues in a large analysis of water quality in central Florida. The first chapter of this paper explores the extent of water quality benefits. Almost all past studies have focused exclusively on waterfront homes. The present paper includes non-waterfront homes and investigates three hypotheses about the marginal impact of water quality. The first hypothesis is that non-waterfront homes are positively affected by water quality, but by a smaller amount than waterfront homes. The second hypothesis is about the effect of lake distance on the relationship between water quality and property prices: this relationship should be negative. The third hypothesis states that properties near larger lakes have a higher implicit price for water quality than homes around smaller lakes, all else constant. These three hypotheses are investigated in each chapter of the dissertation, and provide a unifying theme to the paper. Results from Chapter 1 support all three hypotheses. Most importantly, the empirical estimates indicate that water quality benefits extend beyond the waterfront in a declining gradient. Excluding non-lakefront homes from the analysis can therefore substantially underestimate the total benefits of a water quality improvement. Estimates of the total property price benefits from a one foot increase in water quality were found to double with the addition of non-waterfront homes. The second chapter examines the sensitivity of results to several spatial specifications. Spatial issues can be a problem in analyses of real estate data because of spatially correlated variables, unobservable neighborhood codes and covenants, identical or similar builders, and property appraisal valuation techniques. The focus of the chapter is on the spatial weights matrix (SWM). Six different SWM's are constructed, which are based on popular specifications encountered in the current spatial hedonic literature. An out-of-sample forecasting exercise is used to compare multiple spatial specifications. Results indicate that certain spatial models may be sensitive to the specification of the weights matrix. Furthermore, many popular models currently used in the literature could be improved by allowing more non-zero elements in the SWM. The third chapter investigates the definition of "water quality" and uses several additional quality indicators. Choosing the proper pollution indicator is an issue that has plagued many areas of the valuation literature. While clarity indicators have become popular in hedonic property price analysis, they are not used for the purposes of regulation by many state environmental departments. This chapter uses several indicators that are used by the state of Florida to classify lakes and implement policy. Implicit prices are computed for all of the indicators and issues of benefit extent and total benefits are explored. Instead of finding an optimal indicator for all situations, results indicate that the use of at least two types of indicators may capture a larger range of the true total benefits. The final chapter uses a repeat sales model to address potential problems with omitted variable bias. Due to the size of the data set in this paper, there are a substantial number of homes that have sold more than once. The repeat sales model analyzes differences in property sales prices for the same home over time. The three hypotheses of the first chapter are explored in this alternative model. The implicit price obtained from the repeat sales model is much larger than the regular hedonic model. However, there are some concerns with the smaller population of repeat sales.
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Date Issued
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2009
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Identifier
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CFE0002717, ucf:48154
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002717