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The Effects Of Part-Training On Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Skill Acquisition And Retention, David William Hagedorn

Masters Theses

Many thousands of lives could be saved annually in America with the prompt and correct execution of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The bystander is a vital resource in the basic treatment of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. However, studies have demonstrated that not only is retention of these lifesaving CPR skills poor, but initial acquisition of the CPR skills during training may be inadequate. This paper reviews methods and tools for CPR training, discloses areas of retention loss, and proposes solutions to be explored with further empirical research. With critical skills like CPR, the urgency to better train lay people and medical …

Hiv Prevention And Heterosexual College Students: The Impact Of Video Instruction On The "Safer" Sexual Behaviors Of Sexually Active Men, Cheryl L. Knight

Dissertations

Despite increasing evidence of the heterosexual transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among young adults, research with college students has been primarily restricted to descriptions of the levels of risky behavior and the correlates of that behavior. To date, few experimentally validated HIV prevention programs have been reported. Furthermore, the existing experimental investigations have seldom based an intervention on a thorough analysis of the barriers to the practice of safer sex.

Experiment One surveyed 195 heterosexual college students to assess HIV risk factors, including sexual behavior, risk perception, knowledge and 10 barriers to the consistent practice of "safer" sex. …

An Experimental Analysis Of Instructional Technologies Applied To The Three Contingency Model Of Performance Management, Judith S . Devoe

Dissertations

This research had four goals: (1) to refine the theory of performance management based on rule-governed behavior and refine the three-contingency model of performance. management, (2) to develop a university-level programmed instruction unit to teach the three-contingency model of performance management, (3) to test for functional independence between response classes—using concept-discrimination and concept-exemplification, and (4) to test a common assumption of programmed instruction— the necessity for active responding (this assumption was tested with both concept-discrimination training and concept-exemplification training).

Participants included fifty-nine undergraduates enrolled in a behavior analysis course. They were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (1) the …

Changes In Hypnotizability As A Function Of Suggestion-Based Experimenter Manipulations, Marlin 0. Trulsen

Dissertations

Limited behavioral research exists on the subject of hypnosis. A behavioral perspective maintains that a "responding to hypnosis suggestion" class of behaviors exists for each individual. For individuals more readily responsive to hypnosis suggestion, this "responding to hypnosis suggestion" class of behaviors exists at greater strength due to a previous history which strengthened these behaviors. These individuals respond strongly to hypnosis suggestions and behave as "high hypnotizables". For others, the "responding to hypnosis suggestion" class of behaviors exists at weaker strength due to the absence of the necessary history. These less responsive individuals could directly benefit from the many medical, …

An Extension To The Avc Discrimination Test By The Addition Of One Level Above Avc Level Vi, Charles P. Butler

Dissertations

Kerr, Meyerson and Flora (1977) devised a series of six small learning tasks that could be used to assess developmentally disabled individuals on the typical tasks to be performed in a school setting or sheltered workshop and required very simple equipment. The tasks were imitation, position discrimination, visual discrimination, match-to sample, auditory discrimination and combined auditory visual discrimination. Davinc (1990) suggested that there may be transitional skills between AVC levels IV and V not found by Kerr et al. Davine (1990), Wilson (1991) and Buder (1992) devised a series of experimental tasks designed to test this notion. All used nonidentity …

The Relationship Between Codependency And Kohlberg's Stages Of Moral Development, David L. Arkesteyn

Dissertations

The phenomenon of codependency is currently under considerable scrutiny as to its actual meaning and whether the concept is biased against women, ignores normal psychological development, and is subject to the "Bamum effect". Codependent relationships are widely considered dysfunctional, yet normal psychological development may play a role in these relationships which is not dysfunctional. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between codependency and Kohlberg's stages of moral development It was proposed that codependency would be highly correlated with Kohlberg's interpersonal concordance orientation stage. The sample consisted of sixty adult subjects who were assessed as codependent Thirty-one …

Effects Of Caffeine Consumption On Cardiovascular Indices, Attention, Task Performance, And Memory Retention In Children, Suzanne L. Keller

Dissertations

Caffeine is one of the most commonly used drugs in the western world today. Average intake of caffeine in the United States has been estimated at greater than 200 mg daily per person. Although plagued by inconsistencies, and methodological problems, research suggests that this level of caffeine ingestion may have significant effects on cardiovascular functioning, and behavioral processes such as attention, cognitive processing, memory, and task performance.

Although children consume significant quantities of caffeine, very little research has been done on the effects of caffeine in children. The limited findings suggest that caffeine consumption may affect the cognitive and behavioral …

The Effects Of A Monetary Bonus And Penalty On The Performance Of A Simple Monitoring Task, Gordon Henry

Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of three different pay systems on human monitoring performance. With increasing automation, monitoring tasks are becoming increasingly common, but methods of compensation that will promote good performance remain unexamined. Although hourly pay is typically used, data suggest that contingent pay may be more effective in motivating high levels of performance.

In the current study, six undergraduate students, four females and two males ranging in age from 19 to 21 years, performed a monitoring task analogous to one performed by a security guard. Specifically, subjects observed a television screen and …

The Effects Of Systems-Centered Versus Individual-Centered Training On The Analysis Of Organizational Problems, Jane E. Devries

Dissertations

This study analyzed the effects of systems-centered (S) training, individual centered (I) training, and no formal training (C) on the ability to identify organizational problems. Three groups of 10-14 undergraduates participated. Subjects completed a pre-test that required analysis of 10 one-page vignettes describing some type of organizational problem. Each participant rated the quality of the vignettes to assess the amount of critical information presented, and identified the organizational problem, the rationale for targeting the problem, and questions that should be asked of the management to obtain more information. Groups S and I received six hours of systems-centered training or individual …

The Effects Of A Problem-Solving And Imagery-Based Suggestion On Analgesic Responding In Low, Medium, And High Hypnotizable Females, Gloria Haddad Taggett

Dissertations

This study assessed the effects of a problem-solving suggestion as compared with an imagery-based suggestion on analgesic responding in subjects scoring in the low, medium, and high ranges on scales of hypnotizability. Subjects were exposed at separate intervals to either an hypnotic suggestion patter containing specific imagery designed to enhance analgesic performance, or alternatively to a suggestion patter that provided only general problem-solving direction, but contained no specific imaginal guidance. Performance was assessed using two duration measures on a cold-pressor test. Specific measures included both the total time duration a subject held the target hand in cold water (tolerance) as …

The Writing Response In Studies Of Topography-Based And Selection-Based Verbal Behavior, Osborn Cresson

Dissertations

The position taken in this paper is that the observable world is the only one needed in our analysis, that behavior is a reaction to the environments in which it occurs, and that language is more behavior that can be studied effectively as a dependent variable that varies as a function of independent variables manipulated by the experimenter.

Our goal was to study topography-based and selection-based verbal behavior with emphasis on the writing response and then to produce a report that would serve as a guide for other students of behavior and environment.

Sixteen undergraduate college students participated in 115 …

A Descriptive Study Of Offenders Sentenced To Special Alternative Incarceration From 1988-1990 In Kalamazoo County, Sherri Deboef Chandler

Masters Theses

This is a descriptive study of the first two-year cohort of offenders sentenced in Kalamazoo County to Special Alternative Incarceration (SAI). Data were compiled from the Kalamazoo County Probation Department records which indicated 84 young men were sentenced to SAI from its inception in 1988 to 1990. Data were gathered on these offenders spanning 1988 to 1992. Successful graduation from SAI, completion of the probationary period, and recidivism were compared to offense, race, SES, education, employment, and other variables. The data of this group were also compared to national data of those sentenced to Special Alternative Incarceration programs. This group …

The Effects Of Regular Aerobic Exercise On Sexual Desire In Women, Joanne Louise Kolean-Burley

Dissertations

A multiple baseline design across subjects was used to evaluate the effects of an 8-week aerobic walking program on sexual desire in 7 previously sedentary married women who met the DSM-III-R criteria for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD). Sexual desire was assessed on a weekly basis through a 6 to 9-week baseline period and the 8-week walking intervention using the Self-Acceptance and Mate- Acceptance subscales of the Sexual Interaction Inventory (SII) (LoPiccolo & Steger, 1974), the Sexual Activity Form, developed for this study to measure the frequency of female sexual initiation and responsivity, a behavioral counter and the Sexual Thoughts …

Stimulant Medication And Attributional Style In Adhd Children, Maria Zoubek

Masters Theses

The results of this study indicated that stimulant medicated ADHD children do not exhibit a more external global academic attributional style than a nonreferred control group. Further, the ADHD children's specific level attributions suggested that these children believed their medication was at least somewhat helpful and that they rated as providing a good effort on the spelling test. Additional analyses revealed that children who did not attribute successful outcomes to their effort tended to report higher levels of depression. Discussion focuses on implications for the role of global and specific level attributions in ADHD children's depressive symptomatology.

Effective Supervision In Community-Based Services From The Developmentally Disabled, Laura L. Methot

Masters Theses

This study investigated the effects of a supervisor training program on the subsequent use of objective measures and contingent consequences by a manager when monitoring and evaluating the performance of supervisors, and by supervisors when monitoring and evaluating the performance of direct care staff in a human service agency. Data also were collected to examine whether changes in supervisor performance produced changes in the direct care staff's use of contingent consequences for client performance and changes in client behaviors. One manager, 4 supervisors, 7 staff and 16 clients from an employment training center and a group home participated in the …

The Effects Of Sensory Integrative Therapy And Functional Communication Training On Stereotypic Behavior, Thomas M. Starzynski

Masters Theses

Three developmentally delayed individuals who exhibited self-stimulatory behaviors were exposed to sensory-integrative therapy. Prior to treatment, a Motivation Assessment Scale was completed and a functional analysis baseline was conducted to identify the maintaining variables of the self-stimulatory behavior. Each subject displayed a pattern of responding suggesting that stereotypic behaviors were maintained by automatic reinforcement. Results show that sensory-integrative therapy had no effect on self-stimulatory behaviors. The stereotypic behaviors of Subject 1 and Subject 2 were later reduced when functional communication plus response interruption was applied. The self-stimulatory behavior of Subject 3 was not affected by the implementation of functional communication …

Nutrition, Fitness, Stress And Genital Herpes Recurrences, Carman E. Stark

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to extend the existing literature by assessing the relationship between several factors separately and combined, nutrition, fitness and stress, and herpes recurrence rates. It was hypothesized that the results from this study would indicate an inverse correlation between nutrition, fitness, and genital herpes recurrence rates and a positive correlation between stress and genital herpes. Each participant was asked to complete and return (a) two Computerized Nutrition Assessment Forms that provide a health history profile and a record of food choices and portions over two, three-day periods; (b) The Hassle Scale that provides a weekly …

The Testing Of A Protocol For Validating Claims Of Facilitated Communication, Jorge Teodoro

Masters Theses

Facilitated Communication (FC), is a new and controversial augmentative communication technique. This study examined the facilitated messages of six severely mentally impaired school children, produced under naturalistic, yet controlled, experimental conditions. The students were removed from the presence of their facilitators and experienced out-of-classroom events. When the students returned, their facilitators read descriptions containing True, False or No Information about the students' experiences. Messages produced in the ensuing facilitation sessions indicated that the facilitators influenced the facilitated messages, although they appeared unaware that they were doing so. Meanwhile, students showed little resistance to the testing procedures. Based on these results …

Reducing Dietary Fat And Cholesterol Consumption: An Evaluation Of A Behaviorally Focused Nutrition Education Program, Peter F. Carey

Dissertations

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the United States, killing more than 500,000 people annually. Serum cholesterol is a principal risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis, a primary precipitant of CHD. Unfortunately, elevated serum cholesterol is a common but often undetected health risk for many Americans. Furthermore, the typical American diet contains high levels of fat and cholesterol which contribute to elevated serum cholesterol levels. The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP), created to improve awareness of serum cholesterol as a CHD risk factor, recommends that dietary changes constitute the initial step in the treatment …

A Clinical Trials Evaluation Of A Double-Blinded Protocol To Assess The Therapeutic Effectiveness Of Stimulant Medication Prescribed For Children Diagnosed Adhd, Ann V. Thompson

Dissertations

This clinical trials investigation developed and evaluated a protocol for determining the therapeutic effectiveness of medication prescribed for children diagnosed ADHD. The protocol included two separate baseline periods of two week durations, each of which were followed by four randomly assigned probes of one week duration, consisting either of Methylphenidate or placebo capsules. Baseline probes were unblinded, but medication and placebo probe trials were double-blinded. Therapeutic effect, expectancies, and integrity of the double-blind control were assessed through a battery of rating scales and forms completed by the parent, teacher and child at the end of each protocol week, including baseline …

Using Differential Outcome To Teach Medication Discriminations To Head Injured Adults, Scott C. Votava

Masters Theses

In attempt to replicate the DOE in teaching medication discriminations, the efficiency of differential outcomes and nondifferential outcomes procedures was compared. Additionally, the effects of the differential outcome procedures and nondifferential outcomes procedures upon generalization probes to novel medications were investigated. Finally, the effects of differential and nondifferential outcome procedures on probes to real medications were investigated. The results showed the differential outcome procedure employed produced the desired discrimination more rapidly than the nondifferential outcome procedure. No conclusive statement can be made regarding data obtained in generalization probes or in probes with real medications.

"I’Ll Do It Tomorrow." A Radical Behavioral Analysis Of Procrastination, Cassandra Ann Braam

Dissertations

This study examined the problem of procrastination or the failure to complete tasks. Five similar rules were presented to five, four-year-old children, using a multielement design. The rules described contingencies varying in the specification of delays in the delivery of consequences and deadlines. In addition, a general statement of disapproval of procrastination was presented one time, in addition to a rule specifying a delayed consequence with no deadline, to determine its effect on an established pattern of procrastination. The results showed (a) rules specifying delayed consequences (indirect-acting contingencies) with no deadlines did not reliably control behavior, (b) rules specifying immediate …