Digital Commons Network^™

The Relationships Among Competitiveness, Age And Ability In Distance Runners, Robert C. Eklund, Jeffrey J. Martin, Alan L. Smith

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships suggested by general achievement motivation literature and the popular literature in sport using the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ). The current study examined if faster runners are more competitive than slower runners, if older athletes were less competitive than younger athletes, and if faster runners were more goal oriented than slower runners. Distance runners (n=80), ranging from 10 to 61 years old completed race packets containing a cover letter, consent forms, the SOQ and a demographic questionnaire. Runners averaged 32.9 years of age and reported levels of competitiveness and goal …

Destructive Hostility: The Jeffrey Dahmer Case: A Psychiatric And Forensic Study Of A Serial Killer, Jeffrey Jentzen, George Palermo, L. Thomas Johnson, Khang-Cheng Ho, K. Alan Stormo, John Teggatz

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

We were involved as forensic experts in the case of the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. We discuss the scene and victim autopsy findings, with a brief consideration of the basic emotion of hostility. These findings support the thesis that at the basis of this serial killer's behavior were primary unconscious feelings of hate that he had channeled into a sadistic programmed destruction of 17 young men. The interview of the serial killer, the photographic scene documentation, and the autopsy findings stress the ambivalent homosexuality of the killer, his sexual sadism, his obsessive fetishism, and his possible cannibalism and necrophilia.

What Makes Counseling Christian, Rodger K. Bufford

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Over the last 25 years, Christian counseling has been defined in a number of ways. Definitions have focused on the context, content or intervention techniques, the motivations or goals of counseling, and counselor characteristics. Strengths and weaknesses of various approaches will be examined and a resolution proposed.

Gallistel’S The Organization Of Learning: This Is Not Creation Science, James Dougan

Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Meaning Of Health And The Health Of Meaning, Barry Schwartz

Psychology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

An Investigation Of Visual Attention In Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Gayla Cissell

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

What is known as Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) today has been known by other titles in the past such as minimal brain dysfunction and Hyperkinetic Reaction of Childhood. These label changes represented the change in knowledge and understanding of the disorder over time. Today, it is thought that a main component to the disorder is an attention deficit. The problem is that of yet, the cause of this deficit has not been identified. In an attempt to further understand this disorder, visual attention studies are being conducted. Following this lead, the Visual Attention Analyzer was used to investigate a link …

The Effect Of Familiarity Of Task And Choice On The Functional Performance Of Young And Old Adults, Anne E. Dickerson

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An experiment was conducted to compare the functional performance of young and old adults on familiar and unfamiliar tasks under two conditions of perceived control. Specifically, the relation between age and motor and process skills was examined. The familiar tasks were simple cooking tasks, whereas the unfamiliar tasks were contrived, meaningless tasks developed for this study. Young and old did not differ in the ratings of the familiarity of the tasks, but results from two Age by Task by Choice ANOVAs demonstrated a significant age difference for motor and process skills under all conditions. For the process skill scale, there …

Guidelines For Observing Young Children In School, Margery B. Franklin

Child Development Institute Research and Resources

This brief guide is intended for students and teachers who are interested in learning the basics of observing children in their everyday surroundings. My review of works in the field led me to the conclusion that most books on the subject set out a list of requirements for “objective observation” that are daunting to all but the most devoted researcher and, in fact, can become a screen rather than a window between observer and observed. For this reason, I have attempted to provide a series of guidelines that should make the process of observation engaging rather than tedious, while yielding …

Memory For Contingent Versus Noncontingent Events, Maricel Cigales

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Twenty-four 7.5- to 8-month old infants were presented with two manipulanda and given either behavior-contingent or noncontingent experience with an object. Infants in the contingent group learned and remembered the controlling action for up to 1 week (t(11)=2.83, p

Two Social Worlds: Social Correlates And Stability Of Adolescent Status Groups, Stephen L. Franzoi, Mark H. Davis, Kristin A. Vasquez-Suson

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Examined adolescents' peer group status in high school using self-report, peer nominations, and archival data collected during 2 consecutive school yrs. 408 students participated in the 1st yr, and 404 students participated in the 2nd yr. 60% of the 2nd yr Ss had also participated in the 1st yr. Higher status students (popular and controversial) had more close friends, engaged more frequently in peer activities, and self-disclosed more than lower status students (rejected and neglected). They were also more involved in extracurricular school activities and received more social honors from their schoolmates. Although the higher status students were more alike …

Recovered Memory Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This article examines the psychological basis for repression and recovery of traumatic memories, presents the results of research on potential sources of error in delayed or recovered memories, and offers possible reasons (primarily related to clinical practice and collective behavior) for false accusations of sexual abuse.

Review Of "The Analyst And The Mystic: Psychoanalytic Reflections On Religion And Mysticism" By S. Kakar, Jeanne Marecek

Psychology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Laboratory-Induced Mood On Secretory Immunoglobulin A In Saliva, Susan Strum Dubitsky

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effects of induced mood on secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) were tested on 104 students (51 men & 53 women) using a mixed design with between subject factors of gender, induced mood (positive vs. negative), method of induction (writing about oneself vs. viewing a video), and a within subject factor, time (baseline vs. posttest). A split-plot multivariate analysis of covariance, controlling for salivary flow rate, did not support a causal link between induced mood alone and change in SIgA concentration. The effect of induced mood on blood pressure and heart rate was also examined. There were no significant main effects, …

Verification Of The Number Of Factors In The Mmpi -A With Adolescent Females, Kristina M. Kays

Faculty Publications - Psychology Department

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A) was factor analyzed using the adolescent female normative sample. A Maximum Likelihood (ML) factor analysis with an oblimin rotation produced both a 4-factor solution and a possible 8-factor solution. However, anaylsis of the eigenvalues and the Scree test plot indicated a 4-factor solution obtained the best data fit.

Factor 1 identified a general sense of maladjustment characterized by anxiety, depression, and physical complaints. Factor 2 distinguished features of social introversion, obsessive thoughts, and depression . Factor 3 described features of unusual behavior, thought disorders, and social deviance. Factor 4 reflected the need for control …

"The Party”: Role-Playing To Enhance Multicultural Understanding, Ellen N. Junn

Office of the Provost Scholarship

Describes a role-playing activity used to teach the effects of stereotyping and enhance multicultural understanding. Student response.

The Concurrent Validity Of Three Preschool Screening Instruments, Shannon Batchelor

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this study l/the researcher sought to examine the correlational and classificational agreement (sensitivity and specificity) between two very popular screening instruments which have undergone recent revisions-The Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning-Revised (DIAL-R) and the Denver Developmental Screening Test-ll (Denver-ll) and one more recently published new screening instrument on the market--The Early Screening Profiles (ESP). The sample for this study consisted of 60 preschool children attending two federally and state funded preschool programs in Western Kentucky. The children were of the correct age to enter kindergarten in the fall of 1993. Results of this study revealed that the …

Validation Of A Preschool Screening Measure: The Dial-R, Wendy Simmons-Watts

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The classification and correlational validity of the DIAL-R was investigated for an at-risk population of preschoolers. Fifty-four preschool children (mean age 60.87 months) were administered the Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning-Revised (DIALR) and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence- Revised (WPPSI-R). The classification agreement between the DIAL-R and WPPSI-R was high (.89) and statistically significant (Chi-Square(l) =19.01); however, the DIAL-R failed to identify six children in need of services resulting in a sensitivity index of .40. The DIAL-R did not over identify any children resulting in a specificity index of 1.00. The DIAL-R was found to …

Children's Understanding Of The Emotions Of Victims And Victimizers: Developmental And Peer Status Differences, Michelle Scott

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Research has shown that children's standing in the peer group is an extremely valid predictor of later developmental problems. Children who are rejected by their peers and who exhibit aggressive behavior have a poor developmental prognosis; these rejected/aggressive children often have problems throughout development and into adulthood. The correlates of peer rejection include distinctive behavioral and social cognitive patterns. Research has shown that rejected/aggressive children's thinking about social situations with peers contributes to a pattern of antisocial behavior. In particular, rejected/aggressive children demonstrate deficits in each of the stages of the social information processing model proposed by Dodge (1986). Research …

South Africa In Transition: The Influence Of The Political Personalities Of Nelson Mandela And F.W. De Klerk, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to examine salient factors accounting for South Africa’s relatively peaceful transition from apartheid state to nonracial democracy, focusing on the political personalities of South African leaders P.W. Botha, F.W. de Klerk, and Nelson Mandela. Following a brief overview of situational variables, the paper describes the political personalities of Mandela and De Klerk as assessed by the Millon-Type Political Personality Checklist (MPPC). The study shows that one cannot fully account for political developments in South Africa’s transition without considering (a) the interaction between situational variables and the political personalities of Nelson Mandela and F.W. de …

Spiritual Wellbeing And Depression In Psychotherapy Outpatients, Rodger K. Bufford, T. Wilson Renfroe

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

In a quasi-experimental intact groups design the effects of psychotherapy on spiritual wellbeing and depression were assessed in two groups of adult psychotherapy outpatients. Both groups showed significant gains on the Spiritual Wellbeing Scale (SWB), and significant decreases on the Beck Depression Scale. Further, both casual and committed Christians showed similar effects. The BDI and Existential Wellbeing (EWB) were significantly negatively correlated, but BDI and Religious Wellbeing (RWB) were unrelated. While causal effects cannot be firmly established, results are consistent with the hypothesis that successful psychotherapy increases spiritual wellbeing, including religious wellbeing. The SWB scale appears useful as a treatment …

A Millon-Based Study Of Political Personality: Nelson Mandela And F. W. De Klerk -- Part Ii: Further Results And Implications, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper reports the results of a psychobiographical investigation, using the Millon-Type Political Personality Checklist, of the political personalities of outgoing South African president F. W. de Klerk and newly elected South African president Nelson Mandela, and examines the interactional influence of their respective personalities in facilitating South Africa’s transition from apartheid state to nonracial democracy.

School Of Social And Systemic Studies Department Of Family Therapy M.S. Program Student Handbook [1994], Nova Southeastern University

CPS Postgraduate Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Connections, Symbols, And The Meaning Of Intelligence, Peter M. Asaro '94

Honors Projects

More recently, debates in AI have focused on the implications of Connectionism. Connectionism is the hypothesis that distributed computations are capable of instantiating intelligent functions without relying on the representational character of symbols, but rather on the computational states themselves which are cal1~ distributed representations (Haugeland, 1991). This distinction puts connectionism at odds with symbolic theory. The current debates tend to be over which theory will yield intelligent systems--symbolic or connectionist? But as we will soon see, this really amounts to a debate over which representational scheme is required for general intelligence.

The Effects Of Social Competition Of The Economic Behavior Of Rats, Jennifer D. Johns '94

Honors Projects

Recent studies have shown that the law of supply and demand describes behavior on simple Variable Interval (VI) schedules. When the quantity of reinforcement supplied is large, animals will "pay" less for the reinforcer than when quantity supplied is small. These studies, however, feature organisms responding alone in operant chambers, without the social competition which economists argue drive the law of supply and demand. The present series of experiments examine the effects of social context on the economic behavior of rats on VI schedules. Rats responded on a pseudo-randomly assigned sequence of VI schedules differing in reinforcement rate. During half …

Psychosocial Variables As Prospective Predictors Of Violent Events Among Adolescents, Alan W. Stacy, Steve Sussman, Clyde W. Dent, Dee Burton, Brian R. Flay

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Violent events are main causes of mortality among children and include intentional (e.g., homicide) and unintentional (e.g., accidents) circumstances. This study investigated the prediction of the self-reported occurrence of 14 violent events among eighth-grade youth from psychosocial variables measured in these same youth in seventh grade. Psychosocial variables ineluded tobacco and alcohol use, demographic variables, interpersonal variables such as family conflict, and intrapersonal variables such as risk taking. An iterative procedure, involving selection of a set of predictors and a test of the correlation of the set of predictors to the set of events, provided support for an extension of …

Aging And The Truth Effect In Validity Judgment, Sue Lindsey

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

It is sometimes necessary to make validity judgments about information with which we are unfamiliar, because we have no factual knowledge about the event. Under these circumstances, subjective evidence, such as whether the statement has been seen or heard in the past, may be used to judge validity. Previous research has shown that the repetition of unfamiliar, but plausible statements increases the judged validity of the statements. In other words, the more one hears a particular statement, the more one believes it to be true. The present study has been designed to explore this "truth effect." The first experiment examined …

Correlates Of Union And Organizational Commitment : A Survey Of Former Eastern Airlines Employees, Sharon A. Israel Dolfi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Former Eastern Airlines flight attendants were surveyed regarding their levels of union, organizational, and dual commitment, union participation, strike participation and support, and current feelings of job stress, job affect and job satisfaction. It was found that union commitment was positively correlated with union participation. Due to the unique situation at Eastern, it was also found that there was no difference in levels of strike participation and support between those dually committed and those unilaterally committed to the union. Strike participation and support also correlated positively with one measure of current job stress. Other findings included a positive correlation between …

Intermittent Consequences And Problem Solving: The Experimental Control Of “Superstitious” Beliefs, Ruth A. Heltzer, Stuart Vyse

Psychology Faculty Publications

Three groups of college students were asked to determine how points were earned in a task that allowed the assessment of response variability. All students received points for sequences of eight presses distributed across two keys (four presses on each key). One group received a point for each correct sequence, one group received points on a fixed-ratio 2 schedule, and one group received points on a random-ratio 2 schedule. There were no significant differences in nonverbal response variability across the three groups, and the fixed-ratio 2 and random-ratio 2 groups obtained equivalent point totals. However, participants in the random-ratio group …

Upon Closer Inspection...U.S. Naval Aviation Mishaps 1977-1992, Scott A. Shappell, Douglas A. Wiegmann

Publications

The U.S. Navy/Marine Corps Class A flight/flight-related mishap rate has declined markedly since 1953. However, analysis of all Class A, B, and C naval aviation mishaps between January 1977 and December 1992 reveals that mishaps attributable to human factors have declined at a slower rate than those attributable to mechanical/environmental factors. Upon closer inspection of the data, marked differences were evident between single-piloted and dual-piloted aircraft. Global trends were primarily a function of single-piloted aircraft, particularly when phase of flight and time of day that a mishap occurred are considered. Previously reported improvement in aviation safety may be biased by …

Tyrosine As A Countermeasure To Performance Decrement During Sleep Loss, Douglas A. Wiegmann, David F. Neri, Robert R. Stanny, Scott Shappell, Andrew M. Mccardie, David L. Mckay

Publications

The fatigue and cognitive performance deficits associated with sleep loss and stress have motivated the search for effective nonpharmacological countermeasures. The purpose of the present study was to examine the potential behavioral effects of tyrosine, an amino-acid presursor to dopamine and norepinephrine, during an episode of continuous nighttime work involving one night of sleep loss.