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Self-Concepts Of Career Level Ii And Iii Teachers And Career Ladder Eligible Teachers In The Public Schools Of Tennessee, Lois C. Myers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a significant difference in the self concept of Career Level II and III teachers and teachers who are eligible to apply but have not elected to participate in the Career Ladder Program in the public schools of Tennessee. The technique of causal-comparative research was used in this study. The Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS), developed by William Fitts, was selected as the appropriate instrument for use in this study. The TSCS is a versatile instrument that measures ten dimensions related to self concept: total level of self esteem, self …

The Effects Of Sex And Sexual Orientation On Attractiveness Judgments: An Evolutionary Interpretation, William R. Jankowiak, Elizabeth M. Hill, James M. Donovan

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

If attractiveness judgments reflect biologically important reproductive criteria, men should base judgments of potential partners on objective physical criteria more than do women; homosexuals and heterosexuals of the same sex should perceive attractiveness in the same terms, regardless of the sex-object choice. To test this theory, photographs of men and women (20 each) were presented to members of four subject groups, solicited on an opportunistic basis. Subjects were asked to rank the sets of photographs separately on the dimensions of physical attractiveness and general social attractiveness. We found some sex differences across sexual orientation. There was less variation among men …

The Effects Of Sex And Sexual Orientation On Attractiveness Judgments: An Evolutionary Interpretation, William R. Jankowiak, Elizabeth M. Hill, James M. Donovan

James M. Donovan

If attractiveness judgments reflect biologically important reproductive criteria, men should base judgments of potential partners on objective physical criteria more than do women; homosexuals and heterosexuals of the same sex should perceive attractiveness in the same terms, regardless of the sex-object choice. To test this theory, photographs of men and women (20 each) were presented to members of four subject groups, solicited on an opportunistic basis. Subjects were asked to rank the sets of photographs separately on the dimensions of physical attractiveness and general social attractiveness. We found some sex differences across sexual orientation. There was less variation among men …

Identifying Differences Among Male Sex Offenders: Child Molesters Versus Exhibitionists Versus Voyeurs, David P. Defrancesco

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Social histories and testing data were compiled during initial placement assessments of 147 individuals arrested and charged as child molesters, exhibitionists, and voyeurs. These data were statistically analyzed using discriminant analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Child molesters, exhibitionists, and voyeurs were found to differ with regards to history of voyeurism; Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) L scale scores; sexual arousal in response to a violent scenario involving a 12-year-old male, measured via penile plethysmography; and age. Implications of these results are discussed relative to the population sampled and future research.

Occupational Stress Among Nurse Administrators In General Hospitals In Tennessee, Ruby T. Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of occupational stress among nurse administrators and to identify the types of strategies used by nurse administrators to deal with or manage occupational stress. The study examined the relationship between selected demographic variables, occupational stress, and strategies. The research design included five research questions along with seven null hypotheses testing the relationship between occupational stress and demographic variables--age, gender, marital status, years of professional nursing experience, years as a nurse administrator, educational attainment, and hospital bed capacity. There were seven additional hypotheses testing the relationship between the same demographic variables …

Psychology, David E. Leary

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although the discipline of psychology, in its contemporary form, is only a century old, psychology's historical antecedents reach back to the beginnings of civilization. Whether defined as the study of the soul or the study of human faculties, as it was in earlier times, or as the study of consciousness, mind, or behavior, as it has been over the past hundred years, psychology has dealt with some of the fundamental questions and issues pertaining to the functions, processes, and mechanisms of human and animal nature.

Charisma, Empathy, And The Experience Of Telepathy, James M. Donovan

James M. Donovan

A critique is offered of the preference of parapsychology for physical explanatory models for telepathy. Discussion shows this trend emerging from the combined effects of historical accident. An alternative explanatory model is offered which draws upon the rich but underutilized psychological foundations of parapsychology. Emphasizing telepathy's original definition as a communication event, two other phenomena are held to fall into the same class of events: charisma and empathy. Concepts traditionally used to understand charisma and empathy are shown to be equally suited for modeling telepathy. Experimental, theoretical, and especially philosophical implications of this "possible world" model are addressed throughout.

Portraits Of A Discipline: An Examination Of Introductory Psychology Textbooks In America, Randall D. Wight, Wayne Weiten

Articles

"The time has gone by when any one person could hope to write an adequate textbook of psychology. The science has now so many branches, so many methods, so many fields of application, and such an immense mass of data of observation is now on record, that no one person can hope to have the necessary familiarity with the whole." - An author of an introductory psychology text

"If we compare general psychology textbooks of today with those of from ten to twenty years ago we note an undeniable trend toward amelioration of terminology, simplification of style, and popularization of …

Event Frequency Estimations For Non-Semantic Items, Max Ingersoll

Modern Psychological Studies

In order to further clarify the roles of labeling and semantic processing in event frequency encoding, fifty-six undergraduate students were tested on their memory for frequency of sounds. One half of the subjects were presented with familiar sounds (i.e. a telephone ring or wind chimes) and the other half with single musical notes or tones. The use of tones was to defeat the attempts at semantic labeling of the stimuli. It was found that subjects in the familiar sounds condition displayed a significant ability at estimating event frequency. Subjects in the pure tones condition, however, displayed no such ability.

The Interaction Of Source And Post-Event Misinformation On The Accuracy Of Eyewitness Testimony, Dirk Dickens, Alice Ishigame, David Subacz, Stephanie Sponsel, Matthew Strader, Judith Foy

Modern Psychological Studies

The recall of an event such as a robbery has been shown to be affected by how closely post-event information corresponds to what the witness actually saw. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the effect of misleading information may be influenced by expertise of the source of the post-event information. Results revealed that subjects recalled less accurately when they received misleading information in the narrative than when the information corresponded with what they had viewed, whereas the accuracy of the recall was unaffected by whether the witness in the narrative was an expert or a non-expert. Subjects …

A Comparison Of Non-Verbal God Concept In United Methodists, Jill Kasserman, Jennifer L. Johnson

Modern Psychological Studies

The goal of this project was to examine how a person's perception of God changes as a function of age within a Piagetian framework. After 88 United Methodist Sunday School attenders drew a picture of God, the drawings were analyzed in terms of the themes they communicated and the effort put forth. It has been concluded that the subjects did not stay entirely within the Piagetian framework. Furthermore, differences were evident between the United Methodist's perceptions and those of the Free Methodists and Wesleyans in that the United Methodists failed to draw pictures with strong Biblical themes, or abstract ideas.

Subliminal Perception And The Stroop Effect, Sandra Harvey, Shannon Keathley, Delinda Muniz, Ginger Tidmore

Modern Psychological Studies

The Stroop effect and subliminal perception are two phenomena which have been studied for years. However, the potential relation between the two has not been conclusively explored. This experiment was designed to demonstrate that a relationship between the two may exist. The procedure consisted of subliminally presenting the name of a color written in black letters simultaneously with a colored stimulus. The supraliminal colored stimulus and subliminal word stimulus were presented on a screen by use of a projector and a tachistoscope (t-scope) respectively. It was hypothesized that subliminal perception would create interference on the projected Stroop Test simulating a …

The Priming Effects Of Parental Divorce On Relationship Attitudes, Donna Wetzel, Faye D. Plascak-Craig

Modern Psychological Studies

Past findings frequently reported that children with divorced parents exhibit negative behaviors at some time following the divorce, however, data have not consistently demonstrated attitudinal effects. In this study, 70 college undergraduates, half with divorced parents and half with intact families, were administered an original survey for recording ratings of relationship attitudes and eight semantic differential scales. Although adult children of divorced parents rated their parents relationships less positively than did those from intact families, there were no differences by parental history in their relationship fears. There were semantic differences in ratings of five constructs (FAMILY, FATHER, MARRIAGE, PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP, …

Front Matter

Modern Psychological Studies

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Field Dependence And Target Type On Search Time, Joe Buissink

Modern Psychological Studies

This study investigated search time as a function of field dependence and target type. Thirty-nine students were given the Gropp Embedded Figures Test (GEFT). Two female and two male students each were randomly selected from the first and fourth quartiles. These eight participants were given forty-five sets of background letters in which they were to locate either a specific number, a specific letter, or an any number target. The field independent participants located the embedded targets much more quickly than the field dependent participants. It was expected that the differences in scan times for target types would be significant, however, …

Glucose, Exercise, And Short-Term Memory, Brenda Davidson, Cheryle Sanders, Gwendolyn K. Murdock

Modern Psychological Studies

This investigation determined the short-term memory effects of glucose and exercise. It was hypothesized that (a) glucose enhances short-term memory and (b) intense exercise diminishes short-term memory. Subjects were middle-aged volunteers who regularly exercise. Two within-subjects variables were (a) glucose vs. no-glucose, and (b) before- vs. after exercise. A between-subjects variable was no-glucose beverage type: aspartame, saccharin, or water. Performance on Subtest IV of the Wechsler Memory Scale was the dependent variable. A glucose by exercise interaction suggested an influence of fitness level. In a second experiment, short-term memory was assessed before, and at 20-min. intervals after exercise. Weight and …

The Effect Of Victim Bias On Length Of Defendant Sentencing, Joanne Economou

Modern Psychological Studies

This research examined the effects of victim bias on the determination of the length of prison sentence given to perpetrators convicted of assault and battery. Three victim characteristics (gender, race, and sexual orientation) were targeted to determine whether they would evoke discrimination in sentencing. Forty subjects were asked to read nine brief crime scenarios and impose prison sentences on the convicted perpetrators of each of the crimes. Three target scenarios were intermixed within the nine crime scenarios. They depicted the crimes of assault and battery of a victim who was either black or white or homosexual. The targeted scenarios were …

The Role Of Hair Color In The Perception Of Attractiveness, Pamela R. Hinney

Modern Psychological Studies

The concept of attractiveness pervades every aspect of society in the United States. Attractiveness is used to manipulate decisions, desires, and even needs; in turn, society allows itself to be manipulated by the same concept of attractiveness. This study was designed to determine if hair color plays a role in the perception of attractiveness. A questionnaire was administered to 36 West Virginia State College students. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was applied to the data and a significant difference was found among blonde, brunette, and red hair color categories: F (2,99) = 14.92 p< .05. The experimental hypothesis that hair color plays a role in the perception of attractiveness was supported.

The Effects Of Modality And Stimilus Type On Memory For Frequency, Kelly Pritchard

Modern Psychological Studies

The effect of presentation modality and stimulus type on memory for frequency was examined. In Experiment 1, forty undergraduate students viewed or handled 21 three-dimensional items. Items were either (a) geometric shapes, (b) nonsense objects, or (c) familiar items and occurred either 2, 4, or 6 times, creating a randomly ordered list of 72 items. Subjects were tested in the same modality on their memory for frequency of those items. Subjects were able to distinguish between items which occurred less frequently versus those which occurred more often. The average frequency estimates for nonsense and familiar items were closest to the …

Gender And Sterotyping In The United States And Spain, Suzanne Whitmore

Modern Psychological Studies

This study investigated sex-trait stereotypes across two nations, the United States and Spain. Past research by Williams & Best (1990) examined gender-stereotyping within the same countries with children, and a more recent study by Best & Williams (D. L. Best, personal communication, November 25, 1991) surveyed 100 students from each of 25 countries. Male characteristics were found to be more socially desirable than those identified as characteristic of women and were rated higher by both males and females. Although the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) has been widely used in the United States in measuring traits considered either masculine or …

Charisma, Empathy, And The Experience Of Telepathy, James M. Donovan

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

A critique is offered of the preference of parapsychology for physical explanatory models for telepathy. Discussion shows this trend emerging from the combined effects of historical accident. An alternative explanatory model is offered which draws upon the rich but underutilized psychological foundations of parapsychology. Emphasizing telepathy's original definition as a communication event, two other phenomena are held to fall into the same class of events: charisma and empathy. Concepts traditionally used to understand charisma and empathy are shown to be equally suited for modeling telepathy. Experimental, theoretical, and especially philosophical implications of this "possible world" model are addressed throughout.

Who's Afraid Of Multiple Realizability?: Functionalism, Reductionism, And Connectionism, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

Philosophers have argued that on the prevailing theory of mind, functionalism, the fact that mental states are multiply realizable or can be instantiated in a variety of different physical forms, at least in principle, shows that materialism or physical is probably false. A similar argument rejects the relevance to psychology of connectionism, which holds that mental states are embodied and and constituted by connectionist neural networks. These arguments, I argue, fall before reductios ad absurdam, proving too much -- they apply as well to genes, which are multiply realizable, but the reduction of which to DNA is one the core …