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Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Theses/Dissertations

2001

Behavioral psychology

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Rates Of Adoption In A University Course Management System, David Russell Feeney Dec 2001

Rates Of Adoption In A University Course Management System, David Russell Feeney

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This research focuses on diffusion of an education innovation in a large, traditional University. In March 1999, the Blackboard digital course management system was installed for enterprise-wide availability at Temple University, the 39th largest university in the United States. The web-enabled database of Temple Blackboard logs the adoption date, course ID, and course title for every Blackboard course, unobtrusively, twenty-four hours a day. Temple Blackboard serves as 4 digital approximation of the cumulative recorder pioneered by B. F. Skinner, recording more than 2800 course adoptions across 30 months, in real time. Temple Blackboard course records provide unprecedented quantity and quality …


Potential Relations Between Extraversion And Cardiovascular Reactivity During Laboratory Stressors, Brandie K. Taylor Dec 2001

Potential Relations Between Extraversion And Cardiovascular Reactivity During Laboratory Stressors, Brandie K. Taylor

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This present study was designed to examine the relation between cardiovascular reactivity to stress and the behaviors of individuals classified as either "extraverts" or "introverts." Although experimental psychophysiological studies have been conducted to examine the relation between extraversion and physiological arousal, little is known about the ways in which extraversion and cardiovascular reactivity to stress are related. According to the optimal arousal theory, both extraverts and introverts would be expected to be more reactive to a social challenge than to a mundane non-social task, with introverts exhibiting greater reactivity to both tasks than extraverts. In contrast, a preferred task model …


Prenatal Stress Alters Fear-Conditioned Behaviors And The Response To Serotonergic Drugs, William C. Griffin Iii Dec 2001

Prenatal Stress Alters Fear-Conditioned Behaviors And The Response To Serotonergic Drugs, William C. Griffin Iii

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Chronic, inescapable stress during pregnancy (i.e. prenatal stress) modifies the behavior of the adult offspring. Several behaviors were evaluated in adult prenatally stressed (PS) rats, most notably the acoustic startle response and behavioral inhibition (i.e. freezing). PS rats do not differ in baseline peak startle responding, or in the habituation of the peak startle response when compared to the non-prenatally stressed (CON) rats. However, PS rats have greater peak responses and longer latencies to reach the peak response following systemic doses of the 5-HT 1A agonist, 8-OH-DPAT, compared to CON rats. The PS rats had shorter latencies than the CON …


Effects Of Reinforcement Delays On Procrastination In Pigeons, Megan Elizabeth Meginley Aug 2001

Effects Of Reinforcement Delays On Procrastination In Pigeons, Megan Elizabeth Meginley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Procrastination has been defined as the choice of a larger, later work requirement over a smaller, sooner work requirement. In one experiment (Mazur, 1996), pigeons chose a later-onset work requirement over an earlier-onset work requirement when work requirements were identical and reinforcement was at an equal delay from the choice point. In Phase I of the present experiment, reinforcement was delivered to pigeons immediately upon completion of either an early- or a late-onset work requirement in the terminal links of a concurrent-chains schedule. The early-onset work requirement was preferred. This preference held in Phase 2, when a delay to reinforcement …


Patient Satisfaction Among Injured High School And College Athletes And Its Association With Rehabilitation Adherence And Compliance, Joni L. Cramer Roh May 2001

Patient Satisfaction Among Injured High School And College Athletes And Its Association With Rehabilitation Adherence And Compliance, Joni L. Cramer Roh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Patient satisfaction is an important measure for quality of care and has been observed for several decades (DiPalo, 1997; Merkouris, Ifantopoulos, Lanara, & Lemonidou, 1999; Wolf, Putnam, James, & Stiles, 1978; Zyzanski, Hulka, & Cassel, 1974). Based on theory, patient satisfaction has been suggested to be a means for patient attendance and quality of effort during rehabilitation, which would then impact the recovery rate (DiPalo, 1997; Press, 1994). Recently, patient satisfaction athletes received from their sports medicine professional (i.e., athletic trainer, physiotherapist) in the athletic training rooms and clinics have also been explored (Albohm & Wilkerson, 1999; Taylor & May, …


Fixed-Interval Performance As A Function Of Previous Temporal Discrimination Training, Stephanie Plyler Da Silva May 2001

Fixed-Interval Performance As A Function Of Previous Temporal Discrimination Training, Stephanie Plyler Da Silva

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This experiment assessed whether FI performance is influenced by prior exposure to a temporal discrimination procedure. Pigeons first were exposed to a two-key free-operant psychophysical procedure for two sessions per day. Each trial lasted 60 s and reinforcement was available according to a variable-interval 60-s schedule for pecking one key (Key 1) during the first part of the interval and pecking another key (Key 2) during the second part of the interval. In the Fixed session, reinforcement availability switched from Key 1 to Key 2 after 30 s; whereas, in the Variable session, reinforcement availability switched from Key 1 to …


Problem -Solving Communication Training And Behavioral Exchange For The Treatment Of Parent -Adolescent Conflict, Ethan Sage Long May 2001

Problem -Solving Communication Training And Behavioral Exchange For The Treatment Of Parent -Adolescent Conflict, Ethan Sage Long

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Elevated levels of parent-adolescent conflict have been associated with a number of adolescent problem behaviors. One treatment that appears to be effective in reducing family conflict is Problem Solving Communication Training (PSCT). Research has indicated that PSCT appears to be an effective and acceptable treatment program for reducing parent-adolescent conflict. However, researchers have suggested some possible limitations associated with PSCT treatment. Many of the identified limitations of PSCT potentially may be addressed with the inclusion of a Behavioral Exchange (BE) treatment component. Evidence supporting this hypothesis is provided by the documented success of Behavioral Marital Therapy, a treatment package that …