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The Effects Of Age And Socio-Economic Status On The Diagnosis And Educational Treatment Of Mildly Handicapping Conditions Of School Children, John W. Kelsey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Biasing effects in labeling and recommendations for educational services when factors of socio-economic status and age are manipulated were studied using 50 certified school psychologists in Utah. Subjects received case report information about IQ, behavior and achievement which described a school child in need of services within one of four conditions, Age 7 Socioeconomic status (SES) High, Age 7 SES Low, Age 13 SES High, and Age 13 SES Low. Other potentially biasing variables such as ethnic background, and sex were held constant. No evidence of bias could be found when dependent measures of labeling, recommendations for educational services, and …

The Relationship Between Self Concept And Children's Figure Drawings, Marta Lynn Severson Campbell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study investigated the relationship between self concept and children's figure drawings. The principle variable under consideration in each child's drawing were (a) size of drawing and (b) number of colors used. The Tennessee Self Concept Scale (Fitts, 1965) was administered to 80 students selected from the seventh grade at Logan Junior High School, Logan, Utah.

The subjects were then instructed to draw a picture of themselves. No further instructions were given regarding specific details of the requested picture. Ten colored pencils along with a regular pencil were made available to each student. No instructions were given as to …

A Test Of The Effectiveness Of Two Treatment Modalities For Adolescent Residents Of An Intermediate Care Facility, Paul David Warner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study attempts to test the effectiveness of two treatment modalities for adolescent residents of the Intermediate Care Facility at St. Anthony, Idaho.

The study was conducted at the Intermediate Care Facility (ICF) at St. Anthony, Idaho. The St. Anthony ICF is a separate yet distinct part of the Youth Services Center in the same area.

The participants of this study were 20 emotionally disturbed adolescents who were randomly assigned to two treatment groups (10 participants in each group). The participants of both groups were shown to be homogeneous with regards to severity of emotional disturbance, family background, race, sex, …

Development Of Cooperation Between Children In The Minimal Social Situation, Janice V. Siegel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine whether children can learn to cooperate in what has been described as the "minimal social situation." The research also compared the effectiveness of verbal instructions and a training task for teaching subjects the "win-stay, lose-change" rule. This rule has been used to explain the development of cooperation in the minimal social situation.

Subjects were 19 teams of first-, second-, and third-graders. Five teams were composed of two girls; six were girl-boy teams; and eight were boy-boy teams. Ten of the 19 teams learned to cooperate in the minimal social situation without treatment. …

Sex Role Preference, Sibling Status, And Bonding Behavior In Children, Mary Kay Biaggio

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The focus of this study was to explores some of the important variables in sex role development in children. The major hypotheses were concerned with differences between the independent variables child's grade level, sex, and sibling status (ordinal position and sex of sibling) on the dependent variables sex role preference and bonding behavior. Bonding, a concept which has not been examined in conjunction with sex role preference, was here defined as (1)the degree to which a child affiliates with members of his own sex and (2)the degree to which a child excludes opposite sex play-mates from his affiliative realm.

Subjects …

The Effects Of Interpersonal Competition On The Performance Of Schizophrenics, Brent L. Andersen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effects of interpersonal competition on schizophrenics were studied to determine if competition facilitates or impairs task performance of schizophrenics and to further determine if schizophrenics respond to interpersonal competition differently than nonschizophrenics. Forty-one hospitalized patients diagnosed as schizophrenics, 36 hospitalized patients diagnosed as personality disorders, and 36 employees of the Wyoming State Hospital were used as subjects. Each group of subjects was randomly divided into competitive and noncompetitive research groups, thus forming three competitive groups and three noncompetitive groups.

Each of the six groups of subjects was administered two equivalent forms of four standardized tests. Each group was tested …

Religious Affiliation, Authoritarianism, And Dogmatism Of College Students, Heber M. Sharp

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of religious affiliation to the authoritarianism and open-closed mindedness of students at two institutions of higher learning, controlling for sex, reported church attendance, state in which the person reported residence as a child, and city size of reported childhood residency.

The sample for this study was selected from junior and senior students at Utah State University (n=1,409) and Weber State College (n=837). The subjects for whom data were analyzed indicated affiliation with the following religious groups: Agnostic, Baptist, Catholic, Christian, Episcopalian, Jewish, Lutheran, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, …

Does The "Draw-A-Male-And-A-Female" Test Show Male-Female Relationship?, Paul Charles Hatch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study investigated the "Draw-A-Male-And-A-Female" test to find if this variation of the "Draw-A-Person" test was a valid measure of male-female relationship variables, i.e., compatibility, happiness, warmth, and interpersonal anxiety and conflict. Two groups varying with respect to relationship (married group vs divorced group) were tested. A high school group was also tested. Three psychologists rated the drawings into a positive or a negative relationship group. If the male and female figures in the drawing had the appearance of warmth or pleasantness between each other, seemed compatible, and looked free from interpersonal anxiety or conflict, the picture was placed …

The Development Of An Inexpensive, Anonymous And Portable Classroom Feedback Device With Data Recording Capability, John Peter Dworetzky

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

One way to approach the improvement of teacher behavior is through the application of feedback. An electronic device was developed to provide immediate anonymous feedback from students to teachers in the classroom situation. The newly developed system, unlike other systems available, has the advantages of being portable, inexpensive, easy to use, and able to provide continuous feedback. As the system relies on a sampling procedure, it may be used adequately with any size class. In addition, the system possesses full data recording capability.

Experiments were designed to utilize the device to investigate the effects of immediate anonymous feedback from students …

Error Patterning And Hypothesis Behavior Of Children And Pigeons In Discrimination Learning, William Robert Jenson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Characteristic distributions of errors across fixed ratio schedules of reinforcement were studied for two types of discrimination paradigms. Two experiments studied error patterns as a function of hypothesis behavior in two species of animals, children and pigeons.

Three key zero-delay matching-to-sample and two key simultaneous discrimination were reinforced for both species of animals on fixed ratio schedules of reinforcement. Experiment 1 involved children on matching-to-sample and simultaneous discrimination, and Experiment 2 involved pigeons on matching-to-sample and simultaneous discrimination. Both species of subjects experienced experimental conditions in which shift or stay response hypotheses were selectively reinforced using a high speed digital …

An Analysis Of Oral And Written Quizzes As Teaching Techniques, K. Anthony Edwards

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was conducted to determine whether any differences existed between the effectiveness of oral and written quizzes as teaching techniques. In the first of two experiments, 130 students enrolled in two sections of an introductory psychology class and two sections of a psychology of adjustment class served as subjects. The course was taught using Michael's method of instruction, a contingency managed technique. In the first half of the term, one section from each course was taught by written quizzes while the other section was taught by oral quizzes. Following four weeks, teaching assignments were reversed. The dependent variables were …

Religious Commitment And Meaning In Life, Merrill L. Barfield

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between meaning or purpose in life as measured by Crumbaugh's Purpose in Life Test, and the degree of religious commitment of college students, with particular interest in the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Religious commitment was measured by Hoge's Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale (IRM).

Two hundred and fifty-five undergraduates, 122 males and 132 females, enrolled in introductory psychology and sociology classes at Utah State University during spring quarter, 1975, served as subjects.

A two-way analysis of variance calculated separately for the LDS and non-LDS …

Interpersonal Relations And Drug Use And Abuse, Larry J. Carlson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to make comparisons among regular marijuana users, heroin addicts and nondrug users on interpersonal dimensions of personality. Two interpersonal oriented instruments, the Interpersonal Check List (ICL) and the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior (FIRO-B) were used to evaluate differences among these three groups.

The design of this study was a three group comparison. Each of these three groups contained between 28 and 30 subjects with age, education and socioeconomic level being controlled for in selection.

Three hypotheses were made directing investigation of the following three areas: One, discrepancy between the self and the ideal self …

The Effectiveness Of Training For Empathy In Pre-Service Teacher Education, John Bruce Jessen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The specific objective of this research was to determine the effectiveness of training on understanding empathy in the teacher training process.

Subjects were Utah State University students enrolled in Elementary Education during winter quarter 1976. The experimental group was composed of 34 subjects and the control group of 27 subjects.

Both groups were administered a pretest. The experimental group then received the treatment which consisted of a training program designed to help them to be able to (1) define, (2) recognize instances of, and (3) to emit empathic behavior. At the conclusion of the training program both the experimental and …

The Development Of A Composite Criminal Suicide Attempt Scale, Norman Salzberg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was designed to understand and identify prison male inmates who had attempted suicide in their history prior to their incarceration. The objectives were (1) the comparison of inmates who had indicated that they had attempted suicide in their past, referred to as "suicide attempt inmates," with inmates who had not, referred to as "non-suicide attempt inmates," on 33 behavioral and personal variables; (2) The development of a suicide attempt scale by means of an item analysis on the responses of suicide attempt and non-suicide inmates to the items of the Bipolar Psychological Inventory (BPI). This scale was named …

The Identification Of Characteristics Of The Hyperactive Child Through Objective Evaluation, Joan Elaine Owen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

For many years adults have been concerned about the hyperactive child, who acts out in a boisterous manner, who is perhaps too physically stimulated and who is often perceived as not meeting adult expectations. It seems important to identify the characteristics of the hyperactive child in an objective and understandable manner so that parents, teachers, medical doctors, and mental health practitioners can determine more adequate prescriptive treatment programs.

The purpose of this study was to adjudge whether children referred for psychoeducational evaluation by pediatricians as hyperactive exhibit behavioral characteristics which, when evaluated by standardized tests, are significantly different from those …

The Use Of The Delphi Technique To Effect Decisions Concerning The College Level Examination Program By Higher Education Representatives, Terry Joseph Orme

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study investigated the use of the Delphi technique in educational decision making.

Utah State institutions of higher education employ the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) to award credit in lieu of course work. However, since no uniform policies existed among them, 145 persons were selected on a representative basis to recommend a norming group to use for performance comparisons, the standard by which to judge CLEP performance, and the levels for maximum and minimum credit.

The Delphi technique, which employs a round-by-round questionnaire with feedback procedure, was used for six rounds to obtain sufficient consensus on the three aforementioned …

Parental Relationships, Mate Selection, And Marital Adjustment, Vicki Lee Nelson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate perceived parental relationships and their correlation to mate selection. The secondary purpose was to investigate the agreement (1) between the husband's perception of the wife and her perception of herself and (2) between the wife's perception of the husband and his perception of himself (hereafter, perceptual agreement) in relation to marital adjustment.

Sixty couples with one or both partners attending Utah State University of Logan, Utah, participated in the study. The following instruments were administered to all individuals: A brief biographical questionnaire containing items regarding sex, student-non-student status, occupation, education, number …

Probability Learning In Prey Selection With A Great Horned Owl And A Red-Tailed Hawk, Deborah L. Mueller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the hunting strategies of birds of prey in a probability learning situation. One great horned owl and one red-tailed hawk served as subjects. Three boxes and associated perches, each representing different potential prey areas, were placed in a room adjacent to the birds' regular housing and served as test apparatus. One box were required to land on a perch in order to gain access to the associated box and to the potential prey. A discrete-trial, self-correction procedure was used. In Experiment I, Box 1 was loaded with a live laboratory mouse on …

Correlates Of Course Ratings, Jan Krambule

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which selected variables are related to scores on the Utah State University Faculty Evaluation Questionnaire (USU FEQ). The variables examined were size of class, level of class, college under whose auspices a class is offered and whether the class is required or elective. In addition, the relationship between total mean score and responses to question 23, a percentage ranking of instructors, was assessed.

The fall quarter, 1975, FEQ results were used in this assessment. Employing the same procedures as had been followed in previous quarters, 315 courses were evaluated. …

Programmed Interpersonal Relations Training For High School Students, Leland J. Winger Jr.

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of the Basic Interpersonal Relations program as a facilitator of interpersonal relations for high school students.

Three intact classes of high school introductory psychology students were used to contrast the effectiveness of the Basic Interpersonal Relations program as shown by the experimental group with a treatment-control group receiving didactic instruction, and with a no-treatment control group. All subjects were pretested with the following instruments: Attitude Toward Others Scale (MMPI), Attitude Toward Self Scale (MMPI), Rotter's Internal- External Control Scale, and an achievement test based on the content of the Basic …

Effect Of Feeding Frequency And Caloric Intake On Weight Reduction In Obese Females, Richard Robert Weber

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Forty-five obese female volunteers were randomly assigned to one of six experimental groups required to consume their daily food intake according to the following feeding frequencies: (a) three isocaloric meals, (b) six isocaloric meals, (c) three isocaloric vii meals, (d) three meals in the proportion of 1/4:1/4:2/4, (e) six isocaloric meals, and (f) ad libitum (i.e., eight or more isocaloric meals). Members of the first two groups received dietary, nutritional, and exercise management information, while women in the remaining groups received instruction in behavioral control procedures in addition to the aforementioned educative treatment.

Experimental manipulations failed to produce a statistically …

Noninformative Conditioned Reinforcers In Observing Response Training, Arnold Wellman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The goal of this research was to ascertain if information per se is a necessary condition to establish a conditioned reinforcer. Five pigeons were given observing response training in a two key Skinner box using free choice and forced trials procedures and a chain VI FI reinforcement schedule. The percentage of free choice noninformative trials was the observing response measure. A time correction procedure equated actual and programmed reinforcement frequencies in informative trials and noninformative trials if a difference occurred. For one bird a discrimination reversal of the informative and noninformative stimulus presentations occurred in the last five sessions.

All …

Some Characteristics Of Female College Students Who Select Academic Majors In Fields Of Exact Science And Non-Exact Science: A Longitudinal Follow-Up, Paul David Warner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study, conducted in 1974, was a longitudinal follow-up of two groups of female subjects who had participated in an earlier study (Wright and Johnson, 1960) while the subjects were university students. One group of the subjects had majored in fields considered at that time to be traditionally feminine majors, i.e. social sciences, art, music, education, homemaking, etc. The other group had majored in fields of exact sciences, which at the time were considered more traditionally masculine. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether differences noted in the 1960 study will exist between these two groups …

Telephone Crisis Intervention: Empathy And Conceptual Level, Paul J. Seymour

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The telephone crisis intervention service at Utah State University (Help-Line) was evaluated in order to make the training program accountable and to produce recommendations for improvement in volunteer training.

Help-Line training teaches a "non-directive" counseling model and incorporates experiential sensitivity type exercises, didactic discussion, and role playing.

Help-Line volunteers were assessed by two methods. The first was a pretest-posttest control group design. Training was the independent variable and the discrimination of core conditions (as measured by the Crisis Center Discrimination Index) and the communication of empathy (as measured by the Crisis Center Communication Index) were the dependent variables. The Indexes …

Strengths Enhancement Training: Self-Concept And Self-Actualization, Tony J. Strelich

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The strengths enhancement training program was developed and evaluated in order to determine empirically if a group method designed specifically to assist subjects in the identification of personal strengths, resources, and potentials, would be effective in broadening their perceptions of themselves in a positive direction.

The strengths enhancement training program was based primarily on the work of Herbert A. Otto, using the Multiple Strengths Perception method as the central component of the training program. That method was pilot tested, and program modifications were made on two occasions.

A pretest-posttest control group design was used to assess the 80 Introductory Psychology …

The Development And Validation Of A Life-Change Checklist For Juvenile Delinquents, Paul G. Kulcsar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A method generated by psychophysics has been used to develop a Checklist consisting of 58 life-events that require varying degrees of readjustment on the part of adolescents experiencing them.

A very high degree of concordance was found to exist among psychologists, social workers and probation officers with regard to the relative value of life-change required by those events.

Information about the occurrence of the amount of life-change was subsequently gathered from a sample of 334 juvenile delinquents and 104 nondelinquents by administering the Checklist. A measure of the degree of severity of delinquency was also obtained for each delinquent subject. …