Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Viewpoint Apperceptive Ads Let You Dine On ‘Psychological Smorgasbord’, Humayun Akhter, Anees A. Sheikh

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Tips, Volume 01, No. 4, 1981, Wolf P. Wolfensberger

Training Institute Publication Series (TIPS)

• Let There Be Peace on Earth & Mercy Mild for Every Woman, Man & Child

• The International Scene

• An Example of Total Comprehensive Delegated Emergency Planning

• The Third World

• Violence in Society

• Violence in Human Services

• Violence By Whom, Against Whom?

• Do Societally Devalued People Enjoy Being Restrained or Even Abused?

• Human Service Workers as Executioners?

• A Dubious Love at Love Canal

• The Dynamics of Violence

• Remember the Underworld

• Nightmares of Human Service & Our Times

• Describe Hell!

• Remember Those in Prison

• The Lady …

A Comparison Of Reading And Listening Performances Of Braille And Print Readers, Betty P. Zook

Masters Theses

Blind and sighted subjects were tested on their capability to retain information after both reading and listening to specially prepared printed and taped materials. The sample consisted of graduate students and professional individuals. It was found that, on the average, subjects retained more after reading than listening. This effect was more pronounced in the braille reading subjects. As the level of complexity of the material increased, the difference in the points earned between the two modalities, reading and listening, increased significantly. A behavioral analysis suggested some reasons for this difference. It was suggested that further research into reading and listening …

Improving On-The-Job Performance Of Restaurant Employees Through Behavior Modification Techniques, Patricia A. Kershek

Masters Theses

Behavior modification techniques were used to improve the performance of individual employees in a restaurant setting. Desired performance was defined in operational terms. Contingent upon observations of desired behavior, procedures involving praise, performance charts, and bonuses were implemented according to an ABCB design. After applying both praise and performance charts, bonuses were added so that all three techniques were in operation. Then, bonuses were discontinued. Results indicated that while employee performance (quality of performance and time spent on the job) improved when praise and performance charts were applied, the addition of a bonus led to even further improvement. Hence, bonuses …

The Perceived Utility Of The Job Model As A Planning Document For Faculty Members, Victoria Kai-Cacho

Masters Theses

A job model for faculty activity plans was developed based on an interview and a questionnaire response from 14 Western Michigan University professors. Perceived accuracy and usefulness of the job model were measured by a questionnaire designed by the investigator. Responses were analyzed by computing the mean ratings of each item included in the questionnaire. The job model was perceived as an accurate and useful instrument for faculty activity plans, self-development and faculty evaluation. However, methodological limitations suggest that further empirical research with a large sample and participation of administrative officers and students, in addition to faculty members, will be …

Effects Of Informational Data Upon Attendance In An Industrial Setting, Karen T. Suarez

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of informational data on employee attendance in an industrial setting. It was believed that knowledge of attendance rates would encourage employees to improve their attendance. An average of 50 male employees ranging from 22 to 55 years of age were included in the study. The procedure involved the implementation of publicly posted graphs which displayed attendance rates for the total department and each shift according to an ABA reversal design. Attendance rates were calculated and graphs updated each week by the department's superintendent. In addition, a brief questionnaire was distributed …

Prompts And Feedback As A Means Of Increasing A Customer Service Behavior In A Family Restaurant, David B. Lennox

Masters Theses

Although waiters and waitresses traditionally receive a gratuity based upon quality of service from customers, it may be difficult for them to interpret the amount of the gratuity as an indicator of good service or bad service. This ambiguity could be a result of different amounts of customer checks or faulty comparisons of total dollar amounts (total for the working shift) without taking into consideration the total dollar amount of the customer checks or the number of customers served. This study was conducted to provide accurate information for waitresses regarding gratuity percentage received from customers while monitoring its effects on …

The Effect Of Praise And Critical Feedback On The Task Performance Of Young Males Of Varying Levels Of Adaptive Behavior, Michael Reed

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The effect of evaluative feedback on the simple motor performance of young males of varying levels of adaptive behavior was examined. Subjects were 50 male Caucasians (6.0 to 8.5 years of age) randomly assigned to either a praise, criticism, or control condition. Subjects participated in a motor task twice (pretest, posttest). After the first trial of the task (pretest), subjects received either positive evaluative feedback (praise), negative evaluative feedback (criticism), or were asked for biographical information (neutral). The second trial of the task immediately followed feedback. The adaptive behavior level of each subject was determined in a subsequent interview with …

Effect Of Informational Posting And Employee Inspection On Safety Hazard Reduction In A Retail Drug Store, Craig A. Berger

Masters Theses

Undesired safety conditions were operationally defined for a large retail drug store. The recording of unsafe conditions were conducted for two different employee shifts for ten weeks. A multiple baseline design (ABC-ACB) was used in which three conditions were introduced: (a) baseline, (b) public posting of a safety performance chart, and (c) individual employee inspections. Results indicated that the frequency of safety hazards declined 23% from baseline for the public post-condition and declined 44% for the employee inspection condition (averaged across both shifts). An advanced analysis of variance indicated significant mean differences (p < .01) between baseline and employee inspection for both shifts. An additional measure was taken correlating photograph ratings by employees on a safety dimension and an attractiveness dimension. The coefficient of correlation was statistically significant (r = .76; p <.05). The results indicate that a training program involving employee inspections may be an effective way of reducing undesirable safety conditions.

The Effects Of Music On The Duration Of Time Spent In A Store By A Customer, Danita J. Mussatto

Masters Theses

The present study was compared the effects of employing music and withholding music in a retail setting. Over a three week experimental period, the duration of time customers spent in a store was recorded. The music system was first employed (Phase I), next the customers were subject to an environment void of music (Phase II), and then the music system was reimplemented (Phase III). During Phase II customers spent significantly less time in the store than in Phase I or Phase III. Another store, employing music continually, was used to control extraneous sources of variability. The results provide empirical verification …

Matching-To-Sample In The Pigeon: An Analysis Of The Effects Of Correction And Noncorrection Procedures, Deborah Lou Grossett

Masters Theses

Contradictory results concerning the effect that presence or absence of a correction procedure has on matching-to-sample were obtained by past studies (Carter and Werner, 1978; Thomas, 1979). Carter and Werner (1978) reported that exposure to a correction procedure resulted in an increase in accuracy, while Thomas (1979) found no difference between the noncorrection and correction procedures. The present study showed that exposure to a correction procedure resulted in an increase in accuracy in comparison to a noncorrection procedure during acquisition, but not during maintenance.

Past studies (Holt and Shafer, 1973; Thomas, 1979), using a correction procedure, showed that presence of …

Effects Of Phenytoin On Schedule-Controlled Performance, Kathleen M. Krafft

Dissertations

The present studies examined the effects of acute and chronic administrations of phenytoin on the responding of pigeons and rats maintained under fixed-ratio, fixed-interval, and interresponse-time-greater-than-t schedules of food reinforcement. These schedules typically engender different rates and temporal patterns of responding and are often differentially affected by drugs. The results indicated that phenytoin, given acutely, produced dose-dependent decreases in the response rate of rats and pigeons maintained under fixed-ratio and fixed-interval schedules. Response rates under the fixed-interval and inter response-time-greater-than-t schedules were little affected by the drug. A degree of tolerance was observed to phenytoin's rate-decreasing effects when the drug …

Affective Perspective-Taking And Sympathy In Young Children, Mary Driver Leinbach

Dissertations and Theses

The present study focused upon both behavioral and cognitive aspects of sympathetic responses in preschool children. Subjects, 36 boys and girls aged 33-75 months, were seen at their regular day care center. An attempt was made to promote comforting behavior through the use of a peer model both alone and accompanied by an adult's inductive statement regarding the consequences of a sympathetic response; a six year-old girl served as the sympathetic model and as an apparently injured victim in need of comforting. In addition, age- and sex-related relationships for the measures of social cognition, affective perspective-taking and knowledge of strategies …

The Effect Of Early Handling On The Sexually Dimorphic Rate Of Extinction Of A Conditioned Taste Aversion In Rats, Rebecca Lee Yoder

Dissertations and Theses

Male rats have been found to extinguish a conditioned taste aversion slower than females. It has also been found that female rats that have been "handled" (i.e., exposed to daily brief isolation from siblings and mother) during the preweaning period extinguish a taste aversion faster than nonhandled females. The present study sought to combine and extend these findings by testing handled and nonhandled females and males in a conditioned taste aversion under the methodological conditions used in the sex difference research.

Social, Spacing, And Cooperative Behavior Of The Collared Peccary, Tayassu Tajacu, John A. Byers, Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

Social behavior of the collared peccary was studied on the lower, eastern slopes of the Mazatzal Mountains, Arizona. The social unit in this species is a cohesive herd, in which small inter-individual distances are maintained. Two conspicuous acts, one olfactory and one auditory, functioned to maintain close spacing. Social interactions were brief but tended to synchronize the activities of animals and also to bring them closer together. Amicable and neutral actions occurred far more frequently than agonistic interactions. Most agonistic behavior did not involve physical contact. Cooperative nursing, predator defense, and feeding occurred; all adults were tolerant of young, and …

The Effects Of Correctional Education On Recidivism, William L. Hiser

Dissertations and Theses

The effectiveness of programs intended to rehabilitate criminal offenders has been widely debated during the last decade. This thesis represents an attempt to evaluate the effects of education and training programs in particular, insofar as these effects have been measured in terms of recidivism.

The Development And Effects Of An Educational Audiovisual Presentation On Female Masturbation Upon The Attitudes And Masturbatory Behavior Of College Females, Catherine Ann Hogan

Dissertations and Theses

The current study was designed: (1) to develop an educational tool on female masturbation capable of reaching a wide audience of women with accurate and complete information on female masturbation; (2) to provide initial validation for the further educational usefulness of this tool and (3) to assess its potential ability for improving overall sexual functioning in women by possibly altering negative attitudes toward masturbation and/or by dis-inhibiting masturbatory behavior.

The Use Of Function In Infant Concept Acquisition, Carolyn S. Held

Student Work

The use of function for concept formation in 5 and 8 month old infants was studied in an experiment employing a conceptual adaptation of the standard habituation paradigm. A total of 64 male and female infants were shown videoptaped presentations which involved changes in form and functional attributes of selected stimuli. The stimuli consisted of striped figures which could vary in form (shmoo-shaped or H-shaped) and function (side-to-side movements or up-down movements). During habituation, all infants were shown multiexemplars of a specific figure performing a single movement pattern; the figures varied only in color. During test trials, the infants were …

Recognition And Recall Memory As A Function Of Intentional And Incidental Learning Of An Eyewitness Account, Jill L. Ricke

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between recognition and recall memory as a function of intentional and incidental learning of a eyewitness event. A total of 188 college students participated in the experiment with 47 students in each of four conditions. The two learning conditions were produced by giving either intentional or incidental learning instructions while the two memory conditions, either recognition or recall, were defined on the basis of one of two forms of the retention questionnaire. All subjects viewed two groups of slides; the first group depicted a wallet of paired-associate nonsense syllables. The …

Tips, Volume 01, No. 3, 1981, Wolf P. Wolfensberger

Training Institute Publication Series (TIPS)

• This land was your land, ... (adapted from Defenders of Wildlife. 1981, 56(4), 13)

• A Major Focus of This Issue: Some Dangerous Trends in the US Government

• Miscellaneous Good & Bad News About the Government

• Other Environmental Issues

• Change Agentry Resources & Tips

• A Minority Opinion About "Best Boy"

• French Overheads on Social Integration Available

• New Periodical

• Old Periodical

• Good News

• Piano Teacher Never Hears Her Music

• Normalizing Ad

• The International Year of Disabled Persons

• The Nut that Nearly Undid IYDP

• The Year of Normals …

Activity Of Moose And White-Tailed Deer At Mineral Springs, D. Fraser, H. Hristienko

Social Behavior Collection

Activity of moose (Alces alces) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) was studied at two natural mineral springs (licks) in Ontario during the springtime and summer of 1977 to 1980. Most adult moose appeared to use a lick during a single 1- to 5-day period in a year; some returned at intervals during the season; and all seemed drawn principally by the mineral-rich water. Some young moose remained in the lick vicinity for 3 weeks or more, and often wandered in and out of the licks, grazing herbage as well as drinking. This suggested a social as well as a nutritional …

The Transgenerational Effects Of Father-Daughter Incest, Kevin M. Conlee

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The notion of "Transgenerationality" as it pertains to father-daughter incest, has been the source of speculation in research on incest. This study examines the relationship between the manifestation of family system factors often found in father-daughter incest families and the incidence of childhood sexual experience reported by parents actively or passively participating in this dysfunctional system. Fathers sexually abused or witnesses to incestuous relationships in childhood appear to most extensively violate the incest taboo. Mothers in incestuous family's who were victims of sexual assault as children tend to function in more stereotypic incest family systems as described routinely in the …

A Comparison Of The Relative Success Of Two Pay Incentive Plans Under Controlled Conditions, Richard J. Poole

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Current Close Friendships And Lapsed Close Friendships, Teresa A. Rodgers

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Machine Pacing Of Simulated Inspection Tasks On Physiological And Psychological Stress Reactions, Norma Roll

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to obtain data on the impact of machine-paced industrial inspection tasks upon workers. Psychological and physiological stress reaction measures were gathered from subjects under simulated work conditions. Typical stress indicators such as heart rate, electromyograph readings, temperature, and psychological stress scales comprised the raw data. After being subjected to statistical analysis, results and conclusions will be discussed in order to gain knowledge and insight as to the stress reactions of the machine-paced inspection worker, and to provide implications for further research.

New Issues In The Study Of Infant Categorization: A Reply To Husaim And Cohen, Deborah G. Kemler Nelson

Psychology Faculty Works

Husaim and Cohen's focus (Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 1981, 27, 443–456) on the learning of ill-defined categories by infants is securely motivated. Still, some of the particular questions they pursue—namely, how many dimensions are used to form the categories and what is the salience hierarchy of the dimensions—are tricky and perhaps misleading. Underlying their design and analysis is the basic assumption that the dimensions or attributes of the stimulus as defined by the experimenter have psychological reality for the infants. This assumption is questioned. Infants may perceive different attributes in the stimulus or they may not articulate the stimulus into attributes at …

Child Abuse And Neglect: A Primer, Judith K. Schwartz

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this specialty paper is to present an overview of child abuse and neglect in the United States. This accomplished by researching previously published literature. Topics investigated include the epidemiological factors, personality characteristics of children and adults, etiology, diagnose and assessment procedures, intervention and treatment options and early identification and prevention. Sexual abuse, foster care and the legal problems associated with a diagnoses of child abuse/neglect are treated, briefly, as separate topics. In addition, critical comments in research methodology and findings and suggestions for further research can be found throughout the body of the paper.

Sex-Roles And Marital Satisfaction Of Employed And Homemaking Mothers Of Pre-School Children, Leslie G. Bennett

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

A group of college educated mothers of pre-school children were compared on ratings of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and the Marital Satisfaction Inventory in order to examine what effect sex-role orientation may have on marital satisfaction in working and in homemaking wives. The subjects were grouped according to employment status, that is employed or homemaking, and according to their designation on the Bem, that is masculine, feminine, androgynous and undifferentiated. The levels or marital satisfaction for each group were then computed. When analyzing the differences between working wives in general and homemaking wives, no statistical significance was noted, although it …

An Evaluation Of A Visual Training Technique For Female Volleyball Players, Diane G. Burbank

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Fear Of Success And The Performance Of Males And Females In A Managerial Position, Joan A. Helms

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.