Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of A Thank-You Letter And/Or Phone Call To First-Time Volunteer Blood Donors, Larkey Sheldon De Neffe

Dissertations and Theses

This study measures two reinforcement strategies designed to increase repeat donations in first-time volunteer blood donors.

The Expression Of Politeness In Japan: Intercultural Implications For Americans, Emiko Tajikara Nelson

Dissertations and Theses

This descriptive study focuses on expressions of politeness in the Japanese language and their relevance to social structure and intercultural communication. The study is designed to help students of the Japanese language learn rules of politeness which fall outside the domain of grammatical rules.

Predictors Of Self-Esteem And Spiritual Well-Being Among Sexually Abused Women, Kathryn D. Rodriguez

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

The purpose of the study was to a) formulate an equation for predicting self-esteem and spiritual wellbeing among women molested as children and b) analyze the role of beginning age of abuse, ending age of abuse, relationship between offender and victim, family authority structure, and religious orientation of the home in predicting self-esteem and spiritual well-being in contributing to these equations. The sample consisted of 50 adult women between the ages of 18 and 60 who were involved in outpatient treatment for childhood sexual abuse in one of six outpatient treatment facilities in the Northwestern United States. Stepwise multiple regression …

An Exploratory Study Of The Relationship Between Communication Apprehension And Personal Construct Theory In The Context Of A Public Speaking Fundamentals Course, Linda Wilkins

Student Work

Many psychologists, philosophers, and educators agree that individual self-concepts develop, in large part, through perceptions gained from communicative transactions. If the nature of the transaction changes, perceptions can change, and self-concept can be altered. Self-concept combines with many influences including cultural heritage, environment, and past experiences to form the basis of an individual’s unique communicative and behavior patterns.

A Comparison Of The Pattern Of Involvement Of Degenerative Joint Disease Between An Agricultural And Non-Agricultural Skeletal Series, Lorna Kathryn Collins Pierce

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates the differences in the pattern of involvement of osteoarthritis between two groups of prehistoric American Indians who lived in a similar ecosystem and climate, separated by time and cultural activities. The purpose of this biocultural investigation was to determine if there was a difference in the patterning of the degenerative lesions in the two skeletal series and if that suite of characteristics would assist in determining possible aetiological factors and culturally determined activities.

Two archaeological skeletal series were utilized, Averbuch (40DV60), of middle Tennessee, to represent an agricultural site outside the mainstream of the late Mississippian period …

An Evaluation Of The Effects Of An Infant-Care Skills Training Program On Fathering Behaviors, G. Joseph Vrazo

Masters Theses

This study replicated the findings and expanded the assessment procedures of a previous study that had established the effectiveness of a multi-component infant-care skills training program for first-time fathers. A multiple probe design was used in this study to demonstrate that the training program produced criterion performance of the infant-care skills by four experimental fathers; also, an increase in the frequency of infant stimulation activities initiated by these fathers was observed. A pre/post training evaluation of the effects of the training program on the fathers' performance of play and affectional behaviors and daily infant-care activities yielded negative results. Four control …

Drug Use And Abuse: A Survey Of Mentally Retarded Citizens In Kalamazoo County, Michigan, Sandra Ann Burdick

Masters Theses

An abundant array of research in the area of drug use and abuse among various populations has been conducted in recent years. These studies have determined that although several demographic variables affect the prevalence of drug use, all segments of society who have access to drugs are at some risk. Whether relative risk is influenced by subaverage intelligence is unclear, however, for very little has been done to determine the prevalence of drug use and abuse among the mentally retarded.

In this survey methods were utilized to gather such information in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. A survey return rate of 73% …

The Effects Of Altruism On Activity Productivity In Elderly Women In Skilled-Care Nursing Facilities, Carol J. Getz

Masters Theses

This study investigated altruism as a factor in productivity in elderly women. Eight groups of institutionalized elderly women (n = 33) stenciled personalized (initials) stationery. Groups were randomly assigned to either the non-altruistic condition or the altruistic condition; there was control for time of day and location of the activity. Subjects in the non-altruistic condition made stationery for themselves, while subjects in the altruistic condition made stationery for abused children living in an innercity. The number of pieces of stationery produced and the duration of time engaged in activity were recorded for each subject. Mann-Whitney U tests revealed that subjects …

Hemispheric Brain Laterality Of Perception Of Tachistoscopically Presented Erotic Stimuli By Male And Female College Students, Randall Warne Stewart

Masters Theses

The effects of hemispheric asymmetry on the perception of erotic stimuli presented in either of the two visual fields was investigated. Freshmen and Sophomore college students, 20 males and 27 females, were used as subjects in the study. Subjects were bilaterally presented with combinations of erotic, neutral, and blank visual field stimuli using a "split visual field" procedure for a total of 96 200 msec. presentations. Subjects were asked to rate the presentations on a scale of 1 to 5; 1 was equal to neutral and 5 was equal to very erotic. Males and females rated erotic stimuli presented in …

Mental Practice: Its Effects On Walking Balance In An Elderly Population, Cheryl A. Linden

Masters Theses

The effect of mental practice on improving walking balance in an elderly population was studied. Walking balance was measured by the number of upper extremity equilibrium reactions elicited and placement of feet observed as subjects traversed an activity course. Twenty-three female subjects between the ages of 67-90 were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The experimental group mentally practiced traversing the activity course with the aid of a six minute audio tape. The control group participated in sedentary activities of equal duration. Both groups met for eight sessions. Independent and correlated t-tests indicated no significant difference in walking balance …

Congruence Between Type Of Activity And Volition And Its Relationship To Life Satisfaction In Nursing Home Residents, David De Noble

Masters Theses

This study examines the relationship between life satisfaction and the volition subsystem of 32 older adults who reside in nursing homes. Specifically, it attempts to measure congruence or the perception of the individual that the inherent characteristics of an activity "fit" his or her sense of personal causation, values and interests. The study examines the relationship between this congruence and life satisfaction.

Results of the study identified positive correlations between congruence and life satisfaction. Correlations between congruence of volition subsystem components and activity were at a statistically significant level (p <.05) for personal causation, values and total volition. Correlations between congruence of volition subsystem components and some specific activities were also found.

An Attendance Incentive Procedure Using Group Contingencies, Norman Kevin Brown

Masters Theses

This study used a multiple baseline design to examine the effect of a lottery-based group contingency on unscheduled sick leave (USL) use by residential treatment workers. Sixty direct-care workers participated in this study. Researchers employed a group contingency that required workers to meet 2-week absence criterion levels in order to participate in a subsequent reinforcement lottery. The workers who won the lottery chose one of four rewards including 20 dollars, 4 hours paid time-off, lunch with a supervisor, and four movie tickets. The mean number of USL hours used in each of five work units was reduced significantly during intervention. …

The Effects Of Caffeine On The Recall Of Prose Passages, Scott V. Sternhagen

Theses and Dissertations

It has been demonstrated that an individual's level of arousal has a significant effect on their ability to perform a specific tasks. This arousal may be due to stable trait characteristics such as those measured by the impulsivity subscale of the Eysenck Introversion Extroversion Scale or transient state effects like those caused by consumption of stimulants such as caffeine. Manipulation of trait and state arousal have been shown to cause significant effects on an individual's ability to perform various cognitive tasks such as to remember word lists or prose passages.

In this experiment, 79 male subjects listened to three expository …

Ratio Pausing And The Determination Of Discriminative Operant Latencies, Thomas M. Bell

Dissertations

The latency between discriminative stimulus onset and initiation of a corresponding ratio requirement (RR) was studied in pigeons using a two-key discrete-trial procedure with three-component multiple schedules. The two-key procedure allowed measurement of response-reinforcer relations on a "constant" key, and stimulus-reinforcer relations on a "stimulus" key. The first experiment showed regular between-session effects as equivalent fixed-ratio (FR) components were raised over several phases and then lowered. A direct relation was observed between latency and RR for each of ten subjects. Initial stimulus-key pecking showed several trends, the most prevalent being an inverse relation to RR.

Experiment 2 demonstrated within-session separations …

Development Of Michigan Jtpa Title Iia Performance Standards Regression Models Under The New Federalism, Yung Sung Wu

Dissertations

The purpose of this study has been to make some contribution toward an understanding of the United States Department of Labor's (USDOL) JTPA Title IIA performance standards models and their policy implications. The major objective of the study has been to construct, evaluate, and document short-run econometric models which would be available for policy analysis and ex ante forecasting. The consequences of job training programs may have important effects on participants and the manpower service delivery system--hence, this study of the relationship between program activities and their consequences.

The State of Michigan has been using USDOL's JTPA Title IIA performance …

The Idea Of Good Government: The Evolution Of Administrative Thought And Practice In The American Republic, James Robert Wieber

Dissertations

This study analyzes the evolution of the proper role of public administration in American government. American public administration traces its roots to the founding of American constitutional government in 1789, but divergent opinions continue regarding the discipline's proper role in a democracy. This question has never been settled in the American experiment. Considering the size, scope, and complexity of today's administrative state, it may well never be. Recent efforts have sought to define public administrations's role as proactive on behalf of clients for reasons of social equity and human dignity. Further attempts have been made to define administration as a …

An Analysis Of The Use Of Special Masters For Assuring Compliance With Judicial Decrees In Corrections Litigation, Richard J. Liles

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze the recent practice of judges appointing remedial special masters to oversee the implementation of consent decrees and court orders. These orders are a response to the spate of inmate suits demanding compliance with the constitutional guarantees provided in the Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments. As more courts have become involved in adjudging the constitutionality of conditions in correctional institutions, there has been a trend toward the judge becoming a quasi-manager in assuring compliance with the court's orders. To conduct this oversight, they have turned more and more to the practice of hiring …

Lead Seals From Fort Michilimackinac, Mackinaw City, Michigan, Diane L. Adams

Masters Theses

Archaeologists have routinely identified small lead seals found on sixteenth- to eighteenth-century sites in North America as "bale seals." An analysis of the lead seals from Fort Michilimackinac, Mackinaw City, Michigan, (1715-1781) was conducted to determine whether the seals are actually cloth seals from individual textiles.

Four lines of evidence were examined in order to clarify the function(s) of lead seals: documentary sources, quantitative analysis of archaeological data from Fort Michilimackinac, comparative data from site reports, and cloth imprint analysis.

Available evidence supports an interpretation that most lead seals are cloth marks. Lead seals served as indicators of quality, ownership, …

Modernization In West Africa: How Women's Lives Have Been Marginalized, Patricia S. Peterman

Masters Theses

Social scientists have documented the effects of colonialism and independence in West Africa, but have focused on male roles in economic institutions. Recent research reveals not only the importance of women as agricultural producers but also the marginalization of women in contemporary national society. Development projects have not eased economic hardship, rather emphasis on industrialization has led to agricultural underdevelopment, borne more heavily by women and children than by men.

This paper looks at the micro-level issues of the division of labor, the structure of the household, the status of women, and issues concerning fertility and reproduction. In doing so, …

Islam In The American Media, Inas Amin Farid

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Gulf Cooperation Council And Regional Economic Integration, Pak Young-Chul

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Development And Evaluation Of An Infant-Care Training Program With First-Time Fathers, Ronald S. Dachman

Dissertations

We evaluated the effectiveness of a multicomponent package in training infant-care skills to first-time fathers. After developing and socially validating a set of infant-care skills, we assessed the effects of training in a hospital-based program with expectant fathers (Experiment 1) and in a home-based program with fathers having varied degrees of experience with their infants (Experiment 2). In both experiments, a multiple probe design demonstrated that the training package was responsible for producing criterion performance by the expectant and first-time fathers. A one-month generalization probe in Experiment 1 showed that the effects transferred across training conditions (training doll to human …

Maxillary Suture Obliteration: A Method For Estimating Skeletal Age, Robert Walter Mann

Masters Theses

The palatal processes of the adult human maxilla consist of two horizontally directed bones of quadrilateral shape situated posterior of the nasal fossae. In the early stages of morphogenesis, these palatal folds are vertically oriented and separated by the developing tongue. Between the eighth and eleventh weeks the fetal tongue descends allowing alignment and midline fusion of the palatal processes of the maxilla. At birth the palate is composed of four bones joined by broad serrated sutures. With increasing age the suture gaps narrow, fuse, and ultimately obliterate.

The purpose of this study is to develop a method of estimating …

Restrained Eating : The Effects Of Privacy And Perception Of Having Overeaten On Subsequent Food Consumption, Geraldine T. Merola

Theses and Dissertations

Herman & Mack (1975) theorized that "restrained eaters," conflicted between social pressure to be thin and biological pressure to be fat, tend to alternately eat very little or a great deal, as they respond to one or the other constraint. According to restraint theory, restrained eaters' chronic dieting induces physiological and psychological states that make them highly susceptible to external disruption of eating controls. Research has shown that when led to believe they have already overeaten (i.e., when they are "preloaded"), restrained eaters will loosen restraints and "counterregulate" (i.e., binge-eat). In contrast, "unrestrained eaters" (i.e., normal eaters) will compensate by …

The Effects Of Test Result And Diagnosticity On Physicians’ Revisions Of Probability Of Disease In Medical Diagnosis, Ann Elizabeth Sinclair

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the effects of sensitivity, specificity and result of diagnostic tests on the uses which physicians make of those results. These were compared with the Bayesian model of probability adjustment, which is generally accepted for medical diagnosis. Ninety six active members of the Oregon Academy of Family Physicians were interviewed by telephone, using a case scenario describing a patient with a newly discovered breast lump. Subjects estimated prior probability of malignancy, based on history and physical findings, and then estimated posterior probability following results of a mammogram. Mammograms varied by result (positive or negative) and by high and …

Classifying Oregon Lake-Watershed Ecosystems For Regional Water Resources Assessment, Randall Alan Jones

Dissertations and Theses

Natural lake-watershed ecosystems in Oregon compose a diverse and valuable assemblage of land and water resources. With an increasing demand on lakes for recreation, water supplies, and aesthetic values and an increase in available data on Oregon lake systems, there is a need for applicable and timely scientific water management information about lake conditions statewide. This thesis is an attempt to summarize some of the data collected on natural Oregon lake-watershed ecosystems.

The purpose of the thesis is to identify the most typical natural systems out of an initial data base of twenty-four variables, measured over ninety-eight lake-watershed ecosystems. The …

The Israeli Conception Of Peace, ĪMāN ḤAmdī

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Well-Being Of Working Family Women: Demands And Rewards, Social Support And Coping With Interrole Stress, Dianne Sheila Leader

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between the lifestyle of working family women and their well-being. Previous research had indicated that role conflict between home and work roles was common, and that it could have adverse effects on personal outcomes. One objective of the inquiry was to test previously proposed relationships between home and work demands, interrole stress and well-being. Another aim of the study was to explore the effects of including positive resources (coping behavior, social support and personal rewards) together with demands and interrole stress in examining the well-being of working family women. A conceptual framework was developed based …

A Dynamic Model Of Stability And Change In Mississippian Agricultural Systems, William W. Baden

Doctoral Dissertations

An argument in support of applying Stability Theory concepts to southeastern Mississippian agricultural systems is presented. By redefining such a system in terms of a finite set of variables, a characteristic definition can be developed that predicts system response to varying conditions. In particular, an attempt is made to determine periods of instability during the development of Mississippian Culture in the Little Tennessee River Valley of East Tennessee and correlate these periods with the timing of phase transitions. The system is divided into sets of (a) control (climatic and ecological) and (x) behavioral (technological and social) variables. The rules that …

Dietary Induced Weight Gain And Recovery Of Body Weight In Mongolian Gerbils, Maryann Mccarthy

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the capacities of male and female gerbils for recovery from increased weight gain produced by ingestion of high fat food. Thirty-six gerbils, assigned to either 20% or 40% groups with nine males and nine females in each percent weight gain group, were fed powdered chow under baseline conditions, then switched to a high fat diet until they reached target weight increase, and then returned to powdered chow. The 40% group was eliminated from the comparisons due to the failure of the gerbils to reach criterion. No sex differences were found in the …