Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Comparison Of Behavioral Incentive Systems In A Job Search Program, Louise Smith Rogers

Masters Theses

This research involved a comparison of two approaches for implementing a point system in a job search program, using a between-groups design. The experimental group (a) received precise instructions concerning back-up contingencies, (b) attended weekly feedback sessions, and (c) graphed daily points earned. The control group did none of the above; however, they received the same initial instructions concerning performance standards and point values for behaviors. The control group's instructions included only a vague statement concerning back up contingencies, not directly relating contingencies to point values. The experimental group earned 34% more points. Due to variability in each subject's program …

Reduction Of Self-Stimulatory Behavior Through The Use Of Appropriate Toy Training And Sensory Reduction, Jacquelyn A. Rouh

Masters Theses

Reduction of self-stimulatory behaviors in retarded and autistic children is desirable for a variety of reasons, including prevention of self-injurious behavior and increase in appropriate leisure activities. In this study, three autistic boys who exhibited hand-clasping, chin-grazing, and finger-waving were exposed to toys and received toy training on selected groups of toys. The toys consisted of stimulating toys, selecting toys, selected to replicate the sensory effects of their self-stimulation, and non-stimulating toys, selected to replicate a modality different from their self-stimulation from 85% of intervals observed and 11.3% to 0% and 7%, respectively. The third subject required the use of …

The Effects Of Total Darkness On Stimulus Control, Richard E. Schulman

Masters Theses

This experiment examined auditory stimulus control in a totally darkened as opposed to an illuminated chamber. All subjects (pigeons) were trained to keypeck in the presence of only a dimly lit green keylight, which was faded until responding was reliably occurring in a totally darkened chamber. When behavior stabilized under a Variable Interval (VI) 30 second schedule of reinforcement in a darkened chamber, subjects were divided into two groups for discriminating training. A Multiple VI 30 second Extinction (EXT) schedule was in effect, with 1-minute components separated by 5-second time-outs. The discriminative stimulus correlated with the VI component was a …

Completing Long-Term Undergraduate Projects: Some Critical Variables, Timothy K. Zoia

Masters Theses

Completion of long-term academic projects involves large amounts of behavior over long periods of time. Steady rates of task completion may be difficult. This study is concerned with the completion of long-term projects by undergraduates who have received a prestigious university scholarship. Project completion and hours worked were correlated with the amount of supervision that the students received. The correlation between frequent supervisory meetings and completing project on time was significant (r=.70; df=1; P<.001). Suggestions for maintaining steady student performance are offered.

Economic Aid As An Instrument Of Soviet Foreign Policy: The Case Of Ghana 1957-1966, Patricia Masilo Hoeane

Masters Theses

This study examines the role of aid in Soviet policy toward Ghana during the Nkrumah era. Since aid is seen as a means to counter Western and Chinese influence, the paper seeks to establish the extent to which Soviet foreign policy met its goals in Ghana. It also examines the actions of other nations which had vested interests that ran counter to Soviet aspirations. An argument is made that in so far as Soviet aid was used as a response to Western influence it was an inadequate instrument of policy due to its insignificant quantity. In so far as it …

A Social Impact Assessment Study Of The Barrier Sand Dune Controversy In Bridgman, Michigan, Linda Lee Sweigart

Masters Theses

This analytical anthropological study examined the interrelationships among the population, environment, and modes of technology of a small community in southwestern Michigan. The researcher assumed a participant-observer role and engaged in a social impact assessment by (1) conducting a survey among the residents in the community of Bridgman, Michigan; (2 ) analyzing the data and making recommendations concerning the impact of a proposed sand mining operation in the community; and (3) providing detailed records of the assessment process.

A Comparison Of Concurrent And Removed Component Procedures For Teaching Toothbrushing Skills To Preschoolers, Timothy Ian Mckinley

Masters Theses

The study compared the use of a removed component program to a concurrent training program in teaching toothbrushing skills to preschool children. The removed component program separated three response components from the terminal toothbrushing response and taught them separately out-of-the mouth before requiring them in the mouth. The concurrent training program required the three response components but did not train them separately in or out of the mouth. The removed component program taught the skills faster than or equal to the concurrent program, with a significantly higher percentage of correct responses.

Effects Of Supervisory Feedback Skills On Performance And Job Satisfaction, Kenneth Wayne Barnes

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Paleoethnobotany Of The Upper Mississippi Component At The Elam Site, A Seasonal Encampment On The Lower Kalamazoo River, Kathryn E. Parachini

Masters Theses

Carbonized floral remains from the Elam site (20AE195) located on the Kalamazoo River in Allegan County, Michigan are identified and analyzed in terms of the local Upper Mississippian subsistence system. The function of Elam as a specialized activity locus in the seasonal round of a late prehistoric people is examined. Interpretations of the botanical data permit hypothetical reconstruction of vegetation and natural ecosystems in the site vicinity as they were prior to Euro-American contact. A warm weather seasonal re-occupation of several months duration is indicated, with intensive exploitation of several plant and animal resources abundant in the riverine and marsh …

Self-Injurious Behavior: Evaluations Of Controlling Variables And Interventions, Scott Nelson Schrum

Masters Theses

A nested multi-element within a multiple baseline design was used to evaluate potential controlling variables for the self-injurious behavior (SIB) of two severely retarded seventeen-year-old boys. Both subjects had extended histories of SIB which were somewhat unresponsive to prior behavioral programming. For each subject, four variables, attention, escape from a task, sensory stimulation, and mild punishment were evaluated. Results indicated that Subject 1's SIB was controlled by the response produced stimulation. A "package" intervention which included sensory attenuation and punishment procedures was evaluated with Subject 1 and shown to significantly suppress head hitting. A controlling variable was not identified for …

Improving Staff Performance Through Checklists, Duane Lee Bacon

Masters Theses

Analysis of a checklist system suggested that it may be a useful method of improving staff performance and that three features were important: task definitions, recording responses on checklists, and periodic supervisor review. A checklist system incorporating these features was developed for an administrative staff in a large instructional system. A multiple baseline design and one reversal were used with three small groups of front-line staff, whose task completion was determined by permanent products left by the tasks. The percent of tasks completed improved by 28.8% when the checklist system was in effect. This study indicates that checklists may be …

Increasing Job Performance By Training Employees How To Request Instructions And Feedback, Laverne Talley Alebiosu

Masters Theses

This study investigated the effectiveness of a procedure to increase the job performance, defined as task completion, of four black adolescents serving as child care aides in a day care center. The trainees were taught to request instructions and feedback from their supervisor. They were also taught to self-record the number of requests for instructions and feedback and the tasks they completed. Training procedures therefore involved a method to increase task performance without any direct intervention on increasing tasks and incorporated these direct instruction techniques: Small group instruction; active responding; the model, lead, and test format; and the use of …

Stress Relative To The Onset Of Multiple Sclerosis Exacerbations, Charlene A. Horgen

Masters Theses

Twelve Multiple Sclerosis (MS) participants recorded weekly on standardized forms, Life Change Units (LCU) and a Neurological Examination Checklist (NE), to determine if a relationship existed between stress and the onset of MS exacerbations. Dicotomizing the LCU values and contrasting these values with the corresponding NE scores, resulted in non-significance using a t-test. Non-significance was found when contrasting dicotomized NE scores and corresponding LCU values. No relationship was indicated when individual subject comparisons of weekly LCU-NE and LCU-NE with one week lag scores were correlated.

A Confusion Matrix Intelligibility Testing Procedure For Preschool Children, Jane C. Coe-Kruse

Masters Theses

This study was conducted to develop and examine a procedure for testing and analyzing the speech intelligibility of preschool children through the use of a phonetically balanced pictured word list, confusion matrices, and computer analysis. Four subjects and 15 listeners were used to obtain data on perception of sound production. The results indicate that use of this procedure differentiates varying speech intelligibilities and allows for effective analysis of sound production parameters as they pertain to speech intelligibility.

An Activity Perspective Of Alcohol Consumption And Problem Drinking Among Older Adults In Michigan, Gerald M. Burns

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Congruence And Development Of Beliefs And Hierarchic Position Among Institutional Mental Patients, Keith T. Handell

Masters Theses

The institutional mental patient is trained to function within the institutional setting. Relegated to the lowest organizational stratum, the inpatient adjusts his behavior accordingly. The present study was designed to find support for the contention that these institutionally induced changes are internalized. It was expected that (a) evidence of congruence between inpatients' beliefs and their organizational status would be detected, and (b) belief system change as a function of institutional experience would also be discernible. The results generally supported these main hypotheses; however, due to the nature and number of uncontrolled variables, the data are inconclusive. Alternative interpretations of these …

Middle Woodland Ceramics Of Northwestern Indiana And Western Michigan, William L. Mangold

Masters Theses

Much information regarding the Middle Woodland occupation of northwestern Indiana and western Michigan has been recovered since the definition of the Goodall Focus by Quimby (1941a). The object of this report is to undertake a detailed stylistic analysis of the ceramic assemblages from Middle Woodland sites, including the vessels used to elucidate Middle Woodland cultural relationships within this region. An attempt is made to establish stylistic zones through the use of typological and attribute analysis.

The Effects Of Self-Management Training On Academic Performance, Mark R. Dean

Masters Theses

Two studies evaluated the effect of a self-management training program on students' academic performance. In Experiment 1, nine students with low academic scores received an instructional package providing training in self-monitoring, self-recording, and several environmental management techniques designed to increase the duration of studying for quizzes. The students had a median quiz score of low "C" before training and a median quiz score of "B" following training. Follow-up measures indicated that the majority of students were continuing to use these self-management techniques as part of their everyday activities. In Experiment 2, three components of the self-management program were individually evaluated. …

Elite Perspectives And Predictive Potential: Park In Korea 1963-1972, Brian Borlas

Masters Theses

This study is concerned with the analysis of suppressive control policies in a centralized and monocratic political system. As the central elite figure in the Republic of Korea from 1961 until 1979, Park Chung-hee directed the growth of a political system which continually reinforced his own personal power. Park's reactions to challenges and crises led him to a policy of systemic manipulation and increased suppression of personal freedoms.

The existence of a large body of writing and speeches by Park makes it possible to examine the development of his personal philosophy as well as providing the basis for a directional …

The Evaluation Of An Incentive Program Used To Recruit Health Club Memberships Through Friend Referrals, Michael D. Bowles

Masters Theses

This study evaluated an incentive program used to recruit memberships through friend referrals in a health club. A multiple-baseline design was used to compare the relative number of referrals made per person in the incentive conditions to the number made in the no-incentive conditions. In the first incentive condition for the two groups involved, the changes in the mean number of referrals per person dropped from .317 and .295 to .129 and .029 under the no-incentive conditions and back up to .291 and .297 under the second incentive condition. In looking at the cost and revenues attributable to this incentive …

Liberalism And The Austrian School Of Economics, Gilbert Mason Scott

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the political philosophy and impact of an important group of European economists known as the Austrian School. This group includes such notables as Eugen Von Boehra-Bawerk, Ludwig Von Mises, and Friederich Havek.

The thesis first seeks to identify the role of the Austrian School within the liberal tradition, chiefly as a "conservative force" seeking -to defend the liberal tradition of Locke and Smith.

Secondly, the thesis seeks to examine the Impact of the Austrian School on American politics, specifically upon the growth of the American right. The thesis focuses on the impact of the Austrian School upon …

The Effects Of Prompts And Feedback On Frequency Of Teacher Referrals Of Students To A Contract Study Center, Leslie Marie Skinner

Masters Theses

Daily student referrals to a contract study center by seven high school teachers were recorded for a total of 95 school days. A reversal design, consisting of various experimental conditions interspersed between repeated baseline conditions, was used to determine if the number of teacher referrals of their students could be increased. Feedback was the only technique that showed minimum experimental control for the teachers that were able to return to baseline. No clear differences were apparent in the effectiveness between the prompting and feedback conditions. The procedures resulted in an increased use of a contract study center by offering students …

Age Determination At Death From Osteon Counting By Means Of Interactive Computer Graphics, Gale D. Slutzky

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to show the feasibility of doing osteon counting on the computer. A sample of 11 specimens were prepared by thin section techniques in order to be photographed through a Reichert transmitted-light interface contrast Zetopan research microscope. After the photographs were mosaiced into a single representative picture of the field of vision, the picture was digitized and processed for age by the computer.

Digitizing the specimens is accomplished by the use of interactive computer graphics. Using a tablet with a cursor or pen, the picture is digitized and stored in a file of x and …

The Temascal And Humoral Medicine In Santa Cruz Mixtepec, Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca, Mexico, Thomas J. Ibach

Masters Theses

This investigation reports on the present day use of the sweatbath among an indigenous people in Mexico. The purpose of this thesis was to provide evidence that aboriginal medicine in Mexico contained elements which were based on sets of opposing forces, and that these elements are present in the curing rites of the people of Santa Cruz Mixtepec.

Traditional views of the disease causation and curing are described with particular attention given to the postpartum sweatbath ritual or temascal. A comparison of this ritual in Santa Cruz Mixtepec to that seen in neighboring communities suggests that humoral medicine is …

Terrain Cover And Shadow Discrimination From Landsat Data Of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Vincent Gerard Ambrosia

Masters Theses

Landsat satellite imagery of the Great Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina exhibits dark tonal reflectances within the Blue Ridge physiographic province unlike any other reflectance patterns found on the remainder of the imagery. Repetitive, seasonal imagery indicate that these unique patterns are dynamic. There also appear to be definable, minute reflectance variations within the patterns themselves, indicating that there are numerous factors accounting for the anomaly. Among the factors discussed are the cover characteristics of the red spruce (picea rubens) and Fraser fir or southern balsam fir (abies fraseri), effects of topography, …

Cross-Cultural Comparisons Of Sex-Attributes And Sex-Roles At Eastern Illinois University, Li-Hsing Chen

Masters Theses

Statement of the Problem:

The main purpose of this research is to compare the attitudes of graduate students, who came from different cultural backgrounds and were studying at Eastern Illinois University, toward sex-attributes and sex-roles. Meanwhile, sex, marital status, age, family's religious affiliation, educational major area, and length of time in the United States were included as considerable factors whict may influence their attitudes toward sex-attributes and sex-roles.

Procedures:

The materials of this survey include two parts. The first part is a letter written by the researcher and revised by her academic advisor and one nonacademic advisor, to all subjects. …

Internship With The Public Affairs Office, Illinois Arts Council, Ann Adele Dunn

Masters Theses

This paper reports on anticipated and actual experiences of an internship with the Public Affairs Office of the Illinois Arts Council. The internship, accompanied by this paper, was chosen in lieu of the traditional thesis to culminate the Master of Arts in Related Arts degree. In addition to the description, the paper includes a proposal for the internship, a daily log of internship activities, an appendix of the writings accomplished during the internship, and recommendations. The paper is 70 pages in length.

Being the first Related Arts graduate student to serve such an internship, it was inevitable that certain discrepancies …

The Dependent Development Of Brazil: 1822-1980, Robin Guy-Michel Romans

Masters Theses

This thesis is an attmept to define the dependence contextual approach. This approach argues that national development is an international problem that should be studies from an international perspective. It also asserts that development and underdevelopment are functionally linked (i.e., the development of one nation may be a cause of the underdevelopment of another and vice versa).

This approach is utilized to examine the national development of Brazil since independence in 1822 to 1980. Dependence writers propose that Brazil’s national development can be categorized into three stages. Those are 1) the era of export economy (1822-1930); 2) the period of …

Relationship Between Anxiety And Level Of Aspiration Among College Male Physical Education Students, Taoheed Abdul Adedoja

Masters Theses

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between anxiety and level of aspiration among college physical education male students.

Thirty-one male physical education students, enrolled in the professional physical education classes at Eastern Illinois University, served as volunteers for the study.

Each subject completed a 40 item Anxiety Scale Questionnaire (ASQ), designed by the Institute for Personality and Anxiety Testing (IPAT), for measurement of anxiety level. The level of aspiration (Loa) scores were obtained from each subject's estimations of scores and performances on the grip strength tests administered.

The scores obtained from the anxiety questionnaire and …

Effects Of Prior And Interpolated Shock Exposures On Subsequent Escape/Avoidance Conditioning With Goldfish, Toshiyuki Kimbara

Masters Theses

The relationship between inescapable shocks and subsequent escape/avoidance learning was first deomonstrated by Overmier and Seligman (1967). They found that dogs exposed to inescapable electric shock, while restrained in a harness, later failed to learn to escape shock in a two way shuttle box where escape was possible. Ninety goldfish were randomly assigned to one of five groups (N=18 per group). Ninety fish were tested in a Lafayette Aquatic Unit A-660 type shuttle tank. There are four independent variables in this study. The first independent variable is the presence of prior inescapable shock. The second independent variable is the level …