Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Preliminary Study In The Design Of A Stress Inventory For Gifted Students: A Factor Analysis Of Potential Items, David Kinkade

Masters Theses

Items were designed for potential utilization in a stress inventory for gifted students. Two types of items were written; the first assessing stressful life events and situations, the second assessing coping ability. Both sets of items were administered to gifted students (N = 162) currently enrolled in the seventh and eighth grades. A principle components factor analysis with a varimax rotation was performed on both sets of items separately. The first set produced a four factor solution. The factors which emerged were identified as self-concept of giftedness, positive gifted programming, negative aspects of the gifted label, and performance pressure. The …

Religiosity, Fears Of Personal Death, And The Acceptability Of Suicide Within Reformed, Conservative, And Orthodox Jews, Lawrence B. Stein

Masters Theses

One hundred and fifty adults completed the Gladding, Lewis, and Adkins Scale of Religiosity (GLASR), Fears of Personal Death Scale (FPDS), and the Suicide Acceptability Scale (SAS) to investigate the relationships between religiosity, fears of personal death, and suicide acceptability within the Reformed, Conservative, and Orthodox Jewish denominations. Differences between the Jewish denominations were detected such that Orthodox Jews were less fearful of transpersonal death than Conservative individuals. However, no differences existed between Jewish denominations for interpersonal or intrapersonal fears of death. Results also indicate that Reformed Jews were less religious and more accepting of suicide than Orthodox individuals with …

The Effect Of Depression On A Lexical Decision Task, Elizabeth A. Richtfort

Masters Theses

Sixteen depressed and sixteen non-depressed college aged participants completed a lexical decision task containing cognitive triad word - negative word pairs, cognitive triad word - positive word pairs, cognitive triad word - nonword pairs, categorically related pairs, neutral word - neutral word pairs, and neutral word - nonword pairs. Following the lexical decision task, the participants performed a surprise recall task. The depressed participants were expected to recognize the negative words as words more quickly than the positive words and recall a higher percentage of negative words than positive words. These results were not found. All participants responded to the …

Behind The Smokescreen: Perceptions Of R. J. Reynolds And Their Advocacy Ads, Jean M. Tripp

Masters Theses

This study sought to gauge whether advocacy advertisements produced by R. J. Reynolds would affect people's perception of the company, and whether these perceptions would differ between males and females. Subjects were 29 male and 41 female professionals and businesspersons, all members of a professional business organization. Subjects completed a two part survey after reading an advocacy ad produced by R. J. Reynolds. Quantitative information was gathered through the use of a Likert-type scale in Part 1 of the survey; in Part 2 respondents answered open-ended questions. Results indicated that respondents viewed the ads negatively, believing they were biased and …

A Brief Discussion Of The History, Role, And Function Of The School Psychologist In The Former Soviet Union And Russia, Todd W. Knutson

Masters Theses

School psychology in the former Soviet Union and Russia had its beginnings as the field of Pedology which thrived in the early 1900s in Europe and in the former Soviet Union. School psychological services, in Western psychometric sense, have been virtually dormant since Pedology's downfall following ideological conflicts with Communist leaders in 1936 when standardized testing was banned in the U.S.S.R. This paper sketches a brief history of school psychology in the former Soviet Union and Russia, outlines the educational system, reviews the Soviet research on mental retardation, and calls for the sharing of general information related to international school …

Gender Differences In Cognitive Ability Of Children With Hearing Impairment On The Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children-3rd Edition, Damian D. Jones

Masters Theses

This research thesis investigates possible gender differences of deaf children on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (3rd ed.). The Illinois School for the Deaf (ISD) in Jacksonville, Illinois collated the standard scores of the five standard WISC-III Performance scale subtests and the Performance IQ of 25 students attending ISD. To examine gender differences on the Performance scale subtests and the Performance IQ's, a series of oneway-analyses of variance was calculated. No significant differences were noted on any comparison. A hypothesis that gender differences would occur was not confirmed. The results are discussed with respect to the intellectual assessment of …

Differences In Academic Achievement Motivation Among Retained, Special Education, And Regular Education Students, Shannon Lea Mast

Masters Theses

Academic achievement motivation affects a student's academic performance and emotional functioning. The Teacher Rating of Academic Achievement Motivation (TRAAM) is used to assess students third through sixth grade on their academic motivation and skill deficits, which will aide in the decision of whether a child solely has a motivation problem or a combination of factors that result in a handicapping condition. The current study compared TRAAM factors 1-4 and Total Score for students in regular education (n=26), special education (learning disabled, n=26), and those who had been retained (n=26). Univariate analysis of variance results indicated that the regular education group …

Factors Associated With Underachievement In Eighth-Grade Children, Barbara A. Moore

Masters Theses

This study investigated characteristics of underachieving adolescents. The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS; Hieronymous, et al., 1990) and grade point averages provided the basis for selection of 83 eighth grade students into achiever and underachiever groups. Results indicated that underachievement was significantly related to males, number of absences, and number of discipline referrals, but not to race and notice of special education records. Overall self-esteem, as measured by the Self-Esteem Index (SEI; Brown & Alexander, 1991), and the subscale measure of perceptions of weak academic competence were positively related to level of underachievement/overachievement. Composite measure of behavioral/emotional problems, as …

Personality Variables Of Adult Children Of Alcoholics In A Treatment Sample As Measured By The Personality Research Form-E, Tamara K. Young

Masters Theses

There has been much personality research in the area of Adult Children of Alcoholics with varying results. This study examines personality variables in archival data of alcoholic clients in a residential treatment center with the use of the Personality Research Form-E (Jackson, 1984). A comparison was made between groups of non-ACOA clients and those with alcoholic parents in the areas of aggression, defendence, dominance and desirability. No significant differences were found between groups. Two other hypotheses were generated concerning male participants only. No significant differences were found for the trait of autonomy; however, male ACOA alcoholic participants were found to …

Disordered Eating Patterns And Parenting Styles Among Female College Students, Jennifer E. Simms

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Lying And Cheating Behavior In School Children, David Workman

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Can We Talk?: Gender And Age Differences In Self-Disclosure Among Close Friends, Nancy Curtin Alwardt

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Perceptions And Attitudes Of Pc And Multiculturalism, Matthew Brent Goken

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Impact Of "Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder" On Educational Placement And Service Delivery, Marsha L. Groves

Masters Theses

Children with "Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder" face many changes within the school environment. Teachers strive to help these students meet those changes by providing for special learning and behavior needs. This study obtained teacher responses to examine demographic data, disability categories, placement, and educational treatment of children clinically diagnosed and/or suspected of having "Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorders". Of the 76 teacher surveys returned, 107 students were reported to have or were suspected of having "Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder". Forty-five were identified as learning disabled, seven were considered behavior disordered, seven were receiving speech services, seven others were health impaired, three …

Graduate Training In Geropsychology Among Licensed Psychologists In Illinois, Steven J. Johnston

Masters Theses

Recently, it has been suggested that several factors will likely lead to an increase in the number of elderly Americans in need of psychological services. In June, 1981, the Older Boulder Conference addressed the need to implement graduate level training of psychologists to serve elderly clients. It was found that after the Conference: 1) more graduate courses on geropsychology were taken by psychologists during their graduate training; 2) most psychologists either had no or 75% or more elderly clients; and 3) psychologists were more likely to have sought out post graduate continuing education in geropsychology yet they were less likely …

A Comparison Of Personality Traits Of Female Athletes With A High Incidence Of Injury To Those With A Low Incidence Of Injury, J'Nise A. Ramsey

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference in the personality traits of collegiate female athletes with a high incidence of injury when compared to female athletes with a low incidence of injury. Fourteen female intercollegiate athletes completed a personal information questionnaire and Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire during a one hour session of testing.

The mean raw scores of the two groups were analyzed to determine if they differed statistically. The mean raw scores were then converted to mean sten scores under the recommendations of Cattell. A visual depiction of the mean sten …

Empowerment Versus Dependency Of Parents With Children In Special Education, Wendy J. Fisher

Masters Theses

This study attempted to determine whether parents of children receiving special education services are being empowered by the present special education system or growing dependent on it. A survey was constructed based upon the three criteria deemed necessary by social policy analyst Charles Murray to yield empowerment. The survey was administered by phone to 50 parents of children receiving special education services. Results indicated that primary source of income and expression of participation do not have an impact on degree of empowerment as measured by the Empowerment/Dependency Survey. Severity of handicap did not predict whether or not parents desired additional …