Psychology Commons^™

The Relation Between Environmental Factors And Acting-Out Behaviours Of Youth In A Treatment Centre, Denis Andrew Belicki

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present study examined the relation between social climate/staff attitude variables and disruptive behaviours within a school, a day-treatment service and three residences located in a centre for emotionally disturbed children. Ten categories of disruptive behaviour were recorded in three settings for ten weeks (five weeks in two settings). Data analysis revealed that the settings different significantly in acting-out indicidence. A series of discriminant analyses indicated that what might be referred to as a “traditional” approach best discriminated the settings. Social climate variables were found to be a major component of the discriminating functions.

Threat Frequency And Contingency In A Threat-Vulnerable Game, Christine Anne Driver

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The primary purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of threat frequency and contingency on game-playing behaviour in a threat-vulnerable game. A second purpose was to determine the stability of these effects when strategies were alerted during the final 75 trials of the game. Threat was operationally defined as the use of a particular choice in a threat-vulnerable game. One hundred students enrolled in undergraduate courses at Wilfrid Laurier University played in one of nine programmed strategy conditions: all possible pairwise orderings of a passive, demanding contingent, and a demanding noncontingent strategy. The latter two strategies were …

The Extent Of Primary Prevention Research In The Community Psychology Literature: A Content Analysis, Catherine Comeau

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Previous research and opinion suggested that community psychology had not realized its 1960’s commitment to primary prevention. This thesis employs theoretically-oriented content analysis to investigate the extent of the specialization’s commitment to this issue as reflected in research published in three journals: American Journal of Community Psychology (1973-1978), Journal of Community Psychology (1976), Community Mental Health Journal (1966, 1976). The data suggests that approximately 50% of this periodical literature focuses on some aspect of primary prevention. The implications of these findings are discussed.

An Assessment Of The Validity Of The Developmental Inventory Scales For Children (Disc), Marian Kathleen Mainland

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Developmental Inventory Scales for Children (DISC) was designed as a screening device for preschool children. The purpose of the study was to assess the validity of the DISC. Twenty male and twenty female preschoolers were observed for three 30 minute sessions and their activities recorded by an observer. The observer then rated each child in each of the areas of the DISC under study. Each child was then rated by his/her teacher and one parent using the same rating scales as had the observer. The DISC was then administered to each child and each of the areas under study …

Single-Parent Women, Catherine Margaret Thompson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Fifty separated and divorced single-parent women with heterogeneous demographic characteristics participated in research designed to provide both a theoretical framework and a data base for the study of the single-parent woman.

The theoretical framework of self-perceived comfort was assessed with the use of a Comfort Survey designed by the researcher. A factor analysis of the scale revealed that comfort in this role was most related to the parental role and support for personal and family problems and was least related to financial considerations.

A discriminant analysis yielded information regarding how attitudes toward sex-roles and a variety of personality and demographic …

A Study Of Community Psychology Graduate Student Training Experiences For Consultation Roles, Joanne Granek

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

An exploratory study investigating graduate student consultation training experiences was conducted. Eighty-five graduate students from 35 training programs focusing on community psychology participated in the study. Students reported that they experienced an increase in the intensity of negative feelings as they moved through successive phases of the consultation. The concept of the role discrepancy was introduced and described as the incongruence between the student and professional expert roles which students play simultaneously. There was some evidence to suggest that students who perceived the roles of student and professional as discrepant were more likely to feel incompetent than were students who …

Individual Differences In Human Operant Heart Rate Conditioning: Autonomic, Cognitive And Dispositional Concomitants, Paul Favaro

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Research in human operant heart rate conditioning concerned with the elucidation of the mediators of operant heart rate changes has postulated five mediating mechanisms related to operant heart rate change: respiratory, somatic-muscular, central neurological, cognitive and dispositional (personality). However, examination of the literature indicates that much of this research has produced equivocal results, hence, a clear picture of mediation has not emerged. Experimenters interested in the events that mediate operant heart rate changes have not devoted much attention to the individual variability that is so pervasive in studies of human psychophysiology. Individuals may fundamentally differ in teh autonomic, central neurological, …