Psychology Commons^™

Semantic Priming Effects In Lexical Ambiguity Resolution, Donald R. Maxwell

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The study addresses a number of issues related to the effects of biasing semantic contexts on the processing of words with more than one meaning (homographs). Biasing contexts have been taken to either constrain “lexical access” to a contextually relevant meaning of a homograph (selective access), or to exert a selective effect only after access to all, or some subset of, the meanings of a homograph (multiple access). Recent findings based on the two-factor theory of attention (Posner & Snyder, 1975a) suggest that lexical access occurs in two stages, where the first stage involves automatic activation of all meanings and …

Developing A Sense Of Community: A Description Of The Process And Theoretical Considerations, Patricia Irene Mcinnis

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study develops an understanding of the process of community development. The first part of the study presents a historical and theoretical consideration of the value of a psychological sense of community and the absence of this in today’s society. This section also introduces the concept of community development and its potential for creating a sense of community within a specific locality.

The research approach is described and is supplemented by an explanation of the role of the researcher as a part of the setting. The researcher’s entry and effort to gain a sense of legitimation in the setting is …

Some Affects Of The Mother / Daughter Relationship On The Individuation Process Of Women Between 35 And 45 Years Of Age: A Pilot Study, Loretta Elaine Dubin

Theses

Unavailable.

Work Personality As A Factor In Evaluating The Work Potential Of The Mentally Retarded, Janet L. Scally

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis focused on the development of a Work Personality Scale and the systematic study of how this aspect of the mentally retarded person is related to his or her intelligence and dexterity skill level.

Personality Differences Between Attractive And Unattractive High School Females, Andrea Rene Re

Legacy ETDs

High school females (N = 131) were photographed and given the Texas Social Behavioral Inventory (TSBI), Attitudes Toward Women Scale (ATWS), Rotter Internal-External (I-E) Scale, Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (M-C), and Bern Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI). The photographs were rated by four female graduate students in psychology for physical attractiveness and two groups of 36 each were identified: an attractive group and an unattractive group. These two groups were then compared for differences on the five personality tests. The results indicated that attractive females are higher in self-esteem as measured by the TSBI, (t = 2.543, p< .05) and less feminine sex-typed as measured by the BSRI, (t=2.10, p< .05). No other significant differences were found. Findings are discussed in terms of research in the area of physical attractiveness stereotyping as it relates to personality development.

Cognitive Impulsivity Of Children : Its Handicap And Treatment, Godwin Koon Tat Lau

Honors Theses

A number of studies have found the relationship between cognitive impulsivity and impulsive behavior among children. There also exists a fair amount of evidence to indicate that an impulsive cognitive style exerts a handicapping influence in the educational process.

A Demographic Profile Of The 1980 Clients Of The Family Crisis Center, Susan Lee Hitchcock

Honors Theses

"Parents in stress" is the target population of the Family Center. This program is run by Family and Children's Service of Richmond and serves an area which includes the Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover communities, Professionals as well as volunteers who work under the supervision of said professionals as family counselors, comprise the program staff of the Family Crisis Center.

The Treatments Of Child Abuse, Susan D. Haske

Honors Theses

Child abuse is a major problem in our society today. It is the major killer of children in the Untied States. (Kalman, 1977) There are many different estimates of the rate of occurrence, and no one knows for sure how prevalent it is. The major problem with making estimates of incidence is that so many cases are never reported. Only 20-50% of the cases are reported. (Kempe, 1978)

There are three types of child abuse. (Roth, 1975) One type is situational. This type is in response to an overwhelming stress. It usually happens one time, and is the easiest to …

The Effects Of Sex-Role Identity On The Perception Of Work Situations, Tamra J. Hall

Honors Theses

The present study investigated the effects of an individual's sex-role orientation on the perception of work situations. It was hypothesized that sex-typed individuals would rate the feelings of an actor performing a sex-atypical task as experiencing more feelings of uncomfortableness than an actor performing a sex-typical task. Androgynous individuals, on the other hand, were not predicted to display any descrepancies between their ratings of sex-typical and sex-atypical behavior. Results did not yeild support for this hypothesis. Perhaps the most significant finding was the abberant rating pattern of feminine females who conisitenly rated female actors in sex-typical settings in a negative …

Relationship Enhancement : A Study In Four Parts, Brett W. Oakley

Honors Theses

The concept of empathic communication evolved from a family therapy model originated by Bernard C. Gurney, Jr. called Relationship Enhancement. The major premise to this model is that if families can be taught to listen and speak to each other empathically, then the family itself could resolve their own interpersonal problems without reliance on a professional (Gurney, 1977).

Impulsive Cognitive Style And Self-Reported Anger Arousal In Emotionally Disturbed Children, Godwin Koon-Tat Lau

Honors Theses

A total of thirty-one emotionally disturbed children participated in the study to test whether impulsive children have higher anger arousal as a response to provocation than the reflective children. Twenty-two children were classified as impulsive (n=11) or reflective (n=11) on the basis of their error and latency scores on the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT). The two groups of children were compared on their self-reported anger arousal in response to conflict situations (Children's Inventory of Anger). Impulsives and reflectives did not differ significantly on their self-reported anger arousal on the total Children's Inventory of Anger score. Therefore, the hypothesis was …

The Type A Coronary-Prone Personality : A Coping Mechanism For Situational Control, Elizabeth Bennett

Honors Theses

What is the factor that relates coronary heart disease and other cardiovascular problems to societal advancement and increased occupational demands? This paper will examine this question by first reviewing the studies done by Meyer Friedman and R.H. Rosenman which have provided evidence to suggest that there is a link between stressful situations and coronary heart disease, and which led to the development of the personality type A which is coronary prone. The physiological effects that stress may produce and the ways in which this may lead to coronary heart disease will be discussed. Also examined will be the proposal by …

A Study Of Self-Concept Of Hearing-Impaired Students As Compared To The Self-Concept Of Normal-Hearing Students, Wayne K. Wright

Dissertations

Problem

One of the important problems for the handicapped child is whether he can develop an adequate self-concept. This is a significant problem for the hearing-impaired child in a regular school setting. If the development of self-concept is contingent upon the ability to express needs, wants, and desires, what is the self-concept of a child who cannot describe his feelings? The present study attempts to measure the self-concepts of the hearing-impaired students and to compare them to the self-concepts of the hearing students.

Method

The Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale was used to evaluate the self-concepts of 926 students of the …

Effects Of Rational-Emotive Group Therapy Upon Anxiety And Self-Esteem Of Learning Disabled Children, Donna J. Meyer

Dissertations

Previous research has indicated the effectiveness of rational-emotive education techniques in reducing anxiety and building self-esteem with regular classroom children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of rational-emotive group therapy on anxiety and self-esteem of learning-disabled children. One hundred ten learning-disabled children (ages 8-13) were assigned to one of three experimental conditions: rational-emotive therapy (N=32), recreational-educational programming (N=31), or no-contact (N=47). Within the two experimental treatments that actually met, groups of seven to nine members, similar in chronological age, were formed. The rational-emotive groups received therapy based on rational-emotive theory. The recreational-educational programming groups engaged in …

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 …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Life Events And Empathy, Catherine Ferme

Masters Theses

The study investigated the relationship between the occurrence of stressful events in people's lives and their empathy for other people. Subjects were 74 graduate and undergraduate psychology students at Eastern Illinois University. The subects viewed videotapes of persons describing stressful events such as academic problems, death of a relative or friend, divorce, et cetera. The subjects rated themselves on their empathy for each person. They then completed a questionnaire based on Holmes and Rahe's Social Readjustment Rating Scale. Subjects' empathy scores and life event scores were analyzed using Pearson r correlations. Results of the study confirmed the hypothesis that experienced …

Sexual Harassment Of Working Women: An Exploratory Study, Cheryl Mcmichaels

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to empirically investigate the subject of sexual harassment. A total of 82 women were recruited from central Illinois to fill out a questionnaire on sexual harassment and the Assertiveness Inventory (Gambrill and Richey, 1975). An attempt was made to control the subjects for occupational levels. Their occupational levels ranged from physician to unskilled worker, and their educational levels ranged from a high school degree to an advanced degree. The women in this sample worked full-time, part-time, and did volunteer work.

All of the women filled out the Assertiveness Inventory, a 40-item self-report, (Gambrill and …

An Exploratory Investigation Comparing Battered And Non-Battered Women Using The Hand Test, Debra A. Dalton

Masters Theses

The physical and mental abuse of women as wives and lovers is a largely unrecognized crime of violence just beginning to receive attention in the United States. The extent of wifebeating is difficult to determine since, although it occurs in every strata of society and every age group, it is underreported for a variety of reasons. The motives for wife abuse are complex. There are several social and psychological explanations that have been suggested as the underlying rationale for wifebeating. Psychological testing with battered women is rare and what testing that has been done has been limited to interviews and …

Job Satisfaction And Attitudes Of Professional Autonomy Among Community Hospital Staff Nurses, Michael Thomas Quinn

Masters Theses

The rapid rate of specialization within the health care field has affected the practice of nursing by demanding increased autonomy and professional identification among nurses. Past research has demonstrated that nurses' attitudes relevant to autonomous functioning and professional identification differ with the occupational role and setting in which the nurse works, with community hospital staff nurses being less likely than other nurses to endorse professionalism or autonomous functioning. The research has also demonstrated that the job turnover rate among hospital staff nurses is extremely high and that a large proportion of this turnover rate is directly related to job dissatisfaction. …