Psychology Commons^™

The Differential Effects Of Performance Monitoring And Performance Contingent Consequences In A Laboratory Setting, Julie A. Glasser

Masters Theses

A simulated work task, consisting of paper and pencil quality control inspection, was used to examine the effects of performance monitoring and performance-contingent feedback on the quality and quantity of work produced. Six subjects were exposed to two treatment conditions. During monitoring only, a supervisor checked performance by asking subjects about their progress. During performance-contingent feedback, a supervisor informed subjects of the number of correct inspections completed on a sample page and summarized the quality of their work in a brief statement. Performance was measured in terms of error detection accuracy (errors missed and false error detections) and rate of …

Shared Responsibility For Medication Use : An Experiment, Marjorie Tessner

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Medication adherence is an important part of effective therapy for gastrointestinal disease. Theory has suggested that the more involved the individual is in their care the more adherent they will be to their medication regime. However, such management is often complicated by patient psychological factors, health beliefs, self-efficacy, and lack of knowledge about medication.

In this experimental study of the impact of shared responsibility for medication use: an experiment, 60 patients from four ethnic groups were randomly assigned to three groups of 20 each: 1) routine discharge medication group, 2) formal education group, and 3) self medication and shared responsibility …

Individual Response To Risk As A Function Of Normative Social Pressure: A Pilot Study Of Seat Belt Use, Kenneth D. Boehm, John T. Keating, Karl W. Pfefferkorn, Audra J. Pfeltz, Brady G. Serafin, Jessica L. Sullivan, Karen L. Thode, Kevin M. Vincent, Juanita V. Field

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors attempt to clarify some of the variables that influence whether people act appropriately when a Risk is substantial and subject to individual control. They do so by reporting results of a pilot study of seat belt use. Also, the authors believe their approach to be generalizable to problems such as encouraging people to test for radon, to use condoms to prevent AIDS or to quit smoking.

Perceived Parental Care And Protection As Correlates Of Chronic Pain In Adults, Daniel L. Walberer

Dissertations

This research was undertaken to explore the significance of care and protection as correlates related to the experience of chronic pain in adults. Chronic pain may affect as many as ten percent of the American population and cost up to a billion dollars a year in treatment costs. It was hypothesized that certain parenting styles are related to the experience of chronic pain in adults.

Thirty male and female patients referred to The Center for Health Psychology and Medicine in Kalamazoo, Michigan who were diagnosed as experiencing chronic pain by a referring physician participated in this study. Each participant underwent …

The Effect Of Associative Distance On The Formation Of Transitive Relations, Robert G. Brown Jr.

Dissertations

Three children, aged eight to eleven years, were taught a series of conditional discriminations using two classes of 26 abstract visual stimuli. The conditional relations were ordered such that the correct comparison stimuli of one relation served as the sample stimuli for the next relation. This allowed for the formation of a series of derived relations (both transitive and equivalence) that differed in terms of the number of intervening nodes. At regular intervals, the subjects' performances on the different transitive relations were tested using unreinforced probe trials.

All three subjects made virtually no errors on transitive relations containing up to …

Improving Service Quality Through Self-Monitoring, John Patrick Mcdonough Iii

Dissertations

A multiple-baseline across-restaurants design was used to assess the effectiveness of a quality guarantee (performance checklist) on the quality of food served at two carryout pizza restaurants in a Midwestern city of approximately 100,000 people. The research consisted of having the quality of food monitored by research assistants who served as mystery shoppers trained in the quality standards of the restaurants. Quality was monitored during baseline, when normal operating procedures were in effect at the restaurant, and during intervention, when employees who delivered food to customers were required to sign a quality guarantee. In one intervention phase, employees checked off …

Motivational Effects On A Psychometric Measure Of Prefrontal Brain Functioning In Patients With Chronic Schizophrenia And Related Disorders, Paul C. Smith

Dissertations

This study compared multiple sequential performances on a computerized version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (Grant & Berg, 1948; Harris, 1986) by adult men receiving institutional inpatient treatment for chronic schizophrenia and related disorders. Participants were exposed to differential test conditions of minimal post-session non-contingent token reinforcement (baseline phases) and enhanced intra-session performance-contingent token reinforcement (experimental phase). Each major participant resided at the same continuing treatment unit at Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital receiving similar social therapies but idiosyncratic psychotropic medication regimens, changes in which were tracked in relation to test performances. A simple single-subject reversal design was employed with …

An Examination Of A Post-Training Strategy To Increase The Transfer Of Training, William Sims

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Researchers acknow]edge a problem with the transfer of learning from the training situation to the job situation, suggesting a need to go beyond traditional methods used to increase transfer of training. fhe study presented here extends the research conducted by Erffmeyer (1987) and investigates whether a post-training strategy is an effective technique to increase the maintenance of behaviors learned in training to the transfer context. The study used a post-training strategy consisting of 1) goal setting, 2) specific behavioral feedback, and 3) summative feedback to increase the percentage of freethrows made by an intercollegiate varsity women's basketball team. The results …

Characteristics Of Habitual Dysfunctional Behaviors, Carole Ryan Serena

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The suggestion that habitual dysfunctional behavior disorders (HDBs) have a common underlying cluster of addictive characteristics and dynamics is new. A broad research base which would support this theory has not kept current with clinical In order successes. In order to address the need for relevant research, an anonymous cross sectional study was designed to identify, describe and compare variables associated with 15 habitual dysfunctional behaviors (HDBs) in a sample (N =176) from a broad spectrum of socioeconomic groups.

People reporting two different HDBs (alcohol and food-related behaviors) were compared to those not reporting any HDBs on levels of four …

Lexical Decision Times In The Domain, Heidi Suzanne Bellard

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Determining The Mechanisms Underlying Sexual Content Induced Delay Through The Use Of A Priming Experiment Containing Double Entendre Words, Jeffrey Shane Melton

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Cross-Motivational Choice: A Comparison Of Delay Reduction And Behavioral Systems Theories, Jorie E. Duttlinger '92

Honors Projects

Choice, the simple allocation of responses amongst alternatives, has been extensively studied in the past. Most often, choice has been studied on concurrent variable interval schedules. A variety of quantitative models, including matching, behavioral economics, and momentary maximizing, have had varying degrees of success in accounting for choice behavior. The present study examined predictions of two more recent theories, behavior systems theory and delay reduction theory. Rats were deprived of both food and water and were exposed to a "cross-motivational" choice, in which one alternative produced food, the other water. Periodically, the animal was given the opportunity to change its …

The Development Of A Predictive Model Of Pretrial Misconduct, Donald R. Trapp

Dissertations and Theses

The problem of jail overcrowding has forced corrections officials and jail administrators to examine ways in which to better manage available jail space. Pretrial release and detention policies have been a target of this examination as pretrial defendants typically account for 50% of a jail's population. Standards for pretrial release exist, but their administration varies by jurisdiction. The impact of jail overcrowding on pretrial release policies has been to decrease the time available to render a decision. Recent efforts to standardize pretrial release standards in Oregon have not addressed the issue of expediency. The current study examines pretrial misconduct (failure …

The Relationship Between Pain Locus Of Control And Treatment Adherence At Long-Term Follow-Up From An Interdisciplinary Pain Center, Lisa J. Wall

Student Work

Locus of control is a cognitive construct that can be quantified and used in conjunction with other social learning theory variables to predict human social behavior. Previous research suggests that when a person perceives rewards and punishments as being contingent upon personal actions, (i.e. they possess an internal locus of control) behavior is quite different compared to when such reinforcements are perceived to occur independently of personal efforts and characteristics.

Pain is one of many areas in which there has been a significant amount of interest in relating locus of control health beliefs to a variety of relevant behaviors. Whether …

The Attributes Of Leadership In Southern Baptist Churches In West Texas, Tim Winn

Student Dissertations & Theses

This study deals with leadership attributes in Southern Baptist churches in West Texas. A review of literature indicated that leadership in the congregations would tend to reflect the perceived purposes of the group, would be elected by the church or arise to counter poor leadership by the elected leader(s), probably be relationship oriented, and that the selection of leaders would be affected by the size of the churches and the length of tenure of the pastors. The study attempted to determine if there were characteristics that set leaders apart from non leaders in the churches. Six variable clusters of characteristics …

Dynamics In The Fine Structure Of Schedule-Controlled Behavior, William L. Palya

Research, Publications & Creative Work

The variability in the behavioral equilibrium established by six basic schedules was characterized. The measures were the pause preceding the first response in each interreinforcement interval; the mean rate of responding in each interreinforcement interval; and the relative frequency of each interresponse time. The temporal windows ranged across the 780-session exposure, across a session, and across the interreinforcement intcrval. A display of individual intcrresponse times as a function of time in the interreinforcemcnt interval indicated clear recurrent responding at somewhat less than 3 Hz in every bird, even after extended exposure to a schedule and regardless of the contingency. No …

Avoidant Personality Disorder And The Generalized Subtype Of Social Phobia, Craig S. Holt, Richard G. Heimberg, Debra A. Hope

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Social phobia and avoidant personality disorder (APD) may be given as comorbid diagnoses. However, it is not known if the labels provide independent, useful diagnostic information. We classified social phobics by social phobia subtype and presence of APD. Generalized social phobics with and without APD (ns = 10 and 10) and nongeneralized social phobics without APD (n = 10) were distinguished on measures of phobic severity. The generalized groups also showed earlier age at onset and higher scores on measures of depression, fear of negative evaluation, and social anxiety and avoidance than did the nongeneralized group. APD …

Identifying Differences Among Male Sex Offenders: Child Molesters Versus Exhibitionists Versus Voyeurs, David P. Defrancesco

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Social histories and testing data were compiled during initial placement assessments of 147 individuals arrested and charged as child molesters, exhibitionists, and voyeurs. These data were statistically analyzed using discriminant analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Child molesters, exhibitionists, and voyeurs were found to differ with regards to history of voyeurism; Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) L scale scores; sexual arousal in response to a violent scenario involving a 12-year-old male, measured via penile plethysmography; and age. Implications of these results are discussed relative to the population sampled and future research.

Baptising Marxism? English-Language Catholic Press Reaction To The Worker-Priest Movement In France, Edward J. Woell

Theses and Dissertations

From 1943 to 1954 a small religious experiment called the worker-priest movement took place in France. Journalists throughout the world, including Catholic writers and editors from Great Britain, Ireland, Canada and the United States, provided coverage of the worker-priest movement. How the English-language Catholic press reacted to the movement, an well as what that reaction represents, is the subject of this thesis.

The introduction out.linen thr major themes of this study, and is followed by two ehaptorp that, establish the background and context of the worker-pr i est movement. Chapter I is an explanation of why the worker-priest movement was …

The Effect Of Combat On Aircrew Subjective Readiness And Lso Grades During Operation Desert Shield/Storm, Scott A. Shappell, David F. Neri

Publications

The effect of operational tasking on aircrew readiness during combat operations continues to be an area of intense investigation within the U.S. Navy. The recent Persian Gulf War provided a unique opportunity to collect data examining aircrew work/rest cycles and operational tasking in a combat environment. For 4 consecutive weeks during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, 18 A-6 and 18 F-14 aviators onboard the USS AMERICA (CV-66) completed daily work/rest logs of their activities while conducting operations from the Red Sea. Activities on the work/rest logs were coded to a resolution of one-half hour. Several flight parameters were also …

Development And Validation Of A Systematic Training Program For The Diagnosis Of Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, And Concomitant Conditions, Lind K. Todd

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The research concerning eating disorders and concomitant conditions shows that anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are serious disorders that pose many diagnostic and therapeutic challenges to mental health and nutrition professionals. Most psychologists and nutritionists receive broad-based training that likely only superficially touches upon the importance of these diagnostic issues. Nevertheless, effective treatment planning requires that diagnostic issues and concomitant conditions be evaluated and incorporated into the diagnosis and treatment of eating disorders. Thus, there is an increasing need for specialized training in order to better evaluate and treat the complicated clinical picture presented by eating disorder clients.

However to …

A Study Of The North Dakota State Legislative Committee System, John R. Bachmeier

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the North Dakota legislature's committee system in the 1991 session. Specifically, the study evaluated the influence and efficacy of North Dakota's Committee system according to criteria offered by the state legislative scholar Alan Rosenthal. Individual features and procedures of North Dakota's legislature have been evaluated according to how well they contribute to, or detract from, an efficiently operating legislature.

This study also examined the degree to which the full floor supported its committees' recommendation once the bills came up for final floor work. It was hypothesized that committees in states serve as important predictors of voting behavior …

An Experimental Study Of Techniques To Improve Response Rates Of Mail Questionnarie, Eun-Hee Shin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The study examined (a) which single technique (cover letter sponsorship, personalization, anonymity, or appeal) is most effective in increasing response rates with mail questionnaires, and (b) which combination of these selected techniques is most effective in increasing such response rates. Questionnaires concerning faculty evaluation were sent to a national sample of professors.

The present study found that identification of a university as the sponsor of the survey resulted in a significantly higher response rate than that obtained when the survey was sponsored by a private research institute. There was a significant increase in response rates when the cover letter was …

The Impact Of Psychosocial Variables On Immune System Functioning In A Sample Of Hiv-Positive Males, Gary K. Richey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study addressed the issue of the relationship between psychological well-being and immune function in a sample of HIV seropositive homosexual and bisexual males. A control group of HIV seronegative gay males was included. The study assessed the relationship between various psychological independent variables and immune system functioning over a 24-month time period for the seropositive subjects. Data on depression, coping style, psychosocial stress, and psychomatic symptoms were collected at baseline, as well as data on depression at 12 months and CD4 counts at 6-month intervals over a 2-year period. Preliminary analyses comparing HIV seropositive to HIV seronegative subjects showed …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Self-Concept And Heterogeneous And Homogeneous Grouping Procedures With Seventh-Grade Students, Wanda Hughes Johnson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Homogeneous grouping, a technique which assigns learners by ability levels into class sections for instruction, has undergone considerable controversy. This study investigated the relationship between global self-concept and two procedures used to group seventh-grade students for instruction. The two procedures were heterogeneous and homogeneous grouping The Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Inventory Scale was administered to 76 heterogeneously grouped students and 70 homogeneously grouped students. A T-Test was applied to study the data by total groups. It was concluded that there was insufficient evidence to reject the hypothesis that there was no difference between the two groups.

The Mmpi-2 Clinical Scales And Clinical Diagnosis: Differentiating Between Schizophrenic And Bipolar-Manic Disorders, Laura M. Volkmann

Student Dissertations & Theses

The validity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) clinical scales in differentiating schizophrenia and bipolar-manic disorders was evaluated in terms of MMPI-2 congruence with psychiatric hospital treatment team diagnoses. From a pool of 286 MMPI-2 profiles, valid profiles were obtained on 5 schizophrenia (paranoid type) inpatients and 5 bipolar-manic disordered psychiatric inpatients and were assessed by using each of four MMPI profile classification methods. Overall, the rate of agreement between treatment team diagnosis and the MMPI profile classification methods for both the schizophrenia (paranoid type) and bipolar-manic disordered groups was inconclusive. The results suggest that the MMPI-2 is of …

The Efficacy Of Multidisciplinary Treatment Programs For Chronic Low-Back Pain: A Meta-Analysis, Jane E. Curtis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Chronic low-back pain is a prevalent and costly problem for many adults in the United States. Currently, multidisciplinary treatment approaches are the treatment of choice for this problem. A meta-analysis was conducted on 43 published studies to describe the nature of these programs, the patients involved in them, treatment efficacy at discharge and follow-up, and possible relationships between these characteristics and outcome.

Results show that these programs were often in university medical settings, with an emphasis on active patient participation. Common treatment approaches included physical therapy, skills training, medication management, supportive therapy, and behavior modification. Patients involved in these programs …

Implications Of Mediating Parent-Child Interactions In The Treatment Of Child Abuse, Connie Faye Nelke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Child abuse has been shown to have a detrimental effect on the emotion development of the abused child. Due to a history with the parent that includes a high proportion of negative interactions and an impaired parent-child relationship, the child who has been subjected to physical abuse often manifests psychological symptoms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect that treatment aimed at increasing the frequency of positive interaction in the parent-child relationship had on the emotional status of the abused child. Results showed that parent-child interaction play sessions were effective in increasing positive interaction and decreasing subsequent …

Presentation Of A Standard Intervention During The Intake Interview, Gregory Burns

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The provision of psychotherapeutic services has undergone many changes in its history. Recently the field of therapy has seen an increased emphasis on providing services in briefer periods of time, which has resulted in greater investigation into the parameters that influence rapid therapeutic growth by clients. Despite this push for quick results, many service agencies continue to utilize initial intake interviews that focus exclusively on gathering diagnostic and demographic information. Therapeutic intervention is therefore reserved for some later time when the clients can be accommodated from the agency's waiting list. The present study investigated the influence of a standard intervention …

An Examination Of Operant-Respondent Interaction In The Development Of Tolerance To Ethanol, Brady Justin Phelps

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In four experiments, pigeons performed on schedules of food reinforcement across two different contexts. One context consisted of having the operant chamber fully illuminated, with increased noise levels, and reflective aluminum foil draped over the chamber sidewalls. This context was paired with oral injections of water. Another context consisting of having the chamber dark except for response keylight and at ambient noise levels was paired with oral injections of ethanol. Ethanol dosages were determined by using a dose that doubled the average variable-ratio postreinforcement pause. These procedures established the dark context as a conditioned stimulus capable of producing Pavlovian conditioned …