Digital Commons Network^™

Muscle Relaxation Training: A Comparison Of Emg Biofeedback With Verbal Instruction, Michael D. Dennis

Masters Theses

The effectiveness of two muscle relaxation modalities, EMG biofeedback and verbal relaxation instruction, were compared. Fifteen college students were assigned to two experimental groups and a non-treatment control condition. Measurements of frontalis muscle activity were taken prior to, during and following three 20-minute training sessions. Results based on a set of non-orthogonal contrasts indicated significant relaxation effects for relaxation instruction when pre-training levels were compared to training completion and post-training levels. Experimental groups differed only at training completion where relaxation instruction was superior to EMG biofeedback. The necessity of careful scientific research of biofeedback techniques to be used in clinical …

The Negative Effects Of Divorce On The Behavior Of Children, David Hawkins, Karen Lloyd

Dissertations and Theses

Our study is concerned with the effects of filing for divorce on the behavior of children. We are interested in the adjustment of the child to the changes which occur during separation and divorce, and we maintain the attitude that the lives of children are affected in some way when a marriage or family unit dissolves. A generally accepted belief is that divorce produces negative consequences in the lives of children as shown in their behavior. However, recently a number of studies have suggested that divorce need not be a negative experience, at least to the degree most people feel …

The Effects Of Environmental Switchovers Between Enrichment And Impoverishment On Brain And Behavior In Mice, Judith K. Ahroon

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Rearing rodents or primates in environments that are comparatively enriched or impoverished results in often impressive physiological and anatomical changes after a certain period of exposure. However, the anatomical and biochemical characteristics that respond to environmental experience (Bennett, Diamond, Krech, & Rosenzweig, 1964; Greenough & Volkmar, 1973; Walsh, Budtz-Olsen, Penny, & Cummins, 1969) have been subjected to a more sophisticated level of analysis than have the less consistent changes in behavioral tendencies. The specific nature of environmentally induced modifications in behavioral tendencies must be better understood, if substantive predictions about brain-behavior relationships can be made. Furthermore, the long-term effects of …

Influence Of Pre-Induction Instructions, Induction Format, Sex, And Locus Of Control Expectancies Upon Hypnotizability, Robert O'Connor

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Attempt To Find Auditory Communication In The Squirrel Monkey Via Cooperative Conditioning, Michael T. Bardo

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of A Pretesting Session On The Scores Obtained By Adults On A Nonverbal Test Of Intelligence, Carole Ann Bauer

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Presentation Conditions And Psychological Context: An Investigation Of List And Position Tags, Kathleen Ann Carlson

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Vocalizations Of Isolated Piglets. Ii. Some Environmental Factors, D. Fraser

Communication Skills Collection

The vocalizations of suckling piglets were studied during brief tests which involved social isolation, restriction of movement, and exposure to unfamiliar surroundings. Similar trends were shown in most cases by the three classes of call studied - closed mouth grunts, open mouth grunts, and squeals. The rate of calling was much lower when a piglet was in the home pen than when alone in an unfamiliar pen, and more calls were given in both situations when the animal’s movement was restricted by caging. The presence of the dam and four littermates in unfamiliar surroundings caused a large reduction in calling, …

The Effects Of Positive Conditioned Suppression On Schedule-Induced Polydipsia, John Robert Crossen

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Sex And Curriculum Differences In Conceptions Of The Teacher Role: A Role Theoretical Analysis, Steven Michael Koning

Masters Theses

This study is concerned with factors which influence the way individuals conceptualize and define their social roles. Role theory suggests that role conceptions, which are individual orientations to a role, are affected by expectations associated with the role and personality characteristics that an individual brings to the role. These suggestions are tested by examining sex and curriculum differences in conceptions of the teacher role among education students at a midwestern university. Conceptions of teacher control and nurturance are assessed by two scales developed by the author. Results indicate that factors associated with a student's curriculum influence orientations toward teacher control …

An Analysis Of The Recovery Of Responsiveness Subsequent To Habituation, Lowell G. Smith

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Response Effort Reduction, Instructions, Group And Individual Feedback, And Reinforcement On Staff Performance, Gerald Lyn Shook

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Functional Analysis Of The Effects Of A Token Economy Program On Attending Behavior In Children And Subsequent Test Performance, Kay Delores Lillig Cotter

Dissertations and Theses

Thirty children, 4 years 8 months to 6 years 7 months, enrolled in a privately operated day school, were randomly assigned to either a treatment group or a control group over a one week period of baseline and a one week period of treatment. The experiment was designed to determine, if the implementation of a token economy program to decrease disruptive behavior in a classroom would result in improved academic performance. Both the children's and teacher's behavior were assessed. The findings were nonsignificant for all of the dependent measures for children's behavior. The only significant effect for teacher's behavior was …

Vocalizations Of Isolated Piglets. I. Sources Of Variation And Relationships Among Measures, D. Fraser

Communication Skills Collection

The vocalizations and activity of suckling piglets aged 4 to 25 days were studied during 5-min periods of social isolation in an unfamiliar enclosure. The animals became very active and vocalized repeatedly during the test, but the reaction was attenuated among older litters. Calls were predominantly closed mouth grunts at low rates of calling, and mainly squeals and open mouth grunts at high overall rates. Squealing correlated with open mouth grunting and with the activity measure both within and between litters. Even so, the measures appeared to be affected independently by the piglets’ behaviour in the home pen just before …

Use Of Mental Imagery In Psychotherapy: A Critical Review, Anees A. Sheikh, Nancy C. Panagiotou

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

The paper presents arguments in favor of the use of mental imagery for therapeutic purposes. Several existing imagery approaches to psychotherapy are critically examined and suggestions for future inquiry are offered. The intimate relation between imagery and the affective-somatic processes is stressed.

Test For A Learned Drinking Response : Support For Appetitive Preparedness, Brian L. West

Master's Theses

Seligman, Ives, Ames and Mineka (1970a) have suggested that by the nature of the stimulus-response association in appetitive states a prepared mechanism using "mild" deprivation cues exists which will activate an appetitional resolution. Pairing of a neutral stimulus with this prepared mechanism results in a conditioned stimulus capable of electing the drinking response. Contrary to this hypothesis, Mowrer (1956) posited that a water deprived state induces an emotional reaction or "thirst fear." It is assumed that reduction of this stimulus may be accomplished by means of alleviating the deprived state. A conditioned external stimulus can therefore elicit the drinking response …

The Effect Of Pairing A Stimulus With Food On Pellet-Controlled Licking In The Rat, Wendell Stone

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Free Shocks On A Free Operant Two Lever Discriminated Avoidance Procedure, Glenda Denise Brown

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Dogmatism And Mental Health: A Study Of Perceived Relationship, Anees A. Sheikh, L. Martin Moleski

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effectiveness Of Verbal Instruction On Teaching Behavior Modification Skills To Nonprofessionals, Harvey J. Sepler

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Exteroceptive Influence On A Marihuana Induced Conditioned Taste Aversion, Albert William Greenwood

Dissertations and Theses

Forty-five male, Sprague Dawley rats were used to determine if external stimuli could influence the length of a conditioned taste aversion. Animals were given a novel taste (sucrose), and then injected with one of three different substances, marihuana, LiCI, or saline. The animals were then placed into either a stimulation condition, a non-stimulation condition, or returned to the home cage. The stimulation condition contained aversive stimuli in the form of bright, flashing lights and loud noises. The other conditions had no aversive stimulation. It was expected that the animals receiving injections of marihuana would have an increase in their responsiveness …

Alternative Methods For The Analysis Of Curves, Randi Christine Martin

Dissertations and Theses

The interpretation of data from psychological experiments often involves the analysis and comparison of curves, like the electrocardiogram, spectral sensitivity, or dose-response curves. Existing statistical techniques are often inadequate for making this type of analysis. This thesis presents alternative methods for handling the data comprising curves and discusses the advantages of these techniques against those of existing methods.

Four types of analysis are discussed:

1. finding a confidence band around one curve,
2. finding a confidence band around the difference between two curves, or making an overall comparison between two curves,
3. decomposing a curve into its components,
4. making a component by component …

The Influence Of Work History On The Protestant Ethic Effect, Kathy Nau

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

For 10 days, seven female and five male albino rats were given a choice between barpressing for water or drinking it freely without having to perform. Prior to the choice sessions, the animals had to earn their total water intake for either 0, 5, 15, or 25 days. All 12 animals worked for a part of their total reinforcement intake during testing. However, an analysis of variance showed that work preference increased as the amount of time the animals spent earning their total water intake increased (p<.05). These results were discussed in terms of White's (1959) competency hypothesis.

The Effects Of A Social Stimulus On The Protestant Ethic Effect In Rats, Gary L. Cotton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether rats’ preference to freeload (eat food pellets from a food cup) or to work for food (obtain food pellets by bar pressing) could be influenced by observing either a working or freeloading model in an adjacent operant chamber.

Following equal amounts of bar press and freeloading training, 18 male Sprague-Dawley rats approximately 100 days cold were divided into three experimental groups. The first group was permitted to view a working model while being presented a choice between bar pressing and free-loading. A second experimental group was exposed to a freeloading model …

The Effects Of Crowding On The Dominance Behavior Of Laboratory Rats As Assessed By Three Measures Of Dominance, Barbara C. Worthington

Master's Theses

The present study was designed to assess behavioral changes in social dominance, which may accompany or be affected by short term crowding and any adrenal enlargement which may be a concomitant of crowding. To avoid methodological inaccuracy and further establish whether different measures of dominance would accrue the same results a multimethod approach suggested by Howells and Kise (1974) was employed. · Additionally sequence of test presentation was considered and both male and female subjects were used to determine if the measures differentially discriminated between the sexes.

This experiment as designed to evaluate the effects of crowding (independent variable) on …

Anxiety Correlates Of Sex Role Identity, Mary Kay Biaggio

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in anxiety levels between the sexes and between sex role identification groups (as defined by scores on a test of masculinity-femininity). Possible explanations for these differences were explored using a questionnaire made up of an openness versus closedness scale, a liberalism versus conservatism scale, and a cross-sex versus same-sex parent identification scale.

A sample of 108 females and 71 males was administered Gough's Femininity Scale, Cattell's IPAT Anxiety Scale Questionnaire, Taylor's Manifest Anxiety Scale, and a questionnaire devised for this particular study.

The sexes did not differ significantly in anxiety level …

Sodium Phenobarbital In Prevention Of Electroconvulsive Shock-Induced Disruption Of Taste-Illness Association, Stuart W. Reynolds

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Male Holtzman rats injected with a toxic solution of lithium chloride (US) 30 minutes after drinking saccharin flavored water (CS) learned to avoid that taste upon subsequent encounter. Electroconvulsive shock (ECS) interpolated temporarily between the pairing of a novel taste (CS) and an induced gustatory illness (US) prevents the taste from being associated with the illness (Kral, 1971). The purpose of the present experiment was to determine if sodium phenobarbital pretreatment would protect the association of taste with illness, against the normally interfering effects of ECS in the interpolated intervention paradigm. This question was investigated with a 2 (sodium phenobarbital …

Priming And The Post-Prime Pause In Mixed Fixed-Ratio Schedules, Larry Allen Alferink

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study was designed to investigate the effects of a stimulus change inserted in the large component of a mixed fixed-ratio 10 fixed-ratio 100 schedule. In mixed fixed-ratio schedules, a run of responses which approximates the response requirement of the smaller fixed ratio occurs at the beginning of the larger fixed ratio. This run of responses and the pause it precedes is called a prime. In Experiment I, priming acquisition was compared in a mixed schedule in which a change in key-color followed completion of the first 10 responses of the fixed-ratio 100 component and a mixed schedule with …

The Effects Of A Self-Directed Behavior Change On Self-Concept, Larry A. Leatham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effects on self-concept as a result of behavior changes made during a self-directed self-modification project were studied on 16 students at Utah State University over a period of nine weeks. Pre and post measures of self-concept administered were the Tennessee Self Concept Scale and the Well-Being Scale from the California Psychological Inventory. The research design employed was the pretest-posttest control group design. A separate analysis of covariance was run for the Total P raw score of the Tennessee Self Concept Scale and raw scores on the Well-Being Scale. The F was substantially short of the value of F needed …

The Effects Of Increment And Decrement Manipulations On Titration Level Under Interlocking Progressive-Ratio Schedules Of Reinforcement, Dennis Lorbin Nunes

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Generally human titration performance under schedules of reinforcement has not been investigated. In an attempt to examine the variables which control titration, an interlocking progressive-ratio schedule was devised. Under an interlocking progressive-ratio schedule, the number of responses required for reinforcement increases by a constant (the increment value) after every ratio, but during each ratio the response requirement can be lowered (the decrement value) by emitting pauses of a specified duration (the stepdown duration).

The first experiment sought to determine if children would titrate when exposed to interlocking progressive-ratio schedules. Although three of the four subjects did not show evidence of …