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Response Selectivity As A Function Of Developmental Activity Level, Wilford William Beck Iii

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Research in hyperactivity has been primarily concerned with demonstrating casual relationships with cerebral dysfunction of the effects of drugs on improving learning performance. Studies which have attempted to focus on other factors influencing learning performance have demonstrated IQ and perceptual motor differences between hyperactive and normal children.

More recently Koegel and Covert have shown that, among a group of autistic children, over-selectivity of components from stimulus complex may adversely influence learning performance on a simultaneous discrimination task. There have been no demonstrations of this phenomena with hyperactive children.

The present study employed a simultaneous discrimination task composed of two stimulus …

Behavioral Induction In Guinea Pigs As A Function Of Reinforcement Magnitude In Multiple Schedules Of Negative Reinforcement, Dennis L. Burns

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of changes in magnitude of negative reinforcement on multiple schedules with the guinea pigs. In both schedule components, the first response (lever press) after an average of 10 seconds was reinforced. In the constant component of this schedule the reinforcement magnitude (time-off from electric foot shock) was always 15 seconds; whereas, in the manipulated component the magnitude changed in the following sequence: 15, 7.5, 15, 30, and 15 seconds. All subjects showed a gradual decrease in response rate across baseline conditions. When behavioral effects were evaluated relative to this changing …

The Relationship Between A Measure Of Dogmatism And Retention Of Rogerian And Skinnerian Concepts, Richard A. Carpenter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study attempted to investigate the relationship between a subject's degree of dogmatism and his attitudes towards the different theoretical positions held by B. F. Skinner and Carl Rogers regarding the control of man. This study utilized selective retention as an indicator of subjects' attitudes. No significant difference was found between Skinner's and Rogers' on their retention of high, medium, and low dogmatism groups. There was also a non-significant correlation between subjects' scores on the retention of Sinner's and Rogers' concept and subjects' dogmatism scores.

Personality Correlates Of Field Dependence/Independence In Preadolescent Children, James Koch Jr.

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships between perceptual style as measured by the Children’s Embedded Figures Test (CEFT) and personality as measured by the Children’s Personality Questionnaire (CPQ). The sample included 69 fifth grade students of which 30 were male and 39 were female. All subjects were preadolescent children, of average intelligence, from lower class and lower-middle class socioeconomic homes.

Multiple regression analyses were utilized for the total sample and for each sex using the CEFT as the dependent variable and the 14 CPQ scales as independent variables. It was judged more meaningful to interpret only …

The Effects Of Stimulus-Reinforcer Relationships On Key Pecking During Response Independent Multiple Schedules, Philip G. Muller

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Abused Child And His Parents, Richard David Young

IUSTITIA

Children in our society pass through a prolonged period of dependency during which they are taught the complex technological and social skills necessary for successful adult functioning. The child's experiences during this period can have profound effects on the development of his potential for meaningful interpersonal relationships, competency, and creativity. The child's dependence needs are the complement of the caretaker's nurturance. When nurturance fails or is inconsistent, societal loss merges with individual tragedy. Yet nurturance does occasionally fail. Some of those charged with the care of children abdicate their responsibilities, and do not provide the physical and/or emotional necessities for …

Conditionability Of Successively Presented Compound Stimulus Elements In A Conditioned Suppression Procedure, As A Function Of Prior Conditioning To One Of The Compound Elements, Michael Jay Schoenfeld

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Concurrent Punishment Of Aggression And Nonpunishment Of Aggressive And Nonaggressive Responses, Kay L. Mueller

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Early Protein Malnutrition On The Passive Avoidance Behavior Of The Rat, Amy Astri Barmeier

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Matching With Compound Sample Stimuli In The Pigeon, Richard G. Marriott

Psychology ETDs

The role of attentional and stimulus encoding factors in animal memory processes has recently received increased discussion. Central to the assumed processes of selective attention and stimulus encoding is the role of selective training or practice. The present experiment addressed the possibility of attentional or encoding factors in the appearance of differential retention effects between stimulus dimensions and the reversal of these effects by selective training. Four pigeons were trained to perform a 3-second delayed matching-to-sample task in which some trials began with a compound sample stimulus, i.e., a geometric form superimposed on a color. When the choice stimuli appeared, …

The Communication Of Play Intention: Are Play Signals Functional?, Marc Bekoff

Sentience Collection

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Of Empathy To Moral Reasoning, Sex, And Mode Of Story Presentation A Thesis Presented To The Faculty Of California State College, Donald W. Higgins

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Increased Retention Due To Category Shift : A Perceptual-Attentive Phenomenon?, Leonard J. Bianchi

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A stimulus that is qualitatively distinct from other stimuli tends to show higher retention in Free Recall (FR) and short-term memory distraction (STM) tasks. This finding applies equally well to an isolated stimulus which belongs to a taxonomic category different from other stimuli.

Performance On A Drl Schedule As A Function Of Deprivation Levels, Scott E. Memenga

Masters Theses

Twelve male albino rats were divided into three groups that were exposed to a DRL-18 second schedule of reinforcement. Each group was maintained at 70%, 80%, and 90% ad lib weight respectively during 28 days of acqusition training. The 70% ad lib weight group demonstrated continued superior performance over the other two groups after the 10th day. The 80% and 90% groups evidenced little difference between each other until the 20th day when the 80% group showed slightly better performance. Performance was based on the mean time-response efficiency ratios [(reinforced responses/ total responses) + (reinforced responses/ total possible reinforced responses)/ …

Shaping Of Marital Interaction: A Clinical-Research Approach, Cynthia Luders Clay

Dissertations and Theses

In the last ten years, a number of behavioral approaches to marital therapy have been developed and applied to married couples. Intervention techniques have included selective reinforcement, extinction, modeling, aversive consequences, and contingency contracting. The present study investigated the use of the bug-in-the-ear (BITE) instrument as an aid in shaping marital interaction. The BITE has been applied in several child behavior modification programs, but no applications in marital therapy have been reported.

The use of the BITE has been demonstrated and is considered clinically feasible. Since the N of this study was small and since the raters evaluating progress were …

Personality Factors And Operant Heart Rate Conditioning, Jerry M. Malkiewicz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present study was concerned with certain individual differences that relate to a subject’s ability to increase his heart rate on command when given appropriate external feedback. The main purpose was to extend to the operant conditioning paradigm Eysenck’s theory that introverts classically condition more readily than extraverts. A second purpose was to determine which personality factors—extraversion, anxiety, and ability to perceive autonomic responses—contribute to heart rate control in operant conditioning. The Eysenck Personality Inventory and the Autonomic Perception Questionnaire were administered to 46 undergraduate males who attempted to accelerate their heart rates, with visual proportional feedback provided, during 20, …

The Experimenter Bias Effect And Its Relation To Submission To Authority, Anat Rutenberg

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Scientific researchers are expected to control the “Experimenter” or “Rosenthal” effect, in which the experimenter’s (E’s) expectations somehow induce the experimental results. Some seventy studies dealing with experimenter bias effect (EBE), many of them recent, were critically reviewed. Contradictory results and failures to replicate were reported. The most plausible explanation involved the personality characteristics of, and the dominance relation between, E and S. Accordingly, the present study examined one personality trait which seems to underlie the EBE, namely, submission to authority.

To elicit EBE, students serving as Es administered Ss Rosenthal’s Photo Rating Test (RPRT), a series of photographed faces …

Meaning Formation, Gail F. Czukar

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

An attempt was made to demonstrate laboratory conditions in which experiential components of meaning (i.e. perceptual and emotional correlates of observable stimuli and responses) pattern to form a gestalt. Semantic differential scales were used to measure the meaning of simple visual figures in two phases of the experiment. The first phase consisted of a pre- and post-exposure measurement of meaning with an intervening exposure to a compound visual display. In the second phase, subjects were exposed to an altered visual display and then rated the stimuli again.

Results do not support the predictions that (1) the meaning of the central …

An Investigation Of The Behavioral Effects Of Methylphenidate Hydrochloride On Schedule-Induced Polydipsia In Rats, Linda Sederquist Smith

Masters Theses

The influence of methylphenidate hydrochloride injections on six male Charles River rats displaying schedule induced polydipsia was examined in this study. Bar pressing, licking, and water consumption were measured during a total of 63 daily one hour trials conducted with a variable interval 60-second schedule of bar pressing for pellets with water constantly available. The polydipsic response was acquired by subjects during the first 28 trials. Subjects were then divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental subjects recieved a 1 mg/kg injection of methylphenidate prior to regular trials 29-49 and extinction trials 50-63. Control subjects were injected with a …

Achievement Pressure And Motor Performance In Multiple Sclerosis, Marcia Mulder Pavlou

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Function Of Retrieval Cues In The Release From The Pi Paradigm, Donna J. Goetz

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Social Intelligence And Students' Fields Of Study, Richard Crawford Reardon

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

An Investigation Of Semantic Desensitization As A Therapy In The Treatment Of Snake Phobia, Linda Rose Brown

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The initial study of the present research was conducted to determine the effect of low versus high imagery stimulus words on the outcome of semantic desensitization as conducted by Hekmat and Vanian (1971). The overall lack of significant findings led to a more intense examination of the basic underlying assumptions of semantic desensitization. Study II was designed in an attempt to find a method which would successfully achieve meaning change while maintaining interest. A paired associate method was more powerful than the Hekmat procedure in producing meaning change. Study III compared the potency of the paired associate and Hekmat procedure …

Maturity Of Adolescent Unwed Mothers, Sarah L. Claiborne

Dissertations and Theses

Adolescence traditionally has been recognized and accepted as a period of exploration of an occasional rebellion against the adult world. Explorations are viewed by behavioral scientists as a quest for identity expansion, and as such, a necessary phase for attaining maturity. Several tasks have been identified which each adolescent must complete if he is to reach maturity. For the present these tasks can be summarized as character formation, attainment of sexual identity, establishment of mature relationships and emancipation from parental control.

Society's attitude towards the rebellion and exploitation of youth is mixed. This confusion seems related to a general breakdown …

Temporal Patterning In Adjusting Avoidance, Bruce Edward Hamilton

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

An Application Of The Species-Specific Defense Reaction Hypothesis, Michael R. Petersen

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Social Work, Sociology, And Social Diagnosis, Harris Chaiklin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Excerpt from the full-text article:

A new type of scholar-practitioner is needed; one who can contribute to both sociology and social work. To this point sociology has had the advantage because it has more of the needed people than social work; it just won't let them out of the closet. Social work has always been better than its own self-image. Lack of scholarship has hindered organizing and presenting the hard won knowledge which the field has acquired. The way to bring this scattered information together is by developing typologies which are refined in practice and common to both fields. Only …

Temperature Dependent Behavior In Goldfish: (Carassius Auratus): Some Implications For Memory Processes, Jean M. Hamberg

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Goldfish maintained in water temperatures of 18°C or 31°C received active avoidance training in a shuttlebox. Subjects housed in warm water acquired the response more quickly than those in cold water. A photophobic response in warm water may have affected acquisition rates. Subjects were tested for retention of the avoidance response after 10 minutes, 2.5 hours, 24 hours, or 72 hours. No significant evidence of the Kamin effect was found. A second study investigated shock threshold levels as a function of temperature levels. Cold water was found to lower the threshold level at which a motor reaction to electric shock …

The Relative Attenuation Of Self-Stimulation, Eating And Drinking Produced By Dopamine-Receptor Blockade, E. T. Rolls, B. J. Rolls, P. H. Kelly, S. G. Shaw, R. J. Wood, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Spiroperidol, which blocks dopamine (DA) receptors, attenuated self-stimulation of the nucleus accumbens, septal area, hippocampus, anterior hypothalamus and ventral tegmental area. Dopamine is thus involved in self-stimulation of many sites (in addition to the lateral hypothalamus). The attenuation was not a simple motor impairment of the speed of bar-pressing in that the nucleus accumbens and septal self-stimulation rates were lower than those in treated animals self-stimulating at other sites (Experiment 1). Feeding was partly attenuated, and drinking was much less attenuated by the spiroperidol. Since the rats bar-pressed for brain- stimulation reward, chewed pellets to eat, and licked a tube …

The Protestant Ethic Effect With Children In Multi-Choice Environment, Linda Brunick

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Nineteen first graders were placed in a four-choice situation which allowed investigation of the "Protestant ethic effect" (PEE). The S's task was to obtain tokens which could be traded for toys and candy. Tokens were available from any or all of the following quadrants (Q): (Q₁) a location where the S was allowed the option to manipulate a toggle switch and/or obtain freely accessible tokens, (Q₂) a location at which tokens were freely accessible, and (Q₄) a work location in which the S received tokens contingent upon the operation of a toggle switch. A …