Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of Interactive And Linear Video On Patient Understanding Of Risks In Medical Procedures, Christopher P. Giuliano

Dissertations

Three methods of providing information relevant to informed consent where a vaginal birth after cesarean section was being considered were evaluated; (1) the traditional and common method (physician presentation), (2) Linear Video Tape (LVT), and (3) Interactive Video Disc (IVD). The traditional and common method of presenting information led to only limited acquisition of knowledge resulting in patients making less than fully-informed decisions. Both the linear video tape and the interactive video disc led to significantly greater understanding of the risks and benefits of the procedure than did the physician presentation. The interactive disc and the linear video tape were …

Ease Of Learning And The Emergence Of Equivalence Class Formation: A Comparison Of Topography-Based And Selection-Based Paradigms, Riad M. Wraikat

Dissertations

Michael (1985) identified two types of verbal behavior, topography-based (i.e., speaking or using sign language) and selection-based (i.e., symbol board). Sundberg & Sundberg (1990) and Wraikat (1991) compared these systems in terms of the ease of learning object naming (tact) and giving the correct sign or pointing to the correct symbol on hearing the object name (intraverbal). Sundberg & Sundberg (1990) also compared them for the spontaneous development of a new relation, identifying the object when hearing its name (stimulus class formation or equivalence). The results of both studies favored the topography-based system, but in each case some subjects were …

Effects Of Differential Force Requirements On Choice Behavior Under Concurrent-Chain Schedules, Randal D. Reynolds

Dissertations

Concurrent-chain research shows that choice behavior is sensitive to differential delays to reinforcement but apparently insensitive to differential response-requirement factors. To date, however, no studies have directly investigated the effects of differential force requirements on choice behavior under concurrent-chain schedules. This relationship will be the focus of the present study.

In Experiment 1 rats responded on conventional concurrent-chain schedules and were given a choice between different terminal-link force requirements. The force requirement on one terminal-link lever was 0.25 N while the force requirement on the other lever was varied from 0.25 N to 1.51 N across conditions. For comparative purposes, …

The Effects Of Goal Setting And Supervisory Feedback On Staff Performance In A Human Service Setting, Michael D. Mack

Masters Theses

Goal setting and supervisory feedback were examined to determine their relative effects on the performance of direct care staff. The performance of five staff from a day treatment program for developmentally disabled adults was measured. The specific performance measure of interest was staff implementation rates of daily training programs with clients. The results demonstrated that adding performance feedback to goal setting had minimal impact on staff performance. Yet, goal setting alone as an initial technique was effective in improving the performance of staff. Unfortunately, the long-term effects of goal setting alone may be less desirable than these initial data indicate. …

Nonidentity Matching Training As A Supplement To The Audio-Visual Combination Test, Melissa Wilson

Masters Theses

The Audio-Visual Combination Test is an assessment tool developed by Kerr, Meyerson, and Flora (1977), and used by those working with developmentally disabled persons to assess learning-to-learn skills. The test measures motor, visual, and auditory discrimination learning.

The experimenter attempted to determine if there were an important step-visual nonidentity discrimination-between AVC subtests 4 and 5/6 of the test. Twelve developmentally disabled adults were tested with three different sets of tasks interposed between a revised subtest 4 and 5/6. Results showed that most subjects had greater difficulty with the visual nonidentity discrimination than with the auditory/visual discrimination, subtest 5/6. The results …

Analytical Prediction And Experimental Verification Of Blade Loads Experienced By Two, Three-Bladed, Fixed Pitch, Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines, Scott M. Klingenstein

Theses and Dissertations

Wind turbine blade structural designers need measured blade structural load data to project blade life. These data are necessary to validate analytical predicton models and to optimize advanced blade structural designs. The objective of this work is to furnish designers current blade load data and to compare the analytical blade load predictions to the measured loads.

This analysis is based on ninety hours of wind turbine loads data collected in 1990, on the SERI 7.9 m and Aerostar 7.5 m blades. The blades were installed on identical turbines, located adjacent to each other. The data were collected covering a wide …

The Drama Of Alienation: An Interpersonal Examination Of Edward Albee's The Zoo Story And Sam Shepard's Buried Child, Lisa Arnold

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined alienation from an interpersonal communication perspective in order to find a connection between aspects of alienation and interpersonal communication.

Alienation occurs at two levels according to scholars in sociology and psychology. At the social level, one's culture influences behavior in interpersonal relations. At the psychological level, one's perception of self worth influences interpersonal relations. This study used Srole's five aspects of alienation (isolation, estrangement, powerlessness, unpredictability, and meaninglessness) to analyze interpersonal relationships between those alienated on both levels.

Two plays were chosen to exemplify how alienated people need close interpersonal communication. The Zoo Story, by Edward Albee …

The Effects Of Confidentiality Gender And Subject Shyness On The Social Desirability Response Bias, Scott D. Bradshaw

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the effect of confidentiality on objective and semi-projective personality measures. Confidentiality was manipulated by telling the subject his/her responses would, or would not, be discussed with the examiner. The effect was assessed by comparing a subject s scores on two different measures of the same construct'ne test completed with confidentiality, the other without. It was hypothesized that subjects in the non-confidential condition would alter the responses on the measures and that this effect would be greatest with opposite gender pairings of subjects and examiners. The possible moderator variables of shyness, self-monitoring, and self-actualization were also examined. Data …

The Relationship Among Absorption Anxiety And Frontal Electromyogram, Jeffrey E. Atkinson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the relationship among absorption, anxiety (state and trait), and frontal EMG in a sample of sixty undergraduate students. These relationships were examined during a baseline (relaxation) condition and during an anxiety condition during which an extemporaneous speech was given. It was determined that absorption was inversely related to state anxiety and trait anxiety was directly related to state anxiety measured after the relaxation period. Absorption and/or trait anxiety were not related to state anxiety after the speech anxiety condition. There was no relationship between absorption or trait anxiety and frontal EMG during either condition. In addition, state …

The Effect Of Persuasion, Across Task Difficulties, On Self-Efficacy, Performance And Persistence A Thesis, Linda J. Kaiser

Student Work

Self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1977a, 1982, 1986) postulates that efficacy expectations can be modified by persuasion if it is perceived as being instilled by a credible source, it is realistic, and it is not in opposition to performance information. Subsequent research revealed equivocal results for the relationship between persuasion and self-efficacy. This study investigates the effects of persuasion, across task difficulties, on selfefficacy, performance, and persistence. A mathematical task was utilized. Six hypotheses were tested. Persuasion was found to be effective in a hardtask situation. Gender had a substantial impact on the results of this study; overall findings may have been …

The Relation Between Maternal Behavior And Childrearing Goals And Child Outcomes In Low-Income Black Children, Dawn D. Wimbush

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study examined the relation between maternal goals and practices and preschool children's cognitive development and behavioral compliance. Fifty low-income Black mothers of three- to five— year-old children were interviewed and completed several questionnaires that assessed childrearing goals and practices. The HOME, a measure of maternal stimulation was also assessed. Children were administered the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities and an achievement test. Child compliance to maternal requests was observed in the home. Considerable diversity was found in maternal childrearing goals. For the most part, maternal goals were not related to child outcomes; however, indirect-internal techniques (Sears, Maccoby, & …

Determinants Of Feedback-Seeking Behaviors, Melinda J. Montgomery

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the present research was to evaluate the effects of the level of task difficulty, the value of the goal, and the amount of effort required to obtain feedback on the frequency of feedback-seeking behaviors (FSB). The design was a 2 (task difficulty) x 2 (goal value) x 2 (effort) x 3 (day) mixed model analysis of variance. Eighty undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of eight experimental conditions. Each participant played a computerized stock market game for three "days". Three types of referent feedback and three types of appraisal feedback were available. The results indicated that more …

Contrived Versus Natural Reinforcers In The Acquisition Of A Verbal Repertoire By Adult Learners, Lisa Ann Leblanc

Dissertations

Previous research suggests that by making classroom contingencies for verbal responding more like those in the natural environment, i.e., by using motivative variables to evoke verbal responses which are followed by specific actions on the part of listeners, verbal repertoires can be taught more effectively to children and language impaired individuals. The present study examines the role of specific versus generalized conditioned reinforcement following adult students' question-asking on the acquisition of a verbal repertoire in a classroom setting and on the generalization of this repertoire to a more natural verbal environment.

Subjects were 32 university students in two American Sign …

The Training Of Initial Behavioral Assessment Interview Skills, Mark J. Hirsch

Dissertations

Two manuals were used to train behavioral assessment interview skills. The first manual outlined eleven initial responses the therapist must make to determine the controlling variables related to a client’s problem. The second manual outlined strategies for dealing with evasive or nonappropriate responses made by a client. Subjects were graduate students from the psychology department of Western Michigan University who had no experience in conducting assessment interviews. Six subjects participated. Simulated therapy sessions between subjects acting as therapists and confederates acting as clients were conducted. Scripts were utilized to standardize confederate responses. Each session dealt with a clinical concern amenable …

Effects Of Training Method On Inspector Accuracy In A Simulated Quality Control Task, Cathy L. Thorne

Dissertations

This study compared the effects of three training programs on inspector accuracy. The inspection task required 38 subjects to detect errors in geometric figures. All three training programs provided the same written descriptions of correct and incorrect figures, and all three training programs provided examples of correct figures. What differed among the programs was the type of incorrect figures. Individuals assigned to the Correct Sample Only Group were not shown any incorrect figures. Individuals assigned to the Critical Differences Group were shown incorrect figures which contained only one error at a time. Individuals assigned to the Multiple Differences Group were …

The Effects Of Mephenytoin On Schedule-Controlled Responding In The Pigeon, Victoria Mary Pellettiere

Masters Theses

Acute and chronic effects of mephenytoin (30 - 360 mg/kg) were examined in pigeons responding under a multiple fixed-ratio 50 fixed-interval 90-sec schedule of food delivery. The highest dose administered acutely (240 mg/kg) produced substantial reductions in rate of responding under both components of the multiple schedule; the effects of other doses were small and inconsistent. Tolerance appeared to develop to the rate-decreasing effects of mephenytoin following chronic exposure to the drag.

The Effects Of Immediate Versus Delayed Feedback On Error Detection Accuracy In A Quality Control Simulation, Matthew A. Mason

Masters Theses

A computer simulation was developed to examine the effects of immediate versus delayed visual feedback on the accuracy of identifying specified aberrations in sample stimuli. In a self-paced computer tutorial, subjects learned to identify particular aberrations in a schematic diagram of a hard disk drive. During experimental sessions, subjects were exposed to a series of 200 samples presented four at a time sequentially on a computer screen, and were required to indicate with a computer mouse whether or not each sample drive contained an aberration. Accuracy of error detection was assessed under four experimental conditions: (1) self-paced, immediate feedback; (2) …

The Effects Of Quality Contingent Extrinsic Rewards On Intrinsic Motivation, Kimberly Ann Filler O'Connor

Masters Theses

Although many studies have shown that performance-contingent rewards increase performance quantity, few have examined whether quality contingent rewards increase quality. One objective of the present study was to determine whether quality contingent rewards would improve quality.

A second, independent objective was to determine whether extrinsic quality contingent rewards would decrease a person's intrinsic interest in and quality performance of a task following termination of those rewards. To date, no other studies have examined the effects of quality contingent rewards on intrinsic interest and quality performance.

The results indicated that quality performance-contingent rewards do improve quality. Quality contingent rewards increased quality …

The Effect Of A Conditioned Establishing Operations Procedure On Rats Responding On A Vi 30 Second Schedule For Sweetened Condensed Milk, Daniel James Knip

Masters Theses

Previous research on conditioned hunger paired food deprivation with a neutral stimulus. Amount of food eaten was typically the usual dependent variable, and the stimulus was visual, auditory or gustatory. The present study used rate of response as dependent variable, and paired an olfactory stimulus with food deprivation.

An experimental and control group each contained eight rats. Rate of bar pressing for sweetened condensed milk was the dependent measure. The experimental animals were then exposed to a vanilla scent during a period of extreme food deprivation. They were next allowed to bar press for liquid food under one hour of …

The Effects Of Self-Esteem, Performance Feedback, And Behavioral Verifiability On Self-Serving Biases, Diana C. Slatopolsky

Master's Theses

The present study examined the psychological processes underlying the self-serving bjas, the tendency to portray one's own qualities as more favorable then those of others. Subjects were asked to predict future success on a behavioral task for themselves and for the average student at their university after receiving performance feedback on the same task. It was proposed that self-enhancing predictions would be moderated by subject's self-esteem (high or low), the verifiability of task performance (high or low), and performance feedback (success or failure). The results revealed that subjects with high self-esteem displayed a self-serving bias regardless of performance verifiability or …

Using Direct Instruction To Teach Compliance To Seriously Noncompliant Students, Hans M. Michielsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research study investigated the effectiveness of a direct instruction program (Treatment 2) for increasing compliance with teachers' instructions in students for whom manipulation of conventional antecedent stimuli and consequences (Treatment 1) had not resulted in adequate compliance. Five students participated in this study. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate treatment effectiveness. Introduction of Treatment 2 was followed by an increase in compliance by all five participants. The relationship between compliance and other appropriate classroom behaviors, as well as the relationship between compliance and qualitatively good and qualitatively poor instructions, was also investigated. Those relationships were …

Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder And Undifferentiated-Attention Deficit Disorder: Differences In Cognitive And Affective Characteristics And Responses To Stimulant Medication, Richard Alan Campbell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The cognitive and affective characteristics and responses to stimulant medication of children who were diagnosed as having attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (AD-HD) or undifferentiated-attention deficit disorder (UADD) were investigated using a pretest-posttest experimental design. Nineteen AD-HD and 17 UADD children were compared using unpaired t-tests, prior to initiation of stimulant medication, on measures of intellectual functioning, impulsivity, problem behavior, and self-reported depression and self-esteem. Children from both the AD-HD (n = 12) and UADD (n = 12) groups were then compared before and after a 3-month trial of stimulant medication on measures of impulsivity, problem behavior, and self-reported depression …

The Dispositional Approach To Job Satisfaction: Trait Or State?, Sharlyn K. Whingham

Student Work

Job satisfaction has been one of the most extensively researched areas of Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Although situational influences on job satisfaction have traditionally been the primary focus of research, staw and Ross (1985) asserted that job satisfaction may be determined as much by personal dispositions as situational factors. Specifically, they proposed that an individual's predisposition toward optimism or pessimism is a critical determinant of job satisfaction. However, subsequent empirical investigations purporting to test the influence of the trait-like predisposition of optimism/pessimism have employed measures of positive and negative affective states. This study attempted to disentangle the influence of temporary negative and …

Looking At Barbie: Social Comparison Processes And Body Esteem Among Women, Sally Elizabeth Ware

Student Work

In this thesis, three areas are described: the phenomenon of body dissatisfaction among apparently normal-sized women from a sociocultural perspective; social comparison theory, which is proposed to be the mechanism by which the phenomenon operates; and the results of an experiment designed not only to test the nature of the phenomenon itself, but also to test certain components of social comparison theory, such as selection of comparison targets and the role of derogation.

The study reports women’s responses to inescapable social comparison on the attribute of body size and shape with two groups of social comparison targets: photographs from popular …

Comparing The Perceptions Of Family And Parenting Between Juvenile Sexual Offenders And Juveniles With No History Of Sexual Offending, Iva W. Trottier

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Juvenile sexual offenders and a matched sample of nonoffending youth were compared on the Family Environment Scale (FES), the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES ill), the Adult Adolescent Parent Inventory (AAPI), and a biographical inventory. The purpose was to determine whether or not juvenile sexual offenders and nonoffenders would prove to have different perceptions of family characteristics and whether the biographical inventory could distinguish between the two groups. "The sample consisted of 95 participants (46 offenders, 49 nonoffenders) in the northern Utah area. The offending population were in outpatient treatment for their sexual offending.

When the participants were …

Assessment-Based Treatment For Physically Abusive Parents: An Exploratory Study, Scott E. Blickenstaff

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Literature on child abuse supports the conception that physical abuse is a multidetermined behavior. Multifaceted treatment programs have shown some promise in dealing with the heterogeneity of abusive parents. Most of the reported comprehensive intervention programs have provided predetermined doses of a variety of treatment components to each subject. The intent of this study was two-fold: (a) to provide treatment components based on assessment of the parent and (b) to train the parent to a specified level of competency. A multiple baseline design was used in this clinical study of six agency-referred, physically abusive parents. Based on initial assessment and …

Ethical Beliefs And Practices: Do Psychologists Differ From Other Health-Care Professionals, Gary Percival

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Ethical codes and principles, and laws govern the behavior of health-care professionals. Yet, the impact that ethical codes and laws have on the actual moral behaviors of health-care professionals is relatively unknown. A survey on the ethical beliefs and practices of health-care professionals was sent to the United States membership of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. AAPB's heterogeneous membership offers a unique opportunity to compare the ethical beliefs and behaviors of professionals across various health-care professions, educational levels, licensure and certification statuses, age, years in practice, and gender. The survey examined the respondents' ethical beliefs and practices in …

Acute Effects Of Smoking On Prose Memory And Physiological Arousal, Scott J. Krebs

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects smoking a cigarette of varying nicotine yields had on physiological arousal and memory for prose passages.

Forty-five male habitual smokers were assigned to either a placebo (0.1mg nicotine cigarette), a 0.7mg, or a 1.5mg nicotine cigarette group. All subjects were in good health, reported that they regularly inhale smoke, that they smoked daily, and have for at least the past 3 months. Subjects smoked their assigned cigarette in a controlled fashion prior to reading 4 prose passages from a computer screen. Immediately after reading each passage, subjects were asked …

A Study Of General Education Curricula In Selected Small Colleges, Lavonne Fay Larson

Theses and Dissertations

Given the distinctiveness of small colleges, the primary purpose of this study was to gain a more complete understanding of general education curricula of selected small colleges in terms of the colleges' stated goals, their process of developing and modifying, and the stucture and content of their present general education curricula. A second purpose was to propose a model for developing general education curricula.

Three research methods were employed: a review of related literature, an analysis of written institutional documents, and campus interviews. Two groups of small colleges, with enrollments of less than 2000, participated. Data from the first group …

The Expanding Rol Of The President As Commander-In-Chief Since World War Ii, David E. Kugler

Theses and Dissertations

While conflict has always existed between the president and the Congress over war-making roles, the president's Commander-in-Chief role has expanded significantly since World War II. This study examines expansion of presidential power in terms of the establishment of the United States as a world economic and political power and the development of nuclear weapons.

Case studies were selected from each of the administrations from Truman through Reagan to illustrate these points. The Truman administration is studied in terms of the war in Korea and the advent of the limited war concept in a nuclear-powered world.

President Eisenhower's massive retaliation strategy …