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Development Of A Fake Scale For Edwards Personal Preference Schedule - A, James Harvey Brammer

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Orderly Versus Random Stimulus Organization As A Parameter Of Problem-Solving Difficulty In A Visual Discrimination Task, Edward S. Itkin

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Scale Location On The Speed And Accuracy Of Reading Angularly-Viewed Circular Dials, George A. Casapulla

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Test Of The Effects Of Reinforcement And Cognitive Conflict On Moral Judgment, James D. Doornink

Student Work

This is a thesis dealing with moral judgment in adolescents. Specifically, the study tests the efficacy of cognitive conflict and reinforcement as agents of moral growth in adolescents. The purpose of the investigation is to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for development in moral reasoning.

Kohlberg (1958) has presented a systematic theory of moral growth in children, adolescents, and adults. He defined moral judgment as "the child's use and interpretation of rules in conflict situations and his reasons for moral actionsf (Kohlberg, 1964, p. 394)." Moral judgment is not correct knowledge of rules or conventional belief in …

A Curriculum For The Profoundly Retarded Children In A Development Center For Handicapped Minors, Charles William Koontz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The development of the infant from birth to four years will approximately parallel the stages of development of the profoundly retarded children enrolled in the Development Centers for Handicapped Minors ( DCHM ) in California. The retarded child is a human being and may be assumed to have the same basic equipment as the normal child. If we expand and prolong the development stated of the normal child we will be able to lead the DCHM child through these states in slow motion to insure progress.

To develop a curriculum, an assessment of the abilities of the child was necessary. …

A Multivariate Analysis Of Two Types Of Conformity Behaviors, Charles Lee Alcorn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A review of research concerning conformity behaviors revealed a need for large sample, multivariate approaches. To that end, seventeen variables were utilized (birth order, chronological agev sex, race, IQ, socioeconomic status, geographic area uf residencer religion, anxiety, dogmatism, rigidity, acquiescence, ego strength, confidence, extroversion/ introversion, impulsivity, and neuroticism) to describe the behaviors of 104 subjects in a Tuddenham-type setting wherein the subjects were randomly assigned to either "Asch-type" (group pressure) or "Crutchfield-type" (expert pressure) treatment conditions. Utilizing a stepwise multiple discriminant function analysis, discriminant weights were derived. The variable of rigidity was not found to be a valid predictor. With …

The Effects Of The Four Psychological Primary Colors On Gsr, Heart Rate, And Respiration Rate, Keith W. Jacobs

Masters Theses

Measurement of GSR, heart rate, and respiration rate were taken on twenty-four male S's during presentation of four colors (red, yellow, green, blue). Four sequences of color presentations were used based on a 4 by 4 latin square with six subjects receiving each presentation. Significant color effects (p < .05) were found when GSR was used as the measure of activation. The most arousing color was red, followed by green, yellow, and blue, with significant differences in arousal value found between colors. Significant trial effects, disregarding colors, were found in respiration rate. No significant effects on heart rate were found as a function of trials or color. The arousal values of the colors do not support either a linear or U-shaped function of wave length.

An Investigation Of The Effects Of Specific Parameters On An Experimental Analogue Of The Anxiety Relief Hypothesis, Gary W. Hardy

Masters Theses

Thirty-two, naive, albino rats were randomly assigned to one of eight treatment groups with four members per group. The apparatus used was a modified one-way avoidance chamber developed by Baum (1965). The variables studied were the effects of a retraining anxiety relief condition, a hierarchical presentation of tone with the anxiety relief condition, different inter-trial intervals, and the interactions of these variables. All subjects were given the anxiety training to a ninety decibel tone and one-half of the subjects were given anxiety relief training. All subjects were trained to a criterion of ten consecutive avoidance responses in a one-way avoidance …

Interest, Achievement And Personality Differences And The Direction Of Lateral Eye Movement, Frances Irene Lewis

All Master's Theses

An eye movement identified as being related to personality and achievement differences in individuals was investigated. Subjects were 116 college freshmen who were classified as right or left movers on the basis of the direction their eyes moved laterally during reflective thought. The classifications were correlated with variables of sex, eye dominance, handedness, personality and achievement scores. Findings indicate significant correlations for left handed subjects on Economic and Political scales and Verbal achievement but no significant correlations for right handed subjects.

Speed Of Conflict Resolution As Related To The Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, Jeffrey Carter Fracher

Master's Theses

The topic of conflict resolution is one which has received relatively little attention in psychological research even though individuals encounter, and must re­solve, numerous conflicts in their daily lives. The present paper will attempt to shed some light on several facets of this area of interest.

Recognition And Recall As Measures Of Retention On A Paired Associate Task, David F. Prim

Master's Theses

Widely disparate findings concerning recognition and recall as indicants of retention have been reported by several independent researchers. To clarify the problem a list of 8 items, composed of letter-number pairs, was presented 5 times by the study-test method to 160 college undergraduates. The list was learned by either recognition or recall and then tested by either a recognition or recall test after 24 hour and 72 hour intervals. Ss were placed in 1 of 5 categories dependent upon the trial the S achieved 100% criterion. A 4 factor ANOV showed recognition scores to be significantly higher at the .05 …

The Effects Of The Female Sex Hormones On Food And Water Intake And On Body Weight After Hypertonic Stress In The Female Rat, John Kibler

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

A Validation Of The Psychologist's Narrative Report In Predicting "Successful" Bank Managers, Peter Stephen Horos

Master's Theses

Although company selection procedures for managerial personnel vary widely, they frequently contract a psychological consulting firm to assess the applicant's potential. It was generally assumed then, that this professional information would significantly enhance the selection procedures and consequently improve the quality of the organization's managerial population. However, this assumption was made contingent upon the validity of the psychologist's predictions, with which there has been little research to date.

The Effect Of Periodicity Instability On The Detection Of Interaural Time-Of-Arrival Difference, Roy F. Sullivan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of An Increase Of A Mother's Complimentary Behavior On Her Child's Crying Rate And In-Task School Behavior, Mark Connot

All Master's Theses

The purpose of the present study was to decrease an eight year old boy's disruptive crying rate in his home by ignoring his negative behavior and selectively complimenting his acceptable behavior. A check in the boy's classroom was made to determine if a generalization effect or transference of positive behavior from the home occurred. Crying behavior in the home was reduced significantly. There was no observed significant change in school behavior.

Operantly Conditioning A College Student's Study Behaviors, Norman L. Culbertson

All Master's Theses

A 20 year old, male, sophomore college student, who was considered an underachiever, was confined to a laboratory study room for a specified number of observed hours during a period of three weeks. An attempt was made to operantly condition increased study behaviors by the E's control of study break reinforcers. The experiment consisted of three phases, conditioning, reversal, and reconditioning. Statistical results showed that when reinforced in this manner for study behaviors, the S significantly increased his amount of study time and number of pages read. It was concluded that (1) operant conditioning procedures could be used successfully to …

A Comparison Of Verbal And Geometric Stimuli In Concept Learning, Robert William Greenway

All Master's Theses

Subjects classified stimulus patterns into positive or negative instances of the concept according to either an attribute identification (AI) problem or a rule learning (RL) problem. Four types of stimulus materials were used: verbal stimuli (V), geometric stimuli (G), or two combinations of these modes, verbal geometric (VG) or verbal colored (VC). The only main effects that were significant were the Type of rule and Type of problem. Some interactions were obtained between these factors and the stimulus mode employed.

Solution Shift Performance Of Low Functioning Children, Kathleen L. Levell

All Master's Theses

Retarded children of two intellectual levels were assigned to reversal (R) or nonreversal (NR) shifts in a concept learning task. High children had previous practice with the stimulus attributes while the low children did not. The effects of overtraining on the original problem led to more rapid R solutions for both groups while overtraining prior to the NR shift yielded equal levels of performance for both groups of children.

Results were interpreted within the framework of mediation theory.

The Role Of Stimulus And Label Familiarity In Concept Learning, David W. Philips

All Master's Theses

Performance on a concept learning task was investigated by employing familiar and unfamiliar stimulus patterns, three pretraining conditions, and two conceptual rules. Subjects were given either observation or preliminary paired associate practice in labeling shapes with meaningful or nonsense labels and were then required to solve a concept learning task to criterion. It was found that tasks involving familiar stimuli were learned more rapidly than those involving unfamiliar stimuli, and that meaningful verbal pretraining for unfamiliar stimuli resulted in more rapid learning than observation or nonsense label pretraining.

Interanimal Transfer Of A Learned Response Tendency With Control For Autonomic Arousal, Landgrave Thomas Smith

All Master's Theses

In three experiments using 180 rats, extracts of brain protein were used for interanimal transfer of an avoidance response from donors to recipients. In the first experiment it was found that avoidance learning in donors produced a response transfer, but autonomic arousal did not. The second experiment confirmed these results, and demonstrated a response transfer after a single donor training trial. The third experiment confirmed the results of the first two, and the recipient response strength showed evidence of extinction and spontaneous recovery.

The Course Of Amnesia Up To Twenty-Four Hours After Non-Contingent Treatment As A Function Of The Footshock-Electroconvulsive Shock Interval, Thomas C. Whitaker

All Master's Theses

This study tested specific predictions of the state-dependency hypothesis concerning the effects of footshock (FS)-electroconvulsive shock (ECS) treatment interaction on memory storage. Rats were trained in a water "T" maze to turn either left or right. Twenty-four hours later they received FS-ECS treatment. The FS-ECS intervals were .5 sec., 10 sec., 30 sec., and sham (no FS-ECS). Testing took place either 1, 6, 12, 18, or 24 hr. after treatment. Results indicated trends, but no significant evidence of the amnesia gradient being related to the FS-ECS interval.

Intradimensional Variability With Numbers And Alphabetical Letters In Conceptual Rules, Thomas Henry Clayton

All Master's Theses

Subjects were assigned to bidimensional rule problems that contained either 5, 10, or 15 levels of intradimensional variability. The stimuli consisted of numbers and alphabetical letters. There were no performance differences by either males or females when the number of levels within each rule was increased. There was a significant difference in performance among the three rules (disjunctive, conditional, and biconditional), however, the conditional was more difficult than the biconditional which is inconsistent with earlier research.

Failure To Find A Memory Gradient In A State Dependency Paradigm, James Harold Thomson

All Master's Theses

Rats were trained in a passive avoidance task. Twenty-four hours later they were given a noncontingent footshock (FS) followed by electroconvulsive shock (ECS). ECS followed FS by different intervals ranging from .5 to 300 seconds in different groups. Subjects were tested 24 and 96 hours after the FS-ECS treatments for retention of the avoidance response. There were no statistical differences between the groups. This finding could not be taken as evidence that FS-ECS failed to produce amnesia since no evidence of passive avoidance conditioning in trained subjects not receiving FS-ECS.

The Effect Of A Learning Skills Course Including Group Counseling On Low Achievers In The Community College, Paul E. Borg

All Master's Theses

A Learning Skills course consisting of study skills, goal direction, and self-understanding was tested among volunteer community college low achievers. Treatment integrated didactic, group discussion, and affective experiences in 18 hour-long sessions. Nineteen subjects received treatment; 25 subjects formed a matched control group; and 41 non-volunteers formed two additional control groups. An apparent trend toward GPA improvement was noted for all groups, but all measurements on GPA and a study survey were non-significant.

The Effects Of Truth Table Pretraining And Intradimensional Variability On Rule Learning And Attribute Identification Tasks, Eric S. Gebelein

All Master's Theses

Ss were required to sort geometrical patterns into positive or negative instances. According to (a) an attribute identification problem (wherein one of three conceptual rules was given: Disjunctive, Conditional, or Biconditional) or (b) Rule learning problem (wherein the two relevant attributes were given: either yellow, triangle or blue, circle). Intradimensional variability for each condition was either five, seven, or nine levels. The Rule effect was the only significant source of variance even though performance did worsen as intradimensional variability was increased.

A Case Study Of The Relationship Between Role-Taking Skills And Intellectual Development, Linda Suzanne Green

All Master's Theses

A series of thirteen role-taking and cognitive development tasks, taken from research done on Piaget's developmental theories, were presented to ascertain the relationship between refined role-taking skills and the level of intellectual development demonstrated by a child in Piaget's pre-operational phase (two to seven years).

The results indicated that a child in this age range is not able to remove himself from his egocentric position and utilize the concepts of decentering and reversibility in constructing a meaningful message. This would indicate a lack of role-taking skill refinement.

It was concluded that the use of this type of task series would …

Post-Exposural Eye Movements And Lateral Differences In Tachistoscopic Recognition, R. Cameron Mcrae

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Left-right differences in visual field accuracy obtained in studies of tachistoscopic recognition have been typically discussed in terms of a covert post exposure scanning process derived from the horizontal eye movements (EM) habitually used in reading. Further, some evidence exists that indicates the occurrence of EM concomitant with the recognition process. By monitoring EM during a representative recognition task, the present study attempted to establish the relation between overt EM elicited by the task, and response accuracy. Using a projection tachistoscope (duration 100 msec.), 8 female Ss were presented with a random trial series of 8-element letter, number, and symbol …

The Relationship Of Leadership Effectiveness To L.P.C For University Department Chairmen, Carter W. Brown

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

For most of recorded history leadership ability has been considered a simple variable linearly related to the effectiveness of a team of workers. Everyone possessed it to some degree. When a king or corporate president had a task to be accomplished, all he needed to do to maximize the probability of the task being completed vas to locate the individual with the greatest leadership skill available. For centuries man has tried to quantify this variable so that identification of good leaders could be achieved more accurately. After years of futile attempts at quantification, leadership theorists began in the early 1900's …

Comparison Of Behavior Changes Of Children In The Home And School Setting After Parents Receive Instruction In Behavior Modification, Beverly Ann Beavers

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The mother of 1 grade school child and 2 sets of parents of 2 preschool children were trained in the home to use behavior modification techniques to reduce the undesirable behaviors of their children. Generalization from the home to the school setting was investigated. There was no support for or against changes in the homes generalizing to the classrooms. The mother of a 7-year-old girl with borderline intelligence used "time out" to curb the child's failure to follow instructions, tendency to be argumentative, and tendency to tantrum. The hyperactivity of a 41/2-year old girl was diminished. in part by changes …

The Effects Of Verbal Reinforcement On Three Subtests Of The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Michael C. Klinnert

Masters Theses

A verbal conditioning study was conducted in order to assess the effect of positive verbal reinforcement on the examinees' verbalization output and/or the individual scaled scores of the Vocabulary, Comprehension, and Similarities subtests of the WAIS. Twenty-seven female volunteer Ss were assigned to either a contingent reinforcement group, a random reinforcement group, or a non-reinforcement control group. A mixed design A.O.V. revealed no significant differences between treatment groups on the individual scaled scores of the subtests. An analysis of covariance for the composite of the three subtests scaled scores was also nonsignificant. A mixed design A.O.V. for the amount of …