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Behavioral Problems Among Sexually Abused And Nonabused Children, Kelli B. Mills

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the level of social competency and presence of behavioral problems associated with young sexually abused children ages 4 to 8, as compared to those among a comparable sample of nonabused young children. Thirty-two parents or guardians, 16 in each group, completed the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist for each child. Characteristics of the abuse were addressed on an additional questionnaire. Data was collected on 12 female and 4 male children in each group. The results indicated that the amount and severity of behavior problems was greater and social competency levels were lower among the sexually abused children than …

Cognitive And Social Desirability Factors In Marital Adjustment For A Sample Of Retired Older Adults, Priscilla B. Wilson

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated cognitive components of marital adjustment and the role of social desirability response sets in a sample of retired older adults. It was hypothesized that higher marital adjustment scores would correlate negatively with dysfunctional beliefs concerning marriage. The objectives of the study were to identify which irrational beliefs are related to higher and lower levels of marital adjustment, and to determine the extent to which higher adjustment scores reflect the tendency to respond in a socially desirable manner. The sample consisted of 45 married couples, each partner of which was retired and aged 65 years or older. Assessment …

An Evaluation Of A Parent Sex Education Program, Janice Devlin

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Sex education during childhood and adolescence is much more than a "birds and bees" discussion between a mother and a daughter or a seventh-grade science unit on human reproduction. It is, rather, a pervasive experience involving children's everyday interactions with friends, family, and their wider social environments. Elizabeth Roberts (1980) has developed a framework for understanding sexuality that emphasizes the broad-based nature of sexual learning. She focuses on six dimensions of sexuality which are socially learned: gender role, affection and intimacy, family roles and social life styles, body image, erotic experiences, and reproduction. The role of the family in each …

Psychological Effects Of Divorce On Children: A Developmental Approach, Arlene Iasimone

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Volunteer Activity On Psychosocial Adjustment Among The Elderly, William R. Criss

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

This research was carried out to determine if psychosocial adjustment improves for elderly persons engaged in volunteer activity. Questionnaires were completed by 27 persons aged 60 or over before and two months after beginning volunteer activity at one of 33 Florida community hospitals. A control group of 37 persons without hospital volunteer experience also completed these two questionnaires, which covered several aspects of psychosocial adjustment, including self-esteem, life satisfaction, sense of control, optimism, anxiety, depression and somatization. An analysis of covariance with repeated measures indicated that there was no significant improvement in subjective well-being associated with volunteer activity after accounting …

Variables Related To Utilization Of Mental Health Care Services By Hispanic Adolescents, Mary Ann H. Garcia

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Validation Of The Portuguese Version Of The Temperament Inventory, Flavia Jorge

Dissertations

Problem. There is a need in Portugal for valid psychological instruments. The Temperament Inventory (Blitchington & Cruise, 1979) seemed adequate to help meet this need. The present study attempted to validate the TI with the Portuguese population in mainland Portugal and to obtain norms on the TI for this population.

Methodology. A factor analytical research design was used to determine whether the items selected to measure a particular temperament in the original American version did, in fact, measure that temperament when translated into Portuguese. The 80 original items, together with 10 new items designed to measure the phlegmatic and choleric …

Foreign Study: An Analysis Of The Long Term Impact, Randy Mccombie

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Depression As A Mediator Of Memory Biases In Alcoholics, Henry Jay Richards

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Achievement And Achievement Beliefs: A Path Analysis Of A Cognitive Model Or Achievement, Carla M. Leone

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Worker Perceptions Of The Fast-Food Giant : Interviews With And Class Comparisons Of Teenagers Working At Mcdonalds, Joyce A. Korshgen

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the relationship between social class and adolescents conceptions of work. Four major areas of the adolescent's work experience are examined: (1) tasks and training, (2) relations with co-workers and managers, (3) organizational structure and change, and (4) family life and work. Forty female adolescent, nonmanagerial employees who worked part time at McDonald's franchise stores were interviewed.

The Experience Of Public Art In Urban Settings, Roberta Degnore

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The sine qua non for an artwork in the urban realm is neither its judged "goodness" nor the ability of audiences to perceive it "correctly," but is the total experience the work contributes to as part of the fabric of interlocking meanings that places have in people's lives.

In urban settings, the physical attributes and private intentionality of a work do not stand alone. As carefully as an artist installs his/her pieces in a gallery, the same concern for their working together and with their total environment must be applied to artworks in complex public settings, where choice to be …

Israeli, Palestinian And Egyptian Explanations Of Political Actions In The Middle East, Bethamie Horowitz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study investigated how people affiliated with different parties in an international conflict understand their own actions and the actions of their adversaries. Using data gathered in the Middle East in 1982, the study examined the explanations offered by 1336 Israeli Jews, Palestinians (living in Israel) and Egyptians to three political events in the Middle East: 'Israeli Air Force conducts a raid on Beirut,' 'Palestinians attack a bus on the Haifa-Tel Aviv highway,' and 'A peace treaty is announced between Israel and Egypt.'

The study, an exploratory analysis, was carried out in a sequence of stages. First, the analysis involved …

The Effects Of Task Load On Heart Rate And Heart Rate Variability, Paula Jeanne Guerette

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The relationship between task load and cardiovascular measures was investigated during single- and dual-task performance. The results showed significant reductions in Heart Rate Variability and the Blood pressure component of the Power Spectral Density function during task performance. No significant changes in HR were seen from baseline to task. However, differences in directional responding between subjects seemed to have obscured these effects. When direction of the HR response was disregarded and absolute magnitude of response was analyzed, significant differences from baseline to task were seen. There was no difference in physiological responding from single- to dual-task trials. Future research examining …

The Effects Of Acculturation And Age On Spiritual Well-Being Among Ethnic Chinese Church-Goers, Stephen T.C. Jang

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

This research investigated the effects of acculturation and age on Spiritual Well-Being among ethnic Chinese church-goers. Subjects consisted of 169 ethnic Chinese church-goers and English readers ages 18 - 55 from four Chinese churches in the Northwest United States. The response rate was 93.9% of the 180 initially selected subjects.

The subjects completed a survey questionnaire that included demographic information, background information, and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWB). The SWB consisted of two subscales: the Religious Well-Being (RWB) Scale and the Existential Well-Being (EWB) Scale.

born had significantly greater (_E.<.05) EWB than subjects who had lived in the U.S. 5 years or less. Age was significantly related to SWB and EWB; and subjects 26 years old or above had significantly higher SWB and EWB scores than subjects 18 - 25 years old.

Religious commitment, and importance of religion were related to greater …

Increasing The Participation Rate For International Behaviorists At The Convention Of The Association For Behavior Analysis, Marsha Lee Benz

Masters Theses

This is a descriptive study that reviewed past participation of International behaviorists at the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA) convention, to provide sore help to these presenters to improve the experience, and to disseminate behavioral information outside of the United States by trying to Increase International participation at the ABA convention.

These methods were used to Invite the behavioristsi (a) call for papers, (b) personalized invitations, and (c) poster invitations. Procedures used to improve the convention experience weret (a) an interest questionnaire, and (b) pre- and post-convention surveys.

Comparisons were made between the number of International presenters from years 1981 …

The Linguistic Relativity Of Person Cognition: An English-Chinese Comparison, Curt Hoffman, Ivy Yee-Man Lau, David R. Johnson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Examined the possibility that distinct languages are capable of exerting language-specific effects on people's impressions of and memory for other individuals. Parallel English- and Chinese-language descriptions were created of 2 characters exemplifying personality schemas with economical labels in English but not in Chinese, and 2 characters exemplifying personality schemas with economical labels in Chinese but not in English. Three groups of 12 undergraduates participated as Ss-English monolinguals, Chinese-English bilinguals who read and responded in English, and Chinese-English bilinguals who read and responded in Chinese. It was predicted that Ss processing the target descriptions in English would show greater evidence of …

Care, Need, And Conceptions Of Love: A Reexamination, Janet Gruwell Morris

Dissertations and Theses

The present study examines the roles need and care play in such positive interpersonal attitudes as love, liking, attraction, and friendship, by both replicating and extending a 1982 study by Steck, Levitan, McLane, and Kelley. Subjects were presented with slightly revised Rubin Love Scales which were filled out as if by persons involved in relationships, and were asked to judge how much each hypothetical person loved, liked, was attracted to, and felt friendly toward their partner. In fact, the love scales had been divided into three components, i.e. need, care, and trust, and were filled out with each component at …

The Effects Of Levels Of Processing On Retention Of Word Meaning, Dorothy A. Flannagan

Master's Theses

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of the three encoding techniques of rote memory, semantic, and self-reference, on short-term and long-term retention levels of unfamiliar vocabulary words and their meanings. Seventy-two college students participated in the experiment, with 24 students in each encoding group. All participants viewed 20 target words and their definitions, and were exposed to each word for 30 seconds. Each group was given instructions designed to promote a type of encoding specific to their group. After a five-minute distractor task, subjects were given a list of the target words and were tested on …

A Comparison Of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Profiles In Native American And White Alcoholics, Barbara Nelle Vesely

Theses and Dissertations

Although the literature on alcoholism is extensive, virtually all of the existing psychological theories of alcoholism are based on research primarily conducted on White males. The question of generalizability of these research findings to females and to other ethnic groups, such as Native Americans, is one of paramount importance. The present study was designed to investigate differences between the sexes and between the White and Native American groups, by analysis of the MMPI profiles of each group.

In addition to investigation of the group differences, this study addressed another major deficiency of the literature. Many psychological assessments, for example the …

Effects Of Stress Management Instruction And Anxiety Monitoring In Adult Day Treatment Population, Jack Blanton Wills

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the effectiveness of a particular stress management intervention with adult outpatients diagnosed as chronic schizophrenics. The setting for the study was the Portland, Oregon, Veteran's Administration, Outpatient Clinic, Day Treatment Center. The intervention was composed of two factors; 1) stress management training and 2) Behavior-Graph Instruction. Both of these were presented using a psychoeducational model of classroom instruction, role play, and discussion.

Commitment To Spouse And God: The Relationship Among Measures Of Marital Commitment And Spiritual Maturity, Robert F. Pramann Jr.

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Marital commitment is increasingly becoming a research focus of many social science researchers. However, to date the research is plagued by the isolation in which definitions and measures were developed/used, the use of divergent theoretical and operational definitions of commitment, and the paucity of psychometrically sophisticated research instruments. In addition, the relationship between religious belief and marital functioning, once well substantiated, has more recently been neglected. The present research addresses these problems. First, the relationship of the social sciences and theology is discussed. Second, the significance of marital commitment is reviewed. Third, a transdisciplinary definition of commitment is developed. Fourth, …

The Effects Of Presentation Method And Stimulus String Length In A Letter Matching Task, Sharolyn Ann Converse

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study investigates the effects of presentation method. stimulus string length, and pair type on matching task response time and accuracy. It was hypothesized that sequential presentation and small stimulus arrays evoke holistic processing while long simultaneous sets are matched according to serial self-terminating comparison strategies. The current results indicate that serial self-terminating comparison processes were employed across the experimental conditions. A fixed-order serial self-terminating scan was supported for two and four letter stimulus sets. For six letter strings, subjects appeared to adopt random order self-terminating searches if a divergent element was not located among the first few letter …

Cooperative Responses In Competitive Soccer, Rodney Gordon Williamson

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to discover patterns in intra-team cooperation (passing) versus individualistic behavior (dribbling) across various age and gender groups. A behavioral coding scheme for soccer players in possession of the ball was designed to tabulate team responses of passing or dribbling behavior in a four-a-side indoor tournament. A total of 32 teams, 18 male teams and 14 female teams, participated in four age brackets. A multi variate analysis of variance (MANOVA) generated one significant result for age and passing behavior. This supported the first hypothesis that intra-team cooperative behavior increased with age. Due to the nonorthogonal …

A Comparison Of Behavioral Problems Between Speech And/Or Language Impaired Children And Normal Children, Jeannie S. Botelho

Dissertations and Theses

The questions posed in this study were: 1) Is there a significant difference in the prevalence of behavioral problems between speech and/or language impaired children and normal children as reported by parents and teachers? and 2) Is there a significant difference in the types of behavioral problems between speech and/or language impaired children and normal children, as reported by parents and teachers?

The Effect Of Order Of Presentation And Experience On Problem Solving, Edward Bruce Versteeg

Dissertations and Theses

The effects of order of presentation and amount of experience on errors and solution time were investigated. An interactive narrative puzzle was presented on a computer screen to 60 undergraduate students. Solution of the problem involved the integration of two path segments. Subjects in the Forward Condition were presented the path segments in the order in which they had to be traversed for solution. Subjects in the Backward Condition were exposed to the opposite order of presentation. Amount of experience was varied by permitting one, three, or five readings of the narrative.

An Attempt To Reduce Actor-Observer Differences In Attributions, Carla A. Green

Dissertations and Theses

The purposes of this study were (a) to replicate previous research reporting actor-observer differences in subjects' attributions about behavioral causality, and (b) to manipulate the availability of causal information so that those actor-observer differences would be eliminated.

The Development Of The Self-Concept In The Young Child, Doris Mascall

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore, based upon a literature survey of articles and books published primarily, though not limited to, the past fifteen years, the development of the self-concept in children during the first five years of life. This will include defining self-concept, the establishment of its significance throughout the life span, the role significant others play in the development, an examination of sex-role identity in relationship to self-concept formation, and a critique of available tests and measurements, followed by a conclusion which focuses upon implications for treatment providers.

Client Writing In Individual Therapy: A Review Of The Literature, Karla Esplin Bennion

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Client writing has been used in association with individual therapy for many years, but published research on its effectiveness is sparse. Such research could provide a potential tool for therapists, as well as expand scientific knowledge. This review includes all available reports on the topic of client writing in individual therapy. The studies fall into three general categories: the systematic, "experimental" studies; the anecdotal reports; and the didactic reports. All studies considered show some benefit from the use of client writing in therapy. Writing appears to be beneficial whether initiated by the client or directed by the therapist; beneficial to …

The Effects Of Recreation Specialization And Motivations On The Environmental Setting Preferences Of Backcountry Hikers, Randy J. Virden

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study explored how recreation specialization and different types of motivations were related to environmental settings preferred by backcountry hikers. A questionnaire was developed that measured the level of hiking specialization, desired psychological outcomes, and preferred environmental setting attributes. Questionnaires were mailed to 619 backcountry hikers from three Intermountain West hiking areas; a response rate of 68 percent was attained.

Results of the study revealed significant associations between the level of hiking specialization and the psychological states desired by backcountry hikers. In general, increased hiking specialization served to increase the importance of specific psychological outcomes such as autonomy, exercise, achievement …