Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Extraneous Stimulation And Activity On Performance In A Recognition-Memory Task, Richard Armstrong

All Master's Theses

Reaction times of 36 subjects in a recognition-memory task were used to evaluate the effects of extraneous stimulation and activity upon memory processes. No significant effect of noise on RT was suggested. A linear increase in reaction time as a function of memory load was found in all noise conditions. When the recognition-memory task was accompanied by a simultaneous shadowing task, a significant difference in the positive and negative reaction times was suggested.

The Creation Of A Social Service Setting: A Description Of The History And Theoretical Considerations, Paul W. Davock

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Social service organizations are created continuously with little attention given to the process by which they come into existence. The existing literature on the creation of settings is examined, and the method of study of a particular study is described. The theories which were important to the leader in the creation of the setting are examined. The background information, the events leading to the opening, and the first six months of the setting’s existence are chronicled, detailing the major events, issues, and interactions within the setting, giving attention to major theoretical considerations. Major findings are related to existing theory.

Dimensions Of Psychological Health For Retarded Adults In A Community Residence, Barbara Dianne Reid

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Residents’ Needs Questionnaire was developed to measure attitudes concerning the needs of retarded adults for Physical Existence, Psychological Existence, Submissive Relating, Dominant Relating, Shared Relating, and Environmental Mastery. Two measures, identification of the need and perception of the extent to which the need was actualized, were obtained for each of forty items. The questionnaire was administered to staff, residents, parents, and Advisory Committee members of the David Fisher Residence in Erbsville, Ontario. Results indicated that residents’ needs are identified differently by the four different subject groups, and that residents, staff, and Committee members perceive discrepancies between identified needs and …

Exploratory Study Of Gossip In A Rural Community, Ruth Anne Laverty

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this study was to investigate social psychological factors in the process of gossip. A second purpose was to determine whether gossip is a process distinct from rumor. An American community was the location of the study. The situations observed were behavioural settings which either the E or her assistant were permitted to attend without arousing suspicion. The 79 Ss studied were male and female adults and children who happened to be present in these behavioural settings. Conversations of all Ss were tape recorded as well as the gossip portions of conversations in other settings. The content of …

The Effects Of Age, I.Q. And Achievement On Children's Ability To Reverse The Necker Cube, Johnny Lee Matson

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Social History Questionnaire As Related To Length Of Stay In Psychotherapy: A Cross-Validation, Robert Crowley

Masters Theses

The purpose of the present study was to cross-validate the Terminator-Remainer subscale of the Social History Questionnaire (Jachim, 1972). The subjects were 72 clients from a mental health clinic. Two groups were used in the study (N = 72 and N = 36). Both groups were divided into Terminators and Remainers.

A point biserial correlation between the score on the Terminator-Remainer subscale and the criterion groups was significant (N = 72: rpb = .24, p < .05; N = 36: rpb = .38, p < .05). Predictive validity was established.

No relationship was found between being a Terminator or a Remainer and sex (x² = 0.07, N …

A Proposal For The Identification And Prevention Of Emotional Dysfunction In Primary School Children, Dan Allan Butler

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Social History Of Therapists And Their Clients, As Related To Outcome Of Therapy, Howard A. Bernstein

Masters Theses

The present study was concerned with the concept of therapist-patient pairing or similarity-dissimilarity. From previous research, it appears that certain therapist types work better with certain client types.

In the current study, three therapists and twenty-four clients were used to develop the concept of pairing further using social history as a basis. The results indicate that global similarity generally leads to more positive outcome. However, we are unable to draw any firm conclusions, primarily due to the small sample size. It does appear that social history may be a useful area to continue investigations in the area of pairing.

Field Dependence And Field Independence On A Series Of Inverted Field Tasks, David R. Murphy

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Roles And Functions Of The School Psychologist And The Counselor: Perceptions Of School Psychology Trainees And Counselor Trainees, Leslie A. Englehart

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Study Into The Effects Of Knowledge Of Peer Group Evaluation Upon Self-Concept Change, Janice Marie Beyer

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Metrazol On Acquisition Of An Oddity Task In Squirrel Monkeys, Stephen Wilson

Masters Theses

Recent evidence indicates that Metrazol can enhance learning in rodents provided certain variables such as genetic strain, difficulty of problem to be learned, and dosage levels are considered and carefully controlled. The effects of Metrazol on oddity acquisition in four squirrel monkeys was investigated. The apparatus employed was a modified version of the Wisconsin General Testing Apparatus. The dosage level of Metrazol was 15 mg/kg of body weight. The results suggest that Metrazol had no effect on the learning of the oddity task by the squirrel monkeys.

The Effects Of N-Length And Iti On Resistance To Extinction In A Free-Operant Situation, Raymond Kenworthy Mulhern Jr.

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The prediction of Capaldi's sequential learning theory (i966, 1967, 1970) that resistance to extinction (Rn) increases as a function of the number of successive nonrewarded trials (N-length) conditioned to the instrumental response has recently been supported in a discrete-trials leverpress situation but not in a free-operant leverpress situation (Wolach & Ferraro, 1971). To investigate this discrepancy, 32 male albino rats were trained to leverpress in the presence of a visual s^D under one of two N-length conditions (8 or 16) and one of four intertrial interval (ITI) conditions (5, 10, 15, or 30 sec.), the lowest of which corresponded …

The Effects Of Reward Magnitude Following Nonreward And Punishment, John Santoso

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Four groups of 12 rats each received constant medium size rewards of nine 45 mg Noyes pellets prior to nonrewarded (N) and nonrewarded punishment (P) (0.25 rna shock of 0.1 sec duration) trials and either large (L) size rewards of sixteen 45 mg pellets· or small (S) size rewards of two 45 mg pellets following N and P trials in a runway. Following acquisition each of the four groups was randomly subdivided into either continuous N or continuous P extinction conditions. This resulted in a two X two X two completely randomized factorial design with the variables and its levels …

Social And Psychological Correlates Of The Selection Or Rejection Of Vasectomy, Steven Marc Ratnow

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Personality, Interest And Motivational Correlates Of Persistence In Religious Vocations, Charles Noty

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Actor And Observer Bias In Causal Attribution: The Effects Of Consistency And Perspective, Joseph W. Wuerth

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Frequency Judgments For The Wording And Meaning Of Sentences, Christopher Gude

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

A Multivariate Analysis Of The Factors Affecting Treatment In A Child Guidance Centre, Brian Charles Regan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Initially, all the children who had received treatment and been discharged from the West End Créche between 1962 and 1971 were selected for this study. These children were then sub-divided into groups according to where they had gone after discharge. This study considered only two of these groups, 32 children who went into the normal school system and 20 children who entered institutions after being discharged. Both groups were then examined with reference to a list of forty-two variables which provided information on the children’s background and the facilities of the treatment centre. An analysis of these variables demonstrated that …

Towards An Understanding Of Courage: An Exploratory Analysis Of Changing Definitional Conceptions, Gertrud Lavalley

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present paper was an exploratory attempt at examining changing definitional conceptions of courage. Traditional conceptions were found to abound in popular definitions and confusion with respect to both the meaning and origin of courage. Unconscious conformity to societal norms, symbolic attachment to national roles, a learning theory analogue and the broad conception of S-R (stimulus-response) behaviour were examined as possible explanatory frameworks. An analysis of courage and survival clarified the relationship between courage and hope. An interdependent rather than independent relationship between the two concepts was postulated. The S-O-R (stimulus-organism-response) model was employed as a general explanatory framework for …

Racial Awareness, Preference And Self-Identification In Negro And Caucasian Early Elementary School Children (Grades Kindergarten, One And Three), Jean Marie Leforge

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Pictures of three identical faces differing only in skin colour were shown to 88 Negro and Caucasian subjects in grades kindergarten, one and three and questions about the pictures were asked. The procedure was designed to measure racial preference, awareness and self-identification and social awareness on the part of the subjects. Male subjects saw pictures of male faces and female subjects saw female faces. An experimental group of approximately one-half of the subjects saw a fourth picture face, which represented a novel stimulus and which was included to probe the reaction of the subjects to novelty.

In addition, a warm-up …

Influence Of Behaviour Setting And Interaction On Patterns Of Successful Aging, George D. Macdonald

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study investigated the effects of behaviour setting and interaction on patterns of engagement and disengagement within a home for the aged. The purpose of the study was to illustrate that both patterns may be a function of situational and psychological factors and therefore should not be used as definitions of “successful aging.” Data were collected using an observational technique. Observations were made on five behaviour settings for a typical week. The results indicate that there is a relationship between patterns and the two factors specified. A similar finding was reported for staff patterns within the home. Implications of these …

Genetic And Ontogenetic Variation In Response To Scopolamine And D-Amphetamine In Three Strains Of Mice, Gary Remington

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Highly inbred mice of three strains (A/J, DBA/2J and C57BL/6J) were tested in an acitivity task at 14, 21, or 28 days of age. Ten minutes prior to testing, mice received treatment of either saline, scopolamine (0.1 or 1.0 mg/kg) or d-amphetamine (0.5, 1.0 or 5.0 mg/kg). At 14 days of age DBA mice exhibited higher levels of activity than either A or C57 mice. However, the increase in activity in C57 was such that at 21 and 28 days no difference was observed relative to DBA mice, and activity was higher than that of A mice. With respect to …

The Favorability Of Person Perception As A Function Of Perceiver And Target Person Personality Style, Alfred D. Kornfeld

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

[no abstract provided]

Beyond The Best Interests Of The Child, Joanna B. Strauss, Peter Strauss

Faculty Scholarship

Identifying just principles for minimizing and resolving disputes over child custody remains one of the law's knots. King Solomon's renowned gambit for resolving the claims of two women to a newborn child was in fact the easy case: only one of the two contenders had a just claim; only one of the two contenders was prepared to be responsible; and in that first of reported cases, the judge had the advantage of surprise. Yet where each potential custodian has a claim, where each is equally prepared (or unprepared) to sacrifice his interests for the child, and where the rules of …

Negative Transfer As A Measure Of Thought Disorder In The Psychoses, Eileen S. Trafimow

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Psychiatric Ward Programming On Patient Habilitation: The Relative Merits Of Systematic Contingency Management, Noncontingent Milieu, And No Formal Ward Programs, Victor J. Bernstein

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Development Of The Self Concept In Black And White Children, Jeanne F. Beglis, Anees A. Sheikh

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

The impact of the recent "black nationalism" movement, as manifested in such phenomena as the emphasis on "black is beautiful," the appearance of many more Blacks on television and in advertising, and heightened racial tension, is undoubtedly having a considerable effect upon this generation of black children. It could be predicted that the self-concepts of these children are being affected by this new social climate, and perhaps there is an increasing emphasis on racial pride in their self-perceptions.

This study, a comparison of the self-concept of Negro and white children, attempted to control the socio-economic level, a factor which has …

Alcohol Effects On Specific And Environmental Fear, Lawrence L. Dickerson

Psychology ETDs

In any aversive conditioning procedure, when an aversive stimulus is paired with a nominal CS, it is inevitable that other stimuli present in the conditioning environment should also become aversive. Although the conditioning of fear to the environment has seldom been studied explicitly, there are reasons to believe that certain parameters affect specific fear and environmental fear quite differently. Ethyl alcohol, in particular, may produce dissimilar effects on the two fears. If so, these differences would help to explain certain inconsistent findings reported with alcohol.

A conditioned suppression procedure was used to test the hypothesis that alcohol differentially affects specific …

A Reexamination Of The Effects Of Prismatic Displacement On Pointing Straight Ahead, Anastasia Houndoumadi

Dissertations and Theses

A fully counterbalanced extension of the Bauer and Efstathiou (1965) study involved exposing 11 Ss to lateral prismatic displacement for five minutes and measuring their adaptation to it. The difference between pointings at a target taken before and after prismatic exposure constitutes an adaptive shift.