Digital Commons Network^™

A Study Of The Relationships Between Hemispheric Asymmetries And Intellectual Abilities, Anne Mcshane

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study investigated the functional significance of cerebral asymmetries. Width measurements of the human brain were derived from computerized tomographic (CT) films and related to intellectual variables as determined by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Revised (WAIS-R). Subjects were adults of both sexes who had been referred for neurologic examination and were diagnosed as having no abnormalities (N=28). Reasons for referral included headache, dizziness, or to rule out central nervous system damage following various types of trauma. The asymmetry of hemispheric widths (left minus right) in the frontal, temporoparietal, and occipital areas was correlated with Verbal IQ minus Performance IQ …

The Effect Of An Early Sensorimotor Intervention Program On The Development Of Infants With Perinatal Intraventricular Hemorrhage, Janet Millard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Our current ability to identify and appropriately treat infants who are at risk for developing various handicapping conditions is limited. Thus, research aimed at developing early diagnostic techniques and differential intervention programs for infants at risk for handicaps needs further attention. The purpose of this study was to determine if infants who suffered perinatal intraventricular hemorrhage and who received routine medical care plus sensorimotor intervention between 3 and 12 months of age, differed from similar infants who received only routine medical care.

Twenty-four subjects (10 experimental and 14 control) who were patients in neonatal intensive care at University of Utah …

Sexual Orientation And Capacity For Intimacy, Sandra Lee Harshbarger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Capacity for intimacy was examined as a function of sexual orientation. Sixty-six volunteers comprised four groups: heterosexual males, homosexual males, heterosexual females and homosexual females. Subjects' ages ranged from 19 to 61 and education levels ranged from 10 to 21 years of schooling. The four groups were comparable in terms of age, education level and general mental health.

Each volunteer responded to the following instruments: the Orlofsky Intimacy Interview (questionnaire format), the Yufit Intimacy-Isolation Questionnaire, the Rubin Like Scale, the Rubin Love Scale and the Gordon Personal Profile (used to assess general mental health) . Responses were compiled and analyzed …

The Relative Susceptibilities Of Interresponse Times And Post-Reinforcement Pauses To Differential Reinforcement, Nancy L. Trapp

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Post-reinforcement pauses (PRP) and interresponse times (IRTs) were examined to determine if these two temporal units changed in a similar fashion as a function of the delivery of differential reinforcement. Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, four pigeons were exposed to a series of procedures in which PRP and IRT durations were gradually increased and then decreased. A fixed-ratio two (FR 2) differentiation schedule was used. Reinforcement was delivered if the PRP or IRT durations were greater than (PRP > and IRT > procedures) or less than (PRP < and IRT < procedures) specified temporal criteria. Criteria were gradually changed across procedures. Results showed that PRPs and IRTs changed in accordance with the differential reinforcement as specified by the various contingencies. When PRPs and IRTs were free to vary, the PRPs tended to change in a direction consistent with the IRT shaping contingencys whereas, the IRTs tended to shorten regardless of the PRP shaping contingency. In Experiment 2, two subjects were exposed to both an FR 2 and FR 1 schedule to determine if schedule size influenced the effects obtained on the differentiation procedures. PRPs were systematically changed using a differentiation procedure with a response requirement of either FR 1 or FR 2. Results showed similar changes in PRP durations between FR 1 and FR 2 differentiation procedures. An analysis of errors made on each shaping condition in both experiments was conducted to determine whether PRPs or IRTs were more susceptible to the differential reinforcement contingencies. Fewer errors were made on the PRP shaping conditions, indicating that PRPs were more easily changed. Implications for a comprehensive theory of reinforcement were discussed.

Multiple-Stimulus Discrimination And Stimulus Overselectivity With Preschool Children, Maria C. Quintero

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Stimulus overselectivity is said to occur when behavior is under the control of a restricted set of stimuli from a stimulus complex. Three studies investigated the effects of specific multiple-stimulus training histories upon the overselective responding of normal preschool children.

In Experiment 1, eight children 3 to 5 years of age, were trained to discriminate forms presented on cards. Each form was labelled with a nonsense syllable, and each card (multiple stimulus) consisted of two forms. A time-delay training procedure was used. Four subjects were trained using Concurrent training in which two of the three S- response choices contained components …

The Effects Of A Pre-Therapy Client Orientation On Clients In Psychotherapy, Nels Sather

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to assess the effects of a pre-therapy client orientation on clients admitted to a mental health center. A secondary purpose was to develop an effective and brief audio-visual orientation that would positively influence clients in therapy. It was hypothesized that a pre-therapy orientation would significantly reduce client no shows and cancellations, increase client fee payment, increase client level of psychological functioning, and increase client satisfaction with mental health services. None of the four hypotheses was supported by the research. A questionnaire filled out by the therapists involved in the study, after the data were …

An Investigation Of The Five-Term Contingency And The Conditional Control Of Equivalence Relations, Richard W. Serna

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the study of human operant behavior. One area of study reflecting this interest is the study of the formation of equivalent classes of stimuli by human subjects. The focus of the present research was the study of the conditions under which classes of equivalent stimuli can be inferred to be under conditional control.

In Experiment 1-A, three college students were trained to respond to a balanced five-term contingency via a visual-visual simultaneous matching-to-sample task with two choices of comparison stimuli. Probe tests showed that subjects' behavior could be described as …

A Comprehensive Treatment Program For Abusive Parents: An Exploratory Study, Marvin Kim Marvel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Estimates of the incidence of child abuse range from 200,000 to 500,000 (Light, 1973) to over one million children each year (O'Brien, 1980). Child abuse is a leading cause of childhood death and injury (Starr, 1979). Demographic studies (e.g., Steele & Pollock, 1968) suggest that parents who abuse their children were often abused or neglected themselves. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that many of the present victims of abuse will become abusing parents in the future unless the cycle is broken. The need for effective interventions to reduce this pervasive social problem is obvious.

Academic Achievement Of Bereaved Children: Comparison With A Nonbereaved Population, Rebecca W. Valcarce

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to study the effects of bereavement on the academic achievement of secondary school students who had lost a parent through death by comparing them with students attending the same schools but who were living with both natural parents. The subjects in both groups were matched on pretest scores and demographic characteristics at the beginning of the study. Achievement posttest scores and overall high school grade point averages of both groups were compared using ANCOVA and multiple regression analyses. None of the analyses were found to be statistically significant, implying that academic achievement is not …

Using Music In Teaching Social Skills To Mentally Retarded Subjects, Tamara Barron-Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which Melodies to Assist Social Interaction (MASI) would affect the social skills performance of the educable mentally retarded.

The study employed a pretest-posttest control group design with an N of 27 mentally-retarded subjects. It also employed a one-group pretest-posttest design with an N of 8 non-mentally retarded subjects.

All of the subjects received a pre- and post-score for their social skills performance level. Nineteen of the mentally-retarded subjects and all eight non-mentally retarded subjects received the MASI social skills teaching program as part of their regular curriculum.

The pre- …

Verbal Interactions Among Elementary Students With The Jigsaw Ii Learning Method, Katherine Gilbert

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The cooperative learning method, Jigsaw II, was implemented in a grade four social studies class for the purpose of examining the verbal interactions among students as they learned from each other. Jigsaw II is structured to enhance cooperation because each student has exclusive information that is needed by other group members to do well on a test. It was hypothesized that the more capable students in a heterogeneous learning group would help the less capable ones learn the material. As the lower ability students gained proficiency in teaching their information, the variance in the rates of speaking would be less …

The Effect Of Reinforcer Type On The Resurgence Of Responding, Lori Light-Richter

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The purpose of the study was to determine whether a previously reinforced response would resurge following the reinforcement and subsequent extinction of a second response when the two responses were established using two different reinforcers, and when both responses had been equivalent training. Rats were trained to press either a lever or a key with either food or water as the reinforcer. After this response had been extinguished, the alternative behavior was trained with the alternate reinforcer. Finally, this second behavior was extinguished. Little resurgence of the original response was noted for either subjects trained under same- or different- reinforcer …

Investigation Of Patient Anxiety, Patient Satisfaction, And Dental Student Behaviors, Mary Kathryn Morris

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study examined the effect of information about patient's dental anxiety on patient satisfaction, patient discomfort, and patients' perceptions of dental student behaviors. The validity of patients' perceptions was examined by independent observation of dental student behaviors on videotaped dental screening visits.

Thirty dental students each examined two dentally anxious female patients. Each student received information about one of the patient' s dental anxiety and no information about the other. The order of presentation of the conditions information and no information was counterbalanced. The dependent measures were the Dentist Behavior Checklist, the Dental Visit Satisfaction Scale, the Patient Discomfort …

Traditional And Nontraditional Funerals : Local Changes Since 1965 And The Influence Of Cost On Selection, Darlene K. Burbage

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Out Of Control: An Exploration Into The Dynamics Of Anorexia Nervosa And Bulimia And The Consequences For The Sufferer And Those Around Her, Shenandoah M. Cardwell

Honors Theses

A theoretical and personal exploration into the dynamics of anorexia nervosa and bulimia was conducted with reviews of literature, interviews, and personal accounts. A basic definition of the problem according to the DSM-III was stated. Discussed in detail are factors which contribute to a possible predisposition for developing an eating disorder; these include the physiological/biological, psychological, familial and societal. The effects of eating disorders on those persons around an anorexic or bulimic were explained along with a special section emphasizing the epidemic of eating disorders on college campuses. Emphasis was placed on the importance of the role of helper in …

The Effects Of Temporospatial Integration On Distance Estimations Of Young And Elderly Adults, Margaret Rowley-Bernicki

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The effect of discontinuity on temporospati al integration in the accuracy of distance estimations was examined utilizing a slide presentation of a route. Participants were 60 young and 60 elderly adults who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. The two conditions were determined by whether the subjects viewed the walk in a logically sequenced order or a pre-determined randomized order. Subjects viewed the walk twice and thereafter made a series of distance estimates between a series of preselected landmarks chosen by a different group of young and elderly adults. Additionally, subjects gave self-ratings on a twelve-item questionnaire to …

Sins Of The Fathers And Mothers: Relationships Between Parental History Variables And Adult Mmpi Profiles, Kathryn E. Dawson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Self-report data on parental history variables--child abuse, father and mother alcoholism, parental mental illness, and father's level of education--were gathered from 469 male and female inpatients at the Florida Mental Health Institute in Tampa, Florida. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was administered within the first 72 hours of admission.

Discriminant function analyses with step-down procedures were performed to determine the effectiveness of the MMPI profiles in discriminating between parental history groups. Each gender was run separately. When comparing patients with no pathological parent history to groups reporting at least one, the chi square was found to be significant for …

The Effects Of Task Difficulty On Pupil Diameter In A Choice Reaction Time Task, Coleen Thornton

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The effects of task difficulty on pupil diameter in a choice reaction time (CRT) task were investigated. Pupil diameter data were collected from 24 subjects using the NASA Langley Research Center oculometer system. Task difficulty was defined by the number of paired stimulus-response alternatives and stimulus-response compatibility. A unique S-R ensemble which required an oculometeric (eye-movement) response and graphic symbols as stimuli was employed in the CRT task. The procedures used replicated Hick's Law for the first time on an oculometer. The S-R compatibility effect was not found to influence this linear trend. The results indicated that pupil diameters for …

Learned Helplessness And Masculinity In Women: Performance Effects And Attributions About Success And Failure, Sherry B. Rabinowitz

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study attempted to examine the relationships among learned helplessness, masculinity, and attributions about success and failure. The Bern Sex Role Inventory was used to generate a masculinity score for 120 college women. Learned helplessness was induced by exposure to problems that had no solution. Subjects in the experimental conditions were asked to solve one, two, or three different types of problems, seventy-five percent of which were unsolvable. Subjects in the control condition were given three types of solvable problems. After each set of tasks, subjects completed an attributional questionnaire and were asked to rate how well they perceived …

Driver Response To Simulated Intersections: An Analysis Of Workload-Related Variables, Monty G. Grubb

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

A roadway intersection driving simulation was created to investigate driver information processing at intersections. Research participants were provided a visual simulation of approaching intersections using a video display with a 120 degree visual field. Six groups, each containing 12 subjects, were formed according to age and gender, with age ranging from 18 to 74 years. All participants viewed 14 separate intersections, which varied according to types of traffic control signs and signals. Individual workload was assessed in three categories of response: performance, subjective, and physiological. A MANOVA was performed on six dependent variables in the 3 (age) by 2 (gender) …

A Study-Support Program For High-Risk, Black College Freshman Enrolled In A General Psychology Course, Angela Michelle Williams

Masters Theses

As a replication of Jackson's (1984) work, this research compared the performance of three groups of college freshmen. The groups consisted of black, high-risk students who voluntarily enrolled in a study-support group because of their initial quiz scores. The support program required the students to study each week's psychology objectives in four smaller segments, rather than studying all the week's material at once. The assumption was that this would increase the students' contact with the study material and improve their performances. An ABA design was used. The participants in the support program received higher quiz scores and final grades than …

Psychological Counseling For Law Students: One Law School's Experience, Faith Dickerson

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Political Participation: A Matter Of Community, Stress, Job Autonomy, And Contact By Political Organizations, Shawn M. Burn, Alison M. Konrad

Psychology and Child Development

This research is an integration of previous work on political activity and examines a variety of factors thought to be influential in the performance and nonperformance of political behavior. The political participation of a randomly selected sample of local citizens was studied using survey research methods. One hundred and twenty-six individuals responded to survey items assessing participation in a variety of political activities including voting, campaigning, demonstrating, and contacting government officials. Stress, job autonomy, locus of control, contact by political organizations, membership in social groups, income, education, and age were used as independent variables. Regression analyses indicated that stress, job …

Silencing In Public Schools, Michelle Fine

Publications and Research

Demands for silencing signify a terror of words, a fear of talk. This essay examines these demands as they echoed through a comprehensive public high school in New York City. The silencing resounded in words and in their absence; the demands emanated from the New York City Board of Education, book publishers, corporate sponsors, religious institutions, administrators, teachers, parents, and students. In the odd study of what's not said in public schools, one must be curious about whom silencing protects, but vigilant about how silencing students and their communities undermines fundamentally the vision of education as empowerment (Freire 1985; Shor …

Title Page And Contents- The Influence Of Cognitive Psychology On Testing, Jane Close Conoley, Royce R. Ronning, John A. Glover, Joseph C. Witt

The Influence of Cognitive Psychology on Testing

The Influence of Cognitive Psychology on Testing

Contents

Foreword ix

1. Introduction: The Implications of Cognitive Psychology for Testing...........1

PART I: THE COGNITIVE-PSYCHOMETRIC CONNECTION

2. Science, Technology, and Intelligence...................11

3. Toward a Cognitive Theory for the Measurement of Achievement ...................41

4. The g Beyond Factor Analysis.........................87

PART II: COGNITIVE APPROACHES TO PSYCHOMETRIC ISSUES: APPLICATIONS

5. The Assessment of Cognitive Factors in Academic Abilities...................145

6. Theoretical Implications from Protocol Analysis on Testing and Measurement...191

PART III: METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES

7. Structure and Process in Cognitive Psychology Using Multidimensional Scaling and Related Techniques..................229

8. New Perspectives in the Analysis of Abilities.....................267

Author Index …

6. Theoretical Implications From Protocol Analysis On Testing And Measurement, K. Anders Ericsson

The Influence of Cognitive Psychology on Testing

One of the goals of psychology has always been to describe, understand, and measure individual differences. The diversity of human behavior makes it particularly challenging to seek to identify general and stable underlying elements that correspond to systematic individual differences . A major problem in the efforts to identify such elements is that the elements cannot be observed directly. The primary method has been to use the current psychological theory to develop procedures to measure such hypothetical elements. In this chapter I present a new theoretic framework, based on verbal reports from subjects, for identifying and measuring individual differences. I …

Complete Work- The Influence Of Cognitive Psychology On Testing, Royce R. Ronning, John A. Glover, Jane C. Conoley, Joseph C. Witt

The Influence of Cognitive Psychology on Testing

The Influence of Cognitive Psychology on Testing

Contents

Foreword ........................ix

1. Introduction: The Implications of Cognitive Psychology for Testing...........1

PART I: THE COGNITIVE-PSYCHOMETRIC CONNECTION

2. Science, Technology, and Intelligence...................11

3. Toward a Cognitive Theory for the Measurement of Achievement ...................41

4. The g Beyond Factor Analysis.........................87

PART II: COGNITIVE APPROACHES TO PSYCHOMETRIC ISSUES: APPLICATIONS

5. The Assessment of Cognitive Factors in Academic Abilities...................145

6. Theoretical Implications from Protocol Analysis on Testing and Measurement...191

PART III: METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES

7. Structure and Process in Cognitive Psychology Using Multidimensional Scaling and Related Techniques..................229

8. New Perspectives in the Analysis of Abilities.....................267

Author Index …

Ethnicity And Lifetimes: Self Concepts And Situational Contexts Of Ethnic Identity In Late Life, Mark Luborsky, Robert L. Rubinstein

Anthropology Faculty Research Publications

This chapter reports on finding from a study of ethnic older men, aged 65 an older (Jewish, Irish, and Italian) who were widowed from 2 to 8 years after a long-term study. It focuses on life reorganization after the initial bereavement period. It identifies key issues in the process concerning continuity and change in identity reformulation, changes in health and activity patterns, ethnic identity and lingering attachment to the deceased spouse. Ethnicity as a dynamic life course process, shaped by contextual and historical dimensions, and personal meaning processes are highlighted. Supported by NIH# R01-AG005204

Wheat And Tares: Responding To Vande Kemp And Other Revisionists, James D. Foster, Mark F. Ledbetter

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

In her reaction, Hendrika Vande Kemp ( 1987) joins other critics of psychology in arguing for a new psychology. The authors believe, however, that psychology developed as a science because it was productive and that more subjective methods will gain respectability only through similar productivity. In her critique, Vande Kemp creates a circular argument by suggesting that the authors' position Jacks a proper historicaVphilosophical perspective, and she underestimates the sophistication of those with whom she disagrees. Finally, the authors disagree that there is no point in arguing with the most conservative anti-psychologists, since they may be having a disproportionate influence …

Structural-Equation Models Of Current Drug Use: Are Appropriate Models So Simple(X)?, Ron D. Hays, Keith F. Widaman, M. Robin Dimatteo, Alan W. Stacy

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

The simplex and common-factor models of drug use were compared using maximum-likelihood estimation of latent variable structural models in two samples: a sample of 226 high school students, using ratio-scale measures of current drug use, and a sample of 310 industrial workers and 811 college students, using ordinal-scale measures of current drug use. Latent variables of alcohol, marijuana, enhancer hard drugs, and dampener hard drugs were specified in a series of structural models. Contrary to previous findings with cumulative drug-use data, the common-factor model provided a more acceptable representation of the observed current-use data than did the simplex model in …