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Proxemic Behavior Of The Nonhandicapped Toward The Visually Impaired, Carol J. Olsen

Student Work

This study investigated spatial behavior of nonhandicapped individuals toward physically handicapped individuals. Initial seating distance was measured between a visually impaired experimenter and nonhandicapped subjects. Subjects were from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Students completed a survey and then, one at a time, went to an adjacent room to answer some follow-up questions posed by a visually impaired confederate. Distances were measured and compared to other studies measuring handicapped/ nonhandicapped interactions. Previous research showed significant differences in distance between handicapped/ nonhandicapped interactions and nonhandicapped/nonhandicapped interactions. Greater distances were chosen when interacting with a physically handicapped individual than with a …

The Role Of Values In Personality Development, Joanne Peterson

Institute for the Humanities Theses

As an important element of human life, values play a distinctive role in structuring the developing personality. Considerations of this role are discussed from an objective, subjective, and situational perspective, recognized as three known value orientations incorporated into differing personality theories. Initial inquiries suggest that values are not as important as the degree to which an individual commits to a moral life and then employs this viewpoint in sorting through various alternatives to select those beliefs, attitudes and behaviors best reflecting this commitment.

Training Program Evaluation For A Prototype Command, Control & Communication System: Soldier Requirements, Performance & Feedback, Natalie Dancho

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

An Army training program was evaluated in order to present recommendations for program refinement. The training program, developed as part of two larger Army combat development (CD) studies (DuBois & Smith, 1989a, 1989b), represents an attempt to define program design requirements for training tank commanders to use the Intervehicular Information System (IVIS). IVIS is a computer-based command, control, and communications system proposed for future M1A1 tank upgrades. Twenty-four Army tank commanders (TCs) participated in the research effort. TCs were of various rank and age. Training and testing were conducted over a 4 day period. Training lasted 1-1/2 days followed by …

Temporal Discrimination Training Of Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury Using Computer-Based Operant Procedures, Robert Edward Obrecht

Masters Theses

Computer-based interresponse time (IRT) and matching-to-sample (MTS) procedures were employed in two experiments to assess and effect changes in temporal discriminations made by adults with a history of traumatic brain injury. The results of Experiment One support the interpretation that maintaining correct IRT > t performance was a function of stimulus conditions that included signalled IRTs, values of t less than 3-seconds, a contract agreement to maintain performance, and other contingencies not explicitly part of the design. The results of Experiment Two, that minimal response latencies on MTS tasks are mediated equally well by an experimenter's verbal prompting as well as …

Application Of Library Least-Squares Analysis To Human Whole-Body Counter Spectra Derived From Low Level Gamma Emissions, Hang-See Ong

Theses and Dissertations

The method of library least-square analysis (LLSA) has been applied to gamma ray spectra obtained from the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center whole body counter. The validity of the method was tested under various conditions. Mathematical formulation of the method is presented along with a detailed description of the computer program algorithm used. Special features, schemes and pitfalls of the computer program (or the method as a whole) are discussed in detail

The Effects Of Life Stress And Risk-Taking Style On Risk Perception And Driver Performance, Christine B. Philput

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the effects of risk-taking style, stress level, and highway environment on driver performance. In Phase I, 50 subjects were assessed for risk-taking style and stress level. In Phase II, the same subjects were presented with slides of traffic situations that varied in terms of risk of accident. This was a paired comparison task in which they rank-ordered ten highway sites, producing a measure of subjective risk. No significant relationships were identified between these subjective risk judgments and objective data regarding those sites (accidents and fatalities), though this is most likely due to problems with the slide presentation. …

Person Perception As A Function Of Sex And Age, Leslie Borland

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This experiment was designed to explore the effects of sex and age on impressions. The 228 volunteers ranged in age from 18 to 87 years. Subjects were asked to report impressions, using the PPQ, about fictitious targets who were systematically varied according to sex and age. A 2 (Sex of Subject) x 3 (Age of Subject) x 2 (set of Target) x 2 (Age of Target) ANOVA was performed on ratings of likability, adjustment, femininity, masculinity, and androgyny. Older subjects received and gave the highest ratings. Middle-aged subjects gave lower ratings to all targets, but discriminated least. Young subjects were …

Self-Concept And Its Relationship To Achievement In Minority Preschool Children, Larry Lennard Lindsey

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between self-concept, self-esteem, demographic information, and racial preference to achievement in minority preschool children. The subjects were 56 minority preschool students from a Head Start program in Newport News, Virginia. The subjects were assessed using four different instruments. The instruments were the Joseph Preschool & Primary Self- Concept Screening Test (JPPSST), the Behavioral Academic Self-Esteem Test (BASE), the Preschool Racial Attitudes Measure (PRAM), and the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery. The JPPSST, PRAM, and Woodcock-Johnson were administered to the subjects by an examiner. The Woodcock-Johnson assessed achievement in two separate areas: …

Religious Commitment As A Predictor Of Health Behavior And Health Status In A Selected Population, Donald George King

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Religious beliefs and behaviors are multidimensional and they profoundly determine the ways we respond to health and illness, suffering and death. Researchers have designed numerous scales to measure different dimensions of religious commitment, beliefs and behaviors. A thorough review of the literature has shown general relationships between religion and health, but no researcher has developed an instrument measuring dimensions of religious commitment specifically relevant to health behaviors.

In this study, scale items were developed to measure three dimensions of religious beliefs thought by Kenneth Vaux (1976) to be related to health behavior--purity of life, peace in existence, and belief in …

The Effectiveness Of Relaxation-Visualization Training On The Natural Killer (Nk) Cells Of Breast Cancer Patients, Morry Edwards

Dissertations

A large number of studies have found that stress qualitatively and quantitatively reduces a variety of immune components. Several recent studies have examined relaxation skills and their ability to increase immune measures. The primary hypothesis of this project was that relaxation-visualization training (RVT) would enhance Natural Killer (NK) Cell Activity. Two other major hypotheses were generated: (a) RVT would produce beneficial psychological effects and, (b) increased psychopathology would be inversely correlated with NK levels. Six volunteer breast cancer patients who were at least 3 months post treatment were taught a passive form of relaxation that included visualizing an increase in …

Socio-Behavioral Correlates Of 6- To 11-Year-Old Offspring Of Alcohol Consuming Parents, Jan Garver Bacon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

There is a lack of simple random sample based research into whether there are social skill and behavior problem differences for six- to eleven-year-old boys and girls which correlate with rates of parental alcohol consumption, social sequelae of parental alcohol consumption, reported level of marital conflict, and extended family history of alcoholism.

This simple random sample study correlates the above variables with T scores on the behavior problem and social competence scales of the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist and Child Behavior Checklist - Teacher's Report Form for six- to eleven-year-old children (N=100). Behavior problem scales include disorders of affect, thought, …

Public School Preschool For Disadvantaged Children: Program Quality And Long-Term Effects, Ellen Frede

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Although preschool for disadvantaged children is strongly supported nationally as a beneficial endeavor, the research that underlies this support has mostly been limited to small-scale, high-quality experiments. Some have questioned the ability of public schools to provide similar experiences for young children and to produce long-term effects. This study is a long-term follow-up in first-grade children who attended preschool in a statewide public school program. The classrooms were observed to assess the quality of treatment. It was determined that children who attended classrooms that provided medium- to high-quality experiences outperformed those in poor-quality classrooms, as well as comparison children who …

Self-Esteem And Perceived Barriers To And Benefits Of Exercise Among Physically Active And Non-Physically Active College Students, Barbara Brown Bonheur

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine differences in self-esteem, perceived benefits of and perceived barriers to exercise between exercisers and non-exercisers and to determine if relationships existed between self-esteem, perceived benefits of exercise and perceived barriers to exercise, that could explain participation in regular aerobic exercise. A sample of 105 university students completed four questionnaires. The level of social desirability present in participant responses was also measured. Five hypotheses were tested. Utilizing t-tests, a significant difference was found between exercisers and non-exercisers on self-esteem, perceived benefits of exercise, and perceived barriers to exercise. The three variables (self-esteem, …

Aspects Of Mammalian Predation On Upland Nesting Waterfowl In Central North Dakota, John Thompson Trevor

Theses and Dissertations

The impact of mammalian predation on upland nesting waterfowl was studied in central- North Dakota during the summers of 1987 and 1988. Survival of artificial nests was examined in relation to nest density, vegetation cover, distance from roads, active predator dens, and other artificial nests in a plot. Survival of artificial nests was also compared between an area with predator control and one without predator control.

Artificial waterfowl nests located in high density plots had a significantly lower probability of survival than nests located in low density plots. Although there were significant differences in vegetation height and density between years, …

Relationships Across Training Programs, Professional Titles, And Perceptions Of Therapy Performance, Debra E. Anderson Bach

Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to examine the perceptions of students training to be counselors, clinical psychologists, and social workers, regarding the professional titles of counseling psychologist, psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, and social worker. A videotaped counseling session of a therapist and a client, a client description, and a therapist description served as the stimuli. The professional title of the therapist varied in the therapist description and served as the independent variable. One hundred three subjects were grouped according to their training program and then randomly assigned to one of the four treatment groups differentiated by the professional titles of counseling psychologist, …

Ecology Of Gray Partridge In North Dakota, John Patrick Carroll

Theses and Dissertations

I studied gray partridge (Perdix perdix) ecology in north-central North Dakota during 1985-87. The primary goals of this study were to identify habitats important to gray partridge survival and nesting, and to provide baseline data on partridge ecology in North Dakota. I captured and radio-tagged 100 gray partridge, mainly during winter. Individuals were tracked by a vehicle-mounted telemetry system until August of each year. Home ranges, movements, habitat use, and survival were calculated by using the telemetry locations. Winter home ranges averaged 117 ha, and were larger than previously reported in North America. Important habitats used by radio-tagged partridge during …

Influence Of Mission Statements On Teacher Education Programs At Two Church-Related Undergraduate Institutions, Ann Marie Biermaier

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which stated institutional missions influenced the operation of teacher education programs, and the way that teacher education programs used the institutional mission statement in evaluating their programs as it applied to two private, liberal arts colleges in Minnesota. Institutional missions were expected to guide curricular policy, inform the public, and establish criteria for accountability and subsequent program evaluation.

This study was conducted utilizing the case study method. Data were gathered by reviewing documentation pertaining to the institution and to the teacher education program as well as by interviewing administrators, …

Obesity Management: A Meta-Analysis Of Key Factors, David E. Christian

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Obesity is a prevalent and refractory disorder. This study consisted of a meta-analysis of research focusing on diet and exercise treatments and their impact on obesity related measures. Only studies that report data for periods of 6 months or more after treatment onset were included. Forty-four studies were analyzed. These were drawn from 16 previous reviews of the literature as well as several computer data bases.

Following are some of the tentative conclusions drawn: (a) diets consisting of improved nutritional quality yield superior results to restricted calorie diets; (b) flexible, self-directed exercise yields better results than more regimented exercise; (c) …

A Preschool-Age Neurodevelopmental Comparison Between Normal-Birthweight Infants And Low-Birthweight Infants With And Without Intraventricular Hemorrhage, William Frederick Corey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Advances in medical technology have provided the mechanisms for sustaining life in premature and low-birthweight infants, resulting in the survival of more of these infants. Low-birthweight (LBW) and preterm infants are placed at risk by a number of medical complications, including intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH).

The outcome of low-birthweight infants with intraventricular hemorrhage has been the subject of a great deal of research and continues to be a much-discussed topic in the medical and psychological communities. As more data become available, it appears that more questions arise concerning the later neuodevelopmental and neuropsychological outcome of these infants.

For this reason, research …

Adolescent Norms For The Eating Disorder Inventory As Related To Personal Variables In Female Adolescents At One Private Urban, One Rural, And One Semi-Rural High School, Betty J. Larson

Theses and Dissertations

The societal preference for a slender body image has caused an increasing number of adolescents to diet or use unusual methods of weight control. Some adolescents progress along the continuum of restrained eating toward the development of pathological eating disorders. In order to identify risk factors in the development of eating disorders, eating attitudes and behaviors of 454 normal adolescents were studied by using the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) and a personal background questionnaire. The higher the subscale scores on the EDI the more similar the individual's perceptions to those of victims with a pathological eating disorder.

With the exception …

Personification Of Death, Mary M. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the primary personifications of death as perceived by college students. One hundred fifteen students from private and public institutions of higher learning were invited to participate in the study. Surveys from one hundred nine were useable. The questionnaire consisted of a demographic survey, factors related to an individual's experience with death and death education, and a research instrument known as the Death Personification Exercise

Of the four pr;..iary personifications, the Macabre (a dark and fearful oeing) and Automaton (an unemotional being) were present most frequently. Out of 109 students, thirty one students …

Psychosis In A Developmental Psychopathology Context: A Factor Analytic Study Of Schizophrenia In Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients, Paul R. Adams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Demographic, historical, psychometric, and clinical data were obtained from the psychiatric files of all patients manifesting schizophrenic symptomatology who were hospitalized in an adolescent psychiatric facility during a five year period (N= 71). Factor analysis of the usable data resulted in three interpretable factors, which included: (1) aggressive behavior; (2) disturbed family functioning; and, (3) thought disorder. Age of first hospitalization correlated positively with factor three.

The results provide support for concerns expressed by a number of scientists and clinicians that schizophrenia may not be a discrete, unitary disorder; and that uncritical downward extension of adult diagnoses to adolescents and …

Neuroanatomical Asymmetry, Handedness, And Family History Of Handedness: A Study Of The Markers Of Structural And Functional Lateralization, Steven A. Lifson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study investigated the associations between (1) handedness (demonstrated preference of one hand for the performance of most unimanual tasks) and neuroanatomical asymmetry (measurable differences in width between the cerebral hemispheres) and (2) familial history of handedness (the presence of a left-handed sibling or parent of a right-handed subject) as an intervening factor in the relation between handedness and neuroanatomical asymmetry. Width measurements of the brain were derived from computerized tomographic (CT) films and grouped in to categories by hand preference (measured by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory) and family history. The measurements of right (n=68), right with left-handed relatives (n=24), …

The Development Of The Stress-Response Scale For Adolescents, Steven Curtis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Adolescence is an important period in the life cycle for which to study stress, due to the many involved developmental changes that require adaptation. This adaptation can be very stressful and result in pathology. Stress is defined as a "process" involving a continual transaction between stressors in the environment, mediating variables, and stress responses.

The Stress-Response Scale for Adolescents (SRSA) was developed to measure self-perceived stress responses of those between the ages of 14 to 20. The SRSA's development involved three studies. Study 1 involved item selection, scale construction, item reduction, and estimations of internal consistency and validity. Truthfulness items …

An Examination Of Open- And Closed-Economic Conditions In Operant Research, Craig R. Loftin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effect of economic condition on the relation between responding and overall rate of reinforcement has been an area of recent interest in operant research. The present research was conducted to determine whether the manipulation of the economic condition, by the systematic manipulation of the provision of substitute food, has an effect on this relation and whether open- and closed-economies represent two opposing alternatives or two parametric extremes along a continuum. The results of two experiments conducted with pigeons using variable-interval and fixed-ratio schedules of reinforcement suggest that the manipulation of economic condition has a controlling effect on the relation …

Reaction Time In Elderly Subjects: The Effects Of Practice On Two Different Reaction Time Tasks, Dawn Marie Birk

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The reaction time of four groups of elderly human subjects were examined to determine the effects of stimulus presentation and task practice. Each group practiced different tasks, each requiring a response when more than one alternative was available. Two tasks involved making responses based on either visually or auditorily presented stimuli only. One task required decisions to be made on the basis of both auditory and visual stimuli. The fourth group acted as a comparison group and did not practice a reaction-time task; although they did perform a task on the computer and their reaction times were measured. Before and …

The Impostor Phenomenon In The Classroom: Personality And Cognitive Correlates, Barbara H. Cromwell

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This study was designed as an ex post facto investigation of the Impostor Phenomenon (IP) in high-achieving students on the secondary educational level. The purpose of the study was to ascertain if impostors could be differentiated from non-impostors on the basis of gender, grade level, grade point average (GPA), personality characteristics and irrational beliefs. A cutoff score of 40 on the Harvey IP Scale was selected a priori to divide subjects into impostor and non-impostor groups.

Subjects for this investigation consisted of 104 honors English students in grades nine through twelve from a large suburban high school in Southeastern Virginia. …

Assessing Mental Health Needs In Northern Haiti: A Multidimensional Approach, Jean Abede Alexandre

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

This study assessed mental health needs in Northern Haiti, with the socioeconomic and sociocultural factors which predispose to mental disorders. Following the Key Informants approach to needs assessment, two groups were chosen to participate in this study: 27 out of 60 physicians and 30 out of 70 clergymen (n = 57), completed a questionnaire which asked specific questions on certain mental disorders they have either observed or dealt with among the population. The participants were also asked to give the frequency with which those disorders occurred among the population, and to rate the importance of factors contributing to those mental …

Numerical Competence In A Chimpanzee (Pan Troglodytes), Sarah T. Boysen, Gary G. Berntson

Sentience Collection

A chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), trained to count foods and objects by using Arabic numbers, demonstrated the ability to sum arrays of 0-4 food items placed in 2 of 3 possible sites. To address representational use of numbers, we next baited sites with Arabic numbers as stimuli. In both cases performance was significantly above chance from the first sessions, which suggests that without explicit training in combining arrays, the animal was able to select the correct arithmetic sum for arrays of foods or Arabic numbers under novel test conditions. These findings demonstrate that counting strategies and the representational use of numbers …

Non-Breeder Asymmetry In Florida Scrub Jays, Jonathan P. Balcombe

Ethology Collection

The data of Woolfenden and Fitzpatrick (1984) show a statistically significant asymmetry in the sex ratio of non-breeders when one of the breeders is not the non-breeder's parent. 1 propose that the asymmetry is attributable to a combination of two factors acting on non-breeders: the value of inheriting a territory, and incest avoidance. Although natal territories are only occasionally inherited by non-breeders, and then apparently only by males, the rate of inheritance is significantly higher for parent/step-parent breeders (n = 6) than when both breeders are the non-breeder's parents (n = 1). An alternative hypothesis, that step-parents determine the non-breeder …