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Behavioral Induction In Guinea Pigs As A Function Of Reinforcement Magnitude In Multiple Schedules Of Negative Reinforcement, Dennis L. Burns

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of changes in magnitude of negative reinforcement on multiple schedules with the guinea pigs. In both schedule components, the first response (lever press) after an average of 10 seconds was reinforced. In the constant component of this schedule the reinforcement magnitude (time-off from electric foot shock) was always 15 seconds; whereas, in the manipulated component the magnitude changed in the following sequence: 15, 7.5, 15, 30, and 15 seconds. All subjects showed a gradual decrease in response rate across baseline conditions. When behavioral effects were evaluated relative to this changing …

Response Selectivity As A Function Of Developmental Activity Level, Wilford William Beck Iii

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Research in hyperactivity has been primarily concerned with demonstrating casual relationships with cerebral dysfunction of the effects of drugs on improving learning performance. Studies which have attempted to focus on other factors influencing learning performance have demonstrated IQ and perceptual motor differences between hyperactive and normal children.

More recently Koegel and Covert have shown that, among a group of autistic children, over-selectivity of components from stimulus complex may adversely influence learning performance on a simultaneous discrimination task. There have been no demonstrations of this phenomena with hyperactive children.

The present study employed a simultaneous discrimination task composed of two stimulus …

The Effects Of A Self-Directed Behavior Change On Self-Concept, Larry A. Leatham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effects on self-concept as a result of behavior changes made during a self-directed self-modification project were studied on 16 students at Utah State University over a period of nine weeks. Pre and post measures of self-concept administered were the Tennessee Self Concept Scale and the Well-Being Scale from the California Psychological Inventory. The research design employed was the pretest-posttest control group design. A separate analysis of covariance was run for the Total P raw score of the Tennessee Self Concept Scale and raw scores on the Well-Being Scale. The F was substantially short of the value of F needed …

Staffing The College Counseling Center To Meet The Needs Of Minority And Female Students, Christine Rickly

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study assessed Utah State University students perceptions of the U.S.U. Counseling Center with regard to meeting students' counseling needs. The study focused on racial background and sex of counselors as significant variables. A written questionnaire was mailed to 420 students. Fifty-three percent of the questionnaires were returned.

The students' impressions of the Counseling Center were generally positive. Caucasian females were more satisfied than Caucasian males. Minority students were least satisfied. Students who had not used the center most often indicated they had no need. Many students lacked information concerning the services and availability of staff of different sex and/ …

Development And Validation Of An Instructional Program To Teach Observational And Recording Skills In Behavior Modification, Gerald D. Hecker, Darlene L. Adams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A multimedia program for teaching observational and recording skills was developed and validated using a modified research and development model. The program consisted of two slide carousels (192 slides) with accompanying cassette tape and workbook and three super-sound 8 mm cassettes with accompanying manual and monitor's guide. These materials are available through the Instructional Media Center of the Exceptional Child Center, Utah State University, Logan, Utah. The model employed two phases to determine program effectiveness. Phase I was concerned with the development and formative evaluation of program materials and procedures. In Phase II the program was validated under field conditions. …

Community Alcohol Education And Prevention Program, John Fredricks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate an alcohol education program for the inhabitants of region seven, state of Idaho. A questionnaire comprised of multiple choice, and true-false questions, plus an attitude scale was developed to measure changes by way of pre and post testings.

The five hypotheses of this study are:

1. That our community and school education program would result in subjects obtaining a higher percentage of correct responses on information items on the post test administration of our questionnaire versus the pre testing.
2. The community and school education program would result in subjects obtaining an …

The Effects Of Differential Reinforcement Magnitude In The Autoshaping Experiment, Barbara J. Fulton

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Recognition And Attractiveness As A Function Of Sex And Race, Evelyn Elizabeth Hamilton Schroder

Student Work

The present experiment replicated and refined.tests of. recognition memory for the human face. Three subject groups were used: White American females, White American males and Black African Malawian males. In part one, eighty monochromatic slides of Black and White American college seniors of both sexes were shown as (original) stimuli and then shown again with eighty new slides in a paired comparison task.

An analysis of variance performed on the recognition scores revealed the following results: (a) A main effect for groups of slides with American females generating significantly fewer errors than the African males; (b) A main effect for …

The Relation Between Delinquent Adolescents' Perception Of Parents And Therapists' Perception Of Parents In A Family Counseling Session, Patricia R. Pentz-Bozzi

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Female Delinquency: A Comparison Study As Related To Purpose In Life, Geraldine M. Olin

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Moral Development And The Women's Liberation Movement, Sidney Goodman

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Mexican American Acculturation: Its Relation To Self-Report Anxiety And Attitudes Toward Counseling And Psychotherapy, Olivia Go

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Derived Identity, Self-Esteem And Meaning In Middle Aged Housewives, Barbara Van Schaik

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Increased Retention Due To Category Shift : A Perceptual-Attentive Phenomenon?, Leonard J. Bianchi

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A stimulus that is qualitatively distinct from other stimuli tends to show higher retention in Free Recall (FR) and short-term memory distraction (STM) tasks. This finding applies equally well to an isolated stimulus which belongs to a taxonomic category different from other stimuli.

Assessment Of The Male Alcoholic's Response To Women Through The Use Of Visual Stimuli, Ernest Piron

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Selected Student-Initiated Change At Harvard University, 1725-1925, Paul Hartman

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Performance On A Drl Schedule As A Function Of Deprivation Levels, Scott E. Memenga

Masters Theses

Twelve male albino rats were divided into three groups that were exposed to a DRL-18 second schedule of reinforcement. Each group was maintained at 70%, 80%, and 90% ad lib weight respectively during 28 days of acqusition training. The 70% ad lib weight group demonstrated continued superior performance over the other two groups after the 10th day. The 80% and 90% groups evidenced little difference between each other until the 20th day when the 80% group showed slightly better performance. Performance was based on the mean time-response efficiency ratios [(reinforced responses/ total responses) + (reinforced responses/ total possible reinforced responses)/ …

Societal Complexity And Moral Development: A Kenyan Study., Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This study examines the moral judgment levels (as measured by Kohlberg’s 6-stage moral judgment interview) for two Kenyan samples. The first sample includes a culturally and racially group of 35 young men and 17 women studying at the University of Nairobi, while the second sample consists of 44 males and 14 females living in seven communities in the Central and Western Provinces of Kenya who were interviewed by a cadre of trained University students on their school vacation. The moral judgment interview included four hypothetical moral dilemmas and a standard set of probing questions. Three of the dilemmas were standard …

An Investigation Of Semantic Desensitization As A Therapy In The Treatment Of Snake Phobia, Linda Rose Brown

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The initial study of the present research was conducted to determine the effect of low versus high imagery stimulus words on the outcome of semantic desensitization as conducted by Hekmat and Vanian (1971). The overall lack of significant findings led to a more intense examination of the basic underlying assumptions of semantic desensitization. Study II was designed in an attempt to find a method which would successfully achieve meaning change while maintaining interest. A paired associate method was more powerful than the Hekmat procedure in producing meaning change. Study III compared the potency of the paired associate and Hekmat procedure …

A Study Of The Onset, Severity And Frequency Of Illness As Related To Life Changes And Coping Mechanisms, Lynne Susan Dubblestyne

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A study which investigated the relationships between the onset, frequency and severity of past and present illnesses, with life changes and coping mechanisms was carried out. Subjects consisted of three levels of health care: (1) symptom-free (N=88); (2) minor illness (N=72), and (3) hospital patients (N=100). Three measures were employed to test these relationships: (1) the Schedule of Recent Experience (SRE); (2) the Medical History Check-List (MHCL) and, (3) the Boston University Personality Inventory (BUPI). In addition, Seriousness of Illness Rating Scale (SIRS) mean values or severity weights were assigned to subjects’ physician diagnosed illnesses.

As expected, the amount of …

Measures Of Approach And Avoidance In The Defence Style Of Spider Phobics, Gysbert Herman De Vink

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Phobic behaviour is traditionally described in terms of avoidance of the phobic object. Andrews (1966) contested this notion and formulated several postulates in which approach toward the phobic object as well as avoidance could be expected as the behavioural manifestation of the phobia. In the present research Andrews’ idea of approach is examined with behavioural and pencil and paper measures.

On the basis of Repression-Sensitization Scale (R-S) scores and their self-rated fear of spiders, 30 fearful repressors and 30 fearful sensitizers were obtained. These people were then tested with the Behavioral Avoidance Test designed by Lang and Lazovick (1963), a …

A Study Of The Use Of Leisure By College Women, Joyce Eileen Gallagher

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Behavioral Change Through Self Appraisal And Group Interaction, Michele Needham-Greischar

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Causal Attribution Of Emotion And Its Relationship To Role Taking And Helping Behavior In Children, Susan K. Green

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Retention Of A Roman Catholic Male Religious In His Religious Institute As A Function Of His Perceived Level Of Interpersonal Communication Within His Religious Institute, Waldemar Kippes

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Putative Equipment Bias And Previous Success And Failure On Competitive Performance, Level Of Aspiration And Causal Attribution, John E. Dalton

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Problem Solving Processes As A Function Of The Organization Of The Problem Situation And Its Relation To The Task Requirements, John Robert Buri

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

On The Nature Of Memory For Modality: Evidence For A Propositional Code Hypothesis, William Macey

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Meaning Formation, Gail F. Czukar

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

An attempt was made to demonstrate laboratory conditions in which experiential components of meaning (i.e. perceptual and emotional correlates of observable stimuli and responses) pattern to form a gestalt. Semantic differential scales were used to measure the meaning of simple visual figures in two phases of the experiment. The first phase consisted of a pre- and post-exposure measurement of meaning with an intervening exposure to a compound visual display. In the second phase, subjects were exposed to an altered visual display and then rated the stimuli again.

Results do not support the predictions that (1) the meaning of the central …

Personality Factors And Operant Heart Rate Conditioning, Jerry M. Malkiewicz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present study was concerned with certain individual differences that relate to a subject’s ability to increase his heart rate on command when given appropriate external feedback. The main purpose was to extend to the operant conditioning paradigm Eysenck’s theory that introverts classically condition more readily than extraverts. A second purpose was to determine which personality factors—extraversion, anxiety, and ability to perceive autonomic responses—contribute to heart rate control in operant conditioning. The Eysenck Personality Inventory and the Autonomic Perception Questionnaire were administered to 46 undergraduate males who attempted to accelerate their heart rates, with visual proportional feedback provided, during 20, …