Digital Commons Network^™

Interanimal Transfer Of A Learned Response Tendency With Control For Autonomic Arousal, Landgrave Thomas Smith

All Master's Theses

In three experiments using 180 rats, extracts of brain protein were used for interanimal transfer of an avoidance response from donors to recipients. In the first experiment it was found that avoidance learning in donors produced a response transfer, but autonomic arousal did not. The second experiment confirmed these results, and demonstrated a response transfer after a single donor training trial. The third experiment confirmed the results of the first two, and the recipient response strength showed evidence of extinction and spontaneous recovery.

Failure To Find A Memory Gradient In A State Dependency Paradigm, James Harold Thomson

All Master's Theses

Rats were trained in a passive avoidance task. Twenty-four hours later they were given a noncontingent footshock (FS) followed by electroconvulsive shock (ECS). ECS followed FS by different intervals ranging from .5 to 300 seconds in different groups. Subjects were tested 24 and 96 hours after the FS-ECS treatments for retention of the avoidance response. There were no statistical differences between the groups. This finding could not be taken as evidence that FS-ECS failed to produce amnesia since no evidence of passive avoidance conditioning in trained subjects not receiving FS-ECS.

The Social History Questionnaire As Related To Length Of Stay In Psychotherapy, David P. Jachim

Masters Theses

A serious problem encountered in clinical practice concerns the large proportion of clients who begin therapy but for various reasons terminate treatment after only a few interviews and without the consent of the therapist. Representative studies by Kurland (1956), Haddock and Mensch (1957), and Rosenthal and Frank (1958) have emphasized the severity of this problem by indicating that most mental health clinics face the possibility of losing half of their therapy clients prematurely.

This problem necessitates some objective means for identifying potential terminators and remainers prior to their entering therapy. Such a technique would permit a more efficient utilization of …

Validation Of A Measure Of Aggression, Jack Edward Shook

Masters Theses

The study attempted to validate a questionnaire as a method of measuring aggression resulting from frustration. The method consisted of correlating aggression measured by the questionnaire with aggression produced by an actual frustrating situation. An insult-failure technique was used to produce the frustration during the administration of a bogus aptitude test. Evaluation of the experimenter was the direct expression and measurement of aggression. A control group was used to insure validity of the frustration technique. Eighty six students participated in the study. The correlation was significant for males. The correlation was not significant for females. Males were not more aggressive …

Perception And Awareness Of Manipulative Intent, Joseph P. Reser

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Nonverbal Coding In Deaf Children, William Joseph White

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Experimental Modification Of Attitudes Toward Birth Control, Peggy C. Hunter

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

It is apparent in both lay and professional literature that we are living in an age of social crises. Clearly the shortage of resources and the problems of pollution and poverty would be greatly ameliorated if our birth rate were controlled. Despite this, a survey of psychological literature reveals a paucity of articles on birth control. Psychologists largely have their heads in the sand with regard to research to understand factors associated with childbearing. Meanwhile, the birth rate soars on and it is increasingly obvious that something must be done.

Maintaining Culturally Disadvantaged Fourth-Graders' Attention To Oral Verbal Teaching Through Intermittent Auditory Stimulation, Evelyn M. Noren

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The present research was undertaken to determine whether a utilitarian method could be devised for directing and maintaining culturally disadvantaged students' attention to taped verbal lessons. Extraneous novel tone bell stimuli were inserted prior to the presentation of material about which the children were questioned. The purpose of the study was to learn whether the nature of the tone bell stimulus reflects the accuracy of responses due to attention having been directed to the lesson content. The author hypothesized that a combination of melody and rhythm would be most effective in attracting attention and, thus, in eliciting a greater number …

A Multivariate Analysis Of Two Types Of Conformity Behaviors, Charles Lee Alcorn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A review of research concerning conformity behaviors revealed a need for large sample, multivariate approaches. To that end, seventeen variables were utilized (birth order, chronological agev sex, race, IQ, socioeconomic status, geographic area uf residencer religion, anxiety, dogmatism, rigidity, acquiescence, ego strength, confidence, extroversion/ introversion, impulsivity, and neuroticism) to describe the behaviors of 104 subjects in a Tuddenham-type setting wherein the subjects were randomly assigned to either "Asch-type" (group pressure) or "Crutchfield-type" (expert pressure) treatment conditions. Utilizing a stepwise multiple discriminant function analysis, discriminant weights were derived. The variable of rigidity was not found to be a valid predictor. With …

The Effect Of Intermittent Electric Shock On The Consumption Of Alcohol In Rats, James P. Choca

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Reversal And Non-Reversal Shifts In Process And Reactive Schizophrenics, Brain Damaged Patients And Normals, Gerald S. O'Keefe

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Periodicity Instability On The Detection Of Interaural Time-Of-Arrival Difference, Roy F. Sullivan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Managerial Success And Personality Traits Of Self-Actualization, Louis H. Ballenger

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effectiveness Of Two Classes Of Verbal Reinforcement On The Performance Of Second-, Fifth-, And Eighth-Grade Children, Douglas D. Settles

Student Work

The effects of two classes of verbal reinforcers, correctness and social, were examined among 108 second-, fifth-, and eighthgrade, middle-class children. The effectiveness of verbal reinforcement. was measured by a change in the S's response preference on a marble-sorting task. Results of the study were (a) that there were no initial age differences in the magnitude or direction of the baserate responses, (b) that correctness reinforcement was more rewarding across all levels of age than social approval, (c) that for eighth-grade Ss, correctness reinforcers were significantly more rewarding than either social or no reinforcement, and (d) that a post hoc …

Ames Trapezoid Illusion: A New Model, Daniel Robert Kelly

Dissertations and Theses

Current explanations for the Ames Trapezoid Illusion are based upon the the absence of cues: the illusion is said to occur at chance. A review of recent literature showed that: (a) the illusion varies in frequency as a function of target shape (b) that the dominant cue to reduce the frequency of the illusion is the variant in retinal height. Based upon the dominance of this cue a new model was presented. Following this model it was hypothesized that observers viewing partial rotation when the target produces the greatest difference in the retinal height of the ends would determine the …

An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Student Grades And Parental Attitude Towards The Teacher, Jerry C. Fritts

All Master's Theses

Realizing that the parents play an important role in the total educational process, the primary purpose of this study is to determine if there is a relationship between student grades and parental attitude toward the teacher. It is contended that there is a relationship manifesting itself in the form of a positive correlation and it behooves those in education to do something to cultivate an atmosphere more conducive to educational success. Developing a mutual respect and willingness for cooperation between home and the teacher would serve to greatly enhance a child's educational experience. Another purpose of this study is to …

The Relationship Of Dogmatism And Internal-External Control To Psychological Reactance, Edward J. Schau

All Master's Theses

One hundred ninety-two Introductory Psychology students volunteered for credit to complete the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale and the Rotter I/E Scale. The students were also asked to fill out a questionnaire, obstensibly from the administration, asking them to rate the favorability of the first five periods of the day on a scale of 1-100. Two weeks later 94 of the above students, serving as controls, were asked to fill out the identical questionnaire again. They were told that the previous ones had been lost. The 98 remaining students, serving as experimental subjects, received additional information. E said that he had heard …

Galvanic Skin Response As A Function Of Evaluative Message Content, Mode Of Transmission, And Personality Traits, Richard W. Robinson

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Daily Quizzes On Hour Examination Performance In A Junior Level Psychology Course, Rose Marie Hesse

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Favorability As Influenced By Frequency Of Exposure To Black And White College Seniors, Michael R. Baum

Student Work

Zajonc's (1968) "mere exposure" effect was replicated by measuring change in favorability toward black and white college seniors. Following a preexperimental selection of the five most neutral slides for each race by sex category, 40 experimental and 40 control group subjects rated ten black and ten white slides on a pre- and a posttest. The experimental treatment consisted of ten exposure sequences of the 20 slides, whereas the control group performed an inverted alphabet printing task. A repeated measures analysis of variance, conducted on the subjects, favorability ratings for both the pre- and the posttests, supported the hypothesis that a …

Group Discussion Versus Persuasive Speech In Changing Behavior, George J. Sullivan

Student Work

There has been much research concerning attitude change, but few studies examining concomitant changes in behavior. Those studies that have studied behavioral changes have produced inconsistent results The present study was directed at exploring the relationship between different methods of changing behavior. Forty-six undergraduate students were assigned to either a control, persuasive speech, general discussion, or problem-solving discussion conditions. Experimental conditions were measured by two dependent variables: the number of volunteers (behavioral intention) and appearance at a meeting the following day (overt behavior). With regard to behavioral intentions, persuasive speech did not differ from controls; both types of discussion were …

The Degree And Time-Course Of Stress In The Patient Undergoing Cardiac Surgery, Hulda Esther Serra, Patricia Jo Yvonne Tygret

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

An important nursing objective is to assist patients through stressful experiences. It has been assumed that cardiac surgery constitutes such a stress situation. For this reason, twenty-two patients undergoing cardiac surgery at Loma Linda University Hospital studied for the purpose of exploring the degree and time-course of were psychological stress.

The methodology consisted of administration of psychological tests before and after surgery; determination of urine catecholamines (UCA) before, during and after surgery; administration of a coping assessment tool before surgery, and a recall interview on the fifth day after surgery. The Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL)-Today form, and the …

The Effectiveness Of Environmental Control In Modifying Problem Behaviors In Mother-Child Interaction, Thomas Whalen Hamilton

Dissertations and Theses

An experiment was designed to test the effectiveness of using standard laboratory environments in producing a broad class of problem behaviors which defined Mother-Child (M-C) interaction difficulties. The effects of four environments, free-time (X), child's game and rules (B), mother's game and rules (C), and clean-up (Z), on the frequency of eight criteria behaviors were tested on 12 M-C pairs over three days of baseline data collection. It was predicted that the frequency of problem behaviors would decrease as a function of environment (X) and increase as a function of environments (B), (C), and (Z). A two factor …

A Test Of The "Contiguity" And "Generalized Imitation" Theories Of Social Modeling Processes, Gerald R. Adams

Student Work

Imitative behavior was studied using 36 kindergarten children who were either reinforced or not reinforced for imitative behavior prior to observing a male model exhibit aggressive behaviors. The children were tested for imitative aggressive behaviors in an 8-minute freeplay situation using a five category rating scale. The results revealed that the reinforced group emitted significantly more physical, verbal, and nonimitative aggression than the nonreinforced group. A second test examined the retention of the model's aggressive behavior under an incentive condition. The incentive condition diminished the initial differences found in the first test, revealing a nonsignificant difference between the reinforced and …

"Transcendental Meditation: A Vision Of Possibilities", Walter Koch

Special Collections: Oregon Public Speakers

No abstract provided.

The Selection Of Bank Management Trainees: A Validation Study, James G. Overton

Master's Theses

Twelve studies of psychometric prediction using cognitive ability tests with upper level managerial samples are summarized. Of these, only two yield essentially positive results. Meyer (1956) found·a correlation of .27 between Wonderlic scores and overall ratings of 142 supervisors. However, since the raters were free to examine predictor-scores while making their ratings, there is strong evidence that the criterion was contaminated. In an unpublished study, Laurent (1962) correlated ratings of managers with Miller Analogies Test and non-verbal abiliti test scores. With over 200 persons in each sample, he found correlations ranging from .18 to .29, all significant. The majority of …

The Effects Of A Behavior Modification Program On The Self Concepts Of Children In Special Education, Barbara M. Scott

All Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine whether using a behavior modification approach to teaching children will help to raise a child's self concept.

Changing Attitudes By Means Of Classical Conditioning, Larry R. Smeltzer

Student Work

As knowledge of attitude change processes has grown, a wide variety of theoretical analyses have been developed to integrate portions of this knowledge and to guide further research. Many theorists argue that attitude change and formation in the "real world" are produced by the fundamental mechanisms of classical conditioning (Kiesler, Collins, and Miller, 1969) but little research has been done to support such a theory.

Beards And Their Effect On Dimensions Of Self Concept, Douglas C. Olsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effects of beards on aspects of self concept were studied. Experimental and control groups were administered measures of "self concept" in pre and post test situations. The experimental group grew beards while the control group continued to shave during the time interim. Results were analyzed using analysis of covariance, but failed to produce any significant differences.

Differences were found, however, in post test results of the within group variability of the experimental group in two areas: feeling reactivity and capacity for intimate contact. This suggests that possibly beards affect people in a wider variety of ways in their sensitivity …

N-Achievement Motivation Of Male Navaho Indian Students As Measured By An Acculturated N-Achievement Scale, Rex C. Ivory

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The problem which formed the basis of this research was to answer the question: "Can an acculturated version of McClelland's original n-Achievement scale be significantly more effective in measuring n-Achievement motivation of male Navaho Indian subjects than McClelland's original n-Achievement scale?" An answer to this question would hopefully be reason enough for using an acculturated n-Achievement scale to provide new information relative to the Navaho Indian's need to achieve.

The major underlying objective of this study was to develop a more effective projective scale than McClelland in measuring a Navaho Indian's n-Achievement motivation. This objective was not reached; however, the …