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Grooming Behavior And Competitive Dominance In The Albino Rat, Irwin M. Spigel, Susan Trivett, David Fraser

Social Behavior Collection

An experiment sought to compare dominance manifested in water competition under two levels of deprivation, with grooming activity in a non-deprived state. While competitive dominance was significantly related to motivational level, grooming emerged as a more stable indicator of social ascendance, and did not require prior manipulation of a biological state. The implications of this observation for broader aspects of social motivation arc discussed.

The Use Of Behavior Modification To Control The Classroom Behavior Of Socially Maladjusted Junior High School Students, Jack L. Wheeler

Masters Theses

A base rate of disruptive and inappropriate classroom behavior was obtained for 40 junior high school children from a program for the socially maladjusted. Teachers involved with these subjects were given a six week in-service training program reviewing the basic techniques of operant conditioning. Parents of 12 subjects were trained in operant conditioning and were asked to use these techniques to control inappropriate behaviors of the subjects at home. When a social and token reinforcement program was introduced in the classroom for all 40 subjects, the frequency of disruptive and inappropriate behavior declined in all subjects. Withdrawal of the social …

The Effects Of The Four Psychological Primary Colors On Gsr, Heart Rate, And Respiration Rate, Keith W. Jacobs

Masters Theses

Measurement of GSR, heart rate, and respiration rate were taken on twenty-four male S's during presentation of four colors (red, yellow, green, blue). Four sequences of color presentations were used based on a 4 by 4 latin square with six subjects receiving each presentation. Significant color effects (p < .05) were found when GSR was used as the measure of activation. The most arousing color was red, followed by green, yellow, and blue, with significant differences in arousal value found between colors. Significant trial effects, disregarding colors, were found in respiration rate. No significant effects on heart rate were found as a function of trials or color. The arousal values of the colors do not support either a linear or U-shaped function of wave length.

An Investigation Of The Effects Of Specific Parameters On An Experimental Analogue Of The Anxiety Relief Hypothesis, Gary W. Hardy

Masters Theses

Thirty-two, naive, albino rats were randomly assigned to one of eight treatment groups with four members per group. The apparatus used was a modified one-way avoidance chamber developed by Baum (1965). The variables studied were the effects of a retraining anxiety relief condition, a hierarchical presentation of tone with the anxiety relief condition, different inter-trial intervals, and the interactions of these variables. All subjects were given the anxiety training to a ninety decibel tone and one-half of the subjects were given anxiety relief training. All subjects were trained to a criterion of ten consecutive avoidance responses in a one-way avoidance …

The Relationship Between Self Concept And The Draw-A-Person Test, William Maurice Schaefer

Masters Theses

This study sought to expand a study by Kamano (1960) to a normal population. In that work, Kamano used the D.A.P. in conjunction with the Semantic Differential. He concluded that the Ss (schizophrenics) analyzed their drawings consistent with their own self concepts. In the present study the relation between Ss ratings of the D.A.P., their self concept, and judges ratings of the drawings were sought. It was predicted that the Ss would rate themselves and the Drawings similarly. This prediction was upheld for the Potency factor. There was interjudge reliability for this factor, but the prediction that there would be …

Attitudes Toward The War In Viet Nam: A Population Study, Ralph George O'Sullivan

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Of Leadership Effectiveness To L.P.C For University Department Chairmen, Carter W. Brown

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

For most of recorded history leadership ability has been considered a simple variable linearly related to the effectiveness of a team of workers. Everyone possessed it to some degree. When a king or corporate president had a task to be accomplished, all he needed to do to maximize the probability of the task being completed vas to locate the individual with the greatest leadership skill available. For centuries man has tried to quantify this variable so that identification of good leaders could be achieved more accurately. After years of futile attempts at quantification, leadership theorists began in the early 1900's …

Comparison Of Behavior Changes Of Children In The Home And School Setting After Parents Receive Instruction In Behavior Modification, Beverly Ann Beavers

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The mother of 1 grade school child and 2 sets of parents of 2 preschool children were trained in the home to use behavior modification techniques to reduce the undesirable behaviors of their children. Generalization from the home to the school setting was investigated. There was no support for or against changes in the homes generalizing to the classrooms. The mother of a 7-year-old girl with borderline intelligence used "time out" to curb the child's failure to follow instructions, tendency to be argumentative, and tendency to tantrum. The hyperactivity of a 41/2-year old girl was diminished. in part by changes …

Interest, Achievement And Personality Differences And The Direction Of Lateral Eye Movement, Frances Irene Lewis

All Master's Theses

An eye movement identified as being related to personality and achievement differences in individuals was investigated. Subjects were 116 college freshmen who were classified as right or left movers on the basis of the direction their eyes moved laterally during reflective thought. The classifications were correlated with variables of sex, eye dominance, handedness, personality and achievement scores. Findings indicate significant correlations for left handed subjects on Economic and Political scales and Verbal achievement but no significant correlations for right handed subjects.

The Relationship Between Self-Actualization And Adjustment Among American Catholic Priests, Thomas John Murphy

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Speed Of Conflict Resolution As Related To The Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, Jeffrey Carter Fracher

Master's Theses

The topic of conflict resolution is one which has received relatively little attention in psychological research even though individuals encounter, and must re­solve, numerous conflicts in their daily lives. The present paper will attempt to shed some light on several facets of this area of interest.

Recognition And Recall As Measures Of Retention On A Paired Associate Task, David F. Prim

Master's Theses

Widely disparate findings concerning recognition and recall as indicants of retention have been reported by several independent researchers. To clarify the problem a list of 8 items, composed of letter-number pairs, was presented 5 times by the study-test method to 160 college undergraduates. The list was learned by either recognition or recall and then tested by either a recognition or recall test after 24 hour and 72 hour intervals. Ss were placed in 1 of 5 categories dependent upon the trial the S achieved 100% criterion. A 4 factor ANOV showed recognition scores to be significantly higher at the .05 …

The Effects Of The Female Sex Hormones On Food And Water Intake And On Body Weight After Hypertonic Stress In The Female Rat, John Kibler

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

A Validation Of The Psychologist's Narrative Report In Predicting "Successful" Bank Managers, Peter Stephen Horos

Master's Theses

Although company selection procedures for managerial personnel vary widely, they frequently contract a psychological consulting firm to assess the applicant's potential. It was generally assumed then, that this professional information would significantly enhance the selection procedures and consequently improve the quality of the organization's managerial population. However, this assumption was made contingent upon the validity of the psychologist's predictions, with which there has been little research to date.

A Study Of The Effect Of The Human Potential Seminar On The Self-Actualization And Academic Achievement Of College Underachievers, F. Dean Nemecek

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of An Increase Of A Mother's Complimentary Behavior On Her Child's Crying Rate And In-Task School Behavior, Mark Connot

All Master's Theses

The purpose of the present study was to decrease an eight year old boy's disruptive crying rate in his home by ignoring his negative behavior and selectively complimenting his acceptable behavior. A check in the boy's classroom was made to determine if a generalization effect or transference of positive behavior from the home occurred. Crying behavior in the home was reduced significantly. There was no observed significant change in school behavior.

Operantly Conditioning A College Student's Study Behaviors, Norman L. Culbertson

All Master's Theses

A 20 year old, male, sophomore college student, who was considered an underachiever, was confined to a laboratory study room for a specified number of observed hours during a period of three weeks. An attempt was made to operantly condition increased study behaviors by the E's control of study break reinforcers. The experiment consisted of three phases, conditioning, reversal, and reconditioning. Statistical results showed that when reinforced in this manner for study behaviors, the S significantly increased his amount of study time and number of pages read. It was concluded that (1) operant conditioning procedures could be used successfully to …

Experimenter Bias Effect At Varying Levels Of Motivation, Leslie Marie Slade Gray

All Master's Theses

This study examined the effects of experimenter motivation upon the experimenter bias effect on a person perception task. It was hypothesized that the experimenter bias effect would decrease as reward and threat of punishment increased.

Thirty-five experimenters were randomly assigned to five treatment groups including a control group, two reward groups, and two punishment conditions. Each experimenter administered the photo task to two subjects. The results failed to support the experimental hypotheses.

False Physiological Feedback And Acceptance Of A High Fear Message, Michael T. Gray

All Master's Theses

This paper presents an attempt to differentiate between the drive reduction and parallel response theories as explanations of results obtained in fear communication research.

Forty-eight subjects were divided into four equal groups and while listening to a high fear message, three groups received false GSR feedback. The fourth group (control) received no feedback. The results failed to differentiate between the two theoretical models and also failed to support findings of an earlier study which used similar feedback techniques.

It was concluded that further research using false feedback techniques needs to be done.

A Comparison Of Verbal And Geometric Stimuli In Concept Learning, Robert William Greenway

All Master's Theses

Subjects classified stimulus patterns into positive or negative instances of the concept according to either an attribute identification (AI) problem or a rule learning (RL) problem. Four types of stimulus materials were used: verbal stimuli (V), geometric stimuli (G), or two combinations of these modes, verbal geometric (VG) or verbal colored (VC). The only main effects that were significant were the Type of rule and Type of problem. Some interactions were obtained between these factors and the stimulus mode employed.

Solution Shift Performance Of Low Functioning Children, Kathleen L. Levell

All Master's Theses

Retarded children of two intellectual levels were assigned to reversal (R) or nonreversal (NR) shifts in a concept learning task. High children had previous practice with the stimulus attributes while the low children did not. The effects of overtraining on the original problem led to more rapid R solutions for both groups while overtraining prior to the NR shift yielded equal levels of performance for both groups of children.

Results were interpreted within the framework of mediation theory.

The Role Of Stimulus And Label Familiarity In Concept Learning, David W. Philips

All Master's Theses

Performance on a concept learning task was investigated by employing familiar and unfamiliar stimulus patterns, three pretraining conditions, and two conceptual rules. Subjects were given either observation or preliminary paired associate practice in labeling shapes with meaningful or nonsense labels and were then required to solve a concept learning task to criterion. It was found that tasks involving familiar stimuli were learned more rapidly than those involving unfamiliar stimuli, and that meaningful verbal pretraining for unfamiliar stimuli resulted in more rapid learning than observation or nonsense label pretraining.

The Course Of Amnesia Up To Twenty-Four Hours After Non-Contingent Treatment As A Function Of The Footshock-Electroconvulsive Shock Interval, Thomas C. Whitaker

All Master's Theses

This study tested specific predictions of the state-dependency hypothesis concerning the effects of footshock (FS)-electroconvulsive shock (ECS) treatment interaction on memory storage. Rats were trained in a water "T" maze to turn either left or right. Twenty-four hours later they received FS-ECS treatment. The FS-ECS intervals were .5 sec., 10 sec., 30 sec., and sham (no FS-ECS). Testing took place either 1, 6, 12, 18, or 24 hr. after treatment. Results indicated trends, but no significant evidence of the amnesia gradient being related to the FS-ECS interval.

Intradimensional Variability With Numbers And Alphabetical Letters In Conceptual Rules, Thomas Henry Clayton

All Master's Theses

Subjects were assigned to bidimensional rule problems that contained either 5, 10, or 15 levels of intradimensional variability. The stimuli consisted of numbers and alphabetical letters. There were no performance differences by either males or females when the number of levels within each rule was increased. There was a significant difference in performance among the three rules (disjunctive, conditional, and biconditional), however, the conditional was more difficult than the biconditional which is inconsistent with earlier research.

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 Effect Of A Learning Skills Course Including Group Counseling On Low Achievers In The Community College, Paul E. Borg

All Master's Theses

A Learning Skills course consisting of study skills, goal direction, and self-understanding was tested among volunteer community college low achievers. Treatment integrated didactic, group discussion, and affective experiences in 18 hour-long sessions. Nineteen subjects received treatment; 25 subjects formed a matched control group; and 41 non-volunteers formed two additional control groups. An apparent trend toward GPA improvement was noted for all groups, but all measurements on GPA and a study survey were non-significant.

The Effects Of Truth Table Pretraining And Intradimensional Variability On Rule Learning And Attribute Identification Tasks, Eric S. Gebelein

All Master's Theses

Ss were required to sort geometrical patterns into positive or negative instances. According to (a) an attribute identification problem (wherein one of three conceptual rules was given: Disjunctive, Conditional, or Biconditional) or (b) Rule learning problem (wherein the two relevant attributes were given: either yellow, triangle or blue, circle). Intradimensional variability for each condition was either five, seven, or nine levels. The Rule effect was the only significant source of variance even though performance did worsen as intradimensional variability was increased.

Effect Of D-Amphetamine, Guanethidine, Disulfiram, And Stress On Gastric Ulceration In The Rat, Thomas M. Beall

Theses and Dissertations

Albino rats were injected with various doses of d-amphetamine (.02 mg/kg- 9 mg/kg) and subjected to 4 hours restraint in a cold (+5 degrees C) environment. Differential effects on ulceration were observed as a function ot the d-amphetamine dose level. Pretreatment with a .50 mg/kg injection of d-amphetamine significantly inhibited ulceration over that of saline injected, control animals, while a 9 mg/kg dose injection of the drug significantly facilitated it. Such results were explained in terms of a model interaction between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activity, and the effect that such activity has on gastric conditions conducive to ulceration. …

The Effects Of Verbal Reinforcement On Three Subtests Of The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Michael C. Klinnert

Masters Theses

A verbal conditioning study was conducted in order to assess the effect of positive verbal reinforcement on the examinees' verbalization output and/or the individual scaled scores of the Vocabulary, Comprehension, and Similarities subtests of the WAIS. Twenty-seven female volunteer Ss were assigned to either a contingent reinforcement group, a random reinforcement group, or a non-reinforcement control group. A mixed design A.O.V. revealed no significant differences between treatment groups on the individual scaled scores of the subtests. An analysis of covariance for the composite of the three subtests scaled scores was also nonsignificant. A mixed design A.O.V. for the amount of …

Voluntary Control Of Gsr Using Continuous Visual Display And Simultaneous Changes In Other Autonomic Functions, Laurence E. Boyce

Masters Theses

Using 28 male undergraduate university students provided with continuous oscilloscope display of basal skin resistance, this study investigated voluntary control of the GSR and concurrent changes in respiration. It was found, given feedback, subjects could voluntarily raise or lower their GSR. Subjects instructed to increase their GSR (N-14) could do so within the first trial session. However, subjects instructed to decrease their GSR (N-14) required additional practice. With less than 20 minutes of practice all subjects were able to reach a criterion of 2,500 ohms change from their basal level. Subjects increasing their GSR were found to have a significant …