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Internal Versus External Control Of Reinforcement As A Variant Of Concern For The Teacher And Counselor, Neldon Devere Kingston

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Rotter's (1954, 1960, 1964) social learning theory suggests that a reinforcement acts to strengthen an expectancy. These expectancies may differ from situation to situation; however, it is postulated (Rotter, 1960) that they bear a direct relationship to the potential occurrence of a behavior. Furthermore,

"...it is presumed that the relationship between goal preference (reinforcement value) and behavior can be determined only by introducing the concept of the individual's expectancy, on the basis of past history, that the given behavior will actually lead to a satisfying outcome rather than to punishment, failure, or, more generally, to negative reinforcement." (Rotter, 1960, p. …

Relationship Between Self-Concept Discrepancies And The Expression Of Need Achievement In Children, Ian Griggs

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that a significant relationship exists between self-concept discrepancies and expressed need for achievement.

A self-concept discrepancy score was obtained and a low and high discrepancy group was isolated.

Expressed need for achievement was measured by the use of the Thematic Apperception Test and scored according to the Atkinson method.

Mean comparisons of need achievement scores of subjects whose discrepancies between actual and ideal self-concept were in the upper or lower one-third of the distribution were found not to be significant at the 5 percent level of confidence.

Control Of Behavior Through Reinforcement Menus, Gary Lyndle Holt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Reinforcement menus were used to change response probabilities while maintaining control over two ''trainable," female, mentally retarded children.

An empirically determined reinforcement menu representing high probability behaviors, five for S₁ and four for S₂, was used in a contingency management system. Instructions were given concerning the contingencies for obtaining reinforcement. Subjects were allowed the opportunity to engage in a high probability behavior only after successful completion of fixed units of reading or arithmetic tasks. After stable performance was established, four additional menus were prepared to approximate in increasing degree, low probability behavior. Measurements were taken of task …

Variation In The Order Of Presentation Of Cues As One Variable In Concept Organization, John E. Genasci

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the experiment, with forty-eight students as subjects, a series of nonsense syllables (DAX, MEF, TOV, VIC, YOP, ZIP, and ZIL) were to be associated with four geometric figures. The task was so arranged that Zip applied to all figures, Dax and Vic to subsets of two figures each, and the remaining were individual labels. In each of three experiments there was an experimental group that received pre-response cueing by means of an analogy which involved hierarchic concepts in the same general form, i. e ., animal, wild, tame, and individual names.

The results suggest that the order and timing …

A Comparison Of Intellectually Normal Children, Mentally Retarded Adolescents, And Mentally Retarded Adults On A Three Dimensional Concept Formation Sorting Task, James C. Kamprud

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purposes of this study were: (1) to compare nine groups of subjects composed of intellectually normal children, mentally retarded adolescents, and mentally retarded adults on a three dimensional concept formation task; (2) to determine the effects of discrimination training on the sortings of the nine groups on the experimental task.

The 207 subjects of this study were divided into nine groups. Seven of the groups, consisting of high average and low average grade 3, superior high average, and low average grade 6, and high and low adolescent retardates were chosen on the bases of school grade level (3, 6, …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Anxiety, Manifest Needs, And Creativity In Upward Bound Students, Neal A. Davidson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Previous investigators have indicated that low socio-economic students have difficulty experiencing success on tests heavily loaded with verbal material. Differences in personality characteristics between students of high and low creativity have also been found. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of manifest needs and anxiety on creative thinking.

The Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, which determines anxiety level, the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule, which measures manifest needs, and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, which provides an index of creativity were administered to Spanish-American, Anglo-American, Negro, and Navaho high school students, who constituted the 1967 Upward …

A Comparison Of Two Non-Verbal Intelligence Tests As Predictors Of Academic Success Of Navajo Students, Stanford S. Larson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was a search for a valid and reliable tool for the measurement and appraisal of the Navajo student at Intermountain School whose cultural and bilingual background make many highly verbal tests untrustworthy. The two tests chosen for the study were the Chicago Non-verbal Examination and the Cattell Institute for Personality and Ability Testing Culture Free Test. It was assumed that these tests would call attention to students who had good intellectual ability but were below standard in reading and verbal development and had been overlooked because of their lack of verbal fluency.

The two tests were administered to …

Assessing Manifest Coping Behavior Of Mentally Retarded Institutionalized Males With An Observational Technique, Daryle I. Bass

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

It was the purpose of the present study to explore the feasibility of investigating naturally occurring behavior of mental retardates with an observational technique.

Twelve mentally retarded male subjects, ages sixteen to twenty one, with Adaptive Behavior levels of upper III, were observed for a total of four observational time blocks of fifteen minutes each. From the collected data 105 behavioral events were extracted, and sorted as to their appropriateness or inappropriateness in the behavioral setting. Each subject was assigned scores based on frequency counts of occurrence of appropriate and inappropriate behaviors manifested during his four observational time blocks. Rank …

The Retention Of Tactile Stimulation With Young And Elderly Adults, Sally Baker Canestrari

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to test the retention of sensory experience in the modality of light-touch with both young and elderly subjects. Based on previous literature, it is expected that young Ss will be able to maintain more accurately the light-touch impression for a long delay period (two weeks) than older persons. The test for retention or the impression will be made immediately (two minutes) following the stimulation for one-half the Ss, and after two week a for the remaining Ss.

The Use Of Facts And Verbal, Affect, And Content Clues In Clinical Judgements From Interviews, Nicholas Charles Anthony

Master's Theses

The clinical psychologist, experienced social worker, psychiatrist, and others, whose professions involve dealing with people who are experiencing life-problems, are frequently called upon to make judgements about these people. The basis of these judgements are almost always partially formed from interviews with the people they they must judge. The interviewers form their judgements from different cues that the clients communicate to them during these interviews. The cues employed to form these judgements that have thus far been differentiated and investigated are visual, verbal, and content cues. This study is concerned with the latter two.

Background Similarity-Dissimilarity, Interpersonal Attraction And Change In Confidence, Lewis J. Levine

Master's Theses

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of background similarity-dissimilarity on interpersonal attraction and on changing one's confidence in his own judgment. The hypotheses were as follows:

1. A stranger with a similar background to that of the S will be better liked (i.e., more attractive) than a dissimilar stranger.

2. Agreement by another person (regard less of whether he is similar or dissimilar in background) will in­ crease one's certainty of judgment about a particular issue.

3. Disagreement by another person (regardless of whether he is a similar or dissimilar otheii will decrease one' a certainty …

The Effect Of Indicator Velocity On Observer Response Time, Brian F. Briggs

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Ribonucleic Acid On Learning In The White Rat, L. Duane Dove

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Of Locus Of Reinforcement To Change In Initial Perception Of Communicator Credibility And Type Of Decision Generated, Stephen Allan Brown

Student Work

Hovland, Janis, and Kelley (1953) distinguished between expertness and trustworthiness, two variables most relevant to communicator perception. They defined expertness as the extent to which a communicator is perceived to be a source of valid assertions and trustworthiness as the degree of confidence in the communicator's intent to communicate the assertions he considers most valid. They defined communicator credibility (degree of belief) as incorporating both expertness and trustworthiness but concluded that there was experimental confounding of both variables.

A Developmental Approach To Color-Mood Associations, Thomas D. Affourtit

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The effect of color on the organism has been the subject of extensive research for many years. Several psychological experiments have attempted to relate color and mood adjectives.

A Comparison Of Cognitive Achievement Measures In Student Evaluation, Ladonna Wallace Childers

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Tyler (i932, 1934) was responsible for some of the most important research with cognitive achievement measures. In studies with college students he found that factual knowledge gains dissipated after one year at the rate of seventy-seven per cent of the initial gain during the period of instruction. In the same study the gain in ability to apply principles to new situations and the ability to interpret new experiments resulted in no loss after one year. Rather, the ability to interpret new experiments showed an increase after one year, though none of the Subjects (Ss) in the study had taken additional …

The Development Of A Tree Drawing Test: A Feasibility Study, Garry Lee Edwards

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The analysis of drawings has long been recognized as a method for investigating varied aspects of the psychology of child development. Goodenough {1926) cites studies by Cooke in 1885 and Ricci in 1387 as being the earliest accounts of interest in children's drawings. These early collections and observations were mainly descriptive in nature. They generally included such areas of investigation as single child longitudinal observations; longitudinal group observations; observations on the drawings of primitive peoples; observations on selected groups of artistically talented children; and later, observations made on groups of psychopathic subjects.

Visual Recognition Following Periods Of Sensory Deprivation And Sensory Bombardment, Thomas W. Vodde

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Drive And Ego-Involving Instructions Upon Verbal Behavior During Delayed Auditory Feedback, Donald Edward Fuhrmann

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Anxiety, Stress, And Competing Response Tendencies On The Learning Of Verbal Concepts, Ralph F. Dunn

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Psychotherapy: Therapist Goals, Patient Expectations And Patient Satisfaction, James A. Hill

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Classically Conditioned Licking And Acquired Orienting As A Function Of Qualitatively Different Ucs Values : Acquisition, Shifting And Extinction, Jerry Weeks Rudy

Master's Theses

The purpose of the present study was twofold: (A) to study classically conditioned licking in rats as a function of a qualitative UCS difference, defined as 15% sucrose concentration and 0% concentration (plain tap water); (B) to study acquired orienting as a function of these UCS values. Several aspects of conditioned performance were investigated: (1) the effect of UCS intensity on level of responding during acquisition; (2) the effect of UCS intensity on rate of approach to terminal level of responding; (3) a possible learning performance distinction in appetitive classical conditioning; (4) rate of extinction as a function of the …

Partial Reinforcement With A Small Number Of Acquisition Trials : The Effects Of Thwarting On Extinction Performance, W. Schuyler Miller

Master's Theses

The present study is an attempt to provide a setting in which to examine the possible contribution of the fixed time reward technique to the PREE obtained by McCain and his associates

Manipulation Of Abusive Behavior With Time-Out And Shock, Sharon Lane '67

Honors Projects

A significant trend apparent in recent psychological literature is the increasing amount of attention to punishment and such aversive methods of behavior control.

An Inquiry Into Personality Development: A Theory Of Symbiotic Relationship, Kenneth William Chittick

Graduate Thesis Collection

This thesis presents an inquiry into personality development, that is, it advances a theory of personality formation based on the symbiotic relationship between mother and child. It will show indications from the research of Rappoport, Ottinger and Simmons, and the writings of Mahler, that in the relationship between the infant and its mother, the infant at first thinks that the mother is an actual part of its own wholeness. Therefore, the theory will attempt to explain how a normal, a neurotic or a psychotic personality structure of later years can be traced back to the symbiotic phase of the infant's …

On The Development Of Memory And Identity, Jean Piaget

Heinz Werner Lectures

"This is the second lecture given at Clark University in honor of the late Heinz Werner, world-famous developmental psychologist. In these two lectures, Professor Piaget raises fundamental questions concerning the nature of memory in the developing child and his response to invariance. In the first, "Memory and Operations", he examines the way in which memory schemata are transformed during the course of the formation of "concrete operations" in early childhood. In the second, "Identity and Conservation", he outlines a developmental sequence of identity responses, starting with simple recognition of persons in infancy and leading up to conservation as an understanding …

The Relationship Between Food And Fear, Henry Tjahjono

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Traditionally, the procedure of feeding an organism in a fear-producting situation has been viewed as having a fear-reducing effect, called counterconditioning. English and English define counterconditioning as the procedure of conditioning a second and conflicting response to a conditioned stimulus that is not simultaneously being reinforced. Fear is reduced by conditioning to the fear-producing stimuli the incompatible emotional responses associated with eating (e.g.--Miller, 1951)

The strength of fear was illustrated by Miller in 1951. He found that albino rats, trained to run down an alley to secure food at a distinctive place and motivated by a 46-hour hunger, would pull …

The Interaction Of Delay And Magnitude Of The Reward On Acquisition And Extinction In The Straight Alley Runway, Peter Charles Habley

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to clarify and accurately describe the interactive effects of several amounts of reward and delay on acquisition and extinction or rats in a straight runway. A factorial study involving several levels of reward and delay is presented to further describe and possibly predict what effects these independent variables have on learning curves.

The major purpose of this paper, then, is to determine the interactive effects of delay and magnitude of reward, and to present the results in a clarifying and informative manner.

A Study Of Color Reactions And Preferences Of Certain Seventh And Eighth Grade Students, Gerald Lee Norris

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Children's Emotional Response To Color, Rodney H. Buffington

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.