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An Error-Dependent Model Of Instrument-Scanning Behavior In Commercial Airline Pilots, Dennis H. Jones

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Since the work of Fitts and his colleagues, researchers have been using eye-movement data to evaluate various aspects of pilot instrument scanning behavior. Although Senders' work indicated that link values and transitional probabilities could be accurately predicted using a random sampling process, several investigators have recently suggested that pilot scanning behavior was deterministic. However, there has been no clear empirical evidence to support a deterministic hypothesis. The present research presents a new flexible model of pilot instrument scanning behavior which assumes that the pilot uses a set of deterministic scanning patterns on (1) the pilot's perception of error in the …

A Study Of The Effectiveness Of Selected Aspects Of The Developmental Education Program At An Urban Multicampus Community College, Michael Anthony Barton

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of developmental/remedial education at an urban multi-campus community college. The study sought (1) to identify the number and demographic characteristics of students served by developmental studies, (2) to determine the academic achievement and persistence of these students, and (3) to assess the performance of developmental English students in regular college English.

Data were obtained for a two year period on all new students who enrolled in the fall of 1980. The study employed two approaches: (1) a descriptive analysis of the variables of age, sex, race, enrollment status and day/night …

Implementation Evaluation Of A Social Detoxification Program, Thomas M. Slaven

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

While cities across the United States are attempting to revitalize their central business districts, the presence of the public inebriate remains one of the most neglected urban problems hampering redevelopment efforts. An evaluation of the implementation of a social detoxification program was conducted to monitor planning, initial staffing, training, building community linkages, impact on the criminal justice system, and changes in clients' working and drinking behavior. Public Drunkenness arrests, and working and drinking behavior were measured at intake, three month and six month follow-up with a sample of clients undergoing detoxification, a comparison group of individuals jailed but not detoxified, …

Psyche And Time: The Phenomenology Of Time Consciousness, Sharon Fleet Hartman

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Time in its inward form may be able to provide a significance which sustains the human spirit. If this is true, it becomes unnecessary to seek an enduring significance for life in the transcendent.

Western man's attitudes toward time are a composite of religious, historical, and cultural assumptions. The Christian model of time supported man by its emphasis on God's interventions in the world. The scientific model of time left man adrift in an objective world. The ascendancy of the scientific model brought a devaluation of both time and human life.

Bergson, Husserl, and Merleau-Ponty all describe a type of …

Students' Attitudes Toward The Smithfield Vocational Department, Cynthia J. Feazell

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The basic objectives of this study were as follows: 1. To identify student views of vocational education at Smithfield High School by conducting a survey; 2. To analyze the differences in reasons why the academic students and vocational students selected to enroll in their specific concentrations.

A Study To Show The Correlation Between Students' S.R.A. Math Scores And Their Ability To Accurately Employ A Measuring Scale And Math Functions On Practical Problems, Louis Temple

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The basic questions under study in this thesis are: 1. Can students who have mastered mathematical theories and concepts apply this knowledge in practical situations? 2. Is the use of a measuring instrument such as standard 12 inch ruler subdivided into inches and 1/16 inch increments a more difficult operation than has previously been supposed? 3. Does mastery of mathematical concepts ensure measurement skills?

Children's Representation Of Spatial Information, Rebecca L. Beard

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study utilized a multi-dimensional approach to examine children's communication of spatial information. Sixty male and female elementary school children, ages 6-7, 9-10, and 11-12, learned a route through a pedestrian maze with four color-coded inter sections and animal photographs to serve as landmarks. After learning the route to a specified criterion level, the children were required to complete three remaining tasks: a verbal recall task, a nonverbal reconstruction task, and a route reversal task. For each task the children were asked to provide a reason for their directional choice at each intersection. Analyses indicated developmental differences in performance …

Influence Of Touch And Preferences For Control On Visual Behavior, Teresa Whitehurst Caudill

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study investigated the effects of touch, as mediated by the preference for control (PC) of the recipient, upon visual behavior as well as evaluative and affective responses. Subjects were female students at Old Dominion University, selected on the basis of their scores on the Expressed Control subscale of the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation (FIRO-B) Inventory (Schutz, 1958). Based upon their scores on the subscale, 29 females scoring high and 30 females scoring low were randomly assigned to either touch or no touch conditions. Subjects in the touch condition were touched on the arm by a male confederate after …

Charles M. Davies (1828-1910): Cleric, Writer, Educator, Spiritualist, Thomas M. Costa

History Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Aperiodic Noise On Serial Reaction: A Study Of The Range And Consistency Of Individual Differences With Repeated Measures, Stephen Victor Strunk

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The range and consistency of individual differences in response to two exposures of aperiodic-intermittent noise were examined. A computerized 5-choice serial reaction task was used to measure the number of correct responses and mean reaction times for each of 30 subjects during the two exposures to quiet and noise. The results indicate that (1) noise presented even for short durations can have adverse effects on performance; (2) individuals do perform consistently in terms of accuracy across exposures to noise; and (3) a wide range of performance changes can be expected from subjects performing a task under noise. Implications for the …

Pedodontists' Attitudes Toward Pit And Fissure Sealants As A Preventative Oral Service, Kathern Rheanice Hamlin

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this survey was to assess periodontists' attitudes toward pit and fissure sealants as an oral health service. A self-designed, 43-item questionnaire and a letter of transmittal were mailed to a random sample of periodontists belonging to the American Academy of Periodontics (N=S00). Data were obtained from 288 returned questionnaires (58 percent).

Data analysis suggested that periodontists' attitudes have changed over the past nine years in that: (1) more periodontists are assigning a high value of pit and fissure sealants in preventing dental caries, (2) more periodontists are using pit and fissure sealants to prevent dental caries, and …

An Analysis Of The Relationships Between Environmental Stimuli Personality Variables And Levels Of Burnout In Intensive Care Nurses, Catherine Via Cauthorne

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The syndrome of burnout is characterized by the development of negative self-perceptions and behaviors designed to protect oneself from emotional distress in a worker as a result of painful emotional stress generated by interactions between psychological demands from the work environment, personality needs of the worker, and the worker's self-perceived difficulty in meeting these demands and needs. The contributions of both environmental characteristics and personality traits to burnout levels were examined in a group of 45 intensive care nurses. Tests used included the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, a data questionnaire, the Survey of Organizations, and the Maslach Burnout …

The Relationship Between Job Characteristics And Job Satisfaction For Engineers And Engineering Students, Sherry L. Hoy

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

A modified version of Hackman Lawler's job characteristics model was used to investigate the relationships between pre-employment perceptions of job characteristics and expectations tor job satisfaction in a sample of 111 engineering students. In lieu of a longitudinal designs a sample of 86 professional engineers were accessed as a comparison group. The independent variables included in the study were: (a) the six job characteristics in the Job Characteristics Inventory (variety autonomy task identity, feedback dealing with others and friendship opportunities) (b) three measures of job satisfaction from the short-form of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (general, intrinsic and extrinsic) and (c) …

The Effects Of Naloxone And Interstimulation Interval On Post-Ictal Depression In Kindled Seizures, Michael Frederick Jarvis

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of naloxone hydrochloride on the seizure parameters (after discharge and motor seizure thresholds and durations) and post-ictal depression in kindled seizures. In Experiment 1, eight male hooded rats were exposed to four naloxone doses {2, 5, 10 mg/kg and a saline control) during a threshold testing procedure. In this factorial design, naloxone was found to have no effect on either the basic seizure parameters or post-ictal depression. Experiment 2 examined the effects of both naloxone dosage and inter­ stimulation interval (ISI) on kindled seizures. Eight male hooded rats were exposed to factorial …

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children-Revised And The Woodcock-Johnson Tests Of Cognitive Ability: Performance Comparisons Of Elementary Students Being Referred For Special Education Services, Priscilla Mazza Hardiman

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of students being referred for special education services on the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability (WJTCA), Part One from the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho­ Educational Battery and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). A sample of 54 elementary students in grades one through six was randomly selected from a referral population for special education identification and services. The subjects were administered all subtests in the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children­ Revised within a three month period of time. The results indicated a significant relationship …

Improving The Accuracy Of Performance Evaluations: A Comparison Of Three Methods Of Performance Appraiser Training, Jerry Willard Hedge

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Researchers in the area of rater training have relied almost exclusively on rater error measures to assess training effectiveness. A reduction in rater tendency to commit these errors subsequent to training is viewed as evidence that these raters have become more accurate in rating their employees. This assumed relationship between rater errors and rating accuracy has recently been questioned. This uncertain relationship between psychometric errors and accuracy was the focus of the current research effort. Supervisory personnel were trained under one of three training programs (psychometric error training, observation training, or decision-making training). Halo, leniency, range restriction and accuracy measures …

Causal Modeling Of Organizational Commitment, Karin E. Klenke-Hamel

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This research was designed to develop a model of organizational commitment by establishing a causal network among three individual characteristics--tenure, work motivation, and job satisfaction--two organizational/structural variables--decentralization and formalization,--and two job facets--the job characteristic model and job stress--as determinants of commitment.

The proposed model was tested on male and female samples represented by five occupational groups ranging from blue collar to professional workers. Successive iterations of a path analytic technique indicated that across the five occupational categories, job satisfaction was the single most important determinant of organizational commitment. However, if the facets of job satisfaction were examined more closely, important …

The Effects Of Task Experience, Goal Setting, And Knowledge Of Results On Performance And Task-Goal Attributes, Edward Scott Wright

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Two laboratory studies were conducted to determine the relationships between task-goal attributes and the necessary and sufficient conditions for goal setting and knowledge of results (KR) to influence task performance. The first study tested the effects of task experience and goal setting on performance of an arithmetic computation task. Perceived goal difficulty, effort, expectancy of goal attainment, and goal acceptance were assessed with a questionnaire. The results demonstrated that only goals influenced effort and perceived goal difficulty, while task experience and goals influenced expectancy of goal attainment and goal acceptance. The relationships between these variables indicated that as effort and …

The Evening Parade A History Of The Marine Corps' Most Famous Ceremony, John H. Admire

History Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.

Burnout Among Elementary And Secondary Special Education Teachers In Self-Contained And Resource Classrooms, Pamela Knox Jones

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The goals of the present study were threefold: (1) to determine if there is a difference in the degree of reported burnout between elementary and secondary special education teachers, (2) to determine if there is a difference in the degree of reported burnout between self-contained and resource special education teachers, and (3) to identify the characteristics inherent in the role of special education teachers that best predict the presence of burnout. Ninety-three subjects from three school systems responded to a 16-item Likert scale describing potential correlates of

burnout, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and a demographic data sheet. Type of class, …

An Attributional Analysis Of The Expectancy Component Of Motivation Theory, John Edward Mathieu

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Many modern work motivation theories are based at least in part on individuals’ subjective expectancies regarding successful job performance. However, the antecedent conditions and developmental process inherent in these formulations have yet to be specifies clearly. The present study utilizes the components of Social Learning Theory and Attribution Theory to examine these conditions in a laboratory setting. Experimental and correlational techniques were used to explore the relative contributions of both state and trait variables on causal attributions. Differences among causal attributions rated on relevance versus quantity were illustrated. Additionally, the underlying processes relating causal attributions, affective responses and future expectancy …

Examination Of The Self-Starvation Phenomenon, Elizabeth Woodard Pitts

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Rats on restricted feeding schedules are able to maintain a stable body weight by reducing activity output. It has been found, however, that if rats on restricted feeding schedules are given access to activity wheels, activity increases and food intake decreases which results in severe gastric ulceration and death. The present study re-examined results which suggested food palabability (wet versus dry chow) was a significant factor in self-starvation. In addition, all prior research examining the self-starvation phenomenon (with only one exception using hamsters) fed nocturnal rodents during the normally non-active light portion of their daily cycle. The results indicated that …

The Effects Of Rater-Ratee Discrepancies And Interview Processes On Appraisal Effectiveness, Scott I. Tannenbaum

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Forty-two performance appraisal interviews, at two urban hospitals, were examined to assess the relative effects of rater-ratee discrepancies and interview processes on appraisal effectiveness. This study attempted to improve on the methodology of previous research by: using multi-item scales, incorporating hierarchical regression analyses, and requesting completion of post-interview questionnaires within 24 hours of the interview. Discrepancy between self-ratings and supervisor's initial evaluations were collected prior to the interview. In addition, nurses' perceptions of the interview processes and appraisal effectiveness were measured via a post-interview questionnaire. It was found that discrepancies affected subsequent interview processes, which in turn were related to …

The Effects Of Modeling And Direct Instruction On Learning Disabled Children's Atypical Numerical Cognition, Mary Crossland Phelps

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Despite the widespread nature of mathematical learning disabilities, research within this area has been minimal. This study investigated the basis of atypical numerical concept development. Seriation, one of the most important components of concrete logical reasoning, was studied to determine the existence of a developmental delay or horizontal decalage in the Piagetian stage transition from preoperational to concrete operational thought. The influence of modeling and modeling plus direct instruction on the induction of seriation behavior was examined, using 60 learning disabled children and 40 remedial math students in a 4 x 2 analysis of covariance. Students were selected on the …

Old Dominion University Master Of Science In Dental Hygiene Degree Program: Graduate And Employer Survey, Deborah Blythe Bauman

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to survey Old Dominion University dental hygiene master's degree graduates and their employers to assess the overall quality of the graduates' education. Individuals who graduated between May 1976 and December 1981 (N =29) were sent a self-designed questionnaire to obtain evaluative data about the ODU dental hygiene master's degree program. The graduates were asked to identify strengths and weaknesses of the ODU master's degree program, the role competencies required for their current position, and the degree to which they were prepared for their current job by the master's degree program. Concurrently, employers were asked …

The Effects Of Exercise On Women's Self-Esteem, Wendy Laurie Biddle

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The effects of a 12-week session of aerobic dancing were examined on two groups of women, assigned into fit and unfit groups. The subjects had voluntarily enrolled in aerobic dancing prior to the study. Self-Esteem scores were obtained using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale during the first and tenth or eleventh weeks of the session. Pretest and posttest scores were analyzed along with the variables of age, marital status, weight loss, and smoking habits. A significantly higher gain score (posttest score subtracted from pretest score) was found on those women who attended three weekly classes compared to those who attended two …

The Influence Of Lamaze Classes And Delivery Room Presence On Paternal Attachment Behavior, Cherie Sammis-Gonzales

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to determine the significance of attendance of Lamaze classes and(or presence in the delivery room on paternal attachment behaviors. Seventeen white, first-time fathers, ages 20 to 35, were observed in the mother's hospital room within 72 hours of birth using a modified paternal attachment tool. The behaviors observed included verbalization, inspection, holding, en face, smiling, and tactile response. Observations were scored on 30-second intervals for a total of 15 minutes. Fathers were then placed into one of the following groups: Group I (n 10) — Fathers from Lamaze classes and present in the delivery …

Blueprints For A Small Theatre, Thomas J. Gale

Institute for the Humanities Theses

The contemporary small theatre, considered by some to be the germ of a new American theatre, has long been plagued by artistic starvation, technical ineptitude, and administrative inefficiency. Despite its traditional shortcomings, the small theatre has the potential to develop into a vital and financially viable institution.

Through a synthesis of the published opinions of theatre professionals and direct observations gleaned from practical theatre experience, this study addresses the aesthetic and practical problems faced by many contemporary small theatres. Solutions to these problems are suggested through specific plans for the establishment of a small but expanded professional theatre company.

The …

Measuring Interpersonal Dependency In Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients, Susan D. Schaffer

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The successful inpatient treatment of emotionally troubled adolescents must facilitate their achievement of developmentally appropriate independence while minimizing the maladaptive dependency that can be fostered by the hospitalization experience. Levels of interpersonal dependency were measured in seven adolescent psychiatric inpatients over a ninety day period. The Interpersonal Dependency Inventory by Hirschfeld, Klerman, Gough, Barrett, Korchin, & Chodoff was utilized. The individual therapist of each participant independently assessed the participant's response to hospitalization at forty-five and ninety days using a five point Leikert type scale. The study demonstrated no significant changes in dependency levels at forty-five and ninety days. The therapist's …

A Comparative Analysis Of Factors Influencing Registered Nurse Retention And Turnover Below The Head Nurse Level In Acute Care Hospitals, Jean M. Snyder

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

In a comparative survey, two groups of registered nurses (stayers and leavers) below the head nurse level were measured in the areas of human need satisfaction perception, role perception, and equity perception. The two registered nurse groups were further subdivided by educational preparation into diploma, associate, and baccalaureate degree stayers and leavers for comparative analysis. Literature reviews revealed considerable research in the area of retention and turnover, but few studies used a theoretical framework and a multivariate basis for observation. One hundred nine registered nurses from the ten area acute care hospitals were surveyed using an independently developed Nursing Perceptions …