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Valuing In The Arts, Nonna B. Runner

Institute for the Humanities Theses

The topic of this thesis, valuing in the arts, involves the fine and performing arts, cultural values, kinds of education, and the quality of life. The purpose in talking about the value of the arts is to show how and why they have been valued throughout recorded history, to present an approach to art which fosters personal growth and enjoyment in the interaction with the arts, and to present arguments for the continued support by the present society for their encouragement and preservation. I will discuss false impressions about art which have limited the general public's enjoyment of arts, then …

Oculometric Indices Of Simulator And Aircraft Motion, James Raymond Comstock Jr.

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

In a series of three experiments on the effects on eye-scan behavior of both simulator and aircraft motion, the sensitivity of an oculometric measure to motion effects was demonstrated. "Fixation Time", defined as the time the eyes spend at a particular location before moving on (saccade) to another fixation point, was found to be sensitive to motion effects in each of the experiments conducted. The first experiment studied differences between simulator motion and no-motion conditions during a series of simulated Instrument Landing System (ILS) approaches. The mean fixation time for the no-motion condition was found to be significantly longer than …

Locus Of Control As A Function Membership In Alcoholics Anonymous, Christine B. Philput

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study was undertaken to examine locus of control in recovering members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Variables that might affect locus of control, such as sex, age, job, previous psychiatric treatment, and length of membership in AA were examined. One hundred and fifty-three members of AA took the 24-item Levenson IPC (L-IPC) Scale, and a one-page questionnaire covering the variables of interest. A control group of 212 also took the L-IPC along with the Rotter, Nowicki-Strickland, and Marlowe-Crowne scales. Results reveal that AA members were more external than controls on the I subscale, more internal on the P subscale, and …

A Comparative Study Of Teacher Burnout In Regular And Special Elementary And Secondary Teachers, Carolyn Yvonne Wells Simmons

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent, if any, does stress resulting in burnout differ among regular and special educators. Three hundred regular and special education teachers in the public school systems of Chesapeake and Portsmouth, Virginia participated in the study, The regular teachers represented a range of educational levels from kindergarten to twelfth grade, The special education teachers represented a range of educational levels from pre-school to the senior high level and from self-contained classes to resource rooms. A 2x2 analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. Rank ordering of the mean scores …

Social Sensitivity In Adolescents And Adults With Learning Disabilities, Patricia Anne Jarvis

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate social sensitivity and self-concept in students with learning disabilities and their non-disabled peers. Thirty students each from Junior and Senior public high schools and a community college in Tidewater, Virginia participated in the study with 15 learning disabled and 15 non-disabled students from each of the three grade levels (N-90). Students were individually assessed in 50 minute interviews for their accuracy in interpreting the thoughts and feelings of actors in tape-recorded stories depicting two adults in happy, angry, anxious, and sad interactions. A questionnaire measuring self-concept in learning situations as a …

The Development Of Learned Helplessness In Retarded And Non-Retarded Children, Jennifer Miller Schwartz

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Studies have suggested that, when mental ages are equal, mentally retarded children exhibit more symptoms of learned helplessness following experience with failure than do non-retarded children, i.e., low IQ, leads to helplessness. The present study hypothesized that IQ alone did not lead to helplessness, but that chronological age played an important role in its development. It was thought that perhaps the different levels of helplessness present in the two populations was due to the age difference necessary to make their mental ages equivalent. To test this possibility, l05 retarded, average and bright children (MA= 5.25 - 17.33 years; CA= 6.25 …

Stress Appraisals And Performance In An Academic Setting, Michele Terranova

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Stressful appraisals and performance were measured in an achievement-oriented setting. The coping disposition of sensitization, locus of control, and specific attribution for control were expected to influence both the stress appraisal process and the outcome of performance. Assessment of students' subjective stress levels, personality variables, and attributions for control were obtained at the beginning of a difficult class required for a major in psychology. Those students perceiving that the outcome of the course would depend on their ability and effort displayed significantly less subjective stress. Performance measures, as indicated by a grade on a paper with the students' grade point …

The Effects Of Amphetamine And Ethanol On Habituation Of Exploratory Responses Of Rats In Novel And Familiar Environments, Kuen-Teng Kao

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

To study the relationship between level of arousal and rate of habituation in rats, the current research manipulated arousal level using sedatives (ethanol 200 and 600 mg/kg) and stimulants(d-amphetamine 0.6 and 2.4 mg/kg). Furthermore, in order to investigate the possible contributions of differences in familiarity of the subjects with the test environment in producing discrepant reports about arousal-habituation relationships, half of the rats were tested in a completely novel cage without saline- pre-injection, while the other half were repeatedly given salinepreinjections and exposures to the test cage. Habituation was measured mainly as rate of change of responding level; i.e. slope …

A Comparative Study Between A Readiness Measure And An Achievement Test As Measured By The Metropolitan Readiness Test And The Science Research Associates Achievement Series, Linda L. Ditchburn

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this research was to complete an experimental study which would investigate the nature of the relationship between readiness and achievement. Data collection included two components: scores from the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT), administered at the kindergarten level; and scores from the Science Research Associates (SRA) Achievement Series, administered to the same 284 subjects at the fourth grade level. Correlation coefficients between these two tests were determined for all subtests, total tests, composites, and the Educational Ability Series. Since correlation coefficients between the MRT and the SRA evidenced significantly positive relation­ ships, the implication is clear that performance …

The Effect Of Crowding On Growth Of The Cichlid Fish, Oreochromis Mossambicus, Bonnie A. Barrows

OES Theses and Dissertations

It has been reported that the Java tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus, displays hypersensitivity to a substance it produces when biomass levels in a flow-through culture system exceed 20 g/1, resulting in reduced growth and high mortality. Experiments on the growth of this species in small tanks were conducted in order to determine whether O. mossambicus produces a growth-inhibiting compound under crowded conditions. This species was successfully maintained at biomass levels of 38 g/1 and 57 g/1 with a total mortality of only 4.5%.

The Java tilapia can grow rapidly in small aquaria, as indicated by the data taken during Experiment …

The Effect Of Therapeutic Touch On Anxiety And Physiological Measures, Marie Nicholas Bremner

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of therapeutic touch to anxiety, blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate of 30 hospitalized women between the ages of 30 and 65 with the medical diagnosis of cancer. Subjects were matched into three intervention groups; three consecutive days subjects received a five minute intervention by therapeutic touch, casual touch, or no touch. A-trait and A-state anxiety were measured by the Self-Evaluation Questionnaires developed by Spielberger, Gorsuch, and Lushene. A factorial two-way analysis of variance revealed that subjects who received intervention by therapeutio touch experienced a significant reduction in A-state …

An Analysis Of The Correlation Between Nurses' Attitudes Toward Death And Their Presence With The Dying Patient, Uvonna Weeks Daniels

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The correlation between the nurses' attitudes toward death, as determined by the Questionnaire for Understanding the Dying Person and His Family, and the nurses' presence with a dying patient at the time of death was analyzed. The subjects were 31 registered nurses employed by eight acute care hospitals in Southeastern Virginia. The nurses were grouped into categories of flexible, moderate, and rigid attitudes toward death, relative to their scores on the questionnaire. Other variables of the nurses' age, sex, religion, strength of religious beliefs, entry level education, highest education level, years of experience, death of family members or friends, attitudes …

The Effect Of A Cardiac Education Program On The Knowledge, Stress, And State Anxiety Levels Of First Time Post Myocardial Infarction Patients In A Post Coronary Care Unit, Jeanine L. Johns

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The effect of a cardiac education program in terms of changes in knowledge, state anxiety and stress were examined for persons suffering a myocardial infarction for the first time. In addition, the relationship between stress and trait anxiety and changes in knowledge and state anxiety were examined. A sample of 20 patients were selected from two medium sized hospitals in Southeastern Virginia. Statistically significant differences at the .01 level were found between the means of the pretest and posttest scores of the experimental group for knowledge and state anxiety using the t test for dependent groups. The same test showed …

Registered Nurses' Ability To Discriminate Similar Human Need Fulfillment Alterations Specific To Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease And To Diabetes Mellitus, Kathleen Bowen Waite

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The problem for this research study was to ascertain if registered nurses of varying educational backgrounds and experience discriminated similar human needs as being altered by specific pathologic states. The two pathologic states studied were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes mellitus, chosen for their high prevalence in the population. A population sample of 55 registered nurses practicing on medical units in five hospital settings were surveyed. Data for this study were collected using the Human Needs Assessment Scales developed for this study. It was determined that registered nurses in this study did discriminate similar human need fulfillment alterations specific …

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, …

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 …

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 …

Effects Of The Rater's Sex And Sex-Role Orientation And The Applicant's Physical Attractiveness Sex And Qualifications On Resume Evaluation, Robert N. Kilcullen

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Androgynous college students (16 males and 16 females) and sex-typed college students (16 males and 16 females) rated the resumes of fictitious applicants for a managerial position. The applicant's physical attractiveness, qualifications, and sex were systematically varied in the resumes. Five-way analyses of variance were performed on the hiring rankings of the applicants and the perceived attractiveness, masculinity, femininity, and social desirability of the applicants. The sex and attractiveness of the applicants significantly affected the hiring decisions, but not as strongly as did the applicant's qualifications. For hiring decisions, the subjects' sex-role orientation moderated the effect of the applicant's attractiveness …

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?

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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

History Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.

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 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 …