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Response Rate, Latency, And Resistance To Change, Stephen Joseph Fath

Dissertations

Response rate has been criticized as an adequate measure of response strength on the basis that rate reflects the adventitious reinforcement of interresponse times. Nevin (1974, 1979) proposed relative resistance to change as an alternative measure. Nevin (1974) employed multiple-pacing schedules in which either high- or low-rate requirements were placed in tandem with either VI 1 min or VI 3 min schedules of reinforcement. The results suggested that low-rate responding may be more resistant to change when schedules are equated for reinforcement frequency. Fath and Malott (1979) replicated Nevin's experiment, but found no evidence that contingencies on response rate affect …

An Investigation Of The Relationships Between Various Institutional Variables And Compliance With Title Ix In Intercollegiate Athletics, Richard C. Cadigan

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Addressing Community Awareness Of Self-Help Groups, David Glenn Anderson

Masters Theses

A directory of self-help organizations in Vermilion County, Illinois, was developed as a project to complete the requirements of the Specialist in Education degree through the Department of Education Leadership at Western Michigan University. The intern's training placement was with the Vermilion County Community 708 Mental Health Board, a mental health funding agency.

It was determined that the majority of self-help groups in Vermilion County were not listed in any existing directory and that a directory of self-help groups was needed. A self-help group directory was completed and a spring conference co-sponsored by his Vermilion County Council of Social Agencies …

The Evaluation Of An Incentive Program Used To Recruit Health Club Memberships Through Friend Referrals, Michael D. Bowles

Masters Theses

This study evaluated an incentive program used to recruit memberships through friend referrals in a health club. A multiple-baseline design was used to compare the relative number of referrals made per person in the incentive conditions to the number made in the no-incentive conditions. In the first incentive condition for the two groups involved, the changes in the mean number of referrals per person dropped from .317 and .295 to .129 and .029 under the no-incentive conditions and back up to .291 and .297 under the second incentive condition. In looking at the cost and revenues attributable to this incentive …

Business Office Internship, Kathryn S. Weeden

Masters Theses

Successful operation of a school district depends upon the functions of the business office. This internship at Grand Rapids Public Schools under the supervision of Dr. James Gallagher, Executive Deputy Superintendent of Business Affairs, involved experiences in the school business areas of accounting, data processing, investments, funding, payroll, and purchasing. Knowledge of school business functions will provide the author with the awareness she needs when she attains her career goal working in central office administration, preferably as a curriculum and instruction specialist.

In addition to an introduction this report is divided into four sections which discuss the site and the …

The Menu Formation In A Computerized Nutrition System, Kathleen Ann Kostrzewa

Masters Theses

The creation of a diet is a complex process which involves analysis of a number of critical variables. Due to present technology, computers can be used effectively in menu planning and recipe analysis.

The objective of this study is the utilization of the computer to test the major criteria which must be met in order to produce a diet which meets nutritional, cost, and acceptability requirements. In this thesis, the design and implementation of a computerized menu planning system known as the Nutritional Data Base System is presented.

Increasing Job Performance By Training Employees How To Request Instructions And Feedback, Laverne Talley Alebiosu

Masters Theses

This study investigated the effectiveness of a procedure to increase the job performance, defined as task completion, of four black adolescents serving as child care aides in a day care center. The trainees were taught to request instructions and feedback from their supervisor. They were also taught to self-record the number of requests for instructions and feedback and the tasks they completed. Training procedures therefore involved a method to increase task performance without any direct intervention on increasing tasks and incorporated these direct instruction techniques: Small group instruction; active responding; the model, lead, and test format; and the use of …

An Experiential Project Examining The Realm Of The School Business Function, Robert J. Gabel

Masters Theses

The objective of this experiential project was to examine the role and functions of the school business manager and the school business office.

Major areas that were examined were budgeting procedures, investigation of school district insurance coverage, investigation of developing alternative revenue sources such as a preschool and day care center, and shared time programs.

Through the investigation of these areas it was found that budgeting is an ongoing, year around process. It was observed that the South Haven Public Schools use a form of the Planning Programming Budgeting System (PPBS) and zero-base budgeting as management tools. Further it was …

Learning The Ropes--Survival Techniques For College Freshmen, Gretchen Starks

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

According to Alvin Toffler's book The Third Wave, the expert is not longer on a towering pedestal. More and more, lay people are being added to the decision making process in hospitals, in industry, and even in schools. Parents and students are expressing the new attitude, "You don't have to be an expert to know what you want."

Quick Reviews, Nancy Weddle

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract available.

A Descriptive Study Of Special Programs For Minority Students In Public Four Year Higher Education Institutions Within The State Of Michigan, Richard Redden

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify problems and issues facing special programs specifically for minority students in public four year higher education institutions within the state of Michigan and to describe any relationships existing between the number of problems and issues they face and the variables of (1)recruitment ability, (2)admission ability, and (3)organizational position within the institutions.

A developmental purpose of this study was to propose an up-to-date compendium covering all of the special programs currently operating within public four year higher education institutions within Michigan. This by-product will be shared not only with study participants, but with …

A Confusion Matrix Intelligibility Testing Procedure For Preschool Children, Jane C. Coe-Kruse

Masters Theses

This study was conducted to develop and examine a procedure for testing and analyzing the speech intelligibility of preschool children through the use of a phonetically balanced pictured word list, confusion matrices, and computer analysis. Four subjects and 15 listeners were used to obtain data on perception of sound production. The results indicate that use of this procedure differentiates varying speech intelligibilities and allows for effective analysis of sound production parameters as they pertain to speech intelligibility.

Economic Aid As An Instrument Of Soviet Foreign Policy: The Case Of Ghana 1957-1966, Patricia Masilo Hoeane

Masters Theses

This study examines the role of aid in Soviet policy toward Ghana during the Nkrumah era. Since aid is seen as a means to counter Western and Chinese influence, the paper seeks to establish the extent to which Soviet foreign policy met its goals in Ghana. It also examines the actions of other nations which had vested interests that ran counter to Soviet aspirations. An argument is made that in so far as Soviet aid was used as a response to Western influence it was an inadequate instrument of policy due to its insignificant quantity. In so far as it …

The Effects Of Glucocorticoids On Gluconeogenesis In Diabetic And Normal Chinese Hamsters, Charles James Woody

Masters Theses

The objective of this study was to determine whether diabetic Chinese Hamsters maintained elevated endogenous cortisol concentrations and whether the previously reported elevation in gluconeogenesis in these diabetic animals was correlated with these cortisol concentrations.

It was found that nonketotic diabetic Chinese Hamsters maintained plasma cortisol concentrations similar to those of controls for the morning and evening time periods examined. Their rate of gluconeogenesis and absorption of injected pyruvate is much greater than that of controls in the morning. Furthermore, adrenalectomy increases gluconeogenesis and pyruvate absorption in both diabetics and normals and alleviates the difference seen in these parameters in …

Improving Staff Performance Through Checklists, Duane Lee Bacon

Masters Theses

Analysis of a checklist system suggested that it may be a useful method of improving staff performance and that three features were important: task definitions, recording responses on checklists, and periodic supervisor review. A checklist system incorporating these features was developed for an administrative staff in a large instructional system. A multiple baseline design and one reversal were used with three small groups of front-line staff, whose task completion was determined by permanent products left by the tasks. The percent of tasks completed improved by 28.8% when the checklist system was in effect. This study indicates that checklists may be …

Improving Instructional Skills Of Special Education Teachers Using A Group Training Package, R. Thomas Arkwright

Masters Theses

The objective of the present study was to develop and evaluate a training package which facilitates instructional skills of special education teachers in a practical, cost-efficient manner. After pretraining sessions of staggered baseline lengths, each teacher received sample program forms with written instructions and concise training on usage. As session performance stabilized, three teachers were taught specific performance feedback competencies and began giving verbal feedback during four other teachers' instructional sessions in a multiple-baseline across behaviors design. In addition to instructional competencies,generalization and maintenance effects were also assessed. Results indicate: 1) general training and program materials improved the instructional performance …

Middle Woodland Ceramics Of Northwestern Indiana And Western Michigan, William L. Mangold

Masters Theses

Much information regarding the Middle Woodland occupation of northwestern Indiana and western Michigan has been recovered since the definition of the Goodall Focus by Quimby (1941a). The object of this report is to undertake a detailed stylistic analysis of the ceramic assemblages from Middle Woodland sites, including the vessels used to elucidate Middle Woodland cultural relationships within this region. An attempt is made to establish stylistic zones through the use of typological and attribute analysis.

Stress Relative To The Onset Of Multiple Sclerosis Exacerbations, Charlene A. Horgen

Masters Theses

Twelve Multiple Sclerosis (MS) participants recorded weekly on standardized forms, Life Change Units (LCU) and a Neurological Examination Checklist (NE), to determine if a relationship existed between stress and the onset of MS exacerbations. Dicotomizing the LCU values and contrasting these values with the corresponding NE scores, resulted in non-significance using a t-test. Non-significance was found when contrasting dicotomized NE scores and corresponding LCU values. No relationship was indicated when individual subject comparisons of weekly LCU-NE and LCU-NE with one week lag scores were correlated.

The Effects Of Hutchings’ Low Stress Addition And Subtraction Algorithms On The Accuracy And Rate Of Problem Solving With Low Performing Math Students, Stephen Edgar Hadden

Masters Theses

The accuracy and rate of problem solving using Hutchings' low stress addition and subtraction algorithms was investigated using four, fourth-grade low performers. Two multiple baseline designs were used, (one for addition and one for subtraction) where subjects were required to work addition and subtraction problems using the conventional method during Baseline. As Baseline for each subject stabilized, a brief training program was implemented using Hutchings' low stress addition or subtraction algorithm. Following training, subjects were required to work the addition and subtraction problems using the new algorithm. Probes were administered before and after training to measure knowledge of place value …

A Comparison Of Speed And Accuracy In Addition Calculation For High And Low Achieving Math Students Using The Calculator, Conventional Algorithm And The Hutchings' “Low Stress Algorithm”, Edward S. Drew

Masters Theses

This study was an attempt to compare the differential calculation power (speed plus accuracy) with addition for the conventional algorithm as compared with the Hutchings' low stress algorithm as compared to hand held calculators for high and low achievers with two levels of difficulty. Also, it is a systematic replication of Zoref's (1976) previous research. The subjects were eight third grade students, four male and four female, approximately nine years old. A multielement baseline design was used varying type calculation method within sessions and level of difficulty across sessions. The Hutchings' "low stress" algorithm produced markedly better results in correct …

An Analysis Of Behavioral Approaches To Obesity/Weight Reduction, Charlene Marie Curtis

Masters Theses

Behavioral technology has been applied to obesity/weight reduction. Three problems are identified: (1) the discrepancy between the measurement of, and the duration of time required for the acquisition and remediation of obesity and of weight; (2) the consensus of various reviewers that there are a number of methodological deficiencies in experimental studies termed behavioral approaches to obesity/weight reduction; (3) the absence of expressed methodological criteria stated by reviewers for their recommendations of certain procedures. There is compliance to some of the methodological c rite ria of the experimental analysis of behavior as adapted to obesity, and to weight in the …

An Activity Perspective Of Alcohol Consumption And Problem Drinking Among Older Adults In Michigan, Gerald M. Burns

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Elite Perspectives And Predictive Potential: Park In Korea 1963-1972, Brian Borlas

Masters Theses

This study is concerned with the analysis of suppressive control policies in a centralized and monocratic political system. As the central elite figure in the Republic of Korea from 1961 until 1979, Park Chung-hee directed the growth of a political system which continually reinforced his own personal power. Park's reactions to challenges and crises led him to a policy of systemic manipulation and increased suppression of personal freedoms.

The existence of a large body of writing and speeches by Park makes it possible to examine the development of his personal philosophy as well as providing the basis for a directional …

U-Pb Systematics And Ages Of Rocks From The Zone Of Cataclasis, Bitterroot Dome, Southwestern Montana, Edward Charles Arruda

Masters Theses

The eastern flank of the Bitterroot range, western Montana, consists of a 100 km-long zone of cataclasis which dips to the east. Zircons in sheared granitic plutons from three localities within this zone were dated using U-Pb methods. These zircons, which consist of anhedral cores and euhedral overgrowths, yield concordia lower-intercept ages of 48-52 million years before the present, dates which likely represent crystallization ages of the plutons. Shearing which affected these plutons, therefore, is significantly younger than the 72-76 million year age assigned for eastward movement of the Sapphire tectonic block whose detachment zone has been interpreted as the …

Completing Long-Term Undergraduate Projects: Some Critical Variables, Timothy K. Zoia

Masters Theses

Completion of long-term academic projects involves large amounts of behavior over long periods of time. Steady rates of task completion may be difficult. This study is concerned with the completion of long-term projects by undergraduates who have received a prestigious university scholarship. Project completion and hours worked were correlated with the amount of supervision that the students received. The correlation between frequent supervisory meetings and completing project on time was significant (r=.70; df=1; P<.001). Suggestions for maintaining steady student performance are offered.

Verbal And Non-Verbal Curricula For Teaching Color Names To Preschool Children, Cynthia A. Wagner

Masters Theses

This study examined the effects of curriculum type on the acquisition and retention of color names. Ten 2 to 3 year old subjects were divided into two experimental groups of five each; subjects were of both sexes and approximately equal language ability . In a modified multiple -baseline design, one experimental group received the verbal curriculum and the other experimental group received the non-verbal curriculum. Data were gathered through regular testing of all subjects. Results indicated that the curricula were equally efficient in teaching color names in their respective modalities; there was no significant difference in the mean number of …

A Methodology For Documenting The History Of Michigan Houses Built Between 1830 And 1930, Esther M. Walton

Masters Theses

This thesis delineates the methodology for documenting the history of Michigan houses built between 1830 and 1930* Three major areas of documentation are discussed. They are record search, architectural style and physical examination, as well as the location of relevant material. Each type and kind of public and private records, written, cartographic and visual are explained as to their importance and use for house research.

A brief overview of architectural style is presented along with illustration. Within the architectural style is a discussion on the physical examination of a house.

The conclusions are presented as a case study complete with …

A Comparison Of The Hutchings' “Low-Stress", Fulkerson "Full-Record" And Conventional Addition Algorithms For Speed, Accuracy And Preference With Regular Education Students, John Robert Vanhevel

Masters Theses

The differential calculation power (speed and accuracy) of three different addition procedures were investigated using the Hutchings " Low-stress", Fulkerson "Full-record" and conventional algorithms. The subjects were nine fourth grade students, five female and four male, approximately ten years of age. Elements of both multiple baseline and reversal designs were employed, varying the type of calculation method across phases. After exposure to each algorithm, students were given a choice of methods to use in solving a problem. Results indicated that both the Hutchings "Low-stress" and Fulkerson "Full-record" algorithms were generally superior in producing stable, accurate and efficient calculations. When given …

A Peer-Managed Contract Study Program For High School Students, Jane F. Stinson

Masters Theses

A contract study center was implemented in a high school setting. The center employed peer-tutoring and behavioral contracting procedures. The program was designed to assist students with assigned tasks and to increase the efficiency with which in-school study periods were used. Students either were referred by teachers or volunteered to use the center. The project was implemented for ten weeks on a pilot basis. The results indicated that students used the center extensively and adequately adhered to behavior management requirements. A large proportion of contracts were completed demonstrating that the center procedures were effective in facilitating productivity. Staff evaluations showed …

The Effects Of Total Darkness On Stimulus Control, Richard E. Schulman

Masters Theses

This experiment examined auditory stimulus control in a totally darkened as opposed to an illuminated chamber. All subjects (pigeons) were trained to keypeck in the presence of only a dimly lit green keylight, which was faded until responding was reliably occurring in a totally darkened chamber. When behavior stabilized under a Variable Interval (VI) 30 second schedule of reinforcement in a darkened chamber, subjects were divided into two groups for discriminating training. A Multiple VI 30 second Extinction (EXT) schedule was in effect, with 1-minute components separated by 5-second time-outs. The discriminative stimulus correlated with the VI component was a …