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The Effects Of Self-Referencing In The Processing Of Linear Ordering Relations, Hsiao H. D'Ailly Jan 1991

The Effects Of Self-Referencing In The Processing Of Linear Ordering Relations, Hsiao H. D'Ailly

Digitized Theses

The purpose of the present research was to investigate the effects of self referencing in the processing of linear ordering relations in a task designed to simulate certain aspects of classroom mathematics instruction. In each of three experiments, undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology course were asked to read a series of paragraphs each of which contained a 5-term linear ordering relation (e.g., {dollar}\rm A>B>C>D>E).{dollar} After this information was encoded, subjects were asked to make pair-wise comparisons of these 5 terms. Two major factors were tested: the inclusion of a "You" term (Self-Referencing) among the …

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Using Elaborative Interrogation To Help Students Overcome Their Science Misconceptions, Vera Ella Woloshyn Jan 1991

Using Elaborative Interrogation To Help Students Overcome Their Science Misconceptions, Vera Ella Woloshyn

Digitized Theses

The experiments reported here investigated whether a question-answering strategy called elaborative-interrogation would facilitate children's acquisition of science facts. Of particular interest was whether the strategy would help students acquire facts that addressed their inaccurate beliefs, or what are otherwise known as misconceptions. Across two experiments, 140 students in grades 6 and 7 were asked to process individually presented statements. Half of these statements were consistent with their prior knowledge, whereas the remaining facts were inconsistent (i.e., subject to misconceptions). Half of the students in each grade were instructed to read the sentences aloud at a rate that allowed them to …

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Pictures, Words, And Synonymy: Representations And Processes, Terrence Charles Biggs Jan 1991

Pictures, Words, And Synonymy: Representations And Processes, Terrence Charles Biggs

Digitized Theses

A series of four experiments are presented which contrast the hypothesis that synonymy is semantically represented with the hypothesis that synonymy is lexically represented. They also stress the importance of task focal information in the interpretation of experimental results. Current mental models appear to operate with the implicit assumption that synonymy is represented semantically. The findings of Biggs and Marmurek (1983, 1990), that synonymous word-picture prime-target presentations produced greater naming facilitation than their repeated counterparts, run counter to the semantic representation hypothesis. The current investigations manipulated the type and degree of processing overlap between prime and target items by using …

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Psychoanalytic Explanation: A Cognitivist Approach, Aldo Mosca Jan 1991

Psychoanalytic Explanation: A Cognitivist Approach, Aldo Mosca

Digitized Theses

A cognitivist approach is applied in this thesis to the psychoanalytic explanation of neurosis. The received approaches to psychoanalysis, the reductionist and the hermeneutic, are discussed and rejected. The reductionist approach explains neurotic symptoms as discharges of psychic energy; it is characterized by a teleological mode of reasoning, and endures in the mentalistic thesis that neurotic symptoms are to be explained as wish-fulfillments. The hermeneutic approach is centered on the claim that symptoms are symbols of unconscious thoughts, and that psychoanalytic explanation must be understood as a deciphering of seemingly incomprehensible texts.;The cognitivist approach is applied, first, by construing both …

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The Successful High School Learner In Profile: A General Model Of Scholastic And Psychological Characteristics, Michael John Barnes Jan 1991

The Successful High School Learner In Profile: A General Model Of Scholastic And Psychological Characteristics, Michael John Barnes

Digitized Theses

Criticisms of secondary schooling invariably highlight four unresolved issues; weaknesses and deficits in graduates' proficiency, subject area failure rates, disorder in the classroom, and dropout rates. These issues persist despite the efforts of educators, periodic reforms imposed by governments, and a seeming abundance of school learning and achievement research. However, this research primarily concerns either pre- or post-secondary schooling. The limited secondary school research mainly has focused only on particular subject areas and, moreover, has considered relatively few of all the potentially relevant variables. Yet the issues clearly implicate the student as a functional entity of biological, cognitive, and affective …

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The Role Of Natural Constraints In Computational Theories Of Vision, Peter Alan Morton Jan 1991

The Role Of Natural Constraints In Computational Theories Of Vision, Peter Alan Morton

Digitized Theses

The thesis examines the philosophical implications of the computational theory of early vision developed by Marr. According to Marr, early visual processes consist of sequences of "modular" computational mechanisms. These processes rely on functional relations between rates of change in stimulus magnitudes which result from certain contingent, global properties--natural constraints--of the physical world.;Marr argues that explanations of early vision must have three distinct levels of description: computational, algorithmic and physical. In Chapter 1 I defend the explanatory significance of this distinction in levels. In fulfilling its role in describing the dependence of visual processes on natural constraints, the computational level …

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The Role Of Personality Trait Inference In Performance Appraisal Ratings, Paul Kam Chan Jan 1991

The Role Of Personality Trait Inference In Performance Appraisal Ratings, Paul Kam Chan

Digitized Theses

This dissertation focuses on raters' implicit theories of personality and performance and their influence on performance ratings. The manner in which behavioural exemplars are perceived to be associated make up "implicit theories". Implicit theories or inferential networks are developed by individuals based upon their experiences and are applied towards the interpretation of current experiences.;The first study defines explicitly the network of personality and performance interrelationships perceived by senior personnel managers and senior accountant managers who routinely make performance appraisal ratings. This is achieved via a multidimensional scaling of similarity ratings performed upon 20 personality and 8 performance behaviours. Raters' implicit …

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Individuality In Health, Karen Lorraine Horner Jan 1991

Individuality In Health, Karen Lorraine Horner

Digitized Theses

Past research has related a variety of personality traits to environmental stressors, coping behavior, and health. In this thesis, the relation between various traits and the pathways through which they influence health were explored further. It was hypothesized that personality predicts susceptibility to stressors and mechanisms of coping that modify the cognitive and affective reactions that influence health.;Two hundred and forty-seven psychology students completed self-report questionnaires. Ego resilience, internal locus of control, hardiness, extraversion, and low neuroticism were found to load on a factor moderately related to health. Also loading on the factor were objective stressors, coping strategies, perceived stress, …

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Necessity And Sufficiency In Conditional Reasoning, Valerie Anne Thompson Jan 1991

Necessity And Sufficiency In Conditional Reasoning, Valerie Anne Thompson

Digitized Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to contrast two current theories of conditional reasoning. Conditional reasoning entails drawing inferences about situations in which the occurrence of one event is conditional upon the occurrence of another event (e.g., if the car runs out of gas, then it will stall). According to pragmatic schema theory (Cheng and Holyoak, 1985) conditional reasoning is mediated by context-sensitive inference rules that specify the inferences that are pragmatic in a given situation; these rules differ from context to context. For example, the inferences that are thought to be pragmatic in causal situations (in which one event …

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Physiological, Cognitive, And Behavioural Effects Of Assigned Performance Goals, Ian Robert Gellatly Jan 1991

Physiological, Cognitive, And Behavioural Effects Of Assigned Performance Goals, Ian Robert Gellatly

Digitized Theses

The general purpose of this research was to determine whether changes in physiological arousal could be induced in a goal-setting paradigm, and if so, were these changes associated with the cognitive and behavioural effects of assigned performance goals. Two laboratory experiments were conducted to examine the effect of different goal conditions on physiological (skin resistance level and heart rate) and self-report arousal, cognition (performance expectancy/self-efficacy, performance valence, perceived norm, and personal goal), and task performance. In the first experiment subjects performed a simple perceptual-speed task under one of three goal conditions and one of two feedback conditions. In accordance with …

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Differences In "Action Identification" Between Experienced And Novice Counsellors, Brynah Schneider Jan 1991

Differences In "Action Identification" Between Experienced And Novice Counsellors, Brynah Schneider

Digitized Theses

Vallacher and Wegner's (1985; 1987) theory of "Action Identification" was used as a conceptual basis for the empirical examination of possible differences in the understanding of therapeutic actions held by counsellors with different levels of experience. A series of Action Identification Questionnaires was developed and checked for construct validity and test-retest reliability prior to its use in the research reported. In the main study, eighty subjects (20 private practitioners, 32 faculty members, and 28 graduate students) completed the series of Action Identification Questionnaires by rating ten different identifications of seven commonly-employed therapeutic responses. As predicted, factor analyses revealed readily interpretable …

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Psychological Well-Being: Personality And Social Role Perspectives, Kathryn Ann Dance Jan 1991

Psychological Well-Being: Personality And Social Role Perspectives, Kathryn Ann Dance

Digitized Theses

This thesis was concerned with an examination of psychological well-being, defined as consisting of negative affect, positive affect, and self-esteem. Two distinct approaches to well-being were identified (i.e. personality and social role). It was argued that well-being is likely determined by both personality and social role influences, and that these two areas might themselves be interrelated. Both cognitive and affective personality factors were included in this research (i.e. dysfunctional cognitions and affect intensity). Roles were examined at a general level (number of roles and their cognitive representation in terms of complexity) and at a specific level that included assessments of …

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Aspects Of Victorian Psychologism, John F. Metcalfe Jan 1991

Aspects Of Victorian Psychologism, John F. Metcalfe

Digitized Theses

In this essay I present revisionary readings of four Victorian philosophers. I argue that each of them is fundamentally committed to a naturalistic philosophical project called psychologism. The psychologistic readings that this critical stance generates offer resources that may be exploited by contemporary philosophers pursuing their own naturalistic projects.;In the first chapter I sketch the structure and main points of the essay. In the second chapter I suggest that Mansel's Kantian psychologism manages to evade the criticisms of Husserl. This serves to highlight the distance between psychologism and contemporary logic. In the third chapter I argue that Whewell embraces a …

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Stress Management As Prevention Of The Effects Of Stress: A Comparison Of Comprehensive Approaches, Lynn Marie Levy Jan 1991

Stress Management As Prevention Of The Effects Of Stress: A Comparison Of Comprehensive Approaches, Lynn Marie Levy

Digitized Theses

The present study was intended to be a methodologically sound test of the efficacy of three stress management interventions for the purpose of prevention. The long-term impact of several comprehensive stress management interventions was compared on the aspects of coping ability being targetted by the programs, stress, and the adverse effects of stress. Subjects were asymptomatic male business managers and supervisors. Effects of stress were measured by multiple outcomes including psychological and physical health, and work-related variables. Two intensive training programs, cognitive-behavioural coping skills training, and aerobic-exercise and fitness training, and a practically oriented brief-intervention educational program were compared. Methodological …

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Prior Knowledge And Locating Information In Textbooks, Sonya Eileen Symons Jan 1990

Prior Knowledge And Locating Information In Textbooks, Sonya Eileen Symons

Digitized Theses

The present research assessed the impact of prior knowledge on locating information in textbooks. Undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology course located answers to questions related to fall- or spring-term course content in an introductory-level psychology textbook. In Study 1, students were tested in January when they were familiar with fall-, but not spring-term, content. Students found more answers to fall- than spring-term questions. Fall-term exam was correlated with fall search, even after partialling out verbal competence. In Study 2, students were tested in May. There were no differences in search success for fall- and spring-term questions. Fall and …

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The Retirement Process: Changes In The Well-Being Of Male Retirees, Terry Lynn Gall Jan 1990

The Retirement Process: Changes In The Well-Being Of Male Retirees, Terry Lynn Gall

Digitized Theses

Despite considerable interest in the retirement process, surprisingly, few studies have monitored the change in well-being of the retiree pre- to post-retirement. In the present study, 117 male retirees were assessed on several indices of well-being including, physical health, psychological distress, perceived control, retirement and global life satisfaction at 2-4 months pre-retirement, one year post-, and 6-7 years post-retirement. Retirees in the first year of retirement experienced a peak in psychological health and interpersonal satisfaction, as well as had increased energy, greater financial satisfaction than expected, and increased perceived internal control. At this time, retirees who had expected satisfaction with …

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A Systems Approach To Parental Functioning And Family Adjustment, Monica Ruth Gemeinhardt Jan 1990

A Systems Approach To Parental Functioning And Family Adjustment, Monica Ruth Gemeinhardt

Digitized Theses

A model of parental functioning was formulated to integrate the disparate findings from research in child development, child abuse, social support and parenting. The conceptual model, based on family systems theory, interrelated parental Psychological Resources, Social and Financial Support, and Parenting Style with the outcome variable, Family Adjustment. The use of LISREL enabled the evaluation of the measurement and structural qualities of the potential model.;Seventy Ontario families participated by completing survey packages, either in response to solicitation through a school board in a small city, or to newspaper advertisements in a larger city. Seventy children between the ages of eleven …

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Choice Availability And Stress Response, Randolph James Paterson Jan 1990

Choice Availability And Stress Response, Randolph James Paterson

Digitized Theses

A series of studies was carried out in order to determine the effects of choice availability on the magnitude of the stress response. Study One required subjects to rate the stressfulness of a number of imaginally-presented scenarios. The availability of roughly equivalent options did not affect perceived stressfulness relative to single-option conditions, whereas the availability of contrasting options was associated with reductions in rated stressfulness that could not be accounted for by instrumental effects. Study Two used similar conditions, and required subjects to select from an array of one or two volumes of white noise. Both psychophysiological and self-reported evidence …

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Uncertainty Orientation And Achievement-Related Motives As Determinants Of The Motivational Impact Of Self-Discrepancies, Christopher J. Roney Jan 1990

Uncertainty Orientation And Achievement-Related Motives As Determinants Of The Motivational Impact Of Self-Discrepancies, Christopher J. Roney

Digitized Theses

It has been found that the arousal of achievement-related motives is maximized in situations that involve resolving uncertainty for uncertainty-oriented people, and in situations that do not involve uncertainty resolution for certainty-oriented people (see Sorrentino & Short, 1986). Higgins, Strauman, and Klein (1986) proposed that discrepancies between the way we perceive ourselves and abstract representations of what we could be like, or should be like, may determine motivation because of the resulting affect; they suggested that ideal/own discrepancies lead to feelings of dissatisfaction and increased performance, whereas ought/other discrepancies result in anxiety and poorer performance. Self-discrepancies may also involve uncertainty, …

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The Impact Of Expert Testimony Pertaining To The "Battered Woman Syndrome" On Jurors' Information Processing And Decisions, Regina A. Schuller Jan 1990

The Impact Of Expert Testimony Pertaining To The "Battered Woman Syndrome" On Jurors' Information Processing And Decisions, Regina A. Schuller

Digitized Theses

The effects of two presentational forms of "battered woman syndrome" testimony on juror/jury decision processes were investigated. It was hypothesized that the presence of the testimony would influence final verdicts via its mediating effect on jurors' interpretations of trial testimony relating to the defendant's beliefs and actions, and that the impact of the testimony would vary as a function of the degree to which it was linked to the defendant. In Experiment I, subjects (N = 108) read a homicide trial involving a battered woman who had killed her husband and was claiming self-defense. A third of the subjects received …

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The Relationship Between Pain Responsiveness And Disease Activity In Fibrositis And Rheumatoid Arthritis, Roger Alan Scudds Jan 1990

The Relationship Between Pain Responsiveness And Disease Activity In Fibrositis And Rheumatoid Arthritis, Roger Alan Scudds

Digitized Theses

The present research examined the relationship between pain responsiveness and disease activity in patients with the rheumatologic diagnoses of rheumatoid arthritis (R.A.) and fibrositis. Three studies were carried out.;In the first study, 68 R.A. subjects were assessed for levels of disease activity using 7 standard measures, plus the rheumatoid factor titre and the R.A. functional classification. The Basic Personality Inventory was used to measure anxiety, depression, hypochondriasis, and denial. Pain threshold and tolerance levels were taken in each subject using trains of electrical pulses, a constant-pressure algometer, and a variable-pressure dolorimeter. The data were analyzed by multiple regression. The results …

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Cognitive And Behavioral Treatment Of Bulimia: Intertreatment And Intratreatment Effects, Lisa Anne Shatford Jan 1990

Cognitive And Behavioral Treatment Of Bulimia: Intertreatment And Intratreatment Effects, Lisa Anne Shatford

Digitized Theses

The purpose of this research was to investigate the comparative effectiveness of cognitive, behavioral, and cognitive-behavioral short-term group treatment targeted at antecedent stages in the maintenance cycle of bulimia, to clarify the additive contributions of eight cognitive and behavioral treatment components, and to evaluate the effect of adding systematic desensitization to cognitive-behavioral treatment.;The research was conducted in two stages. In the first, 21 women who met DSM-III and DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria for bulimia were assigned to either a behavioral treatment group, a cognitive treatment group, or a waiting-list control group. Treatment was conducted over eight weekly two-hour sessions. Four treatment …

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Social Comparison And Mild Depression: An Investigation Of Individual Differences In A Self-Evaluative Process, Stephen Randal Swallow Jan 1990

Social Comparison And Mild Depression: An Investigation Of Individual Differences In A Self-Evaluative Process, Stephen Randal Swallow

Digitized Theses

Cognitive approaches to mild depression have emphasized the role of negative self-evaluations, that is, beliefs that one is unworthy, deficient, or inadequate in some way, in both the etiology and the maintenance of this disorder. One predominant means of self-evaluation relates to social comparison, or the processes by which individuals compare themselves with other people. Thus, it was hypothesized that mildly depressed individuals may exhibit individual differences in social comparison that increase the likelihood of negative self-evaluations.;In Study 1, mildly depressed and nondepressed subjects were given the opportunity to engage in social comparison following good performances and poor performances on …

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Behavioural Indices Of Emerging Social Competence Of Infants: A Microanalysis Of Early Mother-Infant Face-To-Face Interactions, Douglas Karl Symons Jan 1990

Behavioural Indices Of Emerging Social Competence Of Infants: A Microanalysis Of Early Mother-Infant Face-To-Face Interactions, Douglas Karl Symons

Digitized Theses

The temporal relations of expressive behaviours in early mother-infant interactions were investigated for evidence of infant social competence. Competence was operationalized as an overall increase in expressive behaviour with age, selective display of expressive behaviour while attending to mothers, and onset of expressive behaviours contingent upon those of mothers. Parallel analyses were conducted of maternal behaviours to investigate the behaviour of the senior and presumably "competent" partner. 25 mother-infant dyads were studied longitudinally when the infants were 8, 12, 16, and 20 weeks of age and 32 dyads cross-sectionally at the latter 3 ages (N's = 10, 12, and 10, …

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Philosophical Prolegomena To A Cognitive Theory Of Metaphor Processing, Don A. Ross Jan 1990

Philosophical Prolegomena To A Cognitive Theory Of Metaphor Processing, Don A. Ross

Digitized Theses

The dissertation seeks answers to several foundational questions whose resolution is a necessary prerequisite to the development of a computational theory of metaphor processing. Working within a naturalistic framework, I address three main issues. Does metaphor fall within the domain of semantic theory or pragmatic theory? Is the concept of metaphor embedded in a 'folk' understanding of language and thought, and, if so, will the notion of metaphor-processing figure in any mature scientific psychology? Does the distinction between the metaphorical and the literal inherently involve claims about truth and reference, and, if so, how can this distinction be addressed by …

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The Role Of Family Psychosocial Variables In Glucose Control Of Children And Adolescents With Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus: A Six Month Study, Bonnie Jean Gillis Jan 1990

The Role Of Family Psychosocial Variables In Glucose Control Of Children And Adolescents With Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus: A Six Month Study, Bonnie Jean Gillis

Digitized Theses

The relationship of psychosocial factors to glucose control in persons with Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM) is not clearly understood. The present study examined the effects of sources of stress and its mediators and moderators on glucose control in children with IDDM. Forty children with IDDM and their caretakers were followed for a period of six months with data collected at two 3 month intervals (phase 1 and phase 2). The primary caretaker and child provided ratings of sources of general and diabetes related stress. General and diabetes related social support, coping and behavior measures were collected as well as …

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Investigations Of The Construct Validity Of A New Measure Of The Type A Behaviour Pattern: The Survey Of Work Styles, Anna Gray Jan 1990

Investigations Of The Construct Validity Of A New Measure Of The Type A Behaviour Pattern: The Survey Of Work Styles, Anna Gray

Digitized Theses

Previous measures of the Type A behaviour pattern (TABP) fail to assess the multidimensionality of the TABP. This dissertation evaluates the construct validity of the Survey of Work Styles (SWS), a multidimensional self-report measure of the TABP.;In Study 1, the SWS demonstrated (1) moderate to high internal consistency, (2) moderate correlations with the Jenkins Activity Survey and the Framingham Type A Scale, and (3) a significantly higher TABP classification agreement than other self-report measures with the Structured Interview in a sample of 163 middle-aged male business managers. Three bipolar modal profiles were identified and labelled as the Anger/Impatience, Job Dissatisfaction, …

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Cognitive Components Of Naming In Children: Effects Of Referential Uncertainty And Stimulus Realism, Carla J. Johnson Jan 1990

Cognitive Components Of Naming In Children: Effects Of Referential Uncertainty And Stimulus Realism, Carla J. Johnson

Digitized Theses

The purpose of this research was to identify stimulus characteristics that influence the ease of picture naming in children. Naming is a basic aspect of language behavior that includes such components as object identification, selection of an appropriate name, and generation of the naming response. Little is known about factors that influence the proficiency with which these components are executed. This research attempted to isolate the effects on naming efficiency of: (a) the number of available correct names for a picture (referential uncertainty) and (b) the degree to which a picture realistically represents the depicted object (stimulus realism).;Results from three …

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Individual Differences In The Appraisal Of Stress And The Immunologic Consequences: Psychological Moderation Of Lymphocyte Activation And Cytokine Production, James Patrick Dobbin Jan 1990

Individual Differences In The Appraisal Of Stress And The Immunologic Consequences: Psychological Moderation Of Lymphocyte Activation And Cytokine Production, James Patrick Dobbin

Digitized Theses

A number of studies have adduced evidence suggesting that stressful events affect immunity in humans. The present research was designed to extend this earlier work by assessing cytokine production and blast transformation in mononuclear cells obtained from medical students writing an academic examination. Additionally, the hypothesis that personality characteristics can moderate the relationship between stress and immune functioning was investigated.;A number of response measures were assessed at each of 3 sample times: baseline (time 1); one month later, immediately after subjects had written an examination (time 2); and again 15 days later (time 3). The response measures included mood (subjective …

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Preparation For Undergoing A Noxious Medical Procedure: Interacting Effects Of Information And Individual Differences In Coping Style, Robin Ludwick-Rosenthal Jan 1990

Preparation For Undergoing A Noxious Medical Procedure: Interacting Effects Of Information And Individual Differences In Coping Style, Robin Ludwick-Rosenthal

Digitized Theses

The present research explored several issues pertaining to information seeking as a coping disposition and stress management for patients having to undergo a noxious medical procedure (a cardiac catheterization test). The role of information seeking as a coping disposition was investigated in relation to (1) differences in the disposition of desire for control, to (2) differential effectiveness of an information based preparatory intervention, and to (3) differences in coping efforts made during the catheterization. Seventy-two male and female patients undergoing cardiac catheterization for the first time were randomly assigned to either a high or low information preparation condition. Dispositional desire …

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