Digital Commons Network^™

A Comparison Of Family Stress With Gifted Children And Non-Gifted Children, Cynthia R. Motley

Theses

The goal of this research was to design and test a psychological attitude measure intended to compare the stress experienced in families of gifted children with the stress experienced in families of nongifted children. After a review of the literature, evaluation by 5 experts and a pilot study with gifted families, a 31 item survey, organized under six categories was compiled. This survey, the Family Stress Scale (FSS) was given to the families of 755 children enrolled in grades 1 through 3, at three schools in the Hazelwood School District. Thirty one families with gifted children and 67 families with …

No Poster Child: The Rise And Fall Of The Field Of Chemical Dependency Treatment, Michael F. Nolan

Theses

This thesis will focus on the development of the chemical dependency treatment field, including an overview of the historical growth of mental health and chemical dependency treatment, and its recent change from a growing to a declining field. It will also examine various theories in the treatment of mental illness and, specifically, chemical dependency, in a historic context, and placing these theories into a unified system of viewing illness in general. Finally, this thesis will explain the growth, then decline, in the field as a result of political, social, and financial developments, and show how these extra clinical influences are …

The Circular Causality And Possible Alleviation Of Pms Symptomology, Linda Whitchurch

Theses

This research was an attempt to investigate the appropriateness of including Premenstrual Syndrome into the revised third edition of the Diagnostic Statistics Manual. The researcher asked 10 women, who felt they were suffering from Premenstrual Syndrome, to compare their normal food intake with a balanced diet and minimal use of stimulants and the ambiguities of the syndrome became apparent. The women who took part in this study of Premenstrual Syndrome and the management of its symptomotology enlightened the author, not only to the multidimensional etiology of the syndrome, but more importantly, to the lack of validation they experienced as women …

The Controversy Of Sex In Advertising, Tammy Bankhead Wright

Theses

Advertising has been highly criticized due to its power to influence people's attitudes and actions. Advertising is the nonpersonal communication of information, usually paid for and persuasive in nature, about products, services or ideas of identified sponsors through various media.

The main idea that will be developed in this culminating project is the fact that although sex in advertising is a part of our culture and society, as a communications device, the use of sex in advertising is not always effective and does not sell most products.

There will be no actual debate to determine what amount of sex in …

Marital Separation And Its Relationship To The Working Status Of Women, Linda Rae Hermelin

Theses

This study was concerned with the working status of married women and what impact, if any, that work status had in motivating these women to initiate marital separation.

The methodology used in this culminating project was qualitative. Research was conducted through personal interviews of approximately one hour in length. The sample consisted of 15 women who volunteered to be part of this study, the majority of whom had participated in one of a number of divorce support groups co-facilitated by the researcher.

The intent of this study was to determine whether or not women who are working full time outside …

An Examination Of Attitudes In Females Identified With An Eating Disorder, Iris Jo-Ann Lee

Theses

The main purpose of this study was to investigate attitude demonstrated by participants in an outpatient multidimensional group treatment program for eating disorders. The problem concerned clarifying the attitudinal differences between eating disordered and non-eating disordered females after involvement in a time-limited treatment group. Procedural guidelines of the study were described for two groups designated as 5 eating disordered experimental subjects and 29 non-eating disordered control comparison subjects. Both groups completed the Eating Disorder Inventory, a 64-item self- report inventory which allowed measurement at pretest and posttest intervals. Data from this measure were collected before the beginning of treatment and …

Acculturation Of The Vietnamese Refugees And Immigrants In St. Louis, Missouri. Exploratory Study, Maria Ratuszynska

Theses

The purpose of this research was to study the acculturation of Vietnamese refugees and immigrants . 44 refugees and 19 immigrants residing in St . Louis, Missouri (city and county) participated in the study. Subjects were administered the Cultural Identity Questionnaire and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 . Demographic information was obtained using a data sheet.

The obtained scores were analyzed using the t-test statistic for equality of means . The independent variables were political status (refugee or immigrant) . The dependent variables were scores on the Cultural Identity Questionnaire for acculturation, and anxiety, depression and total score of the Hopkins …

Religious Conversion And Self Identity, Beth Haley Risner

Theses

This paper discusses the various theories concerning religious conversion. psychodynamic, attribution theory cognitive, attachment theory, role-person merger theory, and faith development theory. Types of religious conversion are distinguished first by the common polarities: e.g. active vs passive, then 6 conversion motifs are explained. The Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS) and a questionnaire were given to a sample (n=30), 97% of whom had experienced an active conversion. It was found that those who had experienced an active, conscious conversion scored significantly higher on 8 of the 10 scales of the TSCS, signifying a stronger sense of self in areas such as …

Bullies And Victims: How Pervasive Is The Problem In American Schools?, Gail L. Riebling

Theses

Since the topic of bullying has been given little professional attention in the United States, this study examined the Incidence of buIlies and victims in an elementary school In Illinois. Also examined were students' perceptions of how teachers respond to bullying and if males and females appear to be equally victimized. The average age of the students responding was 10.9 years. The gender composition of the sample was 54% female and 45% male. Al I of the children were white. The "Set Straight on BulIies Student Survey" was mailed to 87 students who had completed fifth grade in spring of …

A Study And Comparison Of The Ericksonian Strategic Style Versus The Medical Model Of Herbert And David Spiegel As An Approach To Hypnotherapy, Walter E. Roberson

Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to compare and contrast two models of hypnotherapeutic technique. The first model is the strategic therapy of Milton H. Erickson, and the second is the medical model approach of Herbert and David Spiegel. A description of hypnosis is given by several researchers as well as a history of hypnosis as a psychotherapeutic tool. Each of the two models are discussed then noting structure, and use in clinical settings. Results of the study indicated that both models were effective modes of treatment, but the medical model had more of scientific orientation and so is better …

Personal Sketches: The Experience Of Role Strain For Fifteen Married, Full-Time Employed Women With Children, Monika Bilger

Theses

Not available.

Sexual Abuse: The Victim's Role In The Incestuous Family System, Margaret Angus Wedbush

Theses

The present study was an investigation of the incestuous family system. Adult survivors of incest were compared with adults currently receiving treatment for stress . It was hypothesized that the extent of reported assumption of maternal roles within the family system would be significantly higher in the abused sample than in the control sample. A secondary hypothesis was that the degree of assumption of maternal roles would be greater for abused subjects reporting an incapacitated mother (due to alcohol/drug abuse) than for abused subjects not reporting an incapacitated mother.

It was found that there was no significant difference between reported …

The Disinhabited Body: A Somatic View Of Personality Development And Psychotherapy, Mecca Antonia Burns

Theses

The body's role in personality development. and psychotherapy :is investigated. The "mind/body split" which pervades our culture prevents us from fully experiencing bodily sensation.

This phenomenon is deeply rooted in the psychophysical dualism postulated by Descartes, and chapter one inquires into the reasons why his theories took hold so firmly. There is a prevailing tendency to treat mind and body as separate entities, and I examine the reasons for this. The emotions appear to be a link between body and mind, but this is specifically where resistance can enter in.

In chapter two, we look at the process in terms …

A Simplified Drive-Reinforcement Model For Unsupervised Learning In Artificial Neural Networks, David B. Suits

Theses

Partly in response to the apparent limitations of explicit symbol processing used by traditional artificial intelligence research, there has been, within the last decade, a growing interest in artificial neural networks. This thesis focuses on the development and testing of a model for describing certain kinds of biological phenomena. The many artificial neural networks available may be classified into three types: (1) self-organizing networks, which have input but no feedback; (2) unsupervised networks, requiring minimal feedback (perhaps a signal indicating success or failure); and (3) supervised models, which employ far more extensive (and, I think, biologically implausible) feedback mechanisms. In …

User Characteristics In Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Michelle Buckenmeyer

Theses

The development of individualized educational environments, to facilitate learning for the diverse population of students in today's secondary school system, has become more prevalent with the increased ease of access to computers that many schools are now enjoying. The use of Computer Aided Instruction is becoming more common as a means for individual tutoring. This thesis explores the problem of individualizing this instruction by analyzing the relationship between preferred teaching methods and computer users" personality types, as defined by the Myers-Briggs type indicator and two other "unscientific" user characteristics. The preferred teaching method was analyzed using various criteria, including user …

Senior Japanese Tourists To Taiwan And Their Marketing Potential: A Case Study, Nai-Chieh Jessie Chen

Theses

For decades, Taiwan's tourism industry enjoyed the great number of Japanese visitors until a few years ago, when the growth rate slowed and even declined. This decline was caused by several factors such as rising price, high appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar, inconvenient visa application procedures, limited airline seats, rising public disorder, and strong competition from neighboring countries. With much money to spend the Japanese tourists were the most welcome group to the world tourism industry. The senior (50 years and older) members among them, in increasing quantity and good financial ability, have become even more desirable among the …

Automated Knowledge Acquisition For Knowledge-Based Systems: Ke-Kit, John Parsons Scott

Theses

Despite recent progress, knowledge acquisition remains a central problem for the development of intelligent systems. There are many people throughout the world doing studies in this area. However, very few automated techniques have made it to the market place. In this light, the idea of automating the knowledge acquisition process is very appealing and may lead to a break through. Most (if not all) of the approaches and techniques concerning intelligent, expert systems and specifically knowledge-based systems can still be considered in their infancy and definitely do not subscribe to any kind of standards. Many things have yet to be …

A Business Proposal For The Design And Implementation Of A Long-Term Health Care Facility, Laura E. Metzger

Theses

This thesis will focus on the possibility of starting a new residential care facility in O'Fallon, Missouri.

In the United States the elderly population is increasing at a faster rate than ever before. It is expected that by the 21st century various forms of elderly health care services will be in high demand.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the revenues and expenses associated with a residential care facility for the elderly. The issues of funding, design, marketing and implementation of this type of business were examined.

Three subjects participated in the study based on their education …

Development Of Cellular Manufacturing Systems For Overall Production Efficiency, Srinivas Lokula

Theses

For years the industrial job shop is facing an increase in complexity and decline in productivity due to increase in parts mix, volume of parts, plant size, machine production rates and part complexity. The development of Group Technology and Cellular Manufacturing seeks to eliminate or minimize complexity and to maximize productivity.

Cellular manufacturing is the physical division of job shop's manufacturing machinery into production cells. Each cell is designed to produce parts requiring similar machinery and machine operations. Cellular manufacturing is one of the best manufacturing techniques to support Just In Time manufacturing and Total Quality Management.

This thesis work …

Design For Manufacturability (Computer Aided Optimum Gear Design), Narayan R. Mareddy

Theses

Design for manufacturing has design as the first manufacturing step. It is important to recognize the importance of design clubing with manufacturing to reduce the production, set up time. In this thesis concepts of design, manufacturing and four different ways of bringing design and manufacturing together are discussed in detail.

As there are large number of variables in the gear rating equations, it is very difficult to achieve optimum design by manual methods unless an extensive trial and error process is carried out. An algorithm has been developed which allows rapid convergence to the optimum gear design. The algorithm has …

Analytical Methodology For Atm Control Panel Design, Donald C. Johnson

Theses

This thesis presents a methodology for control panel design and layout along with a case study of an automated teller machine (ATM). A predictive model of human endurance and fatigue is developed from anthropometric, biomechanical and kinematics research. The layout problem is formulated to assign controls to locations to minimize the fatigue imposed on an operator performing a known set of tasks. A family of optimal and near-optimal layouts are found using conventional algorithms. The final hardware design refinements are suggested by human factors concerns. Ergonomic guidelines are also proposed for software aspects of the design. The methods and guidelines …

Redesign Of Parts And Simulation Of Flexible Assembly Cell For Safety Water Shower Assembly, Balraj Y. Gardilla

Theses

A Design for Assembly (DSA) method is used to analyze the safety water shower assembly and to redesign the components with emphasis on meeting the criteria of allowing for flexible Assembly Cell (FAS). An Expert System is developed to select the right Assembly using VP-Expert. This thesis contrasts the old and new safety water shower assembly designs and describes the design of a final Flexible Assembly Cell. A PUMA 550 robot was investigated for use in the cell design. The flexible Assembly cell is simulated on silicon graphics using the IGRIP software. The economics of each part presentation method is …

The Biological Basis Of Schizophrenia, Franz Sugarman

Theses

None provided.

An Experimental Sequence Examining The Effect Of Task Type, Memory Condition, And Display Presentation Type On Performance Time And Error Rate, Using Columnar Table Versus Vertical Bar Graph Versus Line Graph, Suparna Das

Theses

A total of 126 subjects at various levels of school and a health related manufacturing firm participated in three experiments that compared Tables, Line graphs and Bar graphs forms of data presentation. The experiments were performed each consisting of a training task followed by answering some questions based on the presented material. The experimental series were presented to six groups. Group 1, 3, 5 viewed Line graphs, Tables or Bar graphs respectively while answering the questions while the other three groups answered questions based on memory of either Line graphs, Table or Bar graph presentation.

The independent variables were:

1. Memory …

The Electronic Interpreter For The Deaf, Young-Jun Ko

Theses

None provided.

Fugitive Pieces/Pink, Jo Dagon

Theses

None provided.

Effect Of Developmental Spelling Level On Spelling Achievement, Karen Finn Edwin

Theses

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study was to compare the developmental levels of spelling in first and second graders with measured performance in the classroom over a period of ten weeks.

It was the hypotheses of t his study that children in first and second grade who were functioning at pre-Phonetic stages of spelling abiIity would have difficulty passing weekly classroom spelling tests . A second hypothesis was that students who were developmentally at higher levels would be able to achieve better on weekly spelIing tests.

Procedures

In this study the spelling achievement of thirty-six first graders …

Within Normal Limits, Hikmet Safuoglu

Theses

None provided.

"Because Social Issues Should Be Addressed", Cathrine Ackerman

Theses

None provided.

Visual Determination Of Industrial Color-Difference Tolerances Using Probit Analysis, Gregory Snyder

Theses

A perceptibility study was conducted to visually determine the median tolerance values of 45 color-difference vectors in CIELAB color space using surface mode viewing of paint samples. Nine different color centers, each compris ing five color vectors, were employed to collect a superthreshold dataset. Fifty color-normal observers made quantal judgements under simulated Dg^ illuminant regarding the magnitude of color-difference pairs based on comparisons to a near-neutral color-difference anchor pair. Probit analysis was applied to the response frequencies for each vector to estimate the parameters of the distribution and the median tolerance values. Results indicated the probit adequately models the response …