Digital Commons Network^™

Comparison Of The Effects Of Introversion, Extraversion And Anxiety On Conditioning., Hugh Boyd Wicks

All ETDs from UAB

Extraversion, anxiety, and two different experimental conditions were varied independently in a 2 x 2 x 2 study of eyeblink conditioning and extinction. The Eysenck Personality Inventory and the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale were given to 167 college students of both sexes to measure individual differences in extraversion and anxiety, respectively. Students who scored in the upper or lower quartiles on these tests were classified as either anxious extraverts, non-anxious extraverts, anxious introverts, or non-anxious introverts. Subjects learned under one or the other of two sets of conditions. One set--partial reinforcement, low UCS strength, and short CS-UCS interval--is expected to …

Fitness Level, Type A Behavior, And Anxiety Levels In An Occupational Setting, Susan D. Kilduff

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

An assessment was made of the relationship between physical fitness level, anxiety level and Type A behavior in a non-clinical sample of healthy middle-age adults. Forty nine mid-level managers from Westinghouse Steam Generator and Turbine Division, world Headquarters participated by filling out a battery of tests, including the Jenkins Activity Survey, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and a fitness questionnaire. No significant relationship was found between physical fitness level and Type A behavior. A significant negative relationship was found between physical fitness level and trait-anxiety. Trend analysis revealed a significant linear decrease in mean anxiety scores for groups of increasing levels …

The Effect Of Differential Levels Of Assumed Confidentiality On Amount Of Self-Disclosure In Hight Trait-Anxious Students, Gretchen S. Thwing

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

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 …

The Problem Of Pain: What Do Animals Really Feel?, Dana H. Murphy

Sentience Collection

Much of the contention and confusion that seem inevitably to arise whenever the subject of pain in animals comes up appear to stem principally from problems with the word "pain" itself. When used to describe responses in humans, "pain" can mean any subset of an incredibly broad spectrum of sensations and emotions, ranging from the instantaneous, galvanizing effect of a dentist drill hitting the nerve in a molar, to more airy notions such as the "pain" of rejection or "painfully" embarrassing situations. Humans even use concepts as abstruse as the German term, weltschmerz, or "world pain," which denotes a vaguely …

The Renewal Of Life, Rollo May

Sacred Heart University Review

Rollo May speaks about paradoxes. To confront our anxiety is a way of the renewal of our lives. We must confront our despair if we are to experience renewal in life. Out of the balance between one's freedom and one's nature comes not only health in its dynamic sense but there comes also creativity. May also speaks of the paradox of authentic love arising from the fact that we know that someday we will die. These truths should give us a new approach to our values and meaning to our lives.

This address was delivered in the spring of 1982 …

A Behavioral Intervention To Reduce Presurgical Anxiety, Alison J. Wheaton

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

A multiple baseline study was conducted across five hysterectomy patients between the ages of 30-36. Three patients received a treatment intervention consisting of general and sensory information, muscle relaxation, a cognitive coping technique, and a pre-anesthetic interview. Two yoked, placebo control patients watched a 20-min video· tape about surgery, practiced recovery exercises, and made up stories from TAT cards. Self-report measures taken were the Hospital Stress Rating Scale, a recovery inventory, and postsurgical pain ratings. Physiological measures consisted of pulse, respiration, blood pressure, skin temperature, and blood lactates. Recovery variables were taken on amount of pain medication taken, number ·of …

A Relationship Between Anxiety And Present-Centeredness, Edward Allen

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Casual Attributions Of Performance Outcome On Nature Of Self-Statements And Self-Esteem, Samuel Horace Wood

Master's Theses

36 college students participated in a study to determine the role of causal attributions of success and failure on the modification of self-esteem. Although Brockner (1979) has suggested that the key to augmenting self-esteem is the increasing of positive self-evaluation that follows success, several studies suggest that it is not the positive self-evaluation after success but the negative self-evaluations after failure that are crucial in determining one's level of self-esteem. Thus it was hypothesized in the present study that if external attributions were made for failures while internal attributions for success were maintained, self-esteem would increase. Subjects high and low …

A Comparison Of Cerebral Electrotherapy And Relaxation As Anxiolytics, Robert B. Shelton Jr.

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The treatment of anxiety is assumed to be fundamental to the alleviation of various kinds of psychopathology. Because of the unwanted side effects of anxiety reducing (anxiolytic) drugs, non-pharmacological treatments should be investigated. A considerable body of literature exists on the use of relaxation techniques, such as progressive muscle relaxation, as anxiolytic methods. Previously published reports have suggested that cerebral electrotherapy (CET) also possesses anxiolytic properties. In this study 33 subjects from an alcohol rehabilitation unit were randomly divided into three groups. The treatment subjects received seven 1/2 hour sessions of CET using bi-polar electrodes and .3 ma current or …

State-Trait Anxiety And Incidental Learning Of Shapes And Colors In Learning Disabled Adolescents, Ladonna Gail Cabell

Master's Theses

The present study attempted to examine the effects of anxiety on incidental learning of colors and shapes. The central task was the learning of six eve syllables with meaningfulness association values between 2.41 and 2.49. The incidental taslc was the learning of the color or shape that the syllable was printed on. The subjects were thirty-four male and female adolescents identified as learning disabled. The subjects were divided into three anxiety groups (high, medium and low) using Spielberger's State­ Trait Anxiety Inventory. The results· indicated that anxiety (state or trait) had no significant effect on incidental learning in adolescent subjects. …

Stress Coping Abilities Of Individuals High And Low In Social Anxiety, Rita Marie Wittmer

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of socially anxious persons' tendencies to cope with social stress and to examine the differences in the coping abilities of i ndividuals high and low in social anxiety. The differential coping potential of the cognitive coping technique reversal of affect was tested.

Sixty four {32 control, 32 treatment) college students participated in the pretest and posttest of the experiment in which they self-disclosed information in a stressful situation. Self-report, physiological and behavioral measures of anxiety were recorded. Subjects in the treatment group received the coping skills training to deal with …

Effects Of Deep Touch Pressure On Anxiety., Kirsten Elizabeth Krauss

All ETDs from UAB

Touch, in general, can range from a light and barely perceptible sensation to one which is heavy, deep and painful. The sensation of deep touch pressure exists between these two extremes. Deep touch pressure is defined as the mechanical deformation of the skin, coupled with the stimulation of the underlying fascia and periosteum.

Dental Fear | A Naturalistic Application Of Reattribution Principles, Nancy K. Steblay

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Stimulus Flooding Procedures With Acrophobia: A Test Of Nonspecific Treatment Effects, Gil Krawitz

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Twenty acrophobics recruited from the community and 11 undergraduate student acrophobics were assigned randomly to either a stimulus flooding condition or a placebo control condition.

Initially, care was taken to ensure that the treatments were not significantly different on the dimensions of treatment credibility and generated expectancy for improvement. Additional

measures of expectancy for improvement and treatment believability were taken during and after treatment. Results indicated that neither treatment was significantly different on any of the expectancy measures or on behavioral and self'-report measures of outcome performance. Furthermore, subjects' belief in the efficacy of treatment was significantly correlated with improvement …

Avoidance Learning Of Anxiety : An Application Of Signal Detection Theory, Maribeth Ekey

Master's Theses

The purpose of the present study was to test the appli­ cation of Signal Detection Theory to a model for the development of anxiety. An attempt was made to condi­ tion anxiety responses to decreasing magnitudes of a noxious stimulus through the negative reinforcement of avoidance behavior. An analogue based on Mandler and Watson's (1966) interruption theory was designed. Data from 32 male and female volunteers from the University of Richmond subject pool were used in the final analy­ sis. All students were pretested with Sarason's (1972) Test Anxiety Scale and placed in high- and low-anxiety groups according to …

The Influence Of A Diverse Relaxation Training Program Upon A Measure Of Anxiety, Julie A. Joseph

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Fourteen subjects from among the student and staff population complaining of anxiety, volunteered to participate in a relaxation training program. The subjects were referred by the University Counseling Center, the Office of Undergraduate Advisement, or responded to an article and advertisement published in the school newspaper. Assignment to control or experimental groups was based on date of response and availability for participation. The experimental group, which consisted of eight subjects, received training in deep muscle relaxation, electromyography, skin temperature, and concomitant biofeedback, and systematic desensitization over a three week period. The controls received no relaxation training. Both groups were administered …

The Effects Of A Structured Group Approach On Anxiety In Junior High Youth: A Technique For Paraprofessionals, Lawrence R. Ballering

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effect of a structured group approach on anxiety, using paraprofessionals, was investigated. The variables of setting (junior high school and youth rehabilitation center) and time (pre-post₁ -posttest₂) were also manipulated. Besides anxiety, four other variables were measured. Self-concept and anxiety were measured using the Piers-Harris Children's Self Concept Scale; peer rejection and peer acceptance were measured using the Peer Perception Questionnaire; teacher rating of student classroom behavior was measured using the Student Behavior: Teacher Rating Form.

Sixteen subjects who had been screened with the pretest were randomly assigned to either treatment or control conditions …

The Effects Of Rate Of Presentation Of Therapeutic Procedures In Multimodal Therapy Treatment Of Public Speaking, Generalized, And Nonspecific Anxiety, John W. Mcneill

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Relationship Of State-Trait Anxiety And Type Of Practice To Reading Comprehension Of College Students, Lewis R. Waid

Master's Theses

Sixty male and female college students of average scholastic aptitude, 30 with high A-trait and 30 with low A-trait, were tested for reading comprehension following either massed (MP) or distributed practice (DP) with narrative reading material. Twice during the experiment the students' A-state was assessed through Spielberger's STAI A-state scale. The findings demonstrated; (a) high A-trait students responded to the experimental situation with greater elevations in A-state; (b) performance on the reading comprehension task was related to A-trait level with low A-trait students performing significantly better; (c) the A-state level of the students immediately prior to the reading comprehension test …

A Comparison Of Three Behavioral Methods For The Treatment Of Shyness, Patricia Hunter

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to compare both existing and new behavioral treatments for a prevalent problem, shyness. The relative contributions of mastery imagery, coping imagery, and self-instructions in a systematic desensitization procedure were evaluated in an SPF 3.3 design. Sixteen severely shy college students were randomly assigned to 3 groups of 5, 6, and 5, respectively, and were treated by either desensitization using mastery imagery, desensitization using coping imagery, or desensitization using both coping imagery and self instructions. Results indicate that although each of the three treatment procedures helped to reduce shyness anxiety, the treatment employing self-instructional …

The Effect Of Natural Childbirth Classes On Anxiety In Pregnant Women, Kitty M. Wilkinson

Dissertations and Theses

A study was conducted to investigate the claim made by proponents of the natural childbirth method that attendance in the program results in a decrease of the anxiety commonly associated with pregnancy and delivery. Seventy-two pregnant women filled out the A-State and A-Trait forms of the STAI twice in their obstetricians' offices at points which approximated 6.5 and 8.5 months along in their pregnancies. Subjects who elected not to attend natural childbirth classes evidenced significantly higher state and trait scores as compared to those scores of subjects who did attend classes. Implications for dealing with these differences are discussed in …

A Longitudinal Study, Part Iii: The Relationship Of Weight, Health Status, Diet And Anxiety To Serum Cholesterol Levels In Adults, Kristine S. Saunders

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Over an 18-year period, beginning in 1955, a group of subjects has been studied six times to determine if any relationship exists among serum cholesterol levels, body weight, health status, diet quality and stress or anxiety. For the first four test periods, extending through ages 7 to 16 years, there were 321 subjects. Later, in 1968, 86 of the original 321 subjects, now aged 19-22 years, were able to participate in a follow-up study. The 1974 study was able to involve 30 of the original 321 subjects now aged 26-29 years. Findings show that from approximately the fifteenth year onward …

Relationships Between Sex Role, Empathy And Anxiety, Charles M. Fantz

Dissertations and Theses

Recently Sandra Bem, a psychologist at Stanford University has written about the importance of developing a conception of mental health which is free from culturally imposed definitions of masculinity and femininity. She believes that defining certain behaviors as appropriate only for women and other behaviors as only appropriate for men is restricting and debilitating for both sexes. This sex-typing of behaviors has led to masculinity being associated with assertiveness and dominance, pragmatism, problem solving and task orientation, and a concern for one's individuality, whereas femininity is associated with emotional sensitivity and concern for the welfare of others, the seeking of …

Anxiety Correlates Of Sex Role Identity, Mary Kay Biaggio

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in anxiety levels between the sexes and between sex role identification groups (as defined by scores on a test of masculinity-femininity). Possible explanations for these differences were explored using a questionnaire made up of an openness versus closedness scale, a liberalism versus conservatism scale, and a cross-sex versus same-sex parent identification scale.

A sample of 108 females and 71 males was administered Gough's Femininity Scale, Cattell's IPAT Anxiety Scale Questionnaire, Taylor's Manifest Anxiety Scale, and a questionnaire devised for this particular study.

The sexes did not differ significantly in anxiety level …

State-Trait Anxiety And The Effects Of An Ego-Involving Experience Of Success Or Failure, Kenneth Gerald Teitlebaum

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Situation Anxiety Coping Interventions In A Laboratory Setting, Carole Schmiess

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Differential Approaches To The Reduction Of Phobic Anxiety Responses, Bruce W. Bundy

Master's Theses

This experiment was designed to answer two questions: (1) Is relaxation training a necessary element in the reduction of phobic anxiety responses? and (2) Does reciprocal inhibition by relaxation constitute the most viable conceptual basis for the successful operation of desensitization therapy, as compared to alternative interpretations investigated? An equal number of freshman and sophomore college students were assigned to one of three experimental groups and a control group (Reciprocal Inhibition, Habituation, Facilitation, and Control). Treatment effects were evaluated with regard to reduction of snake-phobic anxiety by way of two physiological measures (skin conductance and respiration) and a behavioral measure …

Non-Contingent Reinforcement In A Counseling Like Situation, Robert B. Shelton Jr.

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine if a variable, non-contingent reinforcement, could account for a significant amount of the effect of psychotherapy. A sample of ninety subjects was drawn from basic psychology classes and randomly assigned to six groups in a variation of the Soloman 4-group design. The treatment groups were connected to sham GSR equipment and told that when a light flashed they had made an anxiety reducing statement and were becoming more mentally healthy. The subjects were given three by five cards upon which were typed positive-negative adjective pairs and told to use the cards as …

An Investigation Of High Anxiety Verbal Behavior, John W. Wright

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.