Digital Commons Network^™

Homosexual Men And Their Parents: A Study Of Self-Disclosure, Personality Traits And Attitudes Toward Homosexuality., John Claude Grabert

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the research is to investigate an aspect of homosexual experience referred to as "coming out", specifically disclosure of sexual-orientation by homosexual males to their parents. Self-disclosure of sexual orientation is examined in relationship to amount of general self-disclosure subjects engaged in with their parents (as measured by the Jourard Self-disclosure Questionnaire, JSDQ), and subjects' attitudes toward homosexuality (as measured by the Index of Homophobia). The relationship between the amount of general self-disclosure and personality traits (as measured by the Sixteen Personality Questionnaire, 16PF) is also examined. Finally, the homosexual sample is compared to the 16PF normative population …

A Comparison Of Two Developmental Models Of Concept Learning., Roberta Naomi Chinn

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Recent research has identified changes in the strategies used and the shape of learning curves of children learning concepts as a function of developmental level. Two recent models have been proposed to explain these changes. One model views these changes as an improvement of hypothesis-testing strategies. The other model views these changes as a switchover from reliance on one type of learning process to a second type of learning process. The present study compared the two models with respect to the strategies used and the shape of the learning curves of four grade levels of subjects. One hundred twenty-nine children …

A Comparison Of Chronic And Transient Loneliness On The Variables Of Anxiety, Depression And Self-Esteem., Jeanne Lee George

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study sought to determine whether chronic and transient loneliness are meaningful distinctions in loneliness research and to provide data to guide future investigations. To do this, the study differentiated people who reported chronic loneliness from those who reported transient or no experience with loneliness and compared them on the characteristics of trait anxiety, self-esteem, and depression. The subjects were 281 student volunteers, ages 18 to 25, who were enrolled in undergraduate psychology classes at Louisiana State University. Subjects categorized themselves as chronically lonely, transiently lonely, or never lonely on the Personal History of Loneliness Questionnaire (PHOL). Current loneliness was …

Typicality And Familiarity Effects In Children's Memory: The Interaction Of Processing And The Knowledge Base., Gary Todd Rosenthal

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Third- and sixth-graders and adults participated in an experiment based upon Hunt and Einstein's (1981) theory which relates study activities or processing task to subsequent memory performance. Participants performed a processing task designed to emphasize either relational or item-specific information. In addition, the information about the words available in each subject's knowledge base was measured in two ways: relational information was assessed with a typicality rating task and item-specific information was assessed with an attribute listing task. The experiment consisted of three phases. In the first phase subjects performed one of two processing tasks on a list containing typical, atypical …

The Effects Of Word Length, Word Frequency And Word Repetition In Auditory Memory (Lexicon, Verbal Ability, Psycholinguistics), Judith Lutzhoff Scharff

Doctoral Dissertations

Four auditory lexical decision experiments were run to assess the effects of word frequency, word length, and word repetition. Experiment I examined the effects of word length, word frequency, and stimulus repetition on RT. The results demonstrated a significant main effect for length and frequency and a significant length by frequency interaction. Long words showed the greatest frequency effect. There was no significant repetition effect. In this experiment the repeated stimuli were separated by at least seven minutes. Experiment II examined the effect of stimulus repetition with the repeated stimuli separated by 0-15 stimuli. This experiment demonstrated a significant repetition …

Experiential Psychotherapy: Its Theory, Research, Clinical Practice, And Historical Development, Jerry Louis Jennings

Doctoral Dissertations

Historically, experiential psychotherapy evolved from the client-centered approach, which traditionally has been intent on finding better ways to scientifically study and understand complex subjective experience. By the mid-1950's, Carl Rogers made an essential theoretical shift from the usual "static content" view of personality to "the new process conception" of the therapeutic experience. Meanwhile, educated in existential philosophy and phenomenology, Eugene Gendlin advanced this "new process conception" by clarifying the crucial distinction between "direct experiencing" as it is immediately given in awareness, and conceptualizations of that experiencing. Gendlin accurately described the distinct bodily-felt awareness that characterizes consciousness. This "felt-meaningfulness" implicitly contains …

Substance Abuse And Attribution, Karen Ann Towell-Roberts

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was twofold. First, an Attribution of Responsibility for Substance Use scale (ARSU) was developed with a sample of 140 university substance users and 69 substance abusers. Second, this study determined if the actor-observer hypothesis of traditional attribution theory (Jones and Davis, 1965) held using the ARSU.

The ARSU scale contains six questions which focus on an individual's reasons and perceptions of other individuals reasons for initiating and ending substance use. Subjects were also administered the 11 item Rotter's IE scale (Valecha, 1972).

Initial assessments indicated that the ARSU scale was valid and reliable for …

Similar Effects Of Cold Adaptation And Exercise Training On Growth, Maximum Aerobic Capacity, And Metabolism In Young Rats, James Scott Roberts

Doctoral Dissertations

The exact processes underlying dietary-induced thermogenesis (DIT) are unknown. Current research has suggested that DIT and non-shivering thermogenesis (NST) may share common thermoregulatory pathways. If that is so, variables that are known to affect DIT should also affect NST, and vice versa. It is known that exercise increases DIT, while cold-adaption increases NST.

This experiment examined the effects of cold- and exercise-adaption in male and female Sprague Dawley weanling rats. Cold-adaption consisted of 30 days of continuous exposure at 5 Centigrade. Graded exercise training was conducted daily on a treadmill for 40 continuous days.

Cold- and exercise-adaption had similar effects …

Who Volunteers For Adult Development Research? Research Findings And Practical Steps To Reach Low Volunteering Groups, Michael Todd, Keith E. Davis, Thomas P. Cafferty

Faculty Publications

The present study is an attempt to determine volunteering bias in racial, gender, and age groups in an adult development study. Samples were drawn from three different types of organizations in the Columbia, South Carolina SMSA. Volunteering rates were calculated as a function of the number eligible to participate in three age groups: 1) young adult (aged 20-25); 2) middle adult (aged 40-45); and 3) old (aged 60-80). The middle group volunteered at a higher rate than the other two age groups, but this effect was restricted to the white sample. Women volunteered more readily than men, but not among …

Menstrual Cycle Influences On Acute Alcohol Intoxication (Estradiol, Progesterone, Blood Alcohol Level)., Alan Russell King

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Recent studies suggest that the course of acute alcohol intoxication fluctuates as a function of the menstrual cycle. Attenuated behavioral effects of alcohol at descending, as opposed to corresponding ascending, phases of elimination and absorption further suggest that acute alcohol tolerance develops over the course of intoxication. The present study was designed to examine the course of acute alcohol intoxication at different points within the menstrual cycle and to analyze relationships among sex hormone levels and blood alcohol dependent measures. Acute alcohol absorption and elimination was investigated in 12 adult, normally cycling women administered a moderate dose (0.66 ml/kg) of …

Authority Vs. Power: Preference For Control Among Selected Church Structures., Raymond Leslie Houck

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Preference for hierarchical control (PHC) was studied among Catholic priests and religious (ordained and lay) and Baptist ministers in Louisiana and Gulf Coast area (n = 240). Groups represented decreasing strength of hierarchical church structure based on criteria of Mackey (1972). Strength of PHC, as measured by Cochran's (1975) Hierarchical Control Scale, should be influenced by the subject's membership involvement in church structure and his age. The Job Description Index (Smith, et al., 1969) measured job satisfaction (JS) as it related to PHC in the descending order of church structures. Because perceptions differ, JS was analyzed again as a function …

A Study Of The Relationship Of Psychological Androgyny And Sex To The Emotional Adjustment Of Adolescents, John Edwin Miller

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined the existence during mid-adolescence of androgynous functioning (vs. traditional sex-typed behavior as a function of sex differences). Secondly, the study examined the relationships of self-reported degrees of androgynous functioning with assessments of emotional adjustment, based upon self-reports, a teacher's ratings, and a clinician's ratings. A three-stage model of the development of one's sex-role identity (Hefner, Rebecca, & Oleshansky, 1975) was found to explain the transition of sex-typed behavior to androgynous behavior. This model had been empirically tested by earlier research using subjects in late adolescence or young adulthood. A sample of college bound eleventh graders were …

Neural Population Modeling And Psychology: A Review, Daniel S. Levine

Mathematics Technical Papers - Archive

The development of neural population modeling as it relates to psychology is traced from the early 1940s to the present. The evolution of the field has been from descriptions of randomly connected neurons transmitting all-or-none signals to analyses of structured multi-level net-works whose dynamics involve several different spatial and temporal scales. The cybernetic revolution of the 1940s led to the incorporation into digital neural models of such concepts as linear threshold logic, redundant computation. and information. Each of these concepts has more recently been synthesized with learning to generate a set of adaptive neural models. Concurrently, a variety of data …

A Study Of Juvenile Shoplifting Behavior, Judith D. Powell, George P. Moschis

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

With shoplifting being the largest monetary crime in the nation, attempts have been made in earlier studies to profile shoplifters but little attention has been given to conditions leading to such behavior. The present study provides a framework for studying such behavior; it seeks explanation for this type of deviant consumer behavior from theories of developmental psychology and sociological models of human behavior. The focus is on juvenile shoplifters who. are believed to account for the largest percentage of all shoplifters. A survey of 7,379 juveniles demonstrated the usefulness of using interdisciplinary perspectives in understanding and explaining shoplifting behavior.

A Study Of The Effectiveness Of Social Learning Family Therapy For Reducing Aggressive Behavior In Boys, John M. Walker

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effectiveness of the time-limited family counseling model, Troubled families, A treatment program, with a waiting list control for reducing the occurrence of aggressive and disruptive behavior in second through sixthe grade boys. Incoming families to the Family Counseling Project at Indiana State University were randomly assigned to either the social learning treatment condition or to the waiting list control condition. Each of the forty-three families agreeing to participate in the study were scheduled for pre-assessment and screening. The dependent variables investigated included three measures of the target child's behavior as perceived by parents: the Parents Daily …

A Comparison Of Fathers Of Aggressive And Well-Behaved Boys (Midwest, Family, Cognition), Paul William Morris

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this study was to determine if fathers of aggressive boys differed from fathers of well-behaved boys in (a) problem-solving efficiency, (b) family relationships, (c) socioeconomic status, (d) behavioral interactions with sons, and (e) cognitions about these interactions. The sample of families consisted of 17 fathers of aggressive boys and 12 fathers of well-behaved boys. Elementary school teachers nominated boys from their classrooms as aggressive or well-behaved. Families participated in the study only if teacher nominations were confirmed by parents. Fathers engaged in two-five minute, problem-solving discussions with their sons. These videotaped discussions were rated to obtain measures …

A Review Of Communication On Psychological Gender: Actors, Behaviors And Context, J. Indvik, Mary A. Fitzpatrick

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Beyond 'Formal' Vs. 'Informal' Education: Uses Of Psychological Theory In Anthropological Research, Claudia Strauss

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

For at least the last ten years cross-cultural research on the cognitive consequences of education has been dominated by the theoretical dichotomy between "formal" and "informal" education. The paradigm of formal education is the style of schooling developed in the industrialized West. It has been defined as any form of education that is deliberate, carried on "out of context" in a special setting outside of the routines of daily life, and made the responsibility of the larger social group. "Informal education" refers to education that takes place "in context" as children participate in everyday adult activities. It is the predominant …

Problems Of The Multidisciplinary Team, Gladys H. Rumbaugh

Student Work

A review of literature on multidisciplinary teams indicates problems in the teams' functioning center around four questions: (a) Who collects what information for the decision-making process? (b) Is that information based on nonbiased, technically adequate data? (c) Is there active participation by all members in the decision-making process? and, (d) Is there consensus among the team members as to classification, placement, and program planning? In the present paper focus is directed upon question (b). This study assessed the degree of redundancy between the General Reading Comprehension Core of the Test of Reading Comprehension: A Method for Assessing the Understanding of …

California Institute Of Integral Studies -- Catalog 1983-1985, Ciis

CIIS Catalogs Archive

This is the 1983-1985 catalog of courses, staff and faculty for the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS).

Psychology And Its Animal Subjects, Kenneth J. Shapiro

Experimentation Collection

By way of introducing Psychologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PsyETA) to readers of the journal, I have been asked to make some comments about the organization and, from a personal point of view, to suggest some of my own positions and views.

The Effectiveness Of Metamemory Instruction In Promoting Generalisation Of The Keyword Mnemonic Strategy: A Developmental Study, Julia Therese O'Sullivan

Digitized Theses

The effectiveness of an instructional programme, consisting of strategy training supplemented by metamemory instruction in promoting generalisation of the keywod mnemonic strategy, was assessed. Three experiments were conducted to investigate three specific issues. In Experiment 1, the effectiveness of the metamemory instructional programme in promoting generalisation was compared to that of other instructional routines. Eleven-year-old students learned a list of cities paired with their products. Children in the four experimental conditions were instructed in the use of the keyword strategy to learn city-product pairs. In addition, children in three of the experimental conditions received one of the following types of …

The Role Of Individual Difference Factors In The Efficacy Of Covert Modeling And Self-Instructional Training For Fear Reduction, Terrance Michael Vallis

Digitized Theses

This series of studies examined the role of selected individual difference factors in the efficacy of visual imagery (Covert Modeling) and verbal (Self-Instructional Training) coping skills procedures. Specifically, individual differences in imagery-verbal processes were examined. A variety of individual difference measures were employed in an attempt to understand whether previous inconsistent data were due to assessment issues. Also, these studies employed an 'Aptitude-Treatment Interaction' (ATI) design to evaluate the role of the individual difference variables. This design is more powerful than the typical median split procedure.;Study 1 focused on whether ATI effects could be found between Covert Modeling and Self-Instructional …

Marital Shared Problem-Solving: Conceptualization And Assessment, Gary Wayne Austin

Digitized Theses

Marital shared problem-solving has been considered composed of communication and problem-solving skills components. However, the definitions of these components have been confounded by both theories and previous assessment devices. This research project separated the component skills, developed a self-report measure, The Shared Problem-Solving Inventory, and investigated the interrelationship of these skills.;Using a construct approach to test construction, the problem-solving and supportive communication skills were defined, and items were written from those definitions. A novel test format attempted to simulate marital discussions. Two series of multiple-choice items were developed as separate discussions on the typical marital issues of "money" and "contact". …

The Overjustification Effect: An Affective Interpretation, Helena Grace Pretty

Digitized Theses

The purpose of the present research is to investigate the overjustification phenomenon whereby a person who performs an intrinsically interesting activity for an expected, external reward sometimes decreases his or her subsequent interest and engagement in that activity. The determinants of this effect have important implications for the type of contingency payment and reward systems used in organizational psychology and education where sustaining intrinsic motivation is a central concern.;Currently two main explanations of the overjustification process have been given: the self-perception overjustification hypothesis, and cognitive evaluation theory. Research that has been done to assess the validity of these explanations is …

A Study Of The Impact Of The Family Volunteer As A Social Support Intervention With Mothers Of Newborns, Elizabeth Michelle Sullivan

Digitized Theses

The Family Volunteer Project was designed to address two general issues with regard to the area of maladaptive parenting. These were: (1) to contribute to the development of more effective screening procedures for identifying families at high risk for maladaptive parenting; and (2) to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of family volunteers as a promising preventive intervention strategy with respect to parenting problems.;This dissertation focuses upon the second of these objectives. The analyses reported concern the feasibility and effectiveness of volunteer intervention to effect positive change either directly or indirectly upon the psychological well-being, perceived social support and parenting attitudes …

Self-Perceptions And Smoking Behavior, Austin Thomas Deslauriers

Digitized Theses

In order to implement the purpose of this research, it was decided to try to identify a set of self-perceptual variables which distinguished people in terms of their smoking behavior. Smoking behavior was construed as manifesting itself across a continuum from nonsmoking to smoking. This was consistent with the self-orientation of the present research in which smoking is not viewed as a discrete behavior, separate from one's view of self. With the general aim of gathering as much information as possible from a previously unexplored area, a questionnaire was constructed which tapped four aspects of self-perception: general self-description (adjective ratings), …

A Cognitive Structural Approach To Uncertainty Orientation In Terms Of Individual Differences In Construct Accessibility, Gillian Alison King

Digitized Theses

This dissertation examined the view that certainty- and uncertainty-oriented individuals are individuals for whom certainty and uncertainty, respectively, are cognitively relevant (Sorrentino, Short, & Raynor, in press). Study 1 examined whether certainty-related behavioral descriptions about another were better remembered by certainty-oriented subjects than uncertainty-oriented subjects, as a construct accessibility model of differences in the relative accessibility of certainty- and uncertainty-related constructs would predict (e.g., Higgins & King, 1981). Distortions of evaluatively ambiguous and evaluatively unambiguous descriptions were also examined. The data supported a cognitive structural view of individual differences in uncertainty orientation in terms of knowledge structures based on past …

Predicting Job Performance Criteria From Interview-Based Impressions Of Personality, Mitchell Grant Rothstein

Digitized Theses

Two laboratory experiments investigated the utility of evaluating applicant personality characteristics in the employment interview for purposes of predicting relevant job performance criteria. In Study One, three target applicants were created from personality information drawn from the two poles of an accounting/advertising factor dimension and a second dimension. Subjects judged the personality characteristics of the target applicants, their suitability for one of two jobs (accounting/bookkeeping or writing and advertising copy), and their probable level of job performance. It was predicted that job applicant targets congruent with the job characteristics would be judged more suitable for the job than targets who …

Comparison Of Four Models For Predicting Person Reliability, Geziena Cynthia Fekken

Digitized Theses

The purpose of this research was to examine the efficacy of four models for predicting person reliability, which was defined as across-session item consistency. Two prediction models were based on item characteristics alone, namely, p-values and social desirability scale values. Two prediction models attempted to take into account both item and person characteristics. These models were based on individuals' latencies for responding to particular items and on individuals' thresholds for answering items in terms of some item characteristics. The latter model was derived from Jackson's (1968) threshold model for responding which describes the response process with reference to a threshold, …