Digital Commons Network^™

Simple And Contingent Chromatic Aftereffects In Pigeons, Jean Roberts Atak

Doctoral Dissertations

In order to assess whether pigeons acquire simple and contingent chromatic aftereffects, four White Carneaux pigeons were trained to discriminate between colored and achromatic slides: Right and left key-pecks were reinforced following exposure to colored and achromatic slides, respectively. The chromatic set included slides of six different hues, added sequentially. Behavior on the first day each new color was added and on two transfer tests involving novel stimuli indicated that a 'chromaticity' concept had been acquired by all four birds.

In Experiment II, an attempt was made to demonstrate the McCollough effect (ME). In five procedures, various conditions known to …

Effects Of Stimulus Complexity, Subject Age, And Stimulus Coding On Selective Stimulus Control, Ronald Louis Michaud

Doctoral Dissertations

Selective stimulus control refers to the functional relationships that are developed between the various stimulus elements of a discriminative stimulus and the subject's response. A multi-element conditional discrimination problem is an effective means of studying these relationships. In the first experiment, preschool and adult subjects were presented with a series of conditional discrimination problems. They were required to respond differentially to two multi-element stimulus cards by touching one of two response circles, one red and one blue. Each problem set contained either two, four, six, or eight elements per stimulus card. The discrimination was established using an errorless training procedure …

Dietary Obesity, Exercise Training, And Thermogenesis In Rats, James Oakley Hill

Doctoral Dissertations

The exact contributions of changes in thermogenesis to the energy balance of either rats or humans is not known. There is some evidence that differences in post-prandial heat production (dietary-induced thermogenesis), can explain why some individuals gain weight easily when overeating and others do not. There is also evidence that exercise enhances dietary-induced thermogenesis. However, it may be the effects of exercise training rather than the exercise itself which enhances dietary-induced thermogenesis. Aerobic exercise training may produce increases in dietary-induced thermogenesis and allow more calories to be expanded as heat when overeating.

In these three experiments, the effects of diet …

Effects Of A Sex Education Workshop In An Adolescent In-Patient Psychiatric Population., Christine E. Angelloz

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The present study was an experimental investigation of the effects of a sex education workshop in an adolescent in-patient psychiatric population. Eleven adolescent patients (seven males, four females) participated in the eight session sex education workshop (SEW). The attention control group was composed of eight patients (four males, four females) who participated in eight informal discussion (ID) sessions. The research utilized a pretest-posttest design. The dependent variables were sex knowledge as measured by the Sex Knowledge Inventory, self-concept as measured by the Total Positive, Self Criticism, and General Maladjustment scales of the Tennessee Self Concept Scale, and personal adjustment as …

Empathy, Communication Skills, And Group Cohesiveness: A Systematic Approach, Michael Hass

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"This article presents an approach to the teaching of interpersonal communication skills to children from 7-11 years of age, and should be of great interest to professionals in the fields of psychology, social work, education and people involved in training such persons."

A Critique Of Three Psychological Theories Of Behavior And The Presuppositions Which Underly Their Model Of Man, Marek Jantos

Master's Theses

Problem Each psychological theory of behavior is based on a specific model of man. The models of man in turn , are built on particular presuppositions concerning the nature of man. To fully understand the implications and limitations of the different models and theories it is necessary to examine the presuppositions upon which each model and theory is built. The purpose of this study is to examine and critique the presuppositions of three models of man as presented in three psychological theories of behavior. Method The method of this study consisted of a search of literature using as primary sources …

How Communication And Confirmatory Strategies Affect The Search For Truth, Michael Ernest Gorman

Doctoral Dissertations

Scientific reasoning has become a topic of recent psychological research. Studies have focused on Karl Popper's idea that scientists should try to falsify, or disconfirm, their hypotheses instead of verifying them. Results indicate that both scientists and college students prefer to use confirmatory logic on simple tasks that model scientific reasoning. The only attempt to instruct subjects to use disconfirmatory reasoning failed (Mynatt, Doherty & Tweney, 1977) though subjects that falsified on their own initiative were more successful than subjects who tried to confirm.

All the studies of scientific reasoning have focused on individuals. But major advances in science are …

Teaching Children With Special Needs: A Western Australian Perspective, Kevin Casey

Research outputs pre 2011

The education of children with special needs in Australia gained considerable impetus from the report of the Interim Committee for the Australian Schools Commission under the chairmanship of Professor Karmel when, in 1973, it made strong recommendations for a substantial increase in the government expenditure on special education. It highlighted inadequacies in the existing services in special education both in terms of facilities and manpower and suggested greater responsibilities for the education of handicapped children be taken by the State Education Departments. The upgrading of qualifications of teachers in Special Education and the necessary establishment of suitable courses in Australian …

A Family Structural Approach To The Study Of Adolescent Depression, Tina Marie Lindegren

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to better understand the antecedents of depression among adolescents by taking a family structural perspective. Based on clinical observations, Minuchin (1974) and Haley (1976) have developed theories of family functioning which define types of dysfunctional family structures (described as patterns of relating among family members) characteristic of disturbed families. This research attempts to empirically assess these dysfunctional structures in relation to adolescent depression.

A self-report questionnaire was designed and administered to 358 students from three high schools in southern New Hampshire. The questionnaire included assessments of: (1) behavioral interactions among family members representing …

A Peer Modeling Treatment Of Impulsive Cognitive Style Of School-Age Children, Barbara Fern Herman

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to test a particular peer modeling procedure, (a) for the modification of impulsive cognitive style and (b) for improvement of academic performance in the areas of Reading, Spelling and Arithmetic. The study was designed to train for and to assess generalization effects of academically relevant training materials. Subjects consisted of seven boys and three girls whose MFF20 scores placed them within the impulsive quadrant of the sampled fifth grade population. All subjects were within the range of ten to eleven years of age and met all the requirements necessary for inclusion in the …

Perceived Uncertainty As A Moderator Of Workrelated Expectancies And Goals Of Real Estate Salespersons, Helen E. Largen

Student Work

The effect of perceived uncertainty as a moderator of work-related expectancies and goals of real-estate salespersons was examined. The effect of tenure as a moderator of these relationships was studied, as well as the effects of uncertainty and tenure on perceived differences in the amount of effort required to meet income goals under changing economic conditions. Additionally, Kopelman’s (1977) return on effort construct was tested in an organizational setting. The results generally provided weak support or none at all for the hypothesized relationships between uncertainty, motivation, goals, effort and tenure. Possible explanations for these results were (a) unique characteristics of …

Attitudinal And Normative Determinants Of Task Performance, Frank Fuglestad

Student Work

Theories of work motivation are numerous and varied. The search for cognitive determinants of work motivation has led to the development of expectancy theories (e.g., Vroom, 1964). The numerous expectancy theories share one assumption - people perform behavior which they expect will lead to positively valenced events. Expectancy attitude consists of beliefs concerning the probability of obtaining outcomes by performing a behavior and the value of those outcomes. A review of expectancy research reveals several inconsistencies.

Television And Perceptions Of Reality, John M. Davis

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of Women's Television Viewing And Its Relationship To Attitudes Toward Women And Sex-Role Orientation, Rosellen Margaret Rosich

Student Work

The major focus of this study was to examine the relationship between television viewing by women and their attitudes toward women and sex-role orientation. The Spence and Helmreich (1972) Attitudes Toward Women Scale was used to measure Women's attitudes toward their rights and roles. Sex-role orientation was measured by Bern' s Sex- Role Inventory (1977). These measures were used to determine whether the amount of TV women viewed was associated with their liberal or conservative attitudes towards women's rights and roles.

The Development And Evaluation Of A Training Program For Residential Child Care Worker Consultants, David A. Smart

Student Work

In 1975 and 1976, a training program for consultants to residential child care workers was developed at Boys Town, Nebraska. A study was conducted to analyze the training program's effectiveness in teaching Boys Town consultants the skills needed to initiate relationships, to conduct direct observation visits, and to give feedback and advice to child care workers. Two groups of consultants received one week of training in July and November, 1976, and a third group did not receive training. Pre and post training data were collected in the form of appropriate and inappropriate consulting behaviors engaged in during videotaped behavior simulations. …

Phototherapy--A Phenomenologically Based Approach To Psychological Assessment, Sheila Culkin

Theses

In this project the use of phototherapy in the psychological assessment process was proposed and explored. The conceptual roots for the phototherapy assessment used here can be found in phenomenological psychological literature, in the history and exploration of photography as an expressive art medium, and in the work of social scientists researching the use of photography in human study. The study investigates whether the photography, its content as well as its formal elements, i.e. camera angle, framing, perspective, lights and darks, distance of the subject from photographer, can reflect the experience and perception of the photographer. It has as its …

Midwest China Oral History Interviews, Randolph Sailer

China Oral Histories

Early Background: family background; education; accepted as missionary by Presbyterian Board of Missions to teach psychology at Yenching University, 1923.

China Experiences: trip to and early impressions of China; teaching responsibilities and description of courses; living conditions at Yenching; political attitudes of students and faculty at Yenching; Christian fellowships at Yenching; personal relationships at and outside of Yenching; response to Communists and Nationalists; changing social attitudes of students during 1930s; personal relationship with students; involvement with "radial" students at Yenching after WWII; response to John Leighton Stuart's ambassadorship; response to the issue of reparations for Yenching; the Communist takeover of …

On The Classification Of Families: Dimensions Of Family Functioning Descriptions., Maria Vidos

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the present study was to determine the degree of commonality among current models of family assessment. The goal was to ascertain the most significant dimensions of family functioning. These ends were achieved by means of a principal components factor analysis. Three hundred Introductory Psychology students at Louisiana State University were asked to describe their family of origin using 240 behavioral statements provided by the examiner. The statements, printed on 3 x 5 cards, were drawn from a pool of assessment models described by Fisher (1976). The students were asked to sort each of the statements by asking …

The Role Of Self-Monitoring In Sales Performance., Robert B. Anderson

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Three groups of salesman were administered Snyder's Self-Monitoring scale in an effort to determine the importance of SM to a salesman's performance. Previous literature has indicated that it is important to a salesman's success for him to possess, (1) effective communication skills, (2) the ability to create a climate of perceived similarity or trust, (3) the ability to accurately sense and interpret the prospect's affective or attitudinal responses, and (4) the ability to adapt oneself appropriately to a variety of situations and prospect responses. Moreover, the research on SM has indicated that self-monitoring individuals possess or should possess these attributes. …

Degree Of Handicap And Adjustment In Children With Cerebral Palsy., Robert Nolan Cuyler

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

A review of the literature on physical disability reveals competing viewpoints on the relationship between degree of severity of handicap and adjustment. Several studies report that severely disabled individuals exhibit more serious adjustment problems than the mildly handicapped, due to the social reactions to the visibility of deficits and to reductions in functioning and coping due to brain dysfunction. Other research efforts report the opposite relationship and hypothesize that the "marginal" position of mildly handicapped individuals leads to inconsistent and confusing expectations and resultant psychopathology. Sampling and assessment difficulties with these studies, especially in regard to the heterogeneity of experimental …

The Effect Of Attribution Training And Visual Response Cues On Persistence Following Failure., Renee Favret

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Achievement motivation and locus of control in black children attending a public school in an economically-depressed area of New Orleans, Louisiana were studied. Past research had found contradictory results regarding locus of control in students who are lacking in achievement motivation. Dweck (1975) suggested that these students were "learned helpless," i.e. they perceived their achievement outcomes to be due to external causes; that these same students could be trained to attribute outcomes to internal causes; and that this attribution training would lead to persistence following failure on achievement tasks. The present study investigated the locus of control of 130 fifth- …

A Validity Study Of The Construct "Most Highly Valued Representational System" In Human Auditory And Visual Perceptions., David E. Lange

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Bandler and Grinder (1975) proposed the construct "most highly valued representational systems" to describe auditory, visual, and kinesthetic perceptual orientations among individuals. They set forth a predicate method for determining an individual's primary representational system. Contrary to Bandler and Grinder's construct, experimental evidence consistently supports the principle of visual dominance among humans. In order to test the effectiveness of Bandler and Grinder's constructs, 221 volunteers were screened by an alternate predicate method. 22 subjects were selected as "highly auditory" and 19 subjects were selected as "highly visual." These 41 subjects were asked to give their first impressions to 75 simultaneous, …

Effects Of The Interaction Of Patient Characteristics And Therapeutic Method On Outcome Of Therapy., Judy Black Avery

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the relationship between outcome in therapy and the variables of method of group therapy employed in interaction with a patient's personality. Four therapy assignments were theoretically and empirically matched with particular groups of patients: Social-Emotional groups for mixed reaction patients, Expressive-Interpretive groups for non-psychotic patients, Emotional-Relationship groups for withdrawn patients, and Social-Management groups for aggressive patients. Subjects in the study were also classified according to time involved in therapy. These categories are: Rejectors, Retreaters, Withdrawers, Walkouts, Self-Terminators, and Finishers. Test data were pre-therapy scores on the Interpersonal Check List (ICL) and Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) for all …

Child Behavior In Venezuela And The U.S.: A Cross-Cultural Comparison., John Michael Fitch

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purposes of this study were (a) to carry out a factor analysis of the Spanish translation of the Children's Behavioral Classification Project questionnaire on data obtained from Venezuela, and (b) to compare the result with that of parallel data obtained in the United States with the original English version of the same questionnaire. The Children's Behavioral Classification Project questionnaire is an instrument designed to be administered to parents of children 6-13 years old for the purpose of contributing information about the child's outward behavior useful in understanding the psychological, physical, or conduct problems which the child might display. The …

Investigation Of Effects Of Hypnosis, Relaxation, And Mental Rehearsal On Performance Scores Of Golfers And Runners., Julie Nelson

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the benefit of hypnotic techniques, relaxation, and mental rehearsal for improvement in performance scores for golfers and runners. Treatments were designed to be similar to interventions reported to be successful with individual athletes yet unsupported by larger investigations. No significant results were obtained for either sport. Explanations for obtained results included an actual absence of true effect, masking of effects by continuing methodological problems in the area of athletics and hypnosis, and the lack of generalizability of positive effect. Well controlled, indepth case studies were recommended for future investigation.

Sex Typed Language., Margaret Estes Johnson

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between psychological sex typing and patterns of language usage. Seventy-nine Louisiana State University undergraduate students were categorized according to the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence, Helmreich and Stapp, 1975). Sex type groups included: psychologically androgynous (High Masculine/High Feminine); masculine (High Masculine/Low Feminine); feminine (Low Masculine/High Feminine); and undifferentiated (Low Masculine/Low Feminine), for both male (n = 40) and female (n = 39). Three written language samples were gathered for each subject. Subjects were asked to spend ten minutes writing in response to each of the three verbal stimuli. Two of the …

The Dimensions Of Social Behavior Of Monkey Infants., Steven Mark Buco

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The present study investigated the underlying dimensions of social behavior of infant monkeys. Three species of mother-infant dyad-reared monkeys were studied: crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis), rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), and patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas). In addition, the behavior of crab-eating macaques reared in mother-sibling-infant triads and in nuclear family triads was investigated. Independent maximum likelihood factor analyses of the mother-oriented and peer-oriented behavior of each of the five groups yielded seven factors, five of which were grossly similar across groups: social play, maternal comfort and care, affiliation, mother-oriented social play, and social exploration. The remaining two factors were not consistent …

Cancer's Impact On Living: A Psychoanalytic Study Of Psychological Effects In Newly Diagnosed, Early Remission, And Late Remission Outpatients., Sandra Brignac Durdin

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Hypotheses derived from psychoanalytic theory of body image were tested using 80 female cancer outpatients at various stages of the disease. Subjects were administered the following measures: Body-Cathexis Scale, Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and a general information questionnaire. Results showed that body image is significantly related to self image and depression, but no significant relationship was found between body image and interpersonal needs behavior scores. Data also suggested the existence of denial as manifested by low self-criticism, personality integration, interpersonal needs behavior, and depression scores. Early remission patients differed most from newly diagnosed …

A Comprehensive Study Of Black Students Attending An Historically Black University: Selected Characteristics, Experiences, Level Of Satisfaction, And Similarity To Other College Populations., Charles Ruffin Burchell

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Although a large body of literature exists on the characteristics and experiences of black students attending predominantly white colleges and universities, very little empirical research on blacks attending predominantly black colleges and universities is available. Existing studies usually lack comparative groups of black and white students who attend predominantly white colleges and universities, hence it is difficult to determine the unique characteristics of the blacks who attend black colleges. To remedy this situation the present study surveyed a representative group of black students attending a publicly-supported black university. The purpose of the study was to determine unique or attractive features …

Stylistic Differences Between Preadolescents And Adolescents In The Expression Of Effectance Motivation., Randell Leon Elkins Jr

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Thirty-six preadolescents and 36 adolescents were given 12 minutes to explore the game possibilities in a TV game apparatus. Two instructional sets included a free play set and an instructional set to master the games. Video tape analysis of the exploratory behavior revealed some differences attributable to cognitive differences between the age groups and also to mastery set differences. The younger group, consistent with Piaget's model, was demonstrated to be less able to isolate and test hypotheses and was more rigid in changing hypotheses. This resulted in a more rapid mastery rate seen in the adolescent group. The instructional set …