Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of A Contingency Contract On Bulimic Behavior, Tim Lee Vander Molen

Masters Theses

In dealing with a 22 year old university student suffering from bulimia, two factors of the subject's behavior must be corrected. First, the subject must regain control over eating. This was done by having the subject regulate the type and amount of.food consumed and the time of day in which food was consumed. Second, the subject must correct the misconceptions about body weight, body image, and means of weight control. This was done by having the subject read and discuss relevant literature which force the subject to reevaluate the concepts of body weight and weight control. To clarify the treatment, …

Inhibition Of Transfer Between The Cerebral Hemispheres: A Possible Neuropsychological Mechanism For Some Instances Of Perceptual Defense, Sean R. Wierenga

Masters Theses

The present study investigated the role of inhibition of transfer between the cerebral hemispheres in the manifestation of perceptual defense. Paired contributions of affectively positive and negative pictures were tachistoscopically presented to 25 subjects who were asked to verbally rate the overall affective value of each presentation. Perceptual defense would be indicated if the presentation was rated as being significantly more positive when the left hemisphere viewed a negative picture than the reverse condition. This situation would indicate the inhibition of transfer of negative information from the right hemisphere to the left where the input could be vocalized. Rather than …

A Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Three Behavioral Treatments On Intermittent And Terminal Insomnia, Ellen Chatham Tripp

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of stimulus control, paradoxical intention, and progressive relaxation on intermittent and terminal insomnia. Their effect on sleep onset latency was also analyzed. Each treatment was given alone initially. Subsequently progressive relaxation was added to stimulus control and paradoxical intention.

Each of the eleven subjects served as his or her control by the use of baseline data taken at the beginning of the study. Data consisted of self-report sleep questionnaires which the subjects mailed in daily. Stimulus control was the most effective treatment on intermittent insomnia and sleep onset latency. No …

The Effects Of Cigarette Smoking And Vitamin E On The Morphology Of Mice Testes, Kathleen Grams Hall

Masters Theses

Epidemiological studies have produced evidence to support an association between cigarette smoking and abnormal sperm morphology. At the least , an effect on sperm morphology indicates the involvement of the testis. Therefore, the research was designed to survey the potential of cigarette smoking for inducing histopathology in the testes of mice, and if there was damage, would vitamin E overcome it.

In the present study the testes of C57BL/6 mive exposed to cigarette smoke and/or vitamin E and 22 control mice were histologically processed. Sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin were assessed for total histopathology and revealed statistically significant differences …

Factors Related To Perceptions Of Ethicalness In Behavior Modification, John C. Guthman

Masters Theses

This study examined perceptions of behavior modification held by undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology course and editorial board members for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and for the journal Behavior Modification.

Editor reactions to several terms suggest that ambiguity with respect to the questionable behavior status of several techniques exists within the field. The results show that a large proportion of students, as compared with editors, are unclear as to which techniques constitute behavior modification. In this study, the accuracy of student identification of behavior modification techniques did not significantly relate to perceptions of ethicalness of behavior …

The Survival Of Mesophilic And Thermophilic Bacteria Subjected To Uv Irradiation, Sajida A. Shaikh

Masters Theses

Survival curves were determined for the mesophile, Bacillus licheniformis and the thermophile, Bacillus stearothermophilus after subjecting the cells to ultraviolet irradiation. Cells were grown at 37°C for the mesophile and at 55°C for the thermophile.

At low UV exposure times, the thermophile was more resistant to UV irradiation (had a better survival rate) than was the case for the mesophile. At higher exposure times, the situation was reversed, the mesophile having a greater survival rate than the thermophile.

The effect of changes in the temperature during irradiation was also determined. Thermophiles were greatly affected by changes in temperature while the …

Group Structure And Humor, Effects On Group Cohesion And Affective Meaning, Mary Ellen Rus

Masters Theses

The ability to identify therapeutic components of an activity is an important skill of occupational therapists trained in activity analysis. This study examined potentially significant factors in activity analysis: the use of humor and group structure. Four groups (two with a parallel structure and two with a project structure) participated in a hat making activity designed to elicit humor. Four groups (two with a parallel structure and two with a project structure) participated in a bookmark making activity. Subjects' affective responses were measured by Osgood's short-form semantic differential, and the cohesion among group members was assessed by the Group Environmental …

Speaking Rate Effects On Language Comprehension By Autistic Children, Cheryl Ann Lehr

Masters Theses

This was a study of language comprehension abilities of autistic children who were between 6 and 12 years of age. The 22 subjects were assigned to either a middle functioning (N=14) or high functioning (N=8) group, based primarily on I.Q. scores. The subjects in the two groups each heard four sets of ten sentences divided into two levels of difficulty at four, electronically controlled speaking rates (McCroskey, 1984).

Results of multifactor ANOVA (Winer, 1971) showed language comprehension to be affected by functioning group, sentence difficulty and interactions of sentence difficulty with speaking rate. Speaking rate had an effect on language …

Teaching Mentally Retarded Adults How To Shop For Personal Care Items On A Budget, Daniel Lee Cole

Masters Theses

Three ambulatory mildly mentally retarded adults (2 males, 1 female) were trained to independently shop for personal care items needed and to determine and select items within a $2.00 budget. A task analysis yielded 30 target behaviors. In training correct responses received descriptive praise and smiles, while incorrect responses received corrective feedback, prompts, and/or modeling. A laminated card was used which had typed on it the prices $1.00 to $1.89. Subjects were taught they could afford items whose prices could be matched to one on the card. A multiple baseline across subjects research design was employed. Subjects improved to performing …

Physiologic Responses To Maximal Exercise On A Treadmill, Monarch Bicycle Ergometer And Schwinn Air-Dyne Ergometer, Elaine Jason Naegele

Masters Theses

The study was conducted to determine which of three exercise modes would elicit the highest values for maximal oxygen uptake and maximal heart rate. Maximal graded exercise tests were performed by 20 healthy adults, ten women and ten men. Five of the women and five of the men were trained and the remaining ten were untrained. Each subject used, in a random order: (a) a motorized treadmill, (b) a Monarch bicycle ergometer, and (c) a Schwinn Air-Dyne ergometer. For each test, subjects were encouraged to complete successively harder workload stages, until they reached volitional exhaustion or localized muscle fatigue.

The …

Pedometer Recorded Activity And Self-Report As Measures Of Treatment Outcome In Primary Dysmenorrhea: Relationship To Premenstrual Syndrome, Vicki Link Trejbal

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was threefold: first, to determine if a pedometer measure of motor activity could be used as one indicator of the degree of dysmenorrhea present in an individual; second, to determine the degree, if any, of the relationship present between the measure and self-report measures of symptomatology used in a modified Daily Symptom Rating Scale; and third, to assess the effects of naproxen sodium and a placebo on the self-report measures and the behavioral measure of symptomatology. Three subjects wore pedometers and completed modified Daily Symptom Rating Scale forms throughout the study. Each subject showed treatment …

The Effects Of A Performance-Management Procedure On High School Students With Poor Academic Achievement, Thomas R. Harwood

Masters Theses

This study evaluated the effectiveness of contracting for all classes and the contigent presentation of incentives for school work completed. fifteen high school students who earned a grade point average below 1.5 (on a 4.0 scale) volunteered for the contracting classroom. The subjects were ranked and randomly assigned to the first experimental group, the second experimental group, or the control group. The first experimental group had incentives contingent upon contracts completed, the second experimental group received the incentive noncontigent upon contract completion, and the control group did not attend the contract completion, and the control group did not attend the …