Mental and Social Health 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 …

Training Behavioral Assessment Interviewers: A Comparison Of Two Procedures, Raymond G. Miltenberger

Dissertations

Two procedures were used to teach behavioral assessment interviewing skills; a training manual and a one-to-one training procedure consisting of instructions, modeling, rehearsal and feedback. Four subjects, two graduate students and two seniors, were trained with each procedure. Interviewing skills were recorded in simulated assessment interviews conducted by each subject across baseline and treatment conditions. Each training procedure was evaluated in a multiple baseline across subjects design. The results showed that both procedures were equally effective for training behavioral interviewing skills, with all subjects reaching a level of 90-100% correct responding. Finally, a group of experts in behavior analysis rated …

The Rorschach As A Diagnostic Aid In Differentiating The Bipolar Affective Disorder From The Schizophrenic Disorder, Stephen James Newman

Dissertations

Misdiagnosis of the bipolar affective disorder (manic type) has profound consequences Including prescription of counterproductive medication, non-aggressive treatment approaches, extended hospitalizations, and poor prognosis (Fleve, 1975). Misdiagnosis Is extensive and has resulted from the tendency to over diagnose schizophrenia (Fleve, 1975), the tendency to equate psychotic symptomatology with schizophrenia (Garvey & Tuason, 1980), the similarity of psychotic symptomatology of the bipolar affective and schizophrenic disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1980), past confusion regarding diagnostic criteria of the bipolar affective disorder (Spltzer, Williams, & Wynne, 1983), and the absence of psychometric tools to differentiate the bipolar affective and schizophrenic disorders.

The purposes …

The Effects Of Symbolic Modeling And Parent Training On Noncompliance In Hyperactive Children, George Kahle Henry

Dissertations

This study examined the interactions of mothers with their hyperactive children during a structured-task period to determine the effects of a symbolic modeling and parent training intervention on child noncompliance. Analysis of videotaped sequences across all phases of the study indicated that symbolic modeling was not a very effective technique for improving compliance in hyperactive children. Phase one of parent training, which taught mothers appropriate attending, ignoring, and rewarding behaviors, was more effective than symbolic modeling. Phase two of parent training, which introduced a time-out contingency for noncompliance, was the most effective intervention as it resulted in significant reductions in …

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 …

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Premorbid Personality And Depression, William Essenburg

Dissertations

Depression is a significant mental health problem and has been studied extensively for decades. However, there is still disagreement among clinicians and researchers regarding the causes and psychodynamic processes of depression.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between premorbid personality and depression. Using the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) and the Beck Depression Inventory, personality and depression measures were obtained from a sample of adult psychiatric inpatients during acute and remission phases of their hospitalization.

Results obtained indicated that the MCMI scales intended to measure premorbid personality during periods of acute psychiatric illness were sensitive to …

Diagnosis Of Dyslexia: The Utility Of The Boder Test Of Reading-Spelling Patterns, A Representative Case Study Approach, Donna Montei

Dissertations

The first purpose of the dissertation was to study the relationship between Boder test diagnosis (dysphonetic dyslexia) and hemisphere arousal with a representative subject. The relationship between standard methods of diagnosis and Boder diagnosis was studied with five additional subjects. The "dysphonetic" subject was measured with electroencephalogram biofeedback equipment and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) and demonstrated higher arousal in the left hemisphere than the right hemisphere. Four of the five other subjects were diagnosed differently by the Boder test from diagnoses obtained through standard psychological test batteries. The results suggest that the Boder typology constructs may be …

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 …

A Comparative Study Of Alcoholic And Nonalcoholic Women's Perception Of Their Relationship With Their Father, Judith A. Hinga

Dissertations

The literature review outlined the historical perspectives impacting current thinking about the role fathers play in child development. Theories of child development saw the mother as the important parent and all but ignored the father. Later researchers studied the father-daughter relationship and found that the paternal relationship is also an important factor in a female's personality development.

Theories of female alcoholism reviewed in this study indicate that there is a relationship between sex-role conflict and female alcoholism. Existing data show that the family of origin of female alcoholics is characterized by a cold, rejecting mother and a warm, accepting father. …

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 …

An Ecological Study Of Coaching Behaviors And Corresponding Player Performance And Perception And Performance For The Sport Of Collegiate Ice Hockey, Joseph M. Kalinowski

Dissertations

This study examined the methodological feasibility of administering a behavioral assessment system on coaching behaviors under actual collegiate hockey game conditions. The observation system was found to be feasible and accurate with a .866 percentage of inter-rater agreement across all 10 behavior categories coded over 300 reliability observation minutes. The predominant coaching behaviors observed over 11 complete games were found to be general technical instruction (44.3%), general encouragement (21.4%), and organization (14.2%). Reinforcement (4.51%) and punishment (3.56%) coaching behavior rates were found to be unexpectedly low. Reinforcement was found to be inversely related to punishment but positively related to encouragement. …

Wilhelm Reich's Character Analysis In Its Historical Context, R. Daniel Mccauley

Dissertations and Theses

The thesis is an attempt to reconcile contradictions and devise historical meaning from a problematic text. The book is Wilhelm Reich's Character Analysis, first published in 1933. This influential psychoanalytic work embodies both a radical social theory and disturbing authoritarian attitudes. The thesis uses a variety of methodologies, in particular Roland Barthes' techniques for ascribing historical meaning to certain formal qualities of writing. The thesis proceeds from a summary of methodological studies in intellectual history and criticism, including those of I. A. Richards, R. G. Collingwood, and Dominick LaCapra, as well as Barthes, to a description of Character Analysis and …