Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Influence Of Ethnicity, Acculturation And Personality Attributes On Eating Attitudes And Behaviors Associated With Bulimia, Janet Arlene Profit

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Selected Demographic Variables As Predictors Of Behavior Change Among Adolescents In A Residential Treatment Center, Paul Stoltzfus

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Research has demonstrated that theories of coping resources can be clarified by delineating risk factors and protective factors. These factors modulate the impact of traumatic events and which predict treatment outcome. This research project selected variables, conceptualized as risk and protective factors, to predict behavioral changes of adolescents at Chehalem House, a residential treatment center. The predictor variables were gender, age, diagnoses, level of intellectual functioning, the occurrence of sexual abuse, and severity of sexual abuse . The behaviors selected as criterion variables were non-compliance, negative attention seeking, and passivity/depression. Statistically significant regression equations were derived : a positive correlation …

The Role Of Religion In The Psychology Of Coping With Lifestyle Changes And Traumatic Life Events, Tricia C. Drury

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This paper presents a survey of research on the role of religion in the psychology of coping with lifestyle changes and traumatic life events. Specifically, it offers a comprehensive literature review concerning individual differences in religious coping, styles of religious coping, the use of religious coping strategies by older adults, the role of religion in coping with illness, and the role of religion in coping with death. Published literature suggests that religious coping strategies are used frequently and by all types of people in dealing with problems. Suggestions for future research and a personal statement concerning religious coping are also …

Use Of Visual And Tactile Behaviors By Rats (Rattus Norvegicus) In An Object Discrimination Swimming Task, Todd Wiebers

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

When challenged with a cognitive task, rats demonstrate a behavioral flexibility in use and preference of sensory modalities. The present study describes visual and tactile behaviors used by rats in a two choice object discrimination swimming task. The task was designed to preclude use of other sensory modalities and could not be solved via spatial strategies. Fourteen rats learned to criterion a series of 10 discrimination problems. Rats exhibited three stereotypic visual and two stereotypic tactile behaviors over the course of the study. Data analyses indicated that rats demonstrated these behaviors more frequently as they became more familiar with the …

Comparative Effectiveness Of Therapeutic Strategies On Drug Knowledge And Drug Attitude In Inpatient Psychiatric Substance Abuse Population, Amber Haque

Dissertations

This study examined the effects of instructional strategies on the change of knowledge and attitude scores in mentally ill subjects with a history of substance abuse. Twenty subjects from a state psychiatric hospital were randomly divided into one control and three experimental groups. The study period was ten weeks with each session lasting forty five minutes, twice per week. Subjects studied issues relating to drug abuse outside scheduled sessions as they pleased. Pre- and post-test scores were measured by a drug abuse questionnaire developed at the Pennsylvania State University. Hypotheses formed were: (a) drug education improves knowledge and attitude in …

The Acute Effects Of Cocaine In Pigeons Performing Under A Progressive-Ratio Schedule, Claudia Ann Jones

Masters Theses

Although the progressive-ratio (PR) schedule has been used frequently to quantify the reinforcing effectiveness of self-administered drugs, it has seldom been used to examine the effects of drugs on food-maintained behavior and has never been used to evaluate the effects of cocaine on such behavior. In the present study, the effects of acute administrations of cocaine were evaluated in pigeons responding under a PR schedule of food delivery. Overall, cocaine produced a dose-dependent effect on food-maintained behavior. In general, acute administrations of cocaine at 0.56 to 3.2 mg/kg increased breaking points, whereas doses above 5.6 mg/kg decreased breaking points. Low …

Good Grief! Coping With Death And Dying In A Hospice Situation, Pegg Warnick

Masters Theses

The purpose of this qualitative study is to discover and examine the coping strategies concerning death and dying from the perspectives of hospice patients and hospice volunteers. A review of applicable literature, informal but structured interviews and participant observation are procedures for the study. The focus of the study lies in three areas: what are the internal attributes used to cope?; what are the external support systems used to cope? and, what are the adjustments in personal goals? Research for this study was patterned after Hegge's study (1991) who surveyed the coping strategies of the recently widowed elderly. The instruments …

Book Review, Juanita V. Field

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Review of the following: Risk-Taking BEHAVIOR. (J. Frank Yates, ed., Wiley 1992) [244 pp.] Acknowledgements, author index, figures, preface, references, series preface, subject index, tables. LC 91-21229, ISBN 0-471-92250-1. [Cloth $64.95. 1 Wiley Drive, Somerset NJ 08875.

Individual Response To Risk As A Function Of Normative Social Pressure: A Pilot Study Of Seat Belt Use, Kenneth D. Boehm, John T. Keating, Karl W. Pfefferkorn, Audra J. Pfeltz, Brady G. Serafin, Jessica L. Sullivan, Karen L. Thode, Kevin M. Vincent, Juanita V. Field

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors attempt to clarify some of the variables that influence whether people act appropriately when a Risk is substantial and subject to individual control. They do so by reporting results of a pilot study of seat belt use. Also, the authors believe their approach to be generalizable to problems such as encouraging people to test for radon, to use condoms to prevent AIDS or to quit smoking.

Nothing Recedes Like Success - Risk Analysis And The Organizational Amplification Of Risks, William R. Freudenburg

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Professor Freudenburg believes that there is room for improvement in Risk analysis, particularly in drawing on systematic studies of human behavior in the calculation of real, empirical probabilities of failure. The need is argued to be especially acute where technological Risks are associated with low expected probabilities of failure and are managed by human organizations for extended periods of time. This permits complacency to set in.

A Survey Of Certain Food And Alcohol Related Behaviors And Selected Psychosocial Characteristics Of Adult Female Survivors Of Child Sexual Abuse, Kristine Kay Ama

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to describe certain food and alcohol related behaviors and selected psychosocial characteristics of adult female survivors of child sexual abuse. Respondents answered items regarding eating behaviors, alcohol use, psychosocial characteristics, and demographic information. Results of this study are based on the responses to 45 surveys gathered from support groups located throughout Eastern Iowa.

The offenders with the highest reported percentages included in the survey were fathers, strangers, male cousins, stepfathers, brothers, and uncles. Sexual abuse was found to occur most often between the age ranges of 6-10 and 11-15.

The demographic information regarding relationship …

Ua12/2/1 Magazine, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Special magazine edition of the College Heights Herald:

• Poore, Chris. Silent Escape – Amy Deputy, Bulimia

Responsible Environmental Behaviour: A Test Of The Hines Model, Karen Hayward

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As the number and salience of environmental problems have increased so have the number of studies which investigate environmentally responsible behaviour. Hines (1984), after conducting a meta-analysis of this literature, identified crucial variables which predict responsible environmental behaviour. While Hines has proposed a crude model which contains the variables thought to explain this type of behaviour, she has failed to hypothesize about the relationships that exist amongst many of these variables. The present study, therefore, was designed to develop a more elaborate model which attempts to explain some of these relationships, as well as predict responsible environmental behaviour. The sample …

Memory For The Absolute Pitch Of Familiar Songs, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Four experiments were conducted to examine the ability of people without "perfect pitch" to retain the absolute pitch offamiliar tunes. In Experiment 1, participants imagined given tunes, and then hummed their first notes four times either between or within sessions. The variability of these productions was very low. Experiment 2 used a recognition paradigm, with results similar to those in Experiment 1 for musicians, but with some additional variability shown for unselected subjects. In Experiment 3, subjects rated the suitability ofvarious pitches to start familiar tunes. Previously given preferred notes were rated high, as were notes three or four semitones …

Stress, Social Support And Parental Behavior, Mila M. Buset

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present study investigated the relationship between stress, social support and parenting behavior. Eighty-six mothers who had a child enrolled in a daycare center in the Kitchener-Waterloo region volunteered for this study. Participants completed four questionnaires: A Demographic Sheet, the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarck & Mermelstein, 1983), the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (Cohen and Hoberman, 1983), and the Parent Behavior Scale (which was specifically constructed for this study). The overall support scale and the four subscales (tangible, belonging, appraisal, and self-esteem support) were used to determine whether the perceived availability of social support is directly related to parenting behavior …

Drawing With And Without Models: An Examination Of Drawing Behavior In Children And Adults, Jenet Bogles

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Research in drawing development has indicated that individuals’ drawing behavior changes with age. Preschoolers, six, nine, twelve year-olds, and adults participated in the present study since these ages corresponded to the most prominent stages noted in the literature. Part one of this study examined drawing behavior in three drawing conditions: a model-absent condition (C1) in which drawing took place following a brief verbal description, a model briefly-present condition (C2) in which the model on which the verbal description was based was examined and drawn when removed from sight, and a model continuously present-condition (C3) in which drawings were made while …

Assessing Socially Skilled Behaviour For Vocational Tenure In Adults With Developmental Disability, Paula M. Daoust

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Socially skilled behaviour is a critical factor in an individual's ability to secure and maintain employment. Due to the very nature of their handicap, persons with mental retardation often exhibit social skills deficits, thus restricting access to competitive employment and the status of full membership in society that such employment facilitates. Previous attempts to train socially skilled behaviour in persons with mental retardation have been hampered by the lack of a valid assessment tool to evaluate program effectiveness and inform program content. The purpose of this paper was to develop such an instrument by extending work done by Lagreca, Stone …

Increasing The Self-Esteem Of Junior High Emotionally Disturbed Boys, La Rue Eaton Richey

Graduate Theses

Emotional disturbance can be viewed as an inability to manage one's behavior. This inability to maintain self-control in stressful situations represents a serious problem not only for the individual but for family and school personnel. In this study, Reasoner's (1984) Building Self-Esteem program was used with seventh and eighth grade emotionally disturbed boys in a West Texas community. Their self-esteem scores did increase as measured by Coopersmith (1984) Self-Esteem Inventory. *

Perceived And Imagined Tempos Of Familiar Songs, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Two studies investigated the similarity of metronome settings to perceived and imagined familiar songs by subjects unselected for musical ability. In Study 1, mean tempo settings in the two tasks were about 100 beats per minute. Songs with slower perceived tempos tended to be faster in the imagery task and vice versa. In Study 2, subjects set fastest and slowest acceptable tempos for the same set of songs in the imagery mode. These settings were positively correlated with the preferred tempo for the song. Most subjects thought that there were limits on how fast or slow a song could be …

The Relative Contributions Of State And Trait Empathy In The Motivation Of Helping Behaviour, David Scott Melford Pawson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This research examined the relative contributions of situational (state) and dispositional (trait) empathy in the motivation of helping behaviour. Forty W.L.U. undergraduates who volunteered from an original sample of 193 participated in a study in which state and trait empathy were crossed in a 2 X 2 between-subjects design. State empathy was manipulated by perspective taking instructions and trait empathy via a median split of the participants’ Questionnaire Measure of Emotional Empathy scores (filled out previously). Under the guise of an emotional reaction study they were asked to help another student by promising to participate in further research. Both this …

The Impact Of Evaluation Feedback On Affective And Behavioural Reactions, Kathleen Joy Kitching

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A study was conducted to examine the impact of outcome (success or failure) and attribution information cues (none, internal, external) on affective and behavioural reactions to performance feedback. Following the theorizing of Weiner, Russell, and Lerman (1978, 1979) and Liden and Mitchell (1985), it was predicted that the outcome manipulation would determine a global affective reaction and that the attribution information cues manipulation would polarize these reactions. Sixty university undergraduate students were randomly assigned to success of failure on a practice and final creativity test and were induced to attribute their performance to internal or external causes depending on attribution …

Evidence For Classical Projection Or Experimental Artifact: A Failure To Replicate, Phillip Wayne Green

Graduate Theses

Classical, or Freudian projection is a concept which has been widely accepted by psychiatrists and clinical psychologists despite the lack of conclusive empirical evidence supporting its existence. A recent study using the psychodynamic activation technique resulted in evidence which would support classical projection. The present study utilized the same psychodynamic activation procedure using slightly different stimuli. This study resulted in evidence which would not support the concept of classical projection.

The Efficacy Of Biofeedback In The Treatment Of Tension Headaches, Micahel Earl Waters

Graduate Theses

Fifteen adults from the general population with chronic tension headaches were divided into four groups. Four were assigned to relaxation instructions, biofeedback (EMG and temperature), and home relaxation practice; four were assigned to relaxation instructions and biofeedback; four were assigned to biofeedback alone; and three were assigned to a no-treatment group. Subjects completed a ten-day baseline period followed by a three-week treatment period. Measures were taken of headache frequency, duration, intensity, frontalis EMG, and temperature recordings. Comparisons of pre- and post-treatment data indicated that not one treatment group was significantly different from any other treatment group, including the no-treatment group, …

The Correlation Of Physiological Responses To Verbal Behavior During Environmental Stimuli Exposure, Cynthia Lou Baker

Graduate Theses

The study was designed to investigate the hypothesis that various environmental stimuli would elicit specific individual responses, as reflected in autonomic patterns. It then became the aim of the study to see whether the stimuli which controlled the physiological pattern would also control the verbal response. Three female and two male students volunteered for the single-subject experiment, where they were exposed to a 15-slide sequence of environment stimuli. Results indicated that when allowed to verbally respond without rating restrictions, responses varied greatly, limiting the possibilities of comparison. In kind, the physiological responses exhibited great variability. Results also supported the position …

Agentive Theory As Therapy: An Outcome Study, Daniel K. Judd

Theses and Dissertations

The present study evaluated the efficacy of a four-week seminar which emphasized the principles of Agentive Theory. This theory, which is compatible with theories of a phenomenological/ existential perspective, was first developed by C. T. Warner, an American philosopher. Agentive Theorists/Therapists emphasize that our negative emotions, ie., depression, anger, etc. , are assertions or judgments we make and not merely feelings we are responsible for controlling or expressing. Forty-eight outpatients who sought help with personal/emotional problems from a department of behavioral medicine were assigned to either a treatment or waiting-list control Group. Following a four-week treatment phase, the treatment group …

Modification Of Aggressive Behavior In An Adolescent Through The Use Of Imagery Therapy, Julie Jackson Underriner

Graduate Theses

This case study explored the effects of using 12 sessions of Guided Affective Imagery (GAI) as advocated by Leuner to diminish aggressive behavior. The subject for the study was a thirteen-year-old female who resides in a group home facility. Overt behavior change was analyzed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and' the Direct Observation Form (DOF) in a pretreatment, posttreatment, and delayed posttreatment design. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the CBCL revealed no significant change in the subject’s aggressive behaviors. However, the DOF revealed a decrease in the subject’s problem behaviors on three other rating scales and an …

A Comparison Of Positive And Negative Reinforcement Of Fingernail Biting, Naomi Lee Chandler

Graduate Theses

While nail-biting is not considered an important psychiatric symptom in the literature, it is an irritating and disfiguring behavior which calls for innovative intervention in its control. The subject in the present study was a 54-year-old female who spent an appreciable amount of time with facial make-up and hair grooming, but who often tried to hide her hands because of the disfigured appearance of her nails. In a ten-week study comparing the effects of positive and negative reinforcement, the subject was first rewarded for increasing her nail-biting behavior with tokens to be spent for "something to make her pretty". Then, …

Memory For Tune Titles After Organized Or Unorganized Presentation, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Two experiments investigated the structure of memory for titles of 54 familiar tunes. The titles were presented in the form of a hierarchy, with nodes labeled by genre (e.g., Rock or Patriotic). Four groups of subjects received logical or randomized titles, and logical or randomized labels. Goodness of label and title structure had equal and additive beneficial effects on recall with a 3-min exposure of the stimuli. With a 4-min exposure, good title structure became a larger contributor to good recall. Clustering analyses suggested that subjects were mentally representing the tune titles hierarchically, even when presentation was random.

The Effects Of Expectancy, Task Importance And Self-Attention On Task Persistence, Jim Jewett

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study was designed to examine the relative power of control theory (Carver, 1979) and self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1977) in predicting behavioral persistence. This study employed a 2 X 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design. One hundred and twelve undergraduate females were exposed to high and low levels of self-attention and task importance as well as positive and negative self-efficacy and outcome expectancies. Following failure on an anagram task subjects’ persistence in solving in insoluble design puzzle was assessed. Contrary to the hypotheses, the results suggested that self-efficacy expectancies, outcome expectancies, task importance and self-attention do not influence persistence …

The Effect Of Interpolated Continuous Reinforcement Following Fixed Ratio Reinforcement On Resistance To Extinction, Beverly B. Conway

Graduate Theses

The effect on response rates during extinction of interpolating varying numbers of continuous reinforcement sessions after seven fixed ratio-25 sessions was investigated. Rats received either seven, fourteen, or twenty-one sessions of continuous reinforcement. All rats then received seven sessions of extinction. There were three rats in each group. All sessions were thirty minutes long. The results showed rats receiving the CRF schedule for fourteen sessions make the most responses during extinction. Rats receiving the CRF schedule for fourteen sessions make the most responses during extinction. Rats receiving the CRF schedule for twenty-one sessions made fewer responses during extinction. Taken alone …