Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Comparison Of Similar Versus Dissimilar Competing Response Practice In The Treatment Of Muscle Tics, Ellen L. Sharenow

Masters Theses

Miltenberger, Fuqua, and McKinley (1985) reported that the competing response component of the habit reversal treatment package (Azrin & Nunn, 1973) when presented alone was as effective as the entire habit reversal procedure in suppressing muscle tics. In a related study, Miltenberger and Fuqua (1 9 8 5 , in press) reported that the performance of the competing response contingent on the occurrence of a variety of nervous habits resulted in greater response suppression than the non-contingent performance of the competing response. In an effort to determine whether the topography of the competing response was important to the reported effects, …

Rule-Governed Behavior In Preschool Children, Cassandra Ann Braam

Masters Theses

The control exerted by different types of rules on the behavior of preschool children was determined. Using a variation of a multielement design, four topographically similar rules were presented to seven four-year-old children. The rules varied in the deadlines and delay of consequences (rewards) specified. The results showed that: (a) requests or mands specifying only response requirements generally exerted poor control; (b) rules specifying an immediate deadline and an immediate reward exerted strong control; (c) rules specifying deadlines and a one-week delay of the reward exerted good control; and (d) rules specifying no deadlines for completion and a one-week delay …

Tamoxifen Effects Upon Body Weight, Water Intake, And Several Behaviors, And Tamoxifen’S Unconditioned Stimulus Properties In The Conditioned Taste Aversion Paradigm, Steven J. Anderson

Masters Theses

The antiestrogen tamoxifen citrate (Stuart Pharmaceuticals) is indicated for treatment of breast cancer. Tamoxifen (TMX) is frequently employed because of demonstrated effectiveness in tumor reduction and a low incidence of debilitating side effects compared to similar agents. Even though side effects are uncommon with use of TMX, medical and behavioral sequalae have been noted. The present , . study investigated several behaviors in female rats administered TMX in two separate studies. In the first investigation, the effects of 25 daily treatments of TMX upon body weight, water intake, and several behaviors were assayed. In the second study, aversion to a …

Instructional Control Of Leniency In Self-Appraisals, Maria Barnum Nelson

Masters Theses

Self- and supervisor ratings were obtained on four classifications of non-teaching public school employees across two instructional conditions. Self-ratings showed more leniency in the condition where employees were instructed not to meet with the supervisor to discuss the ratings; self-ratings showed less leniency in the condition where employees were instructed to meet with the supervisor to discuss the ratings. Despite foreknowledge of the research question and instructional conditions, supervisors showed a tendency to rate employees differentially according to the instructional conditions. The results of the analyses demonstrate the potency of instructional control on rating behavior by employees and supervisors. Questions …

The Use Of Job Aids As An Alternative To Training New Employees, William D. Powers

Masters Theses

Lack of knowledge required to perform a job, has often been dealt with by implementing some sort of training program. However, some businesses cannot afford to implement training. This study tested the effectiveness of using job aides as an alternative to training two new employees at a small business which had no training program. Step-by-step instructional aids were developed for rebuilding Series 40 MT Delco starters and Series 10 SI Delco alternators. A multiple-base-line between subjects design, with an ABABAB reversal, was used.

The data showed the average time required by the new employees to rebuild Series 40 MT Delco …

Use Of A Supervisory Safety Checklist And Safety Meetings To Reduce And Prevent Hazardous Safety Conditions In An Automotive Plant, Todd Alan Brighton

Masters Theses

Hazardous safety conditions and incidents were operationally defined for an assembly division at an automotive plant. The conditions were observed and recorded on two different employee shifts for an 11 week period. The experimental design used had three distinct phases. In the first phase baseline data were recorded on the number of hazardous safety conditions by two safety observers. In the second phase two shift supervisors used the safety checklist to record hazardous safety conditions. In the last phase data were taken but the supervisory safety checklist was not used. The data from all observations were discussed in safety meetings …

Validation And Validity Generalization Of Placement Exercises Used In The Selection Of Clerical Employees, Keith Edward Mitchell

Masters Theses

A follow-up study was conducted to determine the predictive validity of a group of job-related Placement Exercises used in the selection of clerical employees for a northeastern utility company. The present study was also to determine if the obtained validities could be generalized to similar organizational settings.

The subjects included in this study were 98 clerical employees working in the job classifications of Junior Clerk, Clerk, Intermediate Clerk, and Secretary-Stenographer. The obtained results supported the hypothesis that a positive and significant relationship existed between performance on the Placement Exercises and supervisory ratings of employee job performance. After applying the results …

Effect Of Fixed-Ratio Size On Response-Latencies Produced By Other Variables, Albert Edward Neal

Masters Theses

Using a discrete-trial, two-component multiple schedule, pigeons were required to complete a fixed-ratio in the presence of stimuli correlated with different probabilities of reinforcement (Experiment 1), or different amounts of reinforcement (Experiment 2). The amount of separation of graphed median latencies to the onset of the two stimulus conditions as a function of the different reinforcement conditions was investigated in relation to various fixed-ratio values. It was found that previous researchers had chosen an optimal fixedratio size; larger ratios produced greater separation between median latencies, but at the expense of increased session-to-session variability, while smaller ratios failed to produce median …

The Effects Of Teacher Directed Small Group Instruction On Quality And Control Of Behavioral Contracts In A Large Study Section Of High School Students, Laurie A. Thompson-Montgomery

Masters Theses

Individualized education has been described as the ideal teaching methodology. The purpose of the present study was to individualize teaching procedure through the use of behavioral contracts in a high school guided study class. The goal of the teacher-directed, small group instruction was to teach students the components of a specific contract task. Following this instruction, all students' contracts improved in the percent meeting content criteria. In addition to improvement in contract content, student on-task behavior also increased. Further, the number of student assignments completed on contract which were received by teachers increased after training. It appears that the use …

The Effects Of Self-Evaluation Procedures On The Numbers And Accuracy Of Alphabet Letter Writing Behavior Of Preschool Children, Kevin R. Coleman

Masters Theses

This study assessed the effects of self-evaluation procedures on the rate and accuracy of alphabet letter writing. Three preschoolers served as subjects. During Phase I, students were given instructions, and the experimenter modeled accurate letter writing. During Phase II, instructions and modeling were again presented. Additionally, the students were given a rule statement that instructed them to use a stamper and a stamp pad to stamp their paper after first writing each of a row of four letters. The results indicated that the introduction of self-evaluation procedures was associated with immediate increases in frequency of attempts, but a decrease in …

Applied Undergraduate Training In Psychology And Career Choice, Nancy S. Hinga-Wright

Masters Theses

The present investigation evaluated the relation between additional undergraduate practical training in psychology (other than standard course credit) and the graduate school or career choice of graduates with a bachelor's degree in psychology. Based on data from questionnaires and university student records, the results indicated a positive, significant relation between graduate school choice and subsequent career choice, although there was no significant relation between additional applied training and career choice. The results also showed no significant relation between grade point average and career choice, and sex and career choice. The conclusions suggested several outside variables that may influence students' decisions …

The Effect Of Word Abbreviation On Decoding Speed And Accuracy, Frances Piccione

Masters Theses

An experiment was conducted to verify the existence and determine the magnitude of the human response latency differential between words and their abbreviations in a decoding task. Forty-eight Naval Officer Candidates learned a set of abbreviations obtained from operational aircraft cockpits. Abbreviations and corresponding words were divided into easy and hard difficulty levels. Subjects responded by saying the correct whole-word for both stimulus types. Response times measured by a voice key revealed a mean of 0.534 seconds for words and 0.662 seconds for abbreviations. An analysis of variance produced significant main effects (p < .05) for stimulus types and difficulty levels; the interaction effect was not significant. Also, t-tests for correlated scores revealed significant differences (p < .05) between difficulty levels within stimulus types.

The Effects Of Intermittent Photic Stimulation Upon Respiration Rate And Anxiety, Patricia Moulton Guilford

Masters Theses

An experiment was performed to examine the effects of the visual stimulus property of flicker on respiration rate and state-anxiety level. Forty undergraduate college student volunteers were randomly assigned to three groups which received intermittent photic stimulation (IPS) and a control group which did not receive IPS. Each IPS group received and the range of flicker frequencies, 4 cycles per second to 14 cycles per second, in a different pattern. All subjects were administered measures for trait-anxiety and changes in state-anxiety.

Results suggest that respiration rate positively covaries with the frequency of the intermittent visual stimulus within this range of …

The Effects Of Aspartame On Locomotion And Body Weight In Rats, Linda Dianne Dykema Larsen

Masters Theses

Nutrients, when ingested in isolation from other food stuffs or in excess, may produce drug-like action on neurotransmitter activity in the CNS. Administration of aspartame exclusively or in combination with d-amphetamine was found to produce weight loss and display of emotionality in rats as measured in an open field apparatus. The possible neurochemical action of aspartame was discussed relative to the well documented stimulatory effects on catecholamines of d-amphetamine and three putative mechanisms were explored: 1) formation of minor amines from the increased precursor pool, 2) increased synthesis of catecholamines in response to the increased precursor pool, and 3) decrease …