Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Exploring Adaptive Behavior In Preschool Children, Elaine Michewicz

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Thr. purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate factors related to adaptive behavior or nonacademic behavior and the ability to function in everyday life situations. Preschool children and their mothers served as subjects for the investigation. The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (Wechsler, 1967), the Nowicki Strickland Internal-External Locus of Control Scale for Children (Nowicki and Strickland, 1973), and the Circles and Unusual Uses Tests (Torrance, 1966a) were administered to twenty-five kindergarten children. In conjunction, the Adaptive Behavior Inventory for Children from The System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment by Mercer and Lewis (1977), which is a structured …

The Effects Of Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales As Antecedent And Consequent Stimuli Upon Instructional Behaviors In A Special Education Setting, Dennis L. Van Hartesvelt

Masters Theses

The present study was an attempt to determine the effects of the Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS) upong three distinct instructional behaviors when presented before instructional sessions and when presented after instructional sessions. A multiple baseline design across behaviors was used with four subjects with a reversal element used with one of those subjects. A slight positive effect of BARS presentation upon instructional behaviors occurred. No significant differences were observed between preinstructional and postinstructional BARS presentation. The relevance of the present study is explored in relation to previous BARS studies, along with the implications of the present study.

Quality Control: A Behavioral Perspective, Cathy L. Thorne

Masters Theses

Because of the high costs of quality, many disciplines have developed techniques to assist in its control. This paper examines quality control from a behavioral perspective by analyzing how behaviors affecting may be acquired and maintained and examining some common quality interventions. It is concluded that the application of the principles of behavior analysis can assist in providing an effective quality control technology which can benefit individual employees and the organization as a whole.

The Differential Effects Of Three Job-Related Manipulations On The Task Performance Of Movie Theatre Employees, Raymond Douglas Bennett

Masters Theses

This study examined task checklist use (self-recording with accuracy monitoring and performance standards with performance monitoring) in a program designed to increase task performance of movie theatre employees. A multiple baseline design across tasks was employed. Accuracy of self-recording averaged 68% when the checklists were first introduced alone and increased to an average of 93% when feedback for task performance and recording accuracy was implemented. Employee task performance averaged 48% for Baseline and 92% for the final condition. The introduction of task checklists alone was followed by a mean performance increase of 18%. The introduction of self-recording and supervisory comments …

A Behavioral Approach To The Establishment Of Nutritional Eating Habits In Young Children, Paul Joseph Smith Knight Ii

Dissertations

The present study attempted to delineate the effects of several variables on the development of nutritionally desirable food choices in preschool children. These included: (1) increasing the children's food knowledge through the use of the Nutrition Education Instructional System (NEIS), (2) increasing the children's verbal behavior about food selection prior to making food choices at lunch by requesting the children in a pre-lunch interview to say the rules learned through the NEIS, (3) increasing the children's verbal behavior following lunch by having them identify the foods chosen, and then requesting them to identify whether they had applied the rule, and …

The Use Of A Job Model With Self-Recording And Performance Information As An Alternative To On-Site Supervision, Mark Kevin Forbes

Masters Theses

The action goal of the study was to reduce performance deficits of relief employees who operated a Group Home, though use of a Job Model, self-recording, and performance information. The research goal was to ascertain if generalization occurred from performance accomplishments targeted by the intervention to accomplishments not targeted. Overall performance means increased over 34 percentage points for subjects following the Job model intervention and rose further after self-recording and feedback were introduced. The use of a partial Job Model resulted in performance improving or maintaining in five of six nontargeted accomplishments. When Subject A received the Job Model, self-recording, …

The Perceived Effectiveness Of The Borgess Human Assistance Program As Measured By A Checklist Of Key Components, Kevin G. Clark

Masters Theses

This study investigated the success and perceived effectiveness of an employee assistance program. Phase I consisted of interviewing representatives of the ten companies that were the most frequent users of the program. Phase II examined the program's annual report. The results were tabulated and compared to a checklist of key components which gauge the effectiveness of a successful employee assistance program (Egdahl and Walsh, 1980). The evidence indicated that the program operates in accord with Egdahl and Walsh's checklist.

Vantage Level Analysis: A Potential Tool For Reducing Conflict In A Labor Union, Pamela S.F. Shevchik

Masters Theses

Intra-group conflict among employees can cause a break in the organizational communication which could affect productivity. A major problem is locating the specific disagreements among the coworkers to find the source of conflict and increase the likelihood that a basis for reducing conflict can be found.

This study used the Gilbert (1978) vantage level analysis as a method of sorting agreements and disagreements in a conflicting labor union. The setting was a clerical union in a public school system which was subdivided into three conflicting subgroups. There were 70 female support personnel involved. Data collected demonstrated that it is possible …

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Participation, Expected Payment, And No Expected Payment On Clerical Performance, James Theodore Austin

Masters Theses

Seventeen psychology students participated in a group comparison of the effects of participative decision making, defined as subject decision making in three areas of the experiment, expected payment, and no expected payment on performance of a repetitive scanning task. Measures of performance quantity and quality were assessed directly, while satisfaction and manipulation checks were evaluated via selfreport. Clerical pretest scores were used as covariates in an analysis of covariance, which revealed no significant differences on the quantity dimension but-highly significant differences (p = .03) for quality (error) performance. The findings, which may have been biased by an experimenter "instruction" effect, …

Performance Feedback And Its Relationship To Goal Setting, Douglas A. Nicola

Masters Theses

This study illustrated the effect of information feedback and goal setting on production efficiency. Two male machine operators (ages 29 and 54) working on a low efficiency press were selected for the study. Operators were initially given efficiency information following individual production runs. The next phase involved providing efficiency information and a request that they set efficiency goals for each run. These goals were noted by the researcher and compared with the actual results. In a final phase, high efficiency goals were prompted by the researcher, compared to actual results, and shown to the subjects following each run. Results showed …

The Design And Evaluation Of An Information System For Assessing Performance Appraisal Practices, James Michael Naughton

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Electron Drift Velocities In Xenon, H. L. Brooks, M. C. Cornell, John L. Fletcher, Ian M. Littlewood, Kaare J. Nygaard

Psychological Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

The electron drift velocity has been measured in xenon over the range of reduced field strength 1 Td

Lignite Liquefaction Using Carbon Monoxide And Water In A Hot-Charge Batch Autoclave, Michael L. Swanson

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of temperature history on the liquefaction of lignite were investigated using the UND hot-charge, time-sampled batch autoclave facility. Approximately two hundred grams of moisture- and ash-free lig nite, one hundred grams of water, four hundred grams of hydrogenated anthracene oil solvent and carbon monoxide gas were reacted in both cold- charge and hot-charge experiments. The oil yields and overall conver sions were determined by extraction with cyclohexane and tetrahydrofuran, respectively. Maximum operating pressures ranged from 3670 psig to 3925 psig and the maximum reaction temperature was approximately 420°C in all cases.

Oil yields and overall conversion ranged from …

The Effects Of Overt And Covert Observation On The Clinical Behavior Emitted By Untrained Clinicians, Carol L.K. Middleton

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the effects overt and covert observation of live clinical sessions have on the number of social/ neutral verbal behaviors emitted by untrained speech clinicians and their respective clients enrolled Summer Term, 1980, in the Articulation and Language Clinic at Portland State University, Speech and Hearing Sciences. The Boone-Prescott Interactional analysis System (Boone and Prescott, 1972), a numerically coded system, was used to record clinician-client interactions. Data were obtained for a randomly selected five minute period from each of forty clinical sessions.

College Education And Police Officer Performance: A Critical Assessment, Gary T. Stafford

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Aperiodic Noise On Serial Reaction: A Study Of The Range And Consistency Of Individual Differences With Repeated Measures, Stephen Victor Strunk

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The range and consistency of individual differences in response to two exposures of aperiodic-intermittent noise were examined. A computerized 5-choice serial reaction task was used to measure the number of correct responses and mean reaction times for each of 30 subjects during the two exposures to quiet and noise. The results indicate that (1) noise presented even for short durations can have adverse effects on performance; (2) individuals do perform consistently in terms of accuracy across exposures to noise; and (3) a wide range of performance changes can be expected from subjects performing a task under noise. Implications for the …

Children's Representation Of Spatial Information, Rebecca L. Beard

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study utilized a multi-dimensional approach to examine children's communication of spatial information. Sixty male and female elementary school children, ages 6-7, 9-10, and 11-12, learned a route through a pedestrian maze with four color-coded inter sections and animal photographs to serve as landmarks. After learning the route to a specified criterion level, the children were required to complete three remaining tasks: a verbal recall task, a nonverbal reconstruction task, and a route reversal task. For each task the children were asked to provide a reason for their directional choice at each intersection. Analyses indicated developmental differences in performance …

Influence Of Touch And Preferences For Control On Visual Behavior, Teresa Whitehurst Caudill

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study investigated the effects of touch, as mediated by the preference for control (PC) of the recipient, upon visual behavior as well as evaluative and affective responses. Subjects were female students at Old Dominion University, selected on the basis of their scores on the Expressed Control subscale of the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation (FIRO-B) Inventory (Schutz, 1958). Based upon their scores on the subscale, 29 females scoring high and 30 females scoring low were randomly assigned to either touch or no touch conditions. Subjects in the touch condition were touched on the arm by a male confederate after …

Work Decrement And Facilitation Of Performance As A Function Of The Accuracy Of Mental Imagery, Maxwell Turner

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is twofold: to determine the relationship between accuracy of the image and work decrement and to investigate the relationship between accuracy of the image and facilitation of performance. A total of 36 right-handed undergraduates were tested on the rotor pursuit operating at 45 rpm and asked to imagine themselves actually tracking the target with the stylus. During the imagery trials the subjects verbalized the word “top” each time their image made one complete revolution. Each subject engaged in a 9 30-sec imagery trials which were followed by either an 8-sec rest and then 9 30-sec …

The In-Charge Complex And Tobian Political Culture, Peter W. Black

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Vol. 6 No. 1 (1982): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US$40.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, and …

Vol. 6 No. 1 (1982): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US$40.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, and …

Kay Saunders' Review Of Norma Grieve And Patricia Grimshaw's Australian Women: Feminist Perspectives, Kay Saunders

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Books Received And Book Notices, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Book Listing for the Vol 6, No 1 Fall Edition of the Pacific Studies Journal

Ronald S. Jackson's Review Of Brian Sutton-Smith's A History Of Children's Play: The New Zealand Playground, 1840-1950, Ronald S. Jackson

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Causal Attribution And Self-Evaluation On Mood, William N. Werner

Dissertations and Theses

The present study was designed to test the causal locus hypothesis, and to develop and explore the self-evaluational hypothesis. The causal locus hypothesis is based on attribution, which is a person's perception of cause. The hypothesis holds that persons making internal attributions (self-caused) for failure end external attributions (not self-caused) for success experience more negative postoutcome mood than persons making external attributions for failure and internal attributions for success. The hypothesis was derived from major theories or attribution, but was not experimentally tested until recently (Wollert et al., 1981).

The Development Of An Expressive Language Scoring System, Pamela Tamme

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study was designed to develop an expressive language scoring system so that the creative quality of a person's written language could be quantified and measured. Sixty fifth -grade students, 31 males and 29 females, were given the opening line, i.e., story-starter, to a story and were asked to finish the stories. Each student received two story-starters concerning the same object ("content")-- either box, string or money--but were different in "context" (usual or unusual setting). Thus, a total of 120 stories were written, with 40 stories being from each content group. These stories were then rated according to their level …

The Detection Of Behavioral Effects In The F1 Generation Of Mice Treated During Spermatogenesis With Mitcmycin C And Ethyl-Nitrosourea, Bethel Elizabeth Imel

Masters Theses

Groups of 10, 8 and 6 HA(1CR) adult male mice were injected by a single intraperitoneal injection with 100 mg Ethyl-Nitrosourea, 2.5 mg Mitomcyin C or a saline Control. Treatment was administered in milligram per kilogram of body weight. Each male was mated to two untreated females during the fifth week after treatment. Progeny were evaluated by observations of reproduction, development, motor reflex, motor coordination and locomotor activity. Decreased weights were seen during the preweaning period among offspring from Mitomycin C treated males. The Mitomycin C group demonstrated consistent deficits in water escape performance. Mitomycin C progeny also exhibited one …

The Effects Of Intermittent Schedules Of Reinforcement On The Generation Of Adjunctive Behavior In Humans, Kenneth L. Hearn

Masters Theses

The primary goals of this study were: (1) to determine if interim behaviors occur with humans responding under intermittent schedules of reinforcement; -and, (2) if interim behaviors do occur, to compare the characteristics of those behaviors with the characteristics of adjunctive behavior in nonhumans. Two developmentally disabled males, ages 15 and 19, served as subjects. The subjects pressed a white panel for food, tokens and plastic objects under several schedules of reinforcement. The response rate on the white panel and the duration of interim behaviors that occurred during the inter-reinforcement intervals was measured using standard electro-mechanical equipment. All behaviors were …

A Staff Training Program To Change Target Behaviors: Acquisition, Transfer, And Effects Of Behavior Management Training With Paraprofessionals, Patricia D. Foster

Masters Theses

This study assessed the direct and transferred effects of a training package consisting of written rules, modeling, role playing, and vocal verbal feedback on the behavior management skills of three paraprofessional staff and evaluated the resulting impact o f these techniques on the maladaptive behaviors of severely multiply impaired adults. A multiple baseline across three instructional situation types (a transition period in which staff were not assigned to a particular pupil, a group instructional session in which one staff was assigned to three pupils, and an individual instructional session in which each staff was assigned to one pupil) was utilized. …