Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Development Of A Vocational Interest Inventory Using "Worker-Oriented" Job Elements, Alma F. Harris

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to develop a vocational interest inventory, using the "worker-oriented" job elements of Dr. Ernest J. McCormick and his associates, and to assess the reliability of the resulting instrument.

The interest inventory was prepared, based on 191 of the questions from the Position Analysis Questionnaire, and the test-retest reliability was calculated for a sample of 71 high school students, over a three-week period.

The mean correlation coefficient for the five over-all "job dimension" scores of the interest inventory was .80, and the average item reliability was .54. These coefficients were considered high enough to justify …

Investigation Of One Aspect Of Initiative That Is Subsumed Under Self-Concept And Its Relationship To Performance, John Edmund Genasci

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Many children fail to achieve academic success despite an average or above average intellectual capacity, unimpaired motor ability, intact sensory functions, and an absence of major emotional disturbance. These same children have been assigned such descriptive terms as "underachievers" and "children with psycho-neurological disabilities."

It may be more apt to assume that these children who are underachieving and obtaining poor grades do so from lack of feeling of personal initiative and personal control over events in their lives.

This study attempts to investigate initiative as clinically observed and its effect upon tasks requiring an active analytical approach to problem solving. …

Conditioning Verbal Behavior: The Effect Of Experimenter Baseline Behavior On The Conditioning Of Opinion Statements Emitted By Undergraduate Students, William E. Greable

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The general purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the operant conditioner's behavior during the baseline upon subsequent operant conditioning of opinion statements emitted by freshmen undergraduate students. Specifically, the study attempted to answer the following research questions:

1. Is it possible to systematically condition opinion statements in a verbal conditioning situation that resembles a counseling interview?
2. Does the behavior of the operant conditioner during the baseline have any influence on subsequent conditioning of opinion statements in a verbal conditioning situation resembling a counseling interview?
3. Is there a difference in the number of opinion statements emitted in a …

Behavioral Contrast In Children, Wenden Wayne Waite

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study was conducted as a systematic replication of earlier work investigating the phenomenon of behavioral contrast. Behavioral contrast has been consistently reported in alternating two component multiple schedules using infra-human subjects. The present study was interested in answering the question, "Does behavioral contrast exist in humans?"

Two experiments were performed which investigated the behavioral contrast and sequential contrast phenomena in children. In both experiments, lever press responses were analyzed using an ABA single-subject design. The children were instructed to press a lever to obtain as many tokens as possible. In Experiment I, six Ss were equally divided into …

Programmed Interpersonal Relations Training For Small Groups, John Fredricks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the Human Development Institute's (HDI) new group relationship improvement program on the interpersonal functioning of those individuals who undergo the program. The "California Personality Inventory" (CPI), the "Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior" (FIRO-B), and a semantic differential were used to measure changes.

The two hypotheses of this study are:

1. There will be a significant change towards improved interpersonal relationship skills for all groups, as measured from pre- to post testings.

2. There will be no significant difference in the change in interpersonal relations as measured by the pre-and post tests, between …

   ---

   Go to article

A Validation Of Koppitz's Scoring Method For Children's Human Figure Drawings, William Gary Evans

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to see if the Koppitz objective scoring method for interpreting children's human figure drawings could be used as a valid assessment instrument with elementary school children. Human figure drawings were obtained from two matched groups of elementary school students, a normal and an emotionally disturbed group. The results of the comparison of human figure drawings of the two groups did not support Koppitz's findings. The Koppitz objective scoring method was found to be invalid as an assessment instrument with elementary school children and of doubtful use in diagnosing emotionally disturbed children. Possible explanations for …

The Effects Of Response Sets On The Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, Brent L. Andersen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Modified versions of the Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (CMAS) and Marlow-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) were administered to 40 normal and 29 retarded elementary school children to determine the effects of response sets upon CMAS scores. The results of the research indicated that CMAS scores obtained from retarded subjects reflect the use of acquiescence and denial response sets. Acquiescence response set did not affect the CMAS scores of normal children although there was a negative relationship between their CMAS scores and social desirability. The higher anxiety scores obtained by normal girls was felt to reflect their lower use of social …

A Comparison Of Hyper-Reactivity And Activity In Rats With Lesions Of The Septal Area And The Olfactory Lobes, Roger Clark Marshall

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate School at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Roger Clark Marshall on April 1,1971.

Relationship Of Subjects' Preexperiment Attitudes Toward Psychology And Experimenter Prestige, Sam Quick

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A study is reported which examines the effects of Ss attitudes toward psychological research as measured by the Psychology Research Survey (PRS) (high or low), apparent E prestige (high, medium, or low), and sex of 13 on ratings of success and failure given in Rosenthal's person-perception task. It was found that E prestige interacted with sex of S to significantly affect performance. Several of the pictures used in the person-perception task were also found to be consistently rated as depicting success or failure. Questions are raised concerning the psychometric soundness of both the PRS and the person-perception task. Implications for …

An Analysis Of Polydipsia As Produced By A Multiple Schedule, Joseph J. Vaal

Masters Theses

Polydipsia and contrast effects are two behavioral phenomena produced by manipulations of the reinforcement schedules under which the organisms are behaving. The present study created a complex situation by subjecting rats to a multiple reinforcement schedule. This situation allowed simultaneous examination of both operant and induced drinking behavior. Furthermore, this situation allowed for an examination of possible schedule interactions with respect to the induced and operant drinking behaviors.

It was expected that the results of this study would show that behavioral contrast effects could be obtained in a polydipsic situation. Even though the expected results were not obtained, it is …

Stimulus Control And The Effects Of Stimulus Change On Aggression In Children, Marilyn S. Arnett

Masters Theses

Five children has the opportunity at programmed intervals to shock a rat during daily 10 min sessions. An aggression response was defined as producing rat shock and reinforcement was not made contingent on any response within the experimental chamber. Response increment occurred for all subjects upon introduction of a visual cue which signaled shock period onset. A discrimination between shock and no-shock periods developed for all subjects and response increment occurred for all subjects due to a change in the manipulanda. Two subjects who initially preferred shocking the rat, also produced visual feedback when available, although average shock rate was …

An Investigation Of Differential Reinforcement Effectiveness As A Function Of Type Of Task, Jeffrey W. Erickson

Master's Theses

Two tasks and four reinforcers were used to determine whether or not reinforcer effectiveness is in part dependent upon the type of task involved. An equal number (40) fifth and sixth grade children performed under each task condition

for 20 trials (arithmetic and sequential processing) and received one of four possible reinforcers (candy , "good ", grad e A, no­ reinforcer). The two dependent variables measured were time to complete either task and the number of errors mad e while performing upon one or the other task. A significant F was not obtained for either time or error scores at …

The Development Of Behavioral Contrast In Human Subjects, Joel Steven Ray

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Three Measures Of Stimulation Seeking, John L. Kasten

Masters Theses

An attempt was made to determine the comparability and construct validity of three instruments: the Sensation Seeking Scale (Zuckermsn, Kolin, Price & Zoob, 1964); the Change Seeker Index (Garlington & Shimota, 1964); and the Similes Preference Inventory (Pearson & Maddi, 1966). These instruments, and a measure of drug use which was constructed by the investigator, were administered to 52 college students and 23 high school students. Product-moment correlations were calculated among these instruments and between each instrument and age, sex, marital status and amount of education. Several sets of partial correlations were, also calculated.

A substantial correlation was found between …

Short Term Retention Of A Positioning Movement Under Three Levels Of Interfering Task Conditions, Mark E. Conklin

Masters Theses

This study is concerned with the short term memory of a simple arm-hand motor response. The response is studied under three task conditions: (1) visual kinesthetic interference (’2 ) kinesthetic interference and (3 ) a rest condition generating no sensory interference. Five movement amplitudes (2, 6 , 12, 18 and 24 cm) and four intervals (0, 20, 40 and 60 seconds) are compared in this study. A total of thirty-six right-handed subjects were used; twelve subjects were tested under each of the three task conditions.

The findings do not support an interference theory of forgetting which has been theorized to …

Strength Of Conditioned Reinforcement In Chain Schedules: The Effect Of Altering Minimum Time To Reinforcement, Robert P. Ludlow

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Chlorpromazine On Escape And Avoidance Behavior, Susan E. Bohlmann Lapato

Masters Theses

The present study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of a two lever escape avoidance paradigm as a potential drug evaluation procedure. In this procedure responses on one lever postponed the onset of shock for a fixed period of time while responses on the other lever were effective only in terminating shock. This procedure effectively separates the escape and avoidance behaviors of a single organism and should provide a sensitive baseline upon which to measure the specific effects of drugs upon these two behaviors. The specific and differential effects of three dose levels of chlorpromazine upon escape and avoidance behaviors …

Avoidance And Escape Responses In A Free Operant Avoidance Procedure As A Function Of Avoidance-Shock Intervals, Kathleen M. Krumhus

Masters Theses

Rats were trained on an unsignalled shock procedure, using a two lever apparatus. Responses on one lever postponed the onset of electric shock for a specified time period, the Avoidance-Shock interval. A response on the second lever terminated shock and delayed the onset of the next shock eight seconds, the Escape-Shock interval. Shock was continuous until the subject depressed the second lever. Changes in response rate on both levers were recorded as a function of manipulations of the duration of the Avoidance-Shock interval.

If responses on both bars are summed, data obtained are comparable with findings obtained from the manipulation …

Conditioned Punishment Of Self-Injurious Behavior, George Hunt

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Relevant And Irrelevant Characteristics Of Leaders In A Communication Network, Janet Ann Scheetz

Student Work

The present study involved groups of four Ss participating in a communication network, problem-solving task. Groups were assigned to one of the two treatments involving an irrelevant leader characteristic, race, and one of two treatments involving a relevant leader characteristic, efficiency. Race was varied by informing some groups that their leader was White while the other groups were informed that their leader was Negro. Efficiency was defined by an efficiency index, which, through a script followed by a confederate leader, produced either a high or low degree of efficiency. Race of the leader had a non significant impact on all …

Effects Of A Series Of Nurse-Patient Interactions On Multiple Sclerosis Patients, Lynne Campbell

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of the study was to learn whether a series of nurse-patient interactions would result in changed psychophysiologic functioning in multiple sclerosis patients.

Psychophysiologic relationships were described in the theoretical framework. Literature, reviewed in the areas of disease description and psychotherapeutic approaches to treatment, indicated that there is a high incidence of multiple sclerosis in the United States; that symptoms often include psychological alterations; that there is an emotional component to the illness; that these patients have a need for a psychotherapeutic relationship; and that psychotherapeutic approaches may have beneficial psychophysiologic effects.

Two groups of multiple sclerosis subjects were …

Categorization And Discrimination Of Random Forms Following Schema Training, Ronald W. Shaffer

Psychology ETDs

Several investigators have shown that when given a task of categorizing several classes of random patterns, where each class consists of a number of patterns all generated from a common pattern or prototype, Ss learn to abstract a code analogous to or congruent with each class prototype in the process. This learning has been termed schematic abstraction or schema learning. Inferences regarding schematic abstraction have been drawn from the observation of .§s' categorization performance in a transfer task where the prototype is first presented along with both new and previously sorted class patterns. Enhanced performance with class prototypes when compared …

Trusting Behavior In The Prisoner's Dilemma Task Among Appalachians, Helen R. Ankrom

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Prisoner's Dilemma (PD) game has been popular in recent years as an experimental tool in investigating social situations, particularly conflict situations. The reason for the popularity of the game is due, at least in apart, to the fact that in the PD, as in real life conflict situations, there is no rational solution. The solution depends on interaction between the players.

Contingent Video Consequences For Discrimination Performance Of Retarded Children, Linda Flatter

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Four Ss were selected from the population of residents of Cloverbottom Hospital and School to participate in the present study determining the effectiveness of video presentations as reinforcing consequences for discrimination learning. The task consisted of sorting stimulus discrimination cards on the basis of form and/or color. The S received either "snow" or self-video consequences via a television monitor. Both S-paced sorting and E-paced sorting were employed to determine the effect of each procedure. This study demonstrated that video consequences as well as sorting procedures influenced performance of these Ss. An individual S analysis revealed differential effects across Ss. Results …

Experimentally Induced "Awareness" And Change On Personality Measures Following Verbal Conditioning., Harry C. Linneman

Psychology ETDs

ABSTRACT

Instructions were used to produce differential awareness conditions in a quasi-psychotherapeutic verbal operant conditioning situation. The effects of the awareness variable on the verbal behavior emitted during two conditioning sessions and on change scores on academic anxiety scales were investigated.

Four levels of awareness were used: subjects were informed about the desired response class, the presence of reinforcement, both the presence of reinforcement and the proper response class, or nothing about either the response class or reinforcement. Each subject partici­pated individually in two 2O-minute verbal conditioning sessions on two consecutive days. Reinforcement was made contingent either upon the emission …

Behavioral Styles Of Computer Programmers - Revisited, Edward M. Cross

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper describes the second phase of a continuing research project concerned with the attributes associated with membership and success in the computer programming occupation.   The second phase of this research has differed some-what, both in intent and practice, from the first phase. First, the initial purpose of the study was to test an approach to job analysis which included the application of the principal instrument used in the study, the JAIM, or Job Analysis and Interest Measurement.1 The use of computer programmers as the subject group was the result of the investigator's previous career as a systems analyst and …

The Loyola Sentence Completion Blank For Clergymen: Construction And Validation, Mary Sheehan

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Sex Differences In Suicide And Attempted Suicide: A Study Of Differential Social Acceptability And Expectations, Marsha Linehan

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Vicarious Reinforcement On An Observer's Speed Of Conflict Resolution, Nola R. Powell

Master's Theses

Conflict, expressed parsimoniously yet meaningfully, result from "competition between incompatible responses" (miller 1944). Conflict identified in this manner must be distinguished from a psychoanalytic definition invoking internal dynamic states and forces as explanatory concepts. In the interest of working with behaviors that are more readily observable and measurable, this paper will focus on conflict as defined in the first sense.

Lewin (1931), in particular, was instrumental in launching a concept of conflict based psychological field forces. Field forces, which were considered to be acquired, were said to have valences which had a point of application, strength, and direction. Valences could …

Proactive Transfer And Acoustic Similarity In Short-Term Paired-Assoicate Learning, Richard James Pittman

Master's Theses

Interference is the most prominent explanation of forgetting in verbal long-term memory (LTM). Interference theory generally holds that forgetting is due to the competition of associations learned during the retention interval rather than to the decay of memory traces. Proactive interference results when the competing associations are learned prior to the criterion associations, and retroactive interference results when the competing associations are learned after the criterion associations. Further explanation of retroactive inhibition (RI) and proactive inhibition (PI) in paired-associate (P-A) learning is found in the extinction hypothesis of interference theory. According to the hypothesis, interference is due to unlearning or …