Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Relationship Between Childhood Sexual Abuse And Coping With Interpersonal Conflict In Adulthood, Jennifer Leigh Kerpelman

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and the adult woman's ability to cope with interpersonal conflict. Seventy women participated in the study. They were placed in one of two groups: sexually abused during childhood (SAC) or not abused during childhood (NAC). The subjects were recruited from several self-help groups and mental health facilities. The subjects completed inventories which measured coping strategies, problem solving abilities, attributional style, and assertion style and dating comfort. It was found that the SAC group members perceived less personal control than the NAC group when dealing with problem …

The Guaranteed Minimum Price And Price Stabilization In The Wheat Market, Therese L. Soullier

Economics Theses & Dissertations

The government of the United States offers a guaranteed minimum price per bushel to farmers in return for a reduction in acreage planted. Through this program, the government attempts to control the supply of wheat and stabilize the price of wheat. There is growing debate in the United States as to the effectiveness and prudence of the current program.

This thesis will examine the effectiveness of the guaranteed minimum price program, using the two-stage least squares procedure to examine a demand and supply model. The study will look at the relative stability of the price of wheat and how and …

The Truncated Cauchy Distribution: Estimation Of Parameters And Application To Stock Returns, Paul G. Staneski

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

The problem addressed in this dissertation is the existence and estimation of the parameters of a truncated Cauchy distribution. It is known that when a number of distributions with infinite support are truncated to a finite interval that the maximum likelihood estimator of the scale parameter fails to exist with positive probability. In particular, necessary and sufficient conditions which give rise to instances of non-existence have been found for the exponential (Deemer and Votaw (1955)), gamma (Broeder (1955), Hegde and Dahiya (1989)), Weibull (Mittal and Dahiya (1989)) and normal distribution (Barndorff-Nielsen (1978), Mittal and Dahiya (1987), Hegde and Dahiya (1989)). …

Franco-American Relations And The Emergence Of French Nuclear Armament, 1939-1962, Regis Hugues Philippon

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

France and the United States stand out as two major pioneer countries in the development of nuclear science. It was logical for France to join the nuclear club. But due to the extended responsibilities such an option implies, a lengthy difference of opinion developed between France and the United States. The former asserted its rights and its worldwide influence heedless of the decolonization process. The latter, heavily committed to the Western defense and its global interests, opposed the development of a strike force that it could not control. This disagreement led France to make specific reservations toward decision-making of the …

Parallel Process: An Empirical Investigation, Thomas E. Pollack

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to conduct an empirical investigation of parallel process. The study used a cross-sectional design in which 30 therapy relationships and the corresponding supervision relationships were studied. The therapist assessed the behavior manifested by the patient during a targeted therapy session. Following the subsequent supervision session, the supervisor assessed the behavior manifested by the supervisee during the supervision session. In addition, each of the triad participants (patient, therapist, supervisor) rated the level of anxiety they experienced during the targeted therapy and supervision sessions. Measures of interpersonal style for each of the subjects were also …

The Influence Of Perceptions Of Labor Turnover On Stayers' Organizational Commitment, Ellen Ruth Simmons

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study seeks to explain how perceptions of turnover rate affect the organizational commitment (OC) of stayers in an organization as a function of their beliefs as to why turnover has occurred. It examined the attributions of classified employees at Old Dominion University (ODU) about the causes of turnover. Participants were asked to indicate whether they perceived ODU's turnover to be high or low and which of three possible reasons was the most likely cause of co-worker's turnover (i.e., "People most often leave because they are dissatisfied with their jobs", "People most often leave to take a more attractive job …

The Relationship Between Needs And Interpersonal Problems Of Women In Four Interpersonal Categories, Valarie Elaine Sikes-Nova

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study empirically assessed the relationship between needs structure and interpersonal presentation in women. Proposed indices for selective attention were assessed as to their ability to detect pathology. The relationship between interpersonal presentation and interpersonal problems were also studied. The measures used were The Picture Identification Test (Chambers, 1976), The Interpersonal Adjective Scales-Revised (Wiggins, 1985), The Inventory for Interpersonal Problems (Horowitz, 1986), and The Marlowe-Crowne Social-Desirability Scale (1964).

Subjects were assigned to one of four interpersonal categories (Friendly-Dominant, Friendly-Submissive, Hostile-Dominant, Hostile-Submissive) on the basis of their self-reported IAS-R and one category on the basis of their counselor-reported IAS-R scores. Subjects …

The Effect Of Initial Leader-Group Interaction And The Moderating Influence Of Leadership Style On Group Decision-Making, Brian J. Ruggeberg

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

A total of 120 female undergraduates from Old Dominion University participated in an experiment designed to determine the effect of initial leader-group interaction on group decision-making. This leader-group interaction was manipulated by means of a structured group briefing presented by the leader. Leadership style was also manipulated to determine if it has a moderating influence on initial leader-group interaction. The "Change of Work Procedure" role-playing exercise (Maier, 1952) was used as the decision-making task. A female confederate served as the group leader, and the participants were divided into 40, three member groups. Measures of decision quality, decision acceptance, and decision-making …

The Effects Of A Program To Develop Collaboration On Teacher Interactions And Norms Of Collegiality Within The School As A Workplace, Michael E. Sicignano

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of the Effective Teaching Network (ETN), a program designed to develop collaboration among teachers. This study employs the pretest/posttest nonequivalent comparison group design. The treatment group (n = 75) represents an intact group of teachers who participated in the ETN pilot program. Thirty teachers participated in the direct level of treatment, and 40 teachers participated in the indirect level of treatment. The comparison group (n = 77) represents an intact group of teachers who were matched with the treatment group on teacher characteristics and pretest scores. The Professional Collegiality Questionnaire …

Cohabitation And Marital Stability In The United States, Jay D. Teachman, Karen A. Polonko

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Recent evidence from Canada and Sweden indicates that cohabitation prior to marriage significantly increases the risk of subsequent marital dissolution. In this article we present results testing the hypothesis that cohabitation increases marital disruption in the United States. We find that premarital cohabitation increases the risk of subsequent marital instability. However, the effect of cohabitation can be attributed to the fact that cohabitants have spent more time in union than noncohabitants. Once total length of union is accounted for, there is no difference in marital disruption between cohabitants and noncohabitants. We argue that subsequent research comparing cohabitants and noncohabitants with …

Towards The 21st Century: Long Cycles And The Future Of The United States, John Davis

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

With a plethora of declinist literature positing the decline and eventual dissolution of the American order, "Towards the Twenty-first Century: Long Cycles and the Future of the United States" offers a new perspective on the world leadership position of the United states. Using the literature on long cycles as its instrument, this study argues that there will be a continuation of U.S. systemic leadership through the twenty-first century.

Auditory Feedback And Fitts' Law, Tamara L. Atkinson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Previous research on Fitts' Law has concentrated on presenting tracking tasks using visual feedback. The present research investigated the effect of auditory and/or visual feedback with a tracking task. Thirty subjects (15 male, 15 female) performed the tracking task using a mouse control to track a target on a computer monitor. The three feedback conditions included auditory, visual, and auditory/visual. For each condition, the Index of Difficulty was varied and the movement time was measured. It was predicted that the auditory feedback would produce movement times that would conform to Fitts' Law. The results indicted that the auditory condition did …

Sojourn: A Time In Egypt, Deborah L. Miller

Institute for the Humanities Theses

This work is a chronicle of events and ideas experienced by the author while traveling in the Arab Republic of Egypt in December, 1986 and January, 1987. The illustrations at each chapter head were drawn to help the reader understand the nature of the story of each chapter.

Beetle Wings And Other Savory Tidbits, Krystyna Rozanski Stefansky

English Theses & Dissertations

Journalism is not a field in which facts must always be written black on white, opinion deleted. As a writer, largely of features, rather than what editors in my profession call "hard news," I particularly like writing the personal column.

In those 14 inches I can explore issues of the day, take a closer look at my life, family and neighbors, The looks are at some times more thoughtful than at others. Some topics are meant merely to entertain. Others to fuel discussion. All are meant to be gentle examinations of the truth, the tidbits of life that keep all …

Patient Satisfaction With Psychiatric Hospitalization: A Social Exchange Theory Approach, Jan H. Nelson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

During the past decade patient satisfaction with mental health treatment has become an important issue in research. Administration of patient satisfaction surveys has become a standard practice in treatment and therapy in order to evaluate and improve treatment programs and services. This study examined patient satisfaction in inpatient psychiatric hospitalization based on two social exchange theories. These theories are Kelley and Thibaut's (1978} interdependence theory and Rusbult's (1980) investment model. Fifty inpatients at a state psychiatric facility were given a questionnaire designed to assess satisfaction and commitment based on costs, rewards, investments, comparison level, and comparison level for alternatives. Reliabilities …

The Role Of Values In Personality Development, Joanne Peterson

Institute for the Humanities Theses

As an important element of human life, values play a distinctive role in structuring the developing personality. Considerations of this role are discussed from an objective, subjective, and situational perspective, recognized as three known value orientations incorporated into differing personality theories. Initial inquiries suggest that values are not as important as the degree to which an individual commits to a moral life and then employs this viewpoint in sorting through various alternatives to select those beliefs, attitudes and behaviors best reflecting this commitment.

An Analysis Of Selected Family Life Education Curricula, Phoebe Terry Butler

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the content of family life education curricula in Virginia's public schools and determine its appropriateness for the mentally handicapped students. It was the intent of this study to determine if existing curricula were designed to address the needs of mentally handicapped students according to a standard curricula designed by the American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation and the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States. The 15 participants of this study were selected from a random sample of 69. The response rate was 20.2%.

A letter soliciting family …

The Use Of Rhythm In The Acquisition Of Motor Skills, Ann C. Fulop

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This research assessed whether rhythm aids in the acquisition of motor skills by providing cues for the timing of those skills. The nature of representations of rhythms in memory was also explored. Certain rhythms have stable memory representations, while others have unstable representations. It was hypothesized that rhythms that had stable memory representations would be more beneficial in learning a skill than unstable rhythms. Three groups learned three different rhythms by practicing a tracking task. Three different tracks displayed the three rhythms. Following training, subjects attempted to reproduce the rhythms from memory. The results suggest that rhythms do help in …

Academic And Therapeutic Potential Of The Sierra Ii Process: An Evaluation Of An Adapted Outward Bound Diversion Program For Adjudicated Juvenile Delinquents, Ronald Clifford Callahan

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Studies

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the Sierra II program on adjudicated juvenile delinquents. Specifically, this research measured the program's effect on the self-esteem, self-efficacy, locus-of-control, problem-solving skills, school behavior, and follow-on academic achievement. All study variables, except school behavior and follow-on academic achievement, received pre and post treatment assessments. Both school behavior and academic achievement received pre, post, six-month and twelve-month follow-up assessments. Individuals were assigned (by the court services staff) to an experimental group and a control group.

The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, modified Internal-External Scale, and the Generalized Expectancy of Success Scale …

The Effects Of Life Stress And Risk-Taking Style On Risk Perception And Driver Performance, Christine B. Philput

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the effects of risk-taking style, stress level, and highway environment on driver performance. In Phase I, 50 subjects were assessed for risk-taking style and stress level. In Phase II, the same subjects were presented with slides of traffic situations that varied in terms of risk of accident. This was a paired comparison task in which they rank-ordered ten highway sites, producing a measure of subjective risk. No significant relationships were identified between these subjective risk judgments and objective data regarding those sites (accidents and fatalities), though this is most likely due to problems with the slide presentation. …

Person Perception As A Function Of Sex And Age, Leslie Borland

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This experiment was designed to explore the effects of sex and age on impressions. The 228 volunteers ranged in age from 18 to 87 years. Subjects were asked to report impressions, using the PPQ, about fictitious targets who were systematically varied according to sex and age. A 2 (Sex of Subject) x 3 (Age of Subject) x 2 (set of Target) x 2 (Age of Target) ANOVA was performed on ratings of likability, adjustment, femininity, masculinity, and androgyny. Older subjects received and gave the highest ratings. Middle-aged subjects gave lower ratings to all targets, but discriminated least. Young subjects were …

Self-Concept And Its Relationship To Achievement In Minority Preschool Children, Larry Lennard Lindsey

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between self-concept, self-esteem, demographic information, and racial preference to achievement in minority preschool children. The subjects were 56 minority preschool students from a Head Start program in Newport News, Virginia. The subjects were assessed using four different instruments. The instruments were the Joseph Preschool & Primary Self- Concept Screening Test (JPPSST), the Behavioral Academic Self-Esteem Test (BASE), the Preschool Racial Attitudes Measure (PRAM), and the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery. The JPPSST, PRAM, and Woodcock-Johnson were administered to the subjects by an examiner. The Woodcock-Johnson assessed achievement in two separate areas: …

A Comparative Analysis Of Selected Adolescent Fears, Martina Griffith Meyer

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The subject of adolescent fears troubling today's generation was studied with the question of specific fears and methods of questioning. It was hypothesized that direct, close-ended questions related to the fear of nuclear war and the fear of failure would elicit responses of greater fear than would indirect, open-ended questions about the future. It was also hypothesized that there would be sex differences in fearfulness of nuclear war with females indicating more fear. It was also expected that there would be developmental differences with 8th-grade subjects more fearful of nuclear war than 12th-grade subjects, and with the older subjects more …

Party Politics During The Compromise Crisis: The Virginia Congressional Elections Of 1849 And 1851, Jodi Lee Bennett Koste

History Theses & Dissertations

The Second American Party System developed in Virginia from the factions contesting the presidency between 1824 and 1840. Following its formation, Virginia voters adopted party allegiances and regularly supported their party in the various local, state and national elections. These voting patterns began to change with the elections of the compromise crisis, the period between the presidential elections of 1848 and 1852, when the "politics of slavery" dominated every contest. Defense of the peculiar institution became paramount and party lines were disrupted as a result. Virginia's Whig congressional candidates, unable to present themselves as safe on the slavery question, were …

The Effects Of Differential Task Instructions And Motivational States On Individual Creative Response Generation, James Clarke Llewellyn

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The extent to which creative response generation may be affected by motivation orientation and task instruction was investigated in the context of Amabile's (1983) model of creativity. A three-way mixed design with repeated measures across a time factor was employed using 104 undergraduate students as subjects. Subjects generated responses to an initial sentence construction task, completed either an intrinsically- or extrinsically-oriented questionnaire, and then received either nonspecific, criteria-cued, or brainstorming instructions for a second sentence construction task. All task responses were rated using a standardized creativity assessment technique (Amabile, 1982). The results indicated that (a) criteria-cued task instructions yield a …

Hemispheric Effects Of Response Hand And Concurrent Auditory And Visual Information Processing On Task Performance, Paula J. Guerette

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Previous research (cf. Wickens, Mountford & Schreiner, 1981; Wickens & Sandry, 1982) has suggested that performance is facilitated by maintaining "integrity" between the hemisphere of information input, processing, and motor response. This task-hemispheric integrity has been found to exist during concurrent performance of verbal and spatial tasks, both of which are presented in a visual modality. The present study sought to examine whether task-hemispheric integrity exists during concurrent performance of a verbal and a spatial task when the verbal task is presented in an auditory modality and the spatial task(s) are presented in a visual modality. Fifty-six individuals (28M, 28F) …

Health Status And Perceived Health Care Needs Of Female Veterans Of The Armed Services, Nancy Einstein Camp

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the occurrence of genderspecific health problems within the female veteran population of Tidewater, Virginia. A secondary purpose was to determine the perceived quality of care which the Veterans Administration delivers. The study was accomplished by receiving 149 mailed questionnaires regarding health status and health care received from the Veterans Administration. Chi square was utilized to determine significant differences between branch of service served and heal th status. Army veterans had significantly higher incidences of heart disease, diabetes and stomach ulcers. Among the other branches of service (Air Force. Navy, Marines, Coast Guard), …

Signals Intelligence In World War Ii Ultra And The Air War In Europe, Demetrio J. Perez

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

(First paragraph) In recent years the study of military intelligence, particularly when viewed from a historical context, has acquired new significance. As military historians attempt to find a correlation between wartime events and the intelligence activities supporting those events, many serious works in this field have emerged. Some accounts of World War II military intelligence deal with the subject in terms of its benefits to the field commander. Others take a more extreme view and argue that major wartime successes resulted more from good intelligence than from good leadership.

Self-Esteem And Perceived Barriers To And Benefits Of Exercise Among Physically Active And Non-Physically Active College Students, Barbara Brown Bonheur

Ellmer School of Nursing Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine differences in self-esteem, perceived benefits of and perceived barriers to exercise between exercisers and non-exercisers and to determine if relationships existed between self-esteem, perceived benefits of exercise and perceived barriers to exercise, that could explain participation in regular aerobic exercise. A sample of 105 university students completed four questionnaires. The level of social desirability present in participant responses was also measured. Five hypotheses were tested. Utilizing t-tests, a significant difference was found between exercisers and non-exercisers on self-esteem, perceived benefits of exercise, and perceived barriers to exercise. The three variables (self-esteem, …

British Foreign Policy And The Crimean War A Study In Uncoordinated Diplomacy, Ronald W. Kennedy

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This thesis is an examination of British Crimean War diplomacy. Under analysis is the pre-war era (1844-1853) and the war years (1854-1856). Intense diplomatic negotiations were in progress during most of the period immediately preceding and during the Crimean War. The diplomatic efforts to avoid war as well as negotiations to resolve the conflict were protracted and extremely complex.

This study is designed to examine British policy by focusing on what often characterized British efforts prior to, and during, the Crimean War: uncoordinated diplomacy. Although the British clearly wanted to avoid this war and to hasten its conclusion once fighting …