Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Increasing Appropriate Behavior Using Antecedent Physical Exercise In Mentally Retarded Adults, Steven Degroot

Masters Theses

In order to ascertain if aerobic exercise would facilitate task performance, two mentally retarded adults exercised five days a week and performed three discrimination tasks three days a week. Baseline performance was determined for the two subjects on the tasks which involved shape discrimination, picture discrimination, number discrimination, and sequencing. After their baseline performance was determined, the participants began an exercise program which worked toward increasing their pulse rates to an aerobic level (150% of resting pulse). Subsequently, the subjects performed the discrimination tasks immediately after exercise. After this intervention period, baseline performance was again determined. The results indicated that …

Responding Under Homogeneous Versus Heterogeneous Chained Variable-Interval Schedules, Stephen P. Starin

Masters Theses

Four pigeons responded under chained variable-interval schedules in which the required response topographies were either similar [i.e., a homogeneous chain] or dissimilar Ci.e., a heterogeneous chain]. Subjects were exposed to all possible combinations of initial-link key pecking or treadle pressing and terminal-link pecking or treadling. Three of four subjects displayed higher initial-link response rates under the homogeneous chains. The present results were explained in terms of an induction effect in which the strengthening effect of reinforcing a particular terminal-link response topagrapahy generalizes to similar responses earlier in the chain, but not to topographically different responses.

Out Of Control: An Exploration Into The Dynamics Of Anorexia Nervosa And Bulimia And The Consequences For The Sufferer And Those Around Her, Shenandoah M. Cardwell

Honors Theses

A theoretical and personal exploration into the dynamics of anorexia nervosa and bulimia was conducted with reviews of literature, interviews, and personal accounts. A basic definition of the problem according to the DSM-III was stated. Discussed in detail are factors which contribute to a possible predisposition for developing an eating disorder; these include the physiological/biological, psychological, familial and societal. The effects of eating disorders on those persons around an anorexic or bulimic were explained along with a special section emphasizing the epidemic of eating disorders on college campuses. Emphasis was placed on the importance of the role of helper in …

Perceptions Of Western Michigan University International Students Regarding Seeking Personal Counseling, Nader F. Al-Qasem

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of the international students at Western Michigan University toward seeking personal counseling and to answer the following questions: (1) Is there a relationship between international students' duration of stay in the United States and their perceptions toward seeking personal counseling? (2) Is there a relationship between international students' previous contact with counselors and their perceptions toward seeking personal counseling? (3) Are the perceptions of international students toward seeking personal counseling affected by their sex? (4) Is there a relationship between the academic level of international students and their perceptions toward …

School District Current Operating Expenditures: A Comparative Analysis Of Michigan School Districts Having A Student Population Of 10,000 To 50,000 For 1984-85, James Ross Constandt

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare line item current operating expenses among school districts in Michigan having a student population of 10,000 but less than 50,000 and to present a budget model which establishes minimum and maximum line item current operating expenses for such school districts. Line item expenditures were compared and analyzed among those school districts within the same student population grouping.

Local school districts in Michigan are categorized by the State Board of Education into 14 groupings based on pupil membership. School districts in Groups B and C were studied. Group B included four school districts …

Prescriptive Supervisor Verbal Responding And Its Effect Upon Trainee Satisfaction In Counseling Supervision, Douglas A. Riley

Dissertations

An experimental strategy of supervisor verbal responding was compared to two other strategies. Termed "direct responding," it involved answering trainee requests for information, opinion, or suggestion, by giving information, opinion, or suggestion. Trainee statements of fact or opinion were answered by a request for elaboration. This strategy was compared with a reflective-type response, modeled on base-rate studies of supervisor verbalizations, and with a random-type of response in which supervisor responses were not necessarily related to trainee statements.

The purpose of this study was to determine if a direct strategy of responding to trainee verbalizations would be perceived as superior to …

Differential Response Latencies Using Auditory Stimuli, Albert Edward Neal

Dissertations

Previous research has identified and isolated the elicited (autoshaped) control of pigeons' response latencies. The present research, using auditory frequencies as discriminative stimuli, was designed to eliminate the intrusion of this elicited control.

Two experiments are presented, both using a discrete-trial, two-component multiple schedule. In Experiment 1, in which a two-key arrangement was used, pigeons were required to peck a continuously-illuminated left key when one of two different frequencies, each correlated with a different amount of reinforcement, was presented behind the illuminated right key. In Experiment 2, in which a three-key arrangement was used, pigeons were required to peck either …

American Indian Perception Of Counselor Characteristics In A Counseling Interview, Francis Donald Mcleod

Dissertations

This investigation of Native Americans determined to what extent counselor expertness, effectiveness and trustworthiness affect their perception of the counseling interview. The study was specifically designed to assess Native American attitudes as they relate to situational counselor characteristics and behavior. The attitudinal preferences investigated were: (a) racial characteristics of counselor, (b) personal attractiveness of counselor, (c) expertness of counselor, and (d) trustworthiness of counselor.

The sample for the study was composed of 60 Native American students randomly selected through Project M.A.I.S.S. (Making American Indians Self-Sufficient), an academic remedial program for American Indian students from the area around Kalamazoo, Michigan. The …

Journal Of Sociology & Social Welfare Vol. 14, No. 1 (March 1987)

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

• Editorial - ROBERT D. LEIGHNINGER, JR.
• Individual Experience and Critical Consciousness: Sources of Change in Everyday Life - DAVID GIL
• AFDC Encounters Joint Custody: Business as Usual Is not the Solution - JAN C. HAGEN
• Role Ambiguity Among Foster Parents: Semi-Professionals in Professionalizing Organizations - KENNETH J. MIETUS, MICHAEL D. FIMMEN
• Older Blacks' Predictions of Their Social Support Networks - BRENDA CRAWLEY
• Setting Funding Priorities in the Voluntary Sector: A Case Study From the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles - SAUL ANDRON
• Stress of the Caregiver: Effective Management of Dementia Patients in Hospital and Community Settings - RUTH …

Professional Achievement In Social Work, Harry Specht, Doris Britt, Charles Frost

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The authors report on a study of the professional achievements of 719 recently graduated California MSWs. Respondents are assigned an achievement score which is an index based on responses to seven questions. The scores of low achievers and high achievers are compared to analyze associations with: validating factors (e.g., salary), personal factors (race and gender), and pre-MSW factors (e.g., undergraduate education).

Rold Ambiguity Among Foster Parents: Semi-Professionals In Professionalizing Organizations, Kenneth J. Mietus, Michael D. Fimmen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Because foster parent role ambiguity has been viewed primarily as a micro-level phenomenon, efforts to reduce its negative consequences have emphasized ameliorist solutions which attempt to alter the behavior of individuals. We suggest that consideration of role ambiguity as a macro-level phenomenon provides a sounder basis for developing long-range solutions which can alter the structure of foster care organizations in ways which will complement existing ameliorist strategies. As semi-professionals, the work-role expectations of foster parents are seen as being contradictory to the goals of a profess ionalizing organizational structure. The transitional nature of this professionalizing process, and the contradictions which …

Setting Funding Priorities In The Voluntary Sector: A Case Study From The Jewish Federation Council Of Greater Los Angeles, Saul Andron

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Resource scarcity has emerged in the 1980's as a dominant theme in the human services. Although we are acutely aware of the impact that funding cutbacks have had upon human service agencies and their programs, relatively scant attention has been given to the funding body itself as the focus of analysis. The ways in which the funding body addresses the issue of resource distribution under scarcity conditions is of critical concern to the social welfare field. This paper analyzes one model adopted by a large voluntary fundraising and funding organization-planned priorities-setting-to provide a strategic and rational framework for guiding allocations …

Stress Of The Caregiver: Effective Management Of Dementia Patients In Hospital And Community Settings, Ruth E. Dunkle, Michael Nevin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study explores the management problems among elders with dementia and their medical and family caregivers. Twenty-five patients were interviewed as well as professional health care personnel and a family member. Findings indicated that professional assessment facilitates home caregiving but has little bearing on successful coping by the caregiver. Variability of coping relates to the strategy employed.

Professional Autonomy In Community Mental Health Centers, William E. Buffum

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Professional community mental health workers want considerable autonomy in doing their work, but too much autonomy can lead to frustration and less satisfaction with work. This finding of a study of 93 mental health professionals in three community mental health centers is in sharp contrast with a comparison group of 60 professionals in a chemical plant. The article cautions against the direct translation of research on all professionals to community mental health professionals.

A Response To "Professional Achievement In Social Work", Timothy W. Lause

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper raises several interesting issues for policy and research in the field of social work education. Nonetheless, serious shortcomings undermine its analysis of background factors to professional achievement. Even if one suspends critical assessments of the study's rationale and of its central index, the evidence presented here seems far more ambiguous than acknowledged. The quality of data is the primary subject of these comments. For purposes of this symposium, however, it seems appropriate to preface them with a few questions.

Rejoinder, Harry Specht

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The comments by Chaiklin and Lause are representative of the sort of scholarly, but sterile and despairing, criticism that pervades social work education today. They have many technical complaints about the Specht-Britt-Frost paper: the conceptualization of the variables is defective; the response rate is too low; the sample is poor; the weightings are inappropriate; gamma is not a sufficiently powerful measure of correlation; and so forth. I have responded to most of these issues elsewhere, (1) so I will address only two here.

In Search Of The Continuum: Graduate School Performance Of Bsw And Non-Bsw Degree Holders, Anne E. Fortune, Robert G. Green, Michael S. Kolevzon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Do students with prior academic preparation in social work perform better in graduate school than students who do not have a BSW? Master's students in a southeastern school of social work were surveyed about their background, general psychosocial adjustment, adjustment to and attitudes toward graduate school, and graduate academic performance. Forced-entry multiple regression was used to control simultaneously for the effect of background and adjustment factors on four outcome variables: Grade Point Average in the most recent semesters; Stress as a Student; Educational Program Satisfaction; and Professional Social Work Commitment. Having a BSW was unrelated to Educational Program Satisfaction and …

Editorial, Robert Leighninger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As you may have noticed, there've been some changes made. Norman Goroff, our Founding Editor and Publisher, has decided that putting the Journal out by himself while trying to maintain his University's extension program in upper New England is too much work. Norm has published the Journal at the University of Connecticut since its beginning; he and Ralph Segalman, the other Founding Editor, shared the editing chores. Six years ago, they turned that responsibility over to me; but Norm continued to do the publishing. Since this separation of offices has been a constant source of confusion to our authors, subscribers, …

Afdc Encounters Joint Custody: Business As Usual Is Not The Solution, Jan L. Hagen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In the fifty years since its enactment, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) has become increasingly difficult to administer efficiently and equitably. Most recently, this increasing complexity is illustrated by eligibility determinations for divorced families having joint custody of the children. A recent national survey of state agencies administering AFDC programs reveals a diversity of approaches in determining eligibility under the continued absence requirement for joint custody situations. As illustrated by these joint custody cases, the meaningfulness as well as the usefulness of the continued absence requirement for AFDC eligibility has become increasingly questionable in terms of responding to …

Individual Experience And Critical Consciousness: Sources Of Social Change In Everyday Life, David G. Gil

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Social scientists tend to interpret social change as the result of collective action. However, all collective action is at some level and time initiated and carried out by individuals, who, of course, are rooted in particular social contexts. A theory of social change needs to derive, therefore, not only from the study of collective action, but also from the study of individual initiation of, and involvement in, social change oriented practice.

The following observations on individual involvement in social change practice are based on personal experience and study over several decades. They are not a theory of social change but …

Older Blacks' Predictions Of Their Social Support Networks, Brenda Crawley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Predicting resources for one's later years is risky and evokes feelings of vulnerability. Findings from a study of older blacks reveal that while race and culture may predispose clients to prefer certain resources, such as spouses and children, others realistically expect kin and friends to care for them. The heterogeneous nature of the black elderly suggests an open posture be maintained in assessing support resources for those who face short- or long- term care needs.

The Impact Of Program Centralization On The Utilization Of Social Services: The Case Of The Ssi Program, Yossef Meller, Nancy Mudrick

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

When the Old Age Assistance (OAA), Aid to the Blind (AB), and Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled (APTD) caseloads were converted to SSI in 1974, only cash payments were transferred to the Social Security Administration; social services remained available through public welfare agencies. This paper assesses the extent to which the service utilization of low income aged and disabled persons changed with the social service delivery system changes associated with the implementation of SSI. We found that the proportion of persons receiving social services decreased slightly between the last year of the old programs and the first year …

The Effect Of Changes In The Federal Disability Programs On State And Local General Assistance Programs, Courtney Scherer Petersen, Eric R. Kingson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Since early 1981, there has been a large-scale removal of persons from the SSI and Social Security disability programs as a result of the Social Security Disability Amendments of 1980. This article reports on the findings of a national survey designed to determine whether the removal of persons from the federal disability programs had an impact on state and local General Assistance programs and the extent to which older recipients of General Assistance are in need of long-term income assistance for health and other reasons.

Some states and jurisdictions have noticed an increase in applications as a result of federal …

Symposium On "Professional Achievement In Social Work", Robert D. Leighninger Jr.

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This Symposium is an experiment. It is an attempt to have an argument over a piece of controversial research in a way that will clarify both the methodological and ideological issues involved.

Comment On "Professional Achievement" In Social Work, Harris Chaiklin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Anything which would help explain professional achievement in social work would be an important contribution to knowledge. In the present instance poor conceptualization and weak data analyses do not support such a conclusion.

Book Review, Jonathan Rabinowitz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

BOOK REVIEW BY ARTHUR B. SHOSTAK AND GARY McLOUTH, WITH LYNN SENG

Organized Labor At The Crossroads 1987-88, Department Of Economics

Werner Sichel Lecture Series

"Organized Labor at the Crossroads" is the twenty-fourth Annual Public Lecture Series organized by the Department of Economics at Western Michigan University. This year's series is directed by Dr. WeiChiao Huang of the WMU Economics Department, and is co-sponsored by the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research . All lectures are open to the public and no admission is charged. A question and answer session will follow each lecture.

21-Archaeological Test Excavations At The Stork Site (2dcs45), Porter Township, Cass County, Michigan, William M. Cremin

Archaeological Technical Reports

With the execution of a Cultural Resource Investigation work authorization (#5-86/87) under contract #85-1115 (MODS ER #1594) between the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Michigan Department of State, and Western Michigan University, calling For Phase II archaeological excavation of that portion of the Stork site (20CS45) lying within the expanded right-of-way on the north side of US-12 in Section 1 of Porter Township, Cass County, Michigan, researchers from the Department of Anthropology began a literature, documents, and site file search, reviewed reports of previous work on the site, and undertook limited test excavations on 1-2 Nov 86 in order to …

76-An Archaeological Survey Of The Eagle Lake And Buchanan Public Access Sites For The Michigan Department Of Natural Resources (Er-9381), William M. Cremin

Reports of Investigations

Pursuant to receipt of authorization from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DPD No. 87-GA8562, dated 3 Apr 87) for a Phase I archaeological assessment of two properties in Kalamazoo and Berrien Counties, Michigan, archaeologists from the Department of Anthropology, Western Michigan Univ.ersity began a literature, documents, and site files search and prepared to conduct on-site evalaution of the.project areas in order to determine if proposed construction of recreational facilities would have an adverse impact on potentially significant archaeological resources. There follows a report of fieldwork undertaken at the Eagle Lake Public Access in Texas Township, Kalamazoo County on 9 …

22-Phase I Archaeological Survey And Reconnaissance Survey Of Above-Ground Resources Along Us-12 Fadm Us-127 In Woodstock Township To M-50 In Cambridge Township, Lenawee County, Michigan, William M. Cremin, Joann Sporleder

Archaeological Technical Reports

With the execution of a Cultural Resource Investigation work authorization (#6-86/87) under contract #85-1115 (MOOS EA-00096), on 23 Jan 87 between the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Michigan Department of State, and Western Michigan University, calling for a Phase I archaeological survey and reconnaissance survey of above-ground resources along a 12.1 km (7.5 mi) stretch of US-12 between US-127 and M-50 in Woodstock and Cambridge townships, Lenawee County, Michigan, the University undertook the following:

1. established an agreement with Crumlish/Sporleder and Associates, Inc. of South Bend, Indiana whereby this architectural firm would undertake the survey of above-ground resources in the zone …