Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Stimulus-Sampling And Encoding Variability, Brian C. Babbitt

Psychology ETDs

A recent formulation has incorporated encoding variability in a stimulus-sampling framework. This conceptualization suggests that an active sample of "encoding operators" encodes each stimulus. On subsequent presentations of the stimulus each operator is checked for a tag/no tag representing the use of that operator in encoding the stimulus. These assumptions produce binomial distributions of noise and signal + noise underlying recognition performance. The present experiment tested the forms of the underlying distributions in the context change situation. Three amounts of context change between training and testing were investigated, with results indicating that recognition performance decreased as amount of context change …

An Experimental Study Of The Effects Of Physical Attractiveness Of Defendants In A Simulated Jury Setting, Dennis Alan Ashley

Communication ETDs

The subjects for this experiment were chosen from seven undergraduate beginning Speech Communication classes at The University of New Mexico. These subjects were asked to look at either an attractive, neither-attractive-nor-unattractive, or unattractive person who was posing as a defendant in a negligent homicide case, and sentence that defendant to from one to twenty-five years in prison for the crime.

A 3x2 factorial design was constructed, testing two variables -- level of physical attractiveness (attractive, neither attractive- nor-unattractive, unattractive), and mode of presentation of the defendant (photograph, in person). Different effects of these two variables were measured by comparing the …

Variations Of Sexual Stimuli And Subject Personality Variables In Immediate And Delayed Paired-Associate Learning, Flynn O'Malley

Psychology ETDs

Previous research using affective stimuli in learning and· memory tasks has yielded conflicting results regarding the effects of such stimuli on performance, and there has been little research employing affective photographs in such tasks. The present study was conducted in order to determine the effects of highly explicit sexual photographs of individuals used as stimulus terms in the immediate and delayed paired-associate (P-A) learning of college students. Of particular interest was the extent to which high arousal would differentially affect immediate (Session 1) and delayed (Session 2) P-A performance. The research consisted of a stimulus scaling study and three experiments. …

The Cost-Of-Service Indexing Clause Concept, W. David Eberle

Economics ETDs

The Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) persuaded the Public Service Commission of New Mexico (PSC), in March 1975, to adopt a cost-of-service index (CSI) approach to setting electric service rates as an alternative to setting the service rates through formal rate hearings. This thesis primarily reviews the CSI's impact on the Company and the Commission.

PNM asked for an alternative method of setting service rates because of the electric utility industry's financial crisis in the early 1970s. The rapidly changing, economic environment of this period created severe upward pressure on prices and costs. The inability of regulatory commissions …

The Cost-Of-Service Indexing Clause Concept, W. David Eberle

Economics ETDs

The purpose of this thesis is to describe and evaluate the objectives of the CSI as one possible long-range solution to the crisis faced by the electric utility industry today. Consisting of five chapters, the first presents a brief history of events that led to PNM proposing the CSI. This historical overview lends understanding to the gravity of the utilities’ financial crisis and to the need for reform action to prevent another similar crisis.

Differential Effects Of Instructions To Role-Play Mental Illness On The Performance Of Chicanos And Anglos On Two Subtests Of The Wais, Teresa Y. Makowski

Psychology ETDs

Anglo and Chicano conceptions of mental illness were studied through a cross-cultural comparison of performance on the Information and Comprehension subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale either under standard instructions or under instructions to role-play mental illness. Thirty-two Anglo (22 female and 10 male) and thirty-two Chicano (18 female and 14 male) students from introductory psychology classes participated in the study. It was predicted that both Anglo and Chicano subjects would have decreased performance on both subtests under role­playing instructions. This prediction was based on the concept of mental illness which suggests that the mentally ill are seen as …

Effects Of Selective Pretraining On The Acquisition Of Matching-To-Sample Behavior In Pigeons, Richard G. Marriott

Psychology ETDs

The rapidity of acquisition of matching-to-sample behavior has repeatedly been shown to be related directly to the stimulus dimension from which the matching stimuli are selected. In short, pigeons acquire matching with color stimuli much more rapidly than matching with geometric form stimuli. Recent attempts to explain this finding have suggested that the discriminability of the sample stimulus from other sample stimuli is an important variable contributing to this effect. In addition, it has been suggested that relative acquisition rates of matching-to-sample behavior can be predicted from acquisition rates of simple discrimination tasks. The present series of experiments were designed …

Environmental Carcinogenesis: An Economic Analysis Of Risk, Reza Pazand

Economics ETDs

It is universally suggested that cancer is suspected of being environmentally induced. The economic risk asso­ciated with exposure to suspected environmental carcinogens is not yet analyzed. Although several researchers have es­timated the health damages of certain pollutants, an appropriate methodology to estimate the economic damages of suspected carcinogens is not yet developed.

The theoretical model developed in this dissertation analyzes the economic risk of exposure to suspected environ­mental carcinogens. The important conclusion drawn from the theoretical model is that exposure to environmental carcino­gens at earlier stages of life should be optimally avoided. The theoretical model provides a basis for the …

Deprivation Theory And Occult Belief, Bruce Hall

Sociology ETDs

ABSTRACT

This thesis is an investigation of a number of alternative explanations of belief in and activity in various subareas of the occult milieu. These subareas include astrology, spiritualism, satanism and various occult activities such as palm and card reading.

A number of alternative hypotheses concerning the rela­tionships between occult belief and practice and status and psychic deprivation as measured by self-esteem, self-competence and anomie were developed. Alternative explanations which centered around peer influence and religious orthodoxy were also presented. Three principle hypotheses were tested:

1)belief in and activity in various aspects of the occult

will vary inversely as a …

The Functional Significance Of Imagery In The Learning And Memory Of The Educable Mentally Retarded, Doris C. Sahd

Psychology ETDs

This research examined imagery effects in the learning and long-term retention of educable mentally retarded subjects. Between-subject factors included the level of stimulus imagery (low imagery versus high imagery), instructional procedure (standard paired-associate instruction versus imagery instruction), and length of retention interval (immediate, one week, and two weeks). Materials used were two lists of paired-associate nouns, selected so that meaningfulness was held constant while imagery was varied. Imagery was low for the stimulus terms of one list and high for the stimulus terms of the other list. Subjects were 120 non-institutionalized educable mentally retarded children (mean MA of 9.19) from …

Stimulus Intensity And Probability Of Stimulus Change As Determinants Of Simple Reaction Time, Robert T. Nullmeyer

Psychology ETDs

Many reaction time investigators have shown that as stimulus intensities increase response latencies decrease. In addition, Spiess (1971) demonstrated that the presentation of knowledge concerning the nature of the upcoming stimulus prior to its onset (preknowledge) could result in decreased reaction times. Spiess concluded that this preknowledge effect was interpretable within the framework of Grice's variable criterion model. Grice's model assumes that a response would occur when information concerning the onset of a stimulus reached a required level or criterion. The rate at which this information accumulates is determined by the intensity of the stimulus with stronger stimuli resulting in …

Religion, Kinship, And Labor In Luapala: Prosperity And Economic Stagnation Of Lake And River Fishing Communities, Karla Olga Poewe

Anthropology ETDs

In this dissertation I trace the interrelation­ships among economic activities, kin ties, and religious activities of a people who have some limited access to modern technology and uneven potential for economic de­velopment. I therefore analyze the material, ideological, and institutional means which these people employ in order to raise their standard of living. While I take environmental factors into account, I describe Luapulan conditions primarily in terms of internal dynamics based on cumulative, reciprocal, or conflicting action between kin and religious groups, and between alternative (matrilineal versus Protestant) ideologies about the distribution of the products of labor.

I found that …

Social Composition, Interaction And The Success Of High School Football Teams, Jill Kendrick Schneider

Sociology ETDs

Is there a sociological explanation for the pattern of consistent winning and consistent losing that is found at all levels of football competition as well in the New Mexico high school football program? A study of the 1975 New Mexico high school football season presents evidence that definite performance patterns have persisted over the last ten years and therefore cannot be strictly accounted for on the basis of ability and talent of individual players and coaches. It is hypothesized that the social structure and social interaction of each team were possible factors affecting team performance. Three hypotheses were tested: 1) …

The Persistence Of Negative Intra-List Cueing Effects, Charles R. Grah

Psychology ETDs

This thesis discriminates between two hypotheses which have been proposed to account for the recall decrement frequently produced by recall cues when the cues are selected from the study list (intra-list cues). One hypothesis suggests that the recall decrement is produced by changes in the relative strengths of words in memory. The other hypothesis suggests that the recall decrement results from additional recall requirements that are placed upon the subject when recall is cued with intra-list cues. These hypotheses make different predictions about the persistence of the recall decrement. The first hypothesis predicts that the recall decrement should persist when …