Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

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, …

Patterns Of Association Between Oral Health Status And Subsistence: A Study Of Aboriginal Skeletal Populations From The Tennessee Valley Area, Maria Ostendorf Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to identify subsistence associated differences in caries, periodontal disease and attrition between two aboroginal skeletal samples from the Tennessee Valley area. The hunter/gather sample employed in this study dates from the Archaic period (6000-500 B.C.) and is composed of individuals from the Eva(6BN12), Cherry (84BN74) and Anderson (40WM9) sites. The Mississippian Dallas focus (1300-1500 A.D.) site of Toqua (40MR6) practiced maize agriculture.

Contrasts in caries frequency, location on the tooth, and distribution along the tooth row were readily apparent. Cervical caries in the posterior tooth row characterized the Archaic sample. The pattern is attributed …

A Synthesis Of The Late Woodland Mason Phase In The Normandy And Tims Ford Reservoirs In Middle Tennessee, Betty J. Duggan

Masters Theses

From ca. 600 A.D. to 1100 A.D. Late Woodland groups occupied the upper Duck and Elk River valleys in the Eastern Highland Rim Physiographic Section in Middle Tennessee. These Mason phase peoples lived primarily on the older alluvial terraces where they exploited a wide range of locally available resources from three types of habitation loci: base camps, seasonal encampments and task-specific stations. Artifactual and floral data suggest that these people were Woodland hunter-gatherers who were familiar with horticultural practices.

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.

Analysis Of The Prehistoric Settlement Pattern Survey Project In The Lower Kalamazoo River Valley: The 1978 And 1979 Field Seasons, Deborah K. Rhead

Masters Theses

Western Michigan University's Settlement Pattern Survey, Implemented in the Spring of 1978 under the direction of Or. Elizabeth Garland, is an intensive problem-oriented survey aimed at discerning patterns of prehistoric settlement in Allegan County, Michigan. This thesis is based on the analysis of the Settlement Pattern Survey data for the 1978 and 1979 seasons. The use of sampling strategies in archaeology and corresponding problems with analytical statistics is examined with particular reference to the Settlement Pattern Survey Project. The application of cluster analysis to the Settlement Pattern Survey project 1s also discussed. As a result of this analysis, distinct patterns …

The Design, Field Test, And Description Of A Model For Collaborative Long-Range Community Planning, Ozzie D. Parks

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to design and field test a model for collaborative long-range community planning. A model was designed on the basis of research found in the literature, tested in a community setting, and evaluated regarding its effectiveness.

The problem delineated for the study was the lack of collaborative long-range planning in our society, particularly at the community level. A review of the literature in this field indicated that although long-range planning is considered to be important, it is seldom practiced successfully. The study's response to the problem was to design and field test a model which …

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 …

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 …

A Petrographic Analysis Of Ceramics From Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, Arizona: Onsite Or Specialized Manufacture, Elizabeth M. Garrett

Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if the temper in prehistoric ceramics could be used to reconstruct the patterns of ceramic manufacture in portions of the Apache-Sitgreaves and Coconino National Forests, Arizona. Homogeneity of temper would suggest the use of a restricted number of temper sources indicating that ceramic manufacture occurred in a small number of villages.

A second goal was to analyze the data for diversity of temper both within and among the ceramic wares in the study. The third goal was to compare the mineralogical composition of rock units in the study area and the …

An Application Of Taoist Thought In Short Term Psychotherapy, David Leslie Knoblauch

Dissertations

Taoism originated in China during the -5th and -4th centuries with the Tao Te Ching, which is attributed to Lao Tzu. This ancient philosophy delineated a way of acting in harmony with the course and trend of the natural world. In the United States, Taoist thought has been increasing in popularity since the 1930's. C. G. Jung, Alan Watts, and Abraham Maslow were prominent in bringing Taoism to a functional understanding in America's psychological community. They promoted the view that man is not an isolated ego which must control experience, but rather that man is a part of the order …

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 …

Physical Growth Of Preschool Children Participating In The Cherokee Wic Program, Patricia Anne Driscoll

Masters Theses

Physical growth data of 921 Cherokee Indian children who are or who were participants of the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) from 1976 to 1982 was collected. Information was obtained from 390 WIC women with children on the WIC program. Distance and velocity data for height and weight were documented for the WIC children from birth to five.

Mean heights for these children tended to be less than those of Native Americans living in Minnesota and less than or equal to those reported in the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) growth charts. Mean weights, …

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 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, …

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

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Christianity And Delinquency: A Study Of Religiosity And Delinquency Involvement, Brenda T. King

Masters Theses

Much of the previous research on the relationship between religiosity and juvenile delinquency suggests that religiosity does not deter its adherents from moving toward anti-social behavior. Using a quite narrow definition of Christian, this conclusion was tested. Three questions were posed: (1) Does knowledge of religious status aid in predicting delinquency?: (2) Do Christians engage in less delinquency?; and (3) Do Christians with higher levels of religious commitment engage in less delinquency? The answer to each question is "No." There is very little difference between Christian and non-Christian delinquency patterns. The only significant difference uncovered was with life time delinquency …

An Investigation Of The Instructional Communicator Style Expectations Of Nontraditional And Traditional Male And Female Undergraduate Students, Chryl Irvine Snyder

Masters Theses

Increasing numbers of nontraditional students, many of them women, are enrolling in college and university classes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the instructional communicator style expectations of nontraditional and traditional male and female undergraduate students. Students were asked to rate their own preferences on a variety of items designed to reflect instructional communicator styles. The researcher looked for differences in student expectations of their "ideal teachers" based on age and sex.

Nontraditional students rated the precise style of instructional communication higher than the traditional students who gave higher ratings to the friendly, open, dominant, and contentious styles. …

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 …

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.

A Study Of Factors Affecting Citizens' Perceptions Of Crime In Two Urban Areas In Transition, Karen Gilchrist

Student Work

For decades the motivating factors behind criminal behavior have fascinated and perplexed criminologists. Much of the research in criminal justice has focused upon the perpetrator of criminal activities to the exclu­sion of other areas of study.

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.

The Effects Of Two Levels Of Fear Appeal On Attitude When Consequences Are Aimed At The Listener Or His Family, Irma Matrai

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

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

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Transportation Coordination For The Mobility Impaired In San Antonio-Bexas County, Texas, Roberta Schwartz

Urban Studies Masters Theses

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).

Craniofacial Structure, Aging And Dental Function: Their Relationships In Adult Human Skeletal Series, Mark Frances Guagliardo

Doctoral Dissertations

Five human skeletal series were examined to discern if post-adolescent aging, as measured by dental attrition, has significant effects on the morphometrics of the skull. Definite age-related changes were found in the crania of the European, Melanesian and Arikara Indian collections studied. A statistical approach unique to the subject area showed that both size and shape of the adult skull changed with age. Some of the more pronounced aging effects included forward projection of the face, widening of interorbital dimensions, flattening of the frontal bone in profile, retraction of the subnasal region relative to the zygomatic bones, and increases in …

Diet, Anthropometric Characteristics, And Diabetes-Related Attitudes And Knowledge Among Women Residing In The Eastern Cherokee Township Of Snowbird, Rhonda Dale Terry

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this study was to gather, analyze, and interpret assessment data related to the problem of diabetes within the Eastern Cherokee township of Snowbird. Information was obtained from 105 Snowbird women, ages 18 to 87, during the spring of 1982. The three specific aims of the study along with related findings are summarized below.

The first specific aim was to assess selected aspects of household and individual food behavior. The 71 women in charge of obtaining and preparing food in each home were interviewed concerning household food behavior, and each subject’s previous day’s intake of food and nutritional …

The Black Press Of Tennessee: 1865-1980, Karen Fitzgerald Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

At least 112 black newspapers have been published in Tennessee, beginning with the Colored Tennessean in 1865. William B. Scott, and East Tennessee harness-maker, and his son, William Jr., published the Colored Tennessean in Nashville on or about April 29, making it one of the first black newspapers in the South.

From 1865 to 1899 there were at least 35 black papers published in the state, 52 from 1900 to 1950, and 25 from 1951 to 1980. By the end of the period there were only three black papers being printed in the state: the Memphis Tri-State Defender, Memphis Mid-South …

Effects Of Religious Orientation On Attitudes Toward Death Among Students At Morehead State University, See Hwa Teh

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the School of Social Sciences at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Sociology by See Hwa Teh in August of 1982.