Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Investigation Of The Five-Term Contingency And The Conditional Control Of Equivalence Relations, Richard W. Serna

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the study of human operant behavior. One area of study reflecting this interest is the study of the formation of equivalent classes of stimuli by human subjects. The focus of the present research was the study of the conditions under which classes of equivalent stimuli can be inferred to be under conditional control.

In Experiment 1-A, three college students were trained to respond to a balanced five-term contingency via a visual-visual simultaneous matching-to-sample task with two choices of comparison stimuli. Probe tests showed that subjects' behavior could be described as …

Investigation Of Patient Anxiety, Patient Satisfaction, And Dental Student Behaviors, Mary Kathryn Morris

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study examined the effect of information about patient's dental anxiety on patient satisfaction, patient discomfort, and patients' perceptions of dental student behaviors. The validity of patients' perceptions was examined by independent observation of dental student behaviors on videotaped dental screening visits.

Thirty dental students each examined two dentally anxious female patients. Each student received information about one of the patient' s dental anxiety and no information about the other. The order of presentation of the conditions information and no information was counterbalanced. The dependent measures were the Dentist Behavior Checklist, the Dental Visit Satisfaction Scale, the Patient Discomfort …

Academic Achievement Of Bereaved Children: Comparison With A Nonbereaved Population, Rebecca W. Valcarce

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to study the effects of bereavement on the academic achievement of secondary school students who had lost a parent through death by comparing them with students attending the same schools but who were living with both natural parents. The subjects in both groups were matched on pretest scores and demographic characteristics at the beginning of the study. Achievement posttest scores and overall high school grade point averages of both groups were compared using ANCOVA and multiple regression analyses. None of the analyses were found to be statistically significant, implying that academic achievement is not …

The Relative Susceptibilities Of Interresponse Times And Post-Reinforcement Pauses To Differential Reinforcement, Nancy L. Trapp

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Post-reinforcement pauses (PRP) and interresponse times (IRTs) were examined to determine if these two temporal units changed in a similar fashion as a function of the delivery of differential reinforcement. Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, four pigeons were exposed to a series of procedures in which PRP and IRT durations were gradually increased and then decreased. A fixed-ratio two (FR 2) differentiation schedule was used. Reinforcement was delivered if the PRP or IRT durations were greater than (PRP > and IRT > procedures) or less than (PRP < and IRT < procedures) specified temporal criteria. Criteria were gradually changed across procedures. Results showed that PRPs and IRTs changed in accordance with the differential reinforcement as specified by the various contingencies. When PRPs and IRTs were free to vary, the PRPs tended to change in a direction consistent with the IRT shaping contingencys whereas, the IRTs tended to shorten regardless of the PRP shaping contingency. In Experiment 2, two subjects were exposed to both an FR 2 and FR 1 schedule to determine if schedule size influenced the effects obtained on the differentiation procedures. PRPs were systematically changed using a differentiation procedure with a response requirement of either FR 1 or FR 2. Results showed similar changes in PRP durations between FR 1 and FR 2 differentiation procedures. An analysis of errors made on each shaping condition in both experiments was conducted to determine whether PRPs or IRTs were more susceptible to the differential reinforcement contingencies. Fewer errors were made on the PRP shaping conditions, indicating that PRPs were more easily changed. Implications for a comprehensive theory of reinforcement were discussed.

A Comprehensive Treatment Program For Abusive Parents: An Exploratory Study, Marvin Kim Marvel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Estimates of the incidence of child abuse range from 200,000 to 500,000 (Light, 1973) to over one million children each year (O'Brien, 1980). Child abuse is a leading cause of childhood death and injury (Starr, 1979). Demographic studies (e.g., Steele & Pollock, 1968) suggest that parents who abuse their children were often abused or neglected themselves. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that many of the present victims of abuse will become abusing parents in the future unless the cycle is broken. The need for effective interventions to reduce this pervasive social problem is obvious.

Using Music In Teaching Social Skills To Mentally Retarded Subjects, Tamara Barron-Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which Melodies to Assist Social Interaction (MASI) would affect the social skills performance of the educable mentally retarded.

The study employed a pretest-posttest control group design with an N of 27 mentally-retarded subjects. It also employed a one-group pretest-posttest design with an N of 8 non-mentally retarded subjects.

All of the subjects received a pre- and post-score for their social skills performance level. Nineteen of the mentally-retarded subjects and all eight non-mentally retarded subjects received the MASI social skills teaching program as part of their regular curriculum.

The pre- …

The Effect Of An Early Sensorimotor Intervention Program On The Development Of Infants With Perinatal Intraventricular Hemorrhage, Janet Millard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Our current ability to identify and appropriately treat infants who are at risk for developing various handicapping conditions is limited. Thus, research aimed at developing early diagnostic techniques and differential intervention programs for infants at risk for handicaps needs further attention. The purpose of this study was to determine if infants who suffered perinatal intraventricular hemorrhage and who received routine medical care plus sensorimotor intervention between 3 and 12 months of age, differed from similar infants who received only routine medical care.

Twenty-four subjects (10 experimental and 14 control) who were patients in neonatal intensive care at University of Utah …

The Effects Of A Pre-Therapy Client Orientation On Clients In Psychotherapy, Nels Sather

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to assess the effects of a pre-therapy client orientation on clients admitted to a mental health center. A secondary purpose was to develop an effective and brief audio-visual orientation that would positively influence clients in therapy. It was hypothesized that a pre-therapy orientation would significantly reduce client no shows and cancellations, increase client fee payment, increase client level of psychological functioning, and increase client satisfaction with mental health services. None of the four hypotheses was supported by the research. A questionnaire filled out by the therapists involved in the study, after the data were …

Multiple-Stimulus Discrimination And Stimulus Overselectivity With Preschool Children, Maria C. Quintero

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Stimulus overselectivity is said to occur when behavior is under the control of a restricted set of stimuli from a stimulus complex. Three studies investigated the effects of specific multiple-stimulus training histories upon the overselective responding of normal preschool children.

In Experiment 1, eight children 3 to 5 years of age, were trained to discriminate forms presented on cards. Each form was labelled with a nonsense syllable, and each card (multiple stimulus) consisted of two forms. A time-delay training procedure was used. Four subjects were trained using Concurrent training in which two of the three S- response choices contained components …

Verbal Interactions Among Elementary Students With The Jigsaw Ii Learning Method, Katherine Gilbert

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The cooperative learning method, Jigsaw II, was implemented in a grade four social studies class for the purpose of examining the verbal interactions among students as they learned from each other. Jigsaw II is structured to enhance cooperation because each student has exclusive information that is needed by other group members to do well on a test. It was hypothesized that the more capable students in a heterogeneous learning group would help the less capable ones learn the material. As the lower ability students gained proficiency in teaching their information, the variance in the rates of speaking would be less …

Sexual Orientation And Capacity For Intimacy, Sandra Lee Harshbarger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Capacity for intimacy was examined as a function of sexual orientation. Sixty-six volunteers comprised four groups: heterosexual males, homosexual males, heterosexual females and homosexual females. Subjects' ages ranged from 19 to 61 and education levels ranged from 10 to 21 years of schooling. The four groups were comparable in terms of age, education level and general mental health.

Each volunteer responded to the following instruments: the Orlofsky Intimacy Interview (questionnaire format), the Yufit Intimacy-Isolation Questionnaire, the Rubin Like Scale, the Rubin Love Scale and the Gordon Personal Profile (used to assess general mental health) . Responses were compiled and analyzed …

A Study Of The Relationships Between Hemispheric Asymmetries And Intellectual Abilities, Anne Mcshane

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study investigated the functional significance of cerebral asymmetries. Width measurements of the human brain were derived from computerized tomographic (CT) films and related to intellectual variables as determined by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Revised (WAIS-R). Subjects were adults of both sexes who had been referred for neurologic examination and were diagnosed as having no abnormalities (N=28). Reasons for referral included headache, dizziness, or to rule out central nervous system damage following various types of trauma. The asymmetry of hemispheric widths (left minus right) in the frontal, temporoparietal, and occipital areas was correlated with Verbal IQ minus Performance IQ …