Psychology Commons^™

The Effects Of Relaxation Plus Imaginal Flooding Versus Relaxation Only On Panic Attacks In Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Jan E . Bachman

Dissertations

Many Vietnam veterans experience intrusive recollections of combat-related events in the form of nightmares and flashbacks, a primary symptom of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Imaginai flooding has shown some promise in reducing the frequency and intensity of these. Cognitive- behavioral therapies have also been used, but their effectiveness has not been studied. Experiment 1 attempted to determine whether a self-imposed version of imaginai flooding (called Self-Imaginai Flooding) could be used rather than the usual therapist-led procedure, and whether treatment effects could generalize from the treated to untreated intrusive memories. In a between groups design, with six Vietnam veteran subjects in …

The Effects Of A Performance-Based Lottery System On Accident Reduction In The Kalamazoo Office Of The United States Postal Service, Dale F. Polley

Masters Theses

The effects of a performance-based lottery system on the accident rates of mail carriers were examined. Two hundred and eight mail carriers in five United States Postal Service facilities participated. The experimental design consisted of a multiple-baseline with reversal. In addition, the accident rates for the intervention period were compared to the accident rates for the same period of time during the preceding two years.

A Safety Bingo game served as the lottery system. If an accident did not occur in a work unit during the day, a bingo number was drawn. The bingo game continued until either a bingo …

Serial Conditioning As A Function Of Stimulus, Response, And Temporal Dependencies, William L. Palya, Rick A. Bevins

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Six experiments were used to examine the effects of explicit response, stimulus, and temporal dependencies on responding in an interfood interval. The first two experiments demonstrated that 10- segment 60-s interfood clocks controlled similar distributions of key pecking in pigeons regardless of whether response-reinforcement contiguity was required, allowed, or precluded. The third and fourth experiments found that in the absence of an explicit response-reinforcement dependency, systematic explicit stimuli in an interfood interval were sufficient to establish and maintain the characteristic distribution of key pecking and that an interval without an explicit clock failed to establish or maintain key pecking. The …

On Being Better But Not Smarter Than Others: The Muhammad Ali Effect, Scott T. Allison, George R. Goethals, David M. Messick

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Past research suggests that people believe that they perform socially desirable behaviors more frequently and socially undesirable behaviors less frequently than others (Goethals, 1986; Messick, Bloom, Boldizar, & Samuelson, 1985). The present research examined whether this perception also characterizes people's thinking about intelligent and unintelligent behaviors. In Study 1, subjects wrote lists of behaviors that they or others did. Subjects indicated that they performed more good and intelligent behaviors and fewer bad and unintelligent behaviors than others, although the magnitude of these differences was greater for good and bad acts than for intelligent and unintelligent ones. In Study 2, a …

The Sex Stereotype Of A Job As A Moderator Of Sex Bias In Performance Evaluations, Sandra B. Crooks

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In accordance with the stereotype-fit model of discrimination (Dipboye, 1985), the results of past research indicate that the extent to which jobs are sex stereotyped dictates whether or not a main effect for rate sex is present in performance evaluations. The purpose of this study was to further examine the relationship between the sex stereotype of the job and the presence of sex bias in evaluation. Two hundred and five undergraduate psychology students viewed one of eight videotapes of a confederate job applicant performing a work sample task and evaluated the observed performance. A 2 x 2 x 2 between …

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) …

The Effectiveness Of Three Study Aids As Measured By Immediate Examinations And Delayed Examinations, Yousef Abdulwahab Abuhmaidan

Dissertations

Two experiments were performed to examine the effectiveness of three study aids: (1) information maps, (2) behavioral objectives, and (3) the students' own strategies in reorganizing written material. A training workshop was given prior to the first experiment to teach the students appropriate skills to use to read research articles (e.g., generating and answering questions, filling out and generating information maps). Eighteen undergraduate students participated in the study. In the first experiment, students were randomly assigned to three groups. The researcher provided students with a research article every week for three weeks, together with either an information map, a set …

The Effectiveness Of Correspondence Training In Controlling Aggressive Behavior Between Children In Play Settings, Naiel Albkower

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of say/do correspondence training in controlling aggressive behavior between children in play settings. Two experiments assessed the effects of children's verbal statements, to play in a friendly manner with others, on the incidence of aggressive behavior during actual play. The results of the first experiment indicated that, in most instances, the number of aggressive incidents decreased as a result of the correspondence training in all subjects except one where the effects of treatment are not clear.

In the second experiment, the incidents of aggressive behavior decreased during the intervention to …

Effects Of Age On Motor Preparation And Restructuring, Paul Amrhein, Noreen Goggin, George Stelmach

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Age-related decrements in motor plan restructuring were investigated. In this experiment, older and younger adults performed a discrete aiming task that involved responses that were precued and responses that were modified at the time of an imperative signal. On 75% of the trials, the precue specified the response-stimulus (valid trials) with respect to the movement parameters of the arm (left or right) and direction (toward or away). On the remaining 25% of the trials, the response-stimulus was different from the precue (invalid trials) in that the subject was required to modify a planned movement by changing the arm to be …

The Comparative Effectiveness Of Systematic Desensitization And An Integrative Approach In Treating Public Speaking Anxiety: A Literature Review And A Preliminary Investigation, Ana M. Rossi, William J. Seiler

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

An analysis of the literature related to public speaking anxiety (PSA) and various treatments of it are discussed. PSA is a state or situational type of anxiety which can have tremendous effects on those who suffer from it. Two of the major treatments—systematic desensitization (SD) and the integrative approach (IA)—are reviewed and then experimentally tested to determine which is the more effective in treating PSA. The results are somewhat inclusive, but there is strong evidence to suggest that both SD and IA reduce trait and state anxiety. It was found, however, that IA is more effective in decreasing the symptoms …

The Effect Of Social Context & Group Decision Making Formats On An Evaluative Task, Joyce Bowers

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A review of the literature on decision making indicated a lack of research attention given to the effects of the dynamics of the social context surrounding participation on decision outcomes. The present study examined the relationship between social context and group decision making formats, and its implications for the effective implementation of group participation in decision making The effectiveness of three decision -making formats, the nominal technique, the interacting technique, and the consensus technique, were compared under conditions of cooperation and competition on the three decision effectiveness dimensions of quality, acceptance, and synergy.

Two-hundred and forty-eight undergraduate students, working in …

Misattribution Of Interpersonal Attraction: A Case Of Mistaken Chemistry Or Cognition, William John Bowman Ii

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Prior research endorsed two theories of misattribution of interpersonal attraction. Both the two-component theory and the excitation transfer theory demonstrate misattribution and, in combination, enhance the probability of misattribution. However, which theory provides the primary source of misattribution has not been distinguished. The present study asked 60 undergraduate males to rate their interpersonal attraction toward a female in a video recording engaging in self disclosure. A manipulation of different levels of environmental saliency and physiological arousal was used to determine which condition or combination of conditions is most likely to elicit misattribution of interpersonal attraction. An analysis of variance followed …

0482: Dr. Walter Freeman's Papers From Huntington State Hospital, 1897-1984, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Please note: this collection does not contain individual patient hospital records or records about individuals who stayed here. The items in this collection come from a specific doctor who worked here and his research.

This collection consists of historical materials from the Huntington State Hospital during the period 1897 through 1984. The collection includes correspondence of hospital personnel and patients, administrative records, newspaper clippings, and a large number of photographs. Significant to the collection are files relating to transorbital lobotomies performed by Dr. Walter Freeman in the early 1950's as part of a larger lobotomy project in West Virginia. The …

Driver Response To Simulated Intersections: An Analysis Of Workload-Related Variables, Monty G. Grubb

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

A roadway intersection driving simulation was created to investigate driver information processing at intersections. Research participants were provided a visual simulation of approaching intersections using a video display with a 120 degree visual field. Six groups, each containing 12 subjects, were formed according to age and gender, with age ranging from 18 to 74 years. All participants viewed 14 separate intersections, which varied according to types of traffic control signs and signals. Individual workload was assessed in three categories of response: performance, subjective, and physiological. A MANOVA was performed on six dependent variables in the 3 (age) by 2 (gender) …

The Effectiveness Of Three Modes Of Conversation On Coping With Stress In Same Sex Friendship Dyads, Robert Sal Costanza

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

To induce stress, pairs of friends, serving as subjects, were told they would be moving a spider through a maze. In three experimental conditions the friends were allowed to talk with one another prior to interacting with the spider; in the fourth condition the subjects waited alone. The conversations were structured so that the differential effects of problem-solving, emotion-based, or situationally unrelated discussion between friends could be observed on measures of negative mood state and behavioral fear. Subjects in the emotion-based condition generally experienced the greatest amounts of negative mood and fear. Problem-solving and unrelated discussions resulted in lower levels …

A New Measure Of Mature Religiosity, James A. Croxton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this study, a new measure of mature religiosity was created. One hundred and fifty students were administered an 80 item scale based upon a consensus meaning of mature religiosity. The results of this administration were factor analyzed. Seven First Order Factors and two Second Order Factors emerged which could be adequately assessed by 50 of the 80 item. The revised 50 item scale was administered to 130 students. During the same administration, the students also responded to measures of personal maturity (Dogmatism Scale, Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, Social Desirability Scale) and other measures of mature religiosity (Intrinsic-Extrinsic Religious …

A Sensory Analysis Of Self-Injurious Behavior, Cris Thomas Clay

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The present study was designed to investigate the role of sensory extinction and sensory reinforcement in the moti- vation of self-injurious behavior. The intervention was based on the assumption that each subject's SIB behavior was motivated by the sensory consequences of the behavior. A pre- assessment phase was used to select appropriate sensory ex- tinction devices and sensory reinforcing toys, although no appropriate sensory toys could be identified. Thus, treat- ment consisted solely of sensory extinction using a reversal design. Results showed that the sensory extinction devices reduced tactile stimulation of face slapping and pica for two developmentally disabled adults. …

Assessing Critical Thinking Processes In The Gifted: Predicting Gre Analytical Performance From Watson-Glaser Results, Susie Garrott

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the constructs measured by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal and the Graduate Record Examination Analytical Scale in "gifted" adolescents 15 to 17 years of age. There were three hypotheses addressed in this study: 1) "gifted" adolescents would be able to think critically as measured by college level norms when measured by the Watson-Glaser and the GRE-Analytical; 2) significant differences would exist between different levels of gifted populations; and 3) a factor or group of factors of the Watson-Glaser subscales would significantly predict performance on the GRE-Analytical Scale.

The Watson-Glaser …

The Effect Of Interpolated Continuous Reinforcement Following Fixed Ratio Reinforcement On Resistance To Extinction, Earlene Mccullough Muse

Graduate Theses

This study investigated the effect of seven continuous reinforcement sessions interpolated after varying numbers of FR-25 sessions on extinction responses during extinction of three groups of rats. Rats received 7, 14, or 21 sessions of FR-25 followed by 7 sessions of continuous reinforcement and 7 days of extinction. There were three rats in each group. All sessions were 25 minutes long. Results showed rats that received FR-25 for 21 sessions were more resistant to extinction than any other group, measured by the cumulative number of responses during extinction. Cumulative rates of extinction responses for Groups 1 and 2 were not …

Sign-Tracking With An Interfood Clock, William L. Palya

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Food was presented to pigeons, irrespective of their behavior. The fixed 60-s interfood interval was segmented into ten 6-s periods, each signaled by a distinctive stimulus color, ordered by wavelength. This "interfood clock" reliably generated and maintained successively higher rates of key pecking at stimuli successively closer to food. Under extinction, key pecking ceased. When the standard stimulus sequence was changed to a different sequence for each bird, accelerated responding again emerged and was sustained under each of the new color sequences. However, responding was neither maintained nor acquired when each successive interfood interval provided a different random sequence of …

An Integrative Model Of Marital Therapy Based On The Psychoanalytic Behavioral And Systems Approaches, Dennis L. Mulder

Dissertations

The Integrative Model of marital therapy is a synthesis of the theoretical constructs of the psychoanalytic, behavioral and systems approaches. Relevant literature of the selected approaches is reviewed. The concepts of marriage, marital conflict and marital therapy of each approach are described. The Integrative Model is based on three assumptions and six propositions. The Integrative Model attempts to interpret the intrapsychic dynamics of intimate relationships in a data language suitable for empirical study. It attempts to define the relationship between internal and external determinants of behavior. It proposes a method of intervention consistent with the cognitive/behavioral conceptual model and procedures …

Behavior Of Retarded Clients As A Function Of Access To Leisure Activities Oriented Toward Task Completion, David R. Keltner

Home Economics and Family Living Theses

This thesis represents an investigation of the effects of increased access to task completion activities on the behavior of institutionalized retarded clients. The hypothesis was that increased access to task completion leisure activities (non-competitive free time activities requiring the subject to attend to a constructive task during at least five free time periods over the course of the study) would result in reduced frequency of unacceptable social behaviors in a group of institutionalized retarded clients. A hobby kit designed according to the experimental definition of leisure activity was made available to each subject in the experimental group. Target behaviors (social …

The Relationship Among Parent Knowledge Of Special Education, Assertiveness, And Participation In Planning Their Handicapped Child’S Educational Program, Lynne Faxon Croxton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study addressed the relationship among parent assertiveness, parent knowledge of special education and the handicapping condition of their child, and parent participation in the annual meeting of the School-Based Admissions and Release Committee (SBARC). Fifty-one (51) parents of learning disabled and mentally handicapped children in a suburban area of Kentucky participated in the study. The effects of the child’s handicapping condition and the number of years the child’s handicapping condition and the number of years the child had received special education on parent assertiveness, knowledge, and participation were also analyzed. Parents were given the Special Education Knowledge Survey, and …

The Interaction Between Characteristic Locus Of Control And Control Of Events On The Perceived Stress Of Events, Jeffrey B. Harrison

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the School of Education at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Jeffrey B. Harrison on July 7,1984.

The Relationship Between Rating Strategy And Accuracy Of Performance Rating, Richard Carter

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Given the recent theoretical emphasis on the process of performance rating (e.g., Landy & Farr, 1980), a test of the suggestion that better raters may use different rating processes than poorer raters was implemented. Specifically, this study was designed to determine if more accurate raters use a systematically different rating strategy than less accurate raters. Accuracy, the proximity of a rating to the ratee’s true score, was operationalized by differential accuracy (Cronbach, 1955), while rating strategies were determined through a policy capturing method (e.g., Zedeck & Kafry, 1977).

Seventh-three subjects rated a series of videotapes, developed by Borman (e.g. Borman, …

Conditioned Motor Activity And Place-Preference Responses As A Function Of D-Amphetamine Dose Level, Dwight D. Hart

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Spontaneous motor activity (SMA) responses to stimuli predicting d-amphetamine injection were investigated in a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm. Three groups (saline, 1.0mg/kg and 4.0mg/kg doses) of rats underwent a 12-day period during which Injection-Conditioning and Non-Injection Conditioning treatments were alternated. This sequence was then followed by two Test/Extinction Days on which all three groups received saline injections. Subjects in the 4.0mg/kg, but not the 1.0mg/kg group were more active during the 30 minute pre-injection period on the second Conditioning Day than were Saline Group subjects. Test Day post-injection SMA levels of the two Drugged Groups were not significantly different, but the …

Perception Of The Ames Distorted Room As A Function Of Active Vs. Passive Training, Antoinette B. Dyer

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the School of Education Morehead at State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Psychology by Antoinette B. Dyer in March of 1984.

The Effects Of Response Lever Position On The Performance Of Rats With Septal Lesions In A Lever-Press Shock-Escape Task, Edward Brooks Applegate Iii

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the School of Education at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts by Edward Brooks Applegate III on October 28, 1983.

Level Of Aspiration And The Type A Coronary-Prone Pattern In Children, Wendy L. Kliewer

Dissertations and Theses

Type A coronary-prone behavior has been recognized as a major risk factor for coronary heart disease. Characterized by extremes of achievement-striving, impatience aggression, and easily aroused hostility, this behavior pattern has been studied extensively in adults, but relatively few studies have examined the behavior pattern in children.

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine aspects of assessment of the Type A behavior pattern, goal-setting behaviors displayed by Type A and B children, and parents' goal-setting behaviors toward their offspring.

The Effect Of Interpolated Continuous Reinforcement Following Fixed Ratio Reinforcement On Resistance To Extinction, Christine Miara

Graduate Theses

This study investigated the effect of seven continuous reinforcement sessions interpolated after varying numbers of FR-25 sessions on extinction responses during extinction of three groups of rats. Rats received 7, 14, or 21 sessions of FR-25 followed by 7 sessions of continuous reinforcement and 7 days of extinction. There were three rats in each group. All sessions were 25 minutes long. Results showed rats that received FR-25 for 21 sessions were more resistant to extinction than any other group, measured by the cumulative number of responses during extinction. Cumulative rates of extinction responses for Groups 1 and 2 were not …