Psychology Commons^™

The Validity Of The Leiter International Performance Scale In Measuring The Intelligence Of Normal, Borderline, And Mentally Deficient Children, Marlin Pezner

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this project was to compare IQ scores obtained using the Leiter International Performance Scale to those obtained using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R).

An Exploration Of Change In Teacher Concerns Over Time, Sharla E. Hutchinson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to reconsider the five factor structure of the Teach Concern Checklist (TCC) currently being utilized by the teacher Preparation Evaluation Program (TPEP) at Western Kentucky University. The problem was to replicate the three factor solution of the TCC proposed by George (1978) and to further explore the progression of teacher concerns with experience to lend support to the self-task-impact concern theory proposed by Fuller (1969)

Two hundred and sixty-five pre-service and in-service teacher participating in TPRP completed the TCC. These teachers represented the different experience levels of student. First, third and fifth year of …

Characteristics Of Parents Involved In A Parent Child Center-Head Start Program, Rebecca Selove

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

An exploratory study was conducted to provide information for the coordinators of the Parent Child Center and Head Start (PCC-HS) Program in Leitchfield, Kentucky. Staff concern for parent involvement led to a search for parent characteristics which correlate with amount of participation in program activities. Sixty-five families, which included 65 mothers, 47 fathers, and 121 children, constituted the study sample. Data were obtained from records maintained by the PCC-HS staff. Variables included number of hours volunteered, age and level of education of each parent, estimated family income, family size, mother's enrollment in PCC when pregnant, number of children in the …

The Effects Of Instructions On Prosocial Behavior Of Preschool Children, Jane Marie Blackwell

Dissertations and Theses

This experiment examined the effects of instructions on the prosocial behavior (i.e., helping, sharing, teaching, and sympathy) of preschool children. Forty-eight individual children (X = 56.7 months) interacted with two adult women on two separate occasions, an initial session measuring baseline levels of prosocial behavior, and a second session several days later. In the second session, children received instructions in helping, sharing, and teaching, and an opportunity to rehearse, or practice, these prosocial behaviors. Children were given either power assertive instructions (i.e., instructions which directly told the child what to do), or inductive instructions (i.e., instructions which focused the child's …

Head Start Four And Five Year Old Children’S Attitudes Toward School As They Are Related To Achievement, Eugene Smith

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if there existed significant relationships between 4 and 5 year old children’s attitude toward school, their classroom teacher’s perception of their attitude toward school, length of time in school, sex, or a composite of these with their achievement on the Pre-School Attainment Record. A random sample of 55 Head Start children completed three instruments. The instruments used in this study were a revised Children’s Attitude Toward School Scale (CATSS-R), (Beere, 1970) The Pre-School Attainment Record (PAR), (Doll, 1966) and the Teachers Rating of Attitude of Children Toward School (TRACTS). The results of …

The Relationship Of Maternal Childrearing Practices To Prosocial Behavior And Resistance To Temptation In Preschool Children, Jennifer Anne Deck Jennings

Dissertations and Theses

Preschool children's prosocial behavior and resistance to temptation were examined in relation to maternal childbearing practices. Forty-seven children and their mothers participated in the study. At a play session at the child's day care center, each child was given opportunities to behave prosocially, i.e., to help, share, teach, or exhibit sympathy, and to resist temptation, i.e., refrain from playing with an attractive but forbidden toy. Mothers of these children were individually interviewed and given a questionnaire developed for this study.

An Assessment Of The Validity Of The Developmental Inventory Scales For Children (Disc), Marian Kathleen Mainland

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Developmental Inventory Scales for Children (DISC) was designed as a screening device for preschool children. The purpose of the study was to assess the validity of the DISC. Twenty male and twenty female preschoolers were observed for three 30 minute sessions and their activities recorded by an observer. The observer then rated each child in each of the areas of the DISC under study. Each child was then rated by his/her teacher and one parent using the same rating scales as had the observer. The DISC was then administered to each child and each of the areas under study …

Comparison Of The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test And The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale In School Age Children, Stephen Skiles

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The correlate relationships and directionality and magnitude of mean differences between MAs and IQs of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and Revised Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (both 1960 and 1972 norms) were investigated in a sample of 225 school age children. It was found that MAs of two instruments were more highly correlated than the IQs. For the total sample, no significant differences were found between mean MAs of the two instruments. The correlation between PPVT and the 1960 Revised Stanford-Binet IQs and the correlation between PPVT and 1972 Revised Stanford-Binet IQs were found to be identical. The PPVT was found …

Demographic Characterization Of Wisc-R Factor Score Profiles, Don Twyman

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Factor score profiles based on scores in the standardization sample for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Revised were visually surveyed for patterns of the demographic characteristics sex, race, parent’s occupation and religion and area of residence, these characteristics having been listed with the intelligence quotients obtained in the standardization sample. Patterns of the demographic characteristics and frequencies were described over the range of profiles, then the various profiles were described individually in terms of percentage of frequency and predominant demographic characteristics. The profile descriptions demonstrate a differential distribution of characteristics in relation to profiles, and suggest investigation of …

Validity Of Bender Gestalt Test Emotional Indicators For Functional Fifth-Grade Children, Donald Britt

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Both the Bender Gestalt Test and the Children's Personality Questionnaire were administered to 75 fifth grade students. Analyses were made to determine the possible relationships between the Koppitz Emotional Indicators on the Bender Gestalt Test and the various personality factors assessed by the Children's Personality Questionnaire. The results of these analyses found few significant relationships. Those that were significant were frequently conflicting and the opposite of the results which would have been predicted by Koppitz. These results provide a basis for questioning the validity of the Koppitz Emotional Indicators and their adequacy for use as a technique for personality assessment …

Wisc-R Short Forms For Identification Of Intellectually Sub-Normal Children, John Ward

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to develop short forms of the WISC-R for use in identifying children as intellectually average or below average. The national WISC-R standardization sample and a local WISC-R generalization sample were used. Both samples were restricted to those subjects with Full Scale IQ scores less than or equal to 100. Five different development procedures were used. Three procedures used stepwise multiple regression and two procedures used multiple discriminant analysis. The short forms developed by the multiple discriminant analysis were the most accurate. The administration time per subject was reduced but scoring complexity was increased. Usable, …

Television Advertising And Children, Vince Delange

Honors Theses

Thesis begins by examining the learning and cognitive processes and development of children, followed by a history of advertising to children, then explores the traditional concerns with advertising to children. The author discusses research findings and makes recommendations regarding advertising to children.

The Effects Of Television On Children's Behavior, Attitude, And Moral Judgment, Lauri Reinhardt

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Family Mobility And Maternal Attitude On Adolescent Personality, Jean M. Irwin

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Gender Label On Young Children's Interpretation Of An Infant's Behavior, Susan Sterkel Haugh

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

A Survey Of Sex Typing On Prime Time Television, Patricia Sue Henry

Masters Theses

According to former FCC Commissioner Nicholas Johnson, the average child will spend nearly 25,000 hours in front of a television before he or she is eighteen years old. With this fact in mind, I wondered what America's children learn from watching prime time television regarding sex-typing, or the characteristics which are considered appropriately masculine or feminine.

A review of related literature showed that critics in the early 70s pointed out that women portrayed on television were less numerous than men, less intelligent, brave, and adventuresome. In short, women were stereotyped as supportive underlings.

To find out if women fared any …

The Influence Of Response Modality On Children's Imitation Of Helping And Coercive Behavior, Wallace Arthur Melcher

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined the effects of adult, film mediated models on the prosocial behavior of school children. Also the effect of congruency and incongruency between the model's response and the response the children were asked to perform was investigated. Thirty third-grade students, 19 female and 11 male, were randomly assigned to three groups. The first group observed a short film of an adult model providing helping (positive) feedback to a young boy who was playing a marble maze game. The second group was treated identically to the first except that the model provided coercive (negative) feedback. The third group …

School Phobia: A Review Of Some Issues, M. W. Boyce

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

It is now quite well established that children, usually said to be suffering from school phobia (Johnson et al, 1941). or school refusal (Morgan, 1959). have great difficulty in attending school as a result of a neurotic disturbance, and that this is quite distinct from truancy, which is more often part of an anti-social or conduct disorder (Warren, 1948; Hersov, 1960a). School phobia is a condition which involves more than a simple fear of school. Johnson et al (1941) claimed that the essential problem lay in an unresolved mutual dependency relationship between mother and child, with arousal of intense separation …

The Effects Of A Group Therapy Program On Truancy, Keith Politi

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Two truancy groups were conducted for the Simpson County School System. A multifaceted group treatment approach was used with truants in an attempt to reduce school absences, increase feelings of personal and social security and change negative attitudes toward school. A contingency contract in conjunction with a modified token economy was used to increase school attendance. Group discussions were used to increase feelings of personal and social security and to change negative attitudes toward school. A comparison of group members pre- and postgroup school attendance records showed that group members significantly increased their school attendance. A comparison of group members …

Discrimination Of Bidimensional Stimuli By Autistic Children, Kathryn A. Brock

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Four autistic and four normal children were trained to respond on a series of four bidimensional complex-component discrimination tasks where the complex stimuli were comprised of auditory and visual components. The results indicated a transfer of learning effect for the autistic group. The increment in performance was such that the autistic group’s performance did not significantly differ from the normal group on the last task. These results were seen as encouraging evidence that the apparent phenomenon of stimulus overselectivity, as described in previous research, is not an enduring characteristic of autistic children. It was suggested that further research is needed …

The Efficiency Of Verbal & Nonverbal Intellectual Measures As Predictors Of Achievement In Culturally Deprived Preschool Children, Beverly Freeman

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the study was to investigate the predictive efficiency of verbal and nonverbal measures of intellectual functioning of the disadvantaged child in a preschool setting. The Peabody Individual Achievement Test (FIAT) was used as a measure of the current achievement level, and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI), Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test (GHDT), and the Bender Gestalt as predictors of achievement. The sample included 30 preschool children in an age range from 5 years - 0 months to 6 years - 7 months who were enrolled in a preschool program for the culturally deprived.

Both the …

An Examination Of The Interrelationship Between Caregiver Behaviors, Infant Temperament And Perceptual-Cognitive Development, Anita E. Stauffer

Dissertations and Theses

The present study extended the Lewis and Goldberg (1968) study and included the parameter of infant temperament as defined by Thomas, Chess, Birch, Hertzig and Korn (1963). As in the Goldberg study, the index of response decrement was used as a measure of the infant’s development. It was hypothesized that response decrement would be positively correlated with high frequency of caregiver stimulation and negatively correlated with high infant intensity and activity ratings. Response decrement is the measured decrease in the amount of time an infant looks at a novel stimulus after several trials. It was computed by observing the infant’s …

Development Of The God Concept In Children: An Exploratory Study, Dennis Feeley

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A study was designed to explore the developmental relationship between early childhood concepts of parent and more adult concepts of God. It attempted to identify the age at which absolute attributes such as omnipotence and ubiquity are taken away from parents and assigned to God. Based on both the theories of Freud and Piaget it was predicted that the transition will occur between the ages of four and eight. Forty children were administered an interview questionnaire and two short stories all of which depicted an attribute or characteristic which is traditionally viewed as being associated with God. Both techniques were …

Relationships Between Mother Interaction Styles, Mothers' Estimates Of Their Infants' Level Of Development, & Infant Development, James Dunbar

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Relationships between mothers' estimates of their infants' level of development, the amount mothers vocalize and model to their infants, and their infants' actual level of mental and motor development were explored using infants between twelve and thirty months of age. The data were analyzed by separate Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients between all variables. A significant correlation was obtained between mothers' estimates of their infants' level of mental and motor development and the infants' obtained level of mental and motor development as measured by a standardized test. It was also discovered that as the age of the infants increased, their …

An Exploratory Study Of The Effects Of Parenting Relationships On Children's School Adjustment, Raymond M. Lappin, Lisa J. Posner, Marcia S. Smith

Dissertations and Theses

As indicated in the National Vital Statistics Report of April 1973, the rate of divorces involving minor children is increasing rapidly in this country. Consequently, concern about the effects of divorce on children has been growing. In 1974, a collaborative effort between the Clackamas County (Oregon) Circuit Court and the Portland State University National Justice Educational Development Project was begun to study the impact of divorce on children and their parents (IDCAP). Heading the team of researchers are Stanley N. Cohen, Ph.D., and Nolan Jones, Research Associate. Of special interest to Cohen and Jones is the parenting relationship of the …

Development Of Cooperation Between Children In The Minimal Social Situation, Janice V. Siegel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine whether children can learn to cooperate in what has been described as the "minimal social situation." The research also compared the effectiveness of verbal instructions and a training task for teaching subjects the "win-stay, lose-change" rule. This rule has been used to explain the development of cooperation in the minimal social situation.

Subjects were 19 teams of first-, second-, and third-graders. Five teams were composed of two girls; six were girl-boy teams; and eight were boy-boy teams. Ten of the 19 teams learned to cooperate in the minimal social situation without treatment. …

The Effect Of Reinforcers On The Verbal Behavior Of Headstart Children, Deloris Floyd

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study attempted to assess the effect of a speech contingency reinforcement, administered by an interacting adult, to increase the number of word units uttered during test administration. More specifically, the experiment attempted to see if lower class children when given a reinforcer would take more time in giving elaborated and scorable responses on specific items, thereby raising their score on those items. Their performance was compared to lower class children who were not given the reinforcer. Fifty children from the Warren County 1973 summer Headstart program were used as subjects. The treatment conditions included a control group given no …

An Exploratory Study Of Runaway Female Adolescents In A Residential Treatment Center, Mary E. Cook, Stan Jasper

Dissertations and Theses

If correctional institutions are to function according to established criteria, that is, to "correct" the deviant behavior of juvenile delinquents, then one obvious requirement is to have continuous contact with that individual over a period of time. This research project is one attempt to study runaways from the juvenile delinquent girls institution. This study specifically focuses on what factors influence a girl to run away and what factors encourage her to stay at Villa St. Rose.

Both researchers discovered in working at Villa St. Rose that one the biggest obstacles for the treatment program was the number of runaways that …

A Study Of The Relationship Between The Adolescents' Knowledge Of Laws And Their Attitudes Towards The Police, Barbara Mccallum

Dissertations and Theses

Crime in the United States has risen at an alarming rate in the last few years and along with it, juvenile crime and delinquency. Society has had a difficult task trying to deal with this increased juvenile crime. Whereas the destructive, antisocial adult can be placed in prison or jail away from society, we are generally reluctant to institutionalize youth in such a manner. Rather, the feeling is that there is still hope for teenagers who commit crimes, that the community rather than institutions can and should be primarily responsible for trying to prevent and/or rehabilitate delinquents.

In the fall …

Residential Treatment Of Emotionally Disturbed Adolescents, Rosemary Brown Sutherland

Dissertations and Theses

This study was requested by Dr. Ira B. Korman, Administrator, Woodland Park Mental Health Center. Woodland Park Mental Health Center currently provides a program of short-term evaluation and crisis care for adolescents. The staff there find it is difficult to locate suitable out-of-home placements for certain of their adolescent patients concluding hospitalization. Their concern for this group of hard-to-place patients has led to this inquiry, the purposes of which are to (1) assess need, (2) design a residential program, and (3) consider the feasibility of its implementation.