Psychology Commons^™

Nothing Recedes Like Success - Risk Analysis And The Organizational Amplification Of Risks, William R. Freudenburg

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Professor Freudenburg believes that there is room for improvement in Risk analysis, particularly in drawing on systematic studies of human behavior in the calculation of real, empirical probabilities of failure. The need is argued to be especially acute where technological Risks are associated with low expected probabilities of failure and are managed by human organizations for extended periods of time. This permits complacency to set in.

Reply To Valverde, Paul B. Thompson

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Professor Thompson responds to Valverde's argument, in the last issue, that his approach to Risk puts too much emphasis on the distinction between Risk subjectivism and Risk objectivism. In doing so, he asserts, inter alia, that anchoring Risk judgments in a probabilistic framework does not go far enough in rejecting reigning Risk-analysis notions of "real Risk."

A Proposed Paradigm Of Personality As Explored Through The Relationship Between Moral Reasoning And Cognitive Flexibility, Karen I. Madgwick

Dissertations

Problem. Personality, a construct representing the dynamic integration of the individual, remains complicated, both in theory and in research. The purpose of this study was to explore a conceptual paradigm of personality through the relationship between cognitive flexibility and moral reasoning. Researchers had not looked at the relationship between cognitive flexibility, as measured by the Stroop Color and Word Test, and moral reasoning, as measured by the Defining Issues Test (DIT). This study focused on the relationship between cognitive flexibility and moral reasoning. It looked for more than an understanding of the relationship, however, thus affording beginning research in the …

Stressors That Affect Psychotherapists' Therapeutic Functioning, Donald E. Wallace

Dissertations

Problem. The purpose of this study was to look at the stressors psychotherapists experience in their work to determine those that are positive and those that are negative. In addition, this study looked at stressors viewed as positive and negative by several subgroups of psychotherapists based on personality characteristics, gender, age, educational training, level of experience, preferred therapeutic school, and marital status.

Method. The Stressors Check List. Mvers-Briaas Type Indicator. and a demographic sheet were given to a sample of 244 psychotherapists employed at 12 comprehensive mental health centers in the State of Indiana. Statistical analyses included t-tests, one-way …

The Risk Of Reliance On Perceived Risk, Frank B. Cross

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Professor Cross's comment is closely related to the debate between Thompson and Valverde. Using examples that do not commonly appear in the "Risk" literature, he argues that: Giving weight to perceived Risk may seem liberal insofar as it gives more say to the "little guy," but giving perceived Risk too much weight could have distinctly illiberal social consequences.

Base Rates, Individuating Information, Expertise, And Transfer Of Knowledge In Judgment Under Uncertainty, Owen Helmkay

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Numerous studies suggest that in judging an individual’s category membership, people largely ignore the population frequency membership in the category (base rate information) in favour of the individuating information about that particular individual (more commonly referred to as the “Base Rate Fallcy”: Bar-Hillel, 1980). One particularly interesting strategy that has been shown to increase the use of base rate information is what Ginossar and Trope (1987) refer to as the Prior Activation Assumption. The purpose of this thesis was to extend the boundaries of Ginossar and Trope’s (1987) findings by enhancing participants’ use of base rate information through the manipulation …

The Evaluation Of Company-Sponsored Test-Preparation Courses: Training Different Aged Employees On General Test-Taking Skills And Basic Cognitive Skills, Kerrie D. Quinn

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Test performance in general has been found to decline with increasing age. However, this decline has not been accompanied consistently by lower job performance. Subsequently, factors external to the test are being more closely examined for their effects on test performance. Two such factors, a lack of general test-taking skills and a reduced level of basic cognitive skills, are thought to contribute most to the test performance of older adults. These factors occur because of the lower level of education and greater length of time since formal schooling for older adults. Accordingly, organizations have been offering test-preparation training to all …

Use Of A Commercially Available Flight Simulator During Aircrew Performance Testing, S. A. Shappell, B. J. Bartosh

Publications

Investigations of aircrew sustained operations (SUSOPS) have been criticized for employing tasks with no apparent external validity. Because measures obtained directly from aviators flying high-performance aircraft are difficult to obtain, a laboratory compromise is needed. High-fidelity flight simulators used for aircrew training offer the most realistic simulation, but their availability is limited. Personal computer-based flight simulators may provide adequate simulation in, the laboratory at a reasonable cost. This report describes a representative research protocol using a commercially available flight simulator during a simulated aircrew SUSOP.

Behavioral Variability And Rule Generation: General Restricted, And Superstitious Contingency Statements, Stuart Vyse

Psychology Faculty Publications

Examines the contingency statements produced by uninstructed human subjects exposed to a task that assessed nonverbal response variability. Relationship of self-instructions to nonverbal behavior; Environmental conditions associated with accurate and inaccurate rule-generation; Causal status of self-rules.

The Cognitive Status Of Risk: A Response To Thompson, L. James Valverde

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Discussing the role that probability theory should play in Risk analysis and management, Dr. Valverde argues that Thompson's approach puts too much emphasis on the distinction between Risk subjectivism and Risk objectivism in addressing the question, "When are Risks real?"

Risk Perception And Drug Safety Evaluation, Ilan B. Vertinsky, Donald A. Wehrung

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors present a Risk communication framework based on a survey of empirical research concerning public Risk perceptions. They also apply it to the area of pharmaceutical regulation to suggest more effective regulatory strategies.

The Effects Of Constant, Force-Drop And Variable Duration Training On Increasing The Useful Field Of View, Kathleen Marie O'Connor

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Useful Field of View (UFOV) is the entire area in which information can be gathered without moving the head or eyes. It is generally found that the size of the UFOV shrinks with age. Additionally, research has shown that simple practice on the UFOV task can increase the size of the UFOV. However, simple practice may not be the most effective strategy for increasing the UFOV. The present study examined whether training directed toward a specific basis of UFOV loss (slower speed of processing) is more effective than simple practice at increasing field size.

Individuals received one or three …

The Effect Of Fear Of Success And Perceived Task Difficulty On Cognitive Performance, David Eugene Elkins

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship of fear of success (FOS) and perceptions of task difficulty, their interactive effect on anagram and matrix-task performance and possible gender differences on these variables. A total of 226 students, 83 males and 143 females, participated in the study. FOS was measured by the administration of Zuckerman and Allison's (1976) Fear of Success Scale. Perceptions of task difficulty were manipulated by use of falsified normative data. Subjects therefore believed the upcoming task was either easy or difficult or the subjects were employed as controls. An anagram task and 12 items selected from Raven's Standard Progressive …

A Test Of A Mastery Learning Approach For Teaching Basic Paragraph Writing Skills To Spanish Language Background Students, Sara Soledad Garcia

Teacher Education

This dissertation tested whether learning could be improved for students of Spanish language background through a Mastery Learning (ML) approach. It was hypothesized that higher levels of achievement and more positive affect could occur in an ML classroom.

Phase I of the study compared two instructional conditions: Mastery Learning and conventional. Because of implementation problems in Phase I, Phase II used a Mastery Learning condition only. In each phase, Pre and Posttests, Formative and Summative Tests, and Affect Questionnaires were gathered from a total of 84 students. The Pre and Posttests were modifications of four Subscales testing General Impressions, General …

Effect Of Regularly Scheduled Class Meetings On The Self Concept Of Emotionally Disturbed Adolescent Males, Nola R. Whirlow

Graduate Theses

The effect of regularly scheduled class meetings on the self concept and academic performance of emotionally disturbed adolescent males was investigated. Twelve boys, ranging in age from twelve to fifteen participated in the study. The Tennessee Self Concept Scale was administered to the subjects in the control group (n=6) and the experimental group (n=6) at the beginning and again at the end of a six month treatment period. During the treatment period, the experimental group participated in bi-weekly class meetings held for the following purposes: 1) to compliment each other, 2) to help each other, 3) to solve problems, and …

Performance Anxiety In The Young Child, Ruth Ann Mcquitty

Graduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships among state and trait anxiety, physiological changes, and performance in school-aged children. It was predicted that older children would have higher trait anxiety scores. High state anxiety was expected to raise pulse rates and lower performance for both age levels. Twenty-one kindergarten students and seventeen third-grade students served as subjects. The children completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. They learned an age appropriate song and performed this song at home and at a concert. Pulse rates were measured both at home and the concert. Statistical analysis showed that the …

Scientific Method, Anti-Foundationalism, And Public Decision-Making, Kristin Shrader-Frechette

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

An examination of the legitimacy of attacks on lay assessments of environmental or other technological Risk. The case is made that rational policy requires an epistemology in which what we believe about Risk is bootstrapped onto how we should act concerning Risk.

Animal Rights Vs. Humanism: The Charge Of Speciesism, Kenneth J. Shapiro

Animal Welfare Collection

The present article examines a concern I have had for some time about the compatibility of humanistic psychology with the emerging animal rights movement. Beyond working out my position, the paper has the additional educational and, frankly, political purpose of bringing animal rights issues to the attention of humanistic psychologists.

The article applies certain concepts of contemporary animal rights philosophy, notably "speciesism," to both the philosophy of humanism and humanistic psychology. While on a philosophical level, certain concepts are discussed that would likely block a rapprochement, I feel that humanistic psychologists as individuals are likely to extend their compassion to …

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 …

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 …

Assessment Of Visual/Orthographic Awareness In Beginning Readers, Hope Elizabeth Lemoine

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Various models reading development (Frith, 1985; Gough & Hillenger, 1980; Marsh, Friedman, Welch, & Desberg, 1981) have suggested that word shape is of critical important to early readers when recognizing words they know. As children progress through the early stages of reading, critical features such as first letter then become the important definers of word recognitions among early readers until they are at a much more advanced stage (Frith, 1985). More generally, advanced orthographic awareness among early readers is not considered to play an important role until children are older and have established a more advanced reading vocabulary. The purpose …

Normative Data On The Auditory Memory Test Battery For Ages 9 Through 13 Years, Elisabeth Y. Carter

Dissertations and Theses

Auditory short-term memory (STM) is important for speech and language development and for learning new information presented auditorily. Research has shown that auditory STM ability is of a developmental nature in the 5 through 8 year age range for a variety of auditory stimuli. Many tests and subtests are available to measure auditory STM ability, however one test, the Auditory Memory Test Battery (AMTB) measures auditory memory span and memory for sequence for 5 types of stimuli.

The purpose of this study was to collect normative data on the AMTB scores of normal 9 through 13 year old students and …

Effects Of Flat Panel Display Parameters Across Three Application Areas Upon Similarity Judgments, Novia Weiman

Dissertations and Theses

A human performance experiment was conducted to investigate pixel parameter requirements for three types of flat-panel display images: an alphanumeric character, an oscilloscope waveform, and a real-world image. Subjects performed similarity judgments between an extremely high-quality image and an image composed of different levels of anti-aliasing and pixel width-plus-pixel separation (pitch). It was found that the effect of pitch had greater influence on perceived image quality for the alphanumeric character and oscilloscope waveform than for the real-world image. The results of this research provide empirical evidence showing that the pixel pitch requirements for flat-panel systems that are used to display …

Beyond Difference Scores: Testing Models Of Speed Of Information-Processing Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Gary A. Uhland

Dissertations and Theses

This study has two parts: Part I discusses the limitations of difference scores and exploratory factor analysis for representing speed of information-processing stages in the context of a reanalysis of a study by Vernon (1983). Vernon interpreted the differences between objectively measured reaction times on various simple cognitive tasks as components of speed of information processing. Correlations were calculated among these differences and subjected to exploratory factor analysis. The factors obtained from this analysis were interpreted by Vernon in terms of short-term and long-term memory processing constructs. The use of difference scores, however, implies an additive model allowance for random …

The Effect Of Internal Vs. External Attributions And Level Of Information On Perceptions And Concessions In A Conflict Situation, William Walter Docalovich

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated predicted concessions and subject impressions of internally vs. externally motivated opponents in a conflict situation. One hundred and twenty undergraduate subjects read brief scenarios that presented opening statements made by opponents in a negotiation involving the division of excess funds in an organization. The opponent asked for 80% of the excess money and either blamed external or internal reasons for not conciliating. Half the subjects were also presented with additional information regarding the opponent's prior behavior along the dimensions of consistency, consensus and distinctiveness. It was hypothesized that attribution would interact with additional information so that external …

Eliminating Sex Bias Through Rater Cognitive Processes Training, Carter Ard

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The success of Rater Cognitive Processes Training as a strategy for eliminating sex bias in ratings of performance in a physically demanding job was investigated in the present study. One hundred undergraduate students from a mid -sized regional university served as subjects. The independent variables were type of training and sex of the ratee. resulting in a two by two factorial design. The dependent variable was the performance ratings assigned by the subjects. Subjects in the experimental condition were trained to recognize the important dimensions of performance for the lob of feed handler and received one Practice/feedback session. Subjects in …

Modification Of Aggressive Behavior In An Adolescent Through The Use Of Imagery Therapy, Julie Jackson Underriner

Graduate Theses

This case study explored the effects of using 12 sessions of Guided Affective Imagery (GAI) as advocated by Leuner to diminish aggressive behavior. The subject for the study was a thirteen-year-old female who resides in a group home facility. Overt behavior change was analyzed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and' the Direct Observation Form (DOF) in a pretreatment, posttreatment, and delayed posttreatment design. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the CBCL revealed no significant change in the subject’s aggressive behaviors. However, the DOF revealed a decrease in the subject’s problem behaviors on three other rating scales and an …

The Effects Of Temporospatial Integration On Distance Estimations Of Young And Elderly Adults, Margaret Rowley-Bernicki

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The effect of discontinuity on temporospati al integration in the accuracy of distance estimations was examined utilizing a slide presentation of a route. Participants were 60 young and 60 elderly adults who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. The two conditions were determined by whether the subjects viewed the walk in a logically sequenced order or a pre-determined randomized order. Subjects viewed the walk twice and thereafter made a series of distance estimates between a series of preselected landmarks chosen by a different group of young and elderly adults. Additionally, subjects gave self-ratings on a twelve-item questionnaire to …

Feminine Values, Interpersonal Orientation, And The Evolution Of The Female Identity In College Students, Barbara Jones Robinson

Dissertations

Problem. The importance of interpersonal issues to female identity achievement has been noted by a number of researchers (e.g., Gilligan, 1982; Bardwick, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1979; Thorbecke & Grotevant, 1982). This study attempted to determine what degree of compatibility existed between higher degrees of identity resolution in females, and an interpersonal and values orientation reflecting a balance between self-achievement and mutually rewarding interpersonal achievements. It was hypothesized that the ideal balance represented by the concept of interdependence would be more closely related to higher identity scores than would autonomous self-achievement or traditional achievement-through-others.

Method. The study was based on data …

Sex Differences In Empathic Processing As Related To Moral Reasoning Patterns In Hypothetical And Real-Life Moral Dilemmas, Sheree Anne Bradford

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Some sex and empathy differences have been found in moral reasoning patterns in adults (e.g., Pratt, Golding, and Kerig, in press; Walker and DeVries, 1985). However, until recently the area of moral judgment was severely restricted by an exclusive focus on the measures of a few researchers such as Kohlberg (1969, 1976, 1981, 1984). Gilligan (1977, 1982) has been primarily responsible for the upsurge of interest and resultant diversification of measures in this area of individual differences. The present paper examined in detail how sex differences and level of empathy affect moral reasoning patterns in individuals between 18 and 25 …