Psychology Commons^™

Effects Of Locus Of Control And Timing Of Retirement On Retirement Satisfaction, Denise A. Lathrop

Masters Theses

Previous research to determine which factors predict one's satisfaction with retirement documents varying results. 200 retired Eastern Illinois University professors were surveyed to determine the effects of two factors, locus of control and timing of retirement, considered important on retirement satisfaction. A comparison was made between internal and external locus of control subjects who were placed into three conditions: those who retire early (before age 61), those who retire within the normal or average range (ages 62-66), and those who retire late (later than age 67). The first hypothesis was that those who retire early will have the highest level …

Race-Class Interactions In Stereotyping, Claudine Hoffman Truong

Masters Theses

The present study investigated race and class stereotypes about Whites and African-Americans. The study recruited 160 subjects (eighty White and eighty African-American). Each subject read a brief class and race description of a person, and listed ten adjectives rating how positive or negative they intended the adjective to be. They also had to place themselves in a class and rate the importance of criteria used in that class placement. The study revealed that African-American (A.A.) subjects gave highest ratings to a person described as A.A., and White (W.) subjects gave highest ratings to a person described as W. Furthermore, subjects …

Relations Between Parent-Child Interactions And Children's Self-Esteem, Lisa D. Parker

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore how time spent between parents and children in various activities may be related to self-esteem in children. The specific objectives were to explore whether there was a relationship between children's self-esteem and total time children reported spending with mothers and fathers; whether there were relations between time spent participating in activities and self-esteem for each of the four parent-child dyads (Mother-Daughter, Mother-Son, Father-Daughter, and Father-Son); whether there were relations between specific activities done with parents and children's self-esteem; and whether enjoyment levels reported by children participating in each activity were significantly correlated …

Comparison Of Ability-Achievement Discrepancies Among The Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Woodcock-Johnson-Revised Tests Of Achievement, And Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children-Third Edition In A Sample Of Students Referred For Evaluation Of Learning Disabilities, Tracy L. Cole

Masters Theses

Under current IDEA definitions, a significant or severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and academic achievement is the primary criterion by which a student may be classified as having a specific learning disability. By recommendation of the Work Group on Measurement Issues in the Assessment of Learning Disabilities (1984), the most common method of determining such a discrepancy is to calculate the discrepancy between an individual's score on an individually administered intelligence test and his/her score on an individually administered achievement test using a regression-based formula to correct for the regression of IQ on achievement.

Because two previous studies suggested that …

Teachers' Acceptability Ratings Of Arbitrary Versus Functional Based Reinforcers, Cheryl Lungaro

Masters Theses

Whether teachers find a reinforcer based on a functional assessment more acceptable than an arbitrarily selected reinforcer was investigated. Participants consisted of 94 elementary school teachers from 11 (8 rural, 3 suburban) schools in Illinois. Teachers were asked to complete the Intervention Rating Profile-15 after reading one of the three problem vignettes that described a common behavior problem that was maintained by peer attention. In one condition the proposed treatment included peer attention as a reward; the two remaining conditions included teacher attention and tangible items as rewards. A one-way ANOVA revealed a significant preference for the treatments based on …

The Relationships Among Length Of Sleep And Performances On Arithmetic, Digit Span, And Digit Symbol Subtests Of The Wais-R In College Students, Mike F. Welsh

Masters Theses

Eighty-one college students (26 Male and 55 Female) were administered the Digit Span, Arithmetic, and Digit Symbol subtests from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R). Two questionnaires were given to the participants. The first requested the participant to report their sleep habits over the last 30 days (Past Month Sleep), the night before the tests (Night Before Sleep), and the amount of sleep they feel they need in order to feel well rested (Needed Sleep). While the second asked if they had given their best effort during testing. Upon completion, the subtest scores were explored in order to determine if …

College Students' Attitudes Towards Death Penalty Sentencing, Janelle M. Thompson

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Convergent Validity Between The Adjustment Scales For Children And Adolescents (Asca) And The Behavior Assessment System For Children-Teacher Rating Scale (Basc-Trs), Joseph M. Keusch

Masters Theses

The Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents (ASCA) and the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Teacher Rating Scale (BASC-TRS) are two relatively new behavior assessment devices designed to measure youth problem behavior. Both scales are designed to be completed by the child's classroom teacher and evaluated by qualified professionals. Both scales are unique in their construction and are considered to be technically adequate. Many of their syndromes/subscales and global scales/composites are similar in their name, nature, and descriptions according to their respective manuals. However, no research has been conducted establishing convergent evidence of construct validity between the two instruments. The present …

Validity Of The Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale With A Rural Sample, Julie A. Lindstrom

Masters Theses

The problem that was investigated in the current study was that the norms of the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale (RADS) (Reynolds, 1987) may have had limited generalizability to students attending Paris High School and Mayo Middle School in rural Paris, Illinois because it was normed on "normal" subjects in only one urban/suburban school district in Wisconsin. The purposes of the current study were to establish Paris norms for the RADS and to fulfill Paris' need for an instrument to efficiently and inexpensively assess students suspected of having depression. This investigator hypothesized that the norms on the RADS would differ between …

Examiner Errors In Scoring The Wisc-Iii Vocabulary, Comprehension, And Similarities Subtests, Ryan L. Neitzel

Masters Theses

Examiner errors when scoring the WISC-III Vocabulary, Comprehension, and Similarities subtests were examined. Twenty-one graduate students enrolled in school psychology training programs and twenty-three certified school psychologist practitioners participated in scoring a constructed record form containing both standard responses (items clearly accounted for in the WISC-III Manual) and ambiguous responses (items not specifically accounted for in the WISC-III Manual). Descriptive Statistics demonstrated that graduate students and practitioners made errors on all subtests and item types. However, the Vocabulary, Comprehension, and Similarities ambiguous responses contained the most errors. Furthermore, Analysis of Variance demonstrated that for each subtest, ambiguous responses …

The Female Sport Experience: History, Development, And Psychological Implications, Dawn A. Whittington

Masters Theses

This paper reviews the literature related to women in athletics with a focus on the psychological perspective. The paper is divided into three major parts.

Chapter I traces the historical antecedents with specific emphasis on the development of sports psychology and women's gradual integration into amateur and professional athletics. Chapter II reviews literature devoted to the psychosocial issues related to the female athlete. These issues include personality traits and patterns, psychosocial problems associated with women entering and maintaining status in athletics, stereotypes, homophobia, socialization issues and the incidence and etiology of eating disorders among female athletes. Chapter III addresses the …

Relations Between Consultant Characteristics And Measures Of Consultation Quality And Outcome, Ian R. Macleod

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore school-based consultation effectiveness (as perceived by classroom teachers) and important indices of consultation quality and student outcome. Specifically, the research explored 1) important characteristics of school-based consultants using the Consultant Effectiveness Scale (CES), 2) the relations between quality of the consultation process and student outcome, and 3) the measurement similarities between the CES and the measure of consultation process quality. Questionnaires were completed by 85 teachers working in grades K-12 in a suburban area of Chicago. To participate, teachers must have engaged in a consultative relationship within the past 12 months. Consultants …

How Effective Are The Things People Say To Apologize? Effects Of The Realization Of The Apology Speech Act., Steven Scher, John Darley

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

The Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (Blum-Kulka, House, & Kasper, 1989a) has identified five components of an "apology speech act set": five strategies that speakers use to apologize. This study examines the effects of four of those strategies (illocutionary force indicating device, expression of responsibility, promise of forebearance, and offer of repair) on the judgments made by hearers about the speaker and about the apology. Each of the strategies is shown to have an independent effect in improving reactions to the speaker. Further, the magnitude of these effects appear to be roughly similar for each of the strategies. The things …

How Effective Are The Things People Say To Apologize? Effects Of The Realization Of The Apology Speech Act., Steven J. Scher, John M. Darley

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

The Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization Project (Blum-Kulka, House, & Kasper, 1989a) has identified five components of an "apology speech act set": five strategies that speakers use to apologize. This study examines the effects of four of those strategies (illocutionary force indicating device, expression of responsibility, promise of forebearance, and offer of repair) on the judgments made by hearers about the speaker and about the apology. Each of the strategies is shown to have an independent effect in improving reactions to the speaker. Further, the magnitude of these effects appear to be roughly similar for each of the strategies. The things …

Birth Order And The Separation-Individuation Of Late Adolescents, Amy Loren Maddrey

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of Family Functioning And Suicide Attitudes, Stephanie Lynch

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the general functioning of a family is related to attitudes regarding suicide. Past research has examined the impact of family functioning on suicide attitudes and found that the relationship between families and children are different in families of suicidal children than in families who have nonsuicidal children. This study combined three variables of suicide acceptance, suicide normality, and perceptions of family functioning in the hopes of gaining more information to assess risk of harm to self in adolescents. The participants were 94 students from Introductory Psychology classes at Eastern Illinois University. …

Father's Parenting Style And Childhood Mealtime Experiences: Predictors Of Bulimia, Marci C. Smith

Masters Theses

Although many factors may contribute to the etiology of bulimia (Killian, 1994; Root et al., 1986; Striegel-Moore et al., 1986; Weiss et al., 1994), only a few factors differentiate between individuals who will or will not develop bulimia nervosa. There is a need to further explore and narrow the determinants of bulimia nervosa in order to develop a universal model to understand and treat the disorder. This study investigates the extent that childhood mealtime experiences and father's parenting style contribute to the manifestation of bulimic symptoms. The Bulimia Test-Revised (Thelen & Farmer, 1991) is used to classify 146 college-age females …

The Interaction Between Religiosity And Depression Among Students At Two Universities, Nils Anders Haldorsen

Masters Theses

The association between religion and mental health has been a long standing topic of the debate. Some have felt that religion leads to emotional and mental disturbances and thus is detrimental to mental health (Freud, 1907/1924, 1927/1961; Ellis, 1980, 1988); while others believe religion is helpful to mental health (Jung, 1932, 1933; Bergin 1980, 1983) . This study used 180 male and female (79%) college students from a Midwestern state university (62%) and a Christian liberal arts college. It was found that for women, private religiosity was negatively related to depression, as measured by the BDI. Students from the state …

Bosnian Civilian Survivors Of War In Exile And In Bosnia: A Comparative Study, Ines Lajla Matijas

Masters Theses

This study describes the psychological consequences of war for 111 female Bosnian civilians, 59 of whom are survivors in exile and 52 of whom are living in Bosnia. These participants, ages 18-23, completed anonymous self-report questionnaires which provided information about the prevalence of traumatic stress symptoms and the relationship between traumatic events experienced during the war and current symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Contrary to expectations, no significant differences were found in PTSD diagnosis and PTSD severity between survivors in exile and survivors in Bosnia. No significant differences were found between groups in the frequency of reexperiencing, avoidance and …

Acculturation And College Attendance In Hispanic Students, Alma D. Najera

Masters Theses

This study investigated the relationship between acculturation and college attendance of Hispanic high school students. Acculturation is mainly associated with the degree to which one experiences cultural change toward the majority culture. It was theorized that acculturation would have a postive association with college attendance. Acculturation level, socioeconomic status and college attendance were the varibles utilized. The students filled out a questionnaire that was composed of 12 questions and five-self report questions. The Twelve qestions were taken from the Short Acculturation Scale, two questions regarding socioeconomic status were taken from the Hollingshead Scocioecomic Scale, with the remaining questions inquiring about …

An Analysis Of Parental Involvement At Iep Conferences For Students With Hearing Impairments, Kristina S. Kroeker Parker

Masters Theses

Legislation of the 1970's and 80's mandated parental involvement in the development of special education plans for children with disabilities. The literature has indicated that parents are often passive recipients of information (Goldstein, Strickland, Turnbull, & Curry, 1980) even though parent involvement in a child's education has been associated with academic success (Epstein, 1990). An observational analysis of eighteen IEP conferences for children with hearing impairments receiving services through the Eastern Illinois Area Special Education Cooperative was completed. Observers recorded the frequency of verbal participation by the parents, and parents and teachers completed questionnaires addressing satisfaction and perceptions of involvement …

A Comparison Between Afro-American And White College Student's Attitudes Toward Suicide, Christina M. Mentes

Masters Theses

The rate of suicide in the United States has increased considerably in recent years making research of suicidal behaviors an important avenue of study. Yet the rate of increase has been inconsistent across demographic variables such as gender, age, and ethnicity, making it difficult to determine risk factors and predictors of suicidal behavior. Previous studies have conflicting results as to whether or not it is possible to determine risk factors by measuring attitudes towards suicide, and whether or not certain demographic variables correlate with attitudes toward suicidal behavior. This study investigates attitudes toward suicidal behavior and demographic variables in order …

The Relationship Between Social Skills, Social Phobia And Behavior Disorders In Adolescents, Kristin A. Lavery

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Among Family Environment Attributes, Personological Factors, Low Self-Esteem And Late Adolescent Problem Drinking, Kenneth L. Dalla Costa

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Referral Biases In The Schools, Camela P. Hayes

Masters Theses

Biases influencing teachers' referral decisions for special education services were examined. Specific biases identified and addressed pertained to students' type of problem behavior, gender and socio-economic status (SES). Subjects included 120 regular elementary school teachers from the western Chicagoland area. A total of 8 vignettes describing a child with varying behavior difficulties, gender and SES, along with 2 questionnaires were utilized. An Analysis of Variance revealed that teachers are less tolerant of students who are disruptive and are more apt to refer them than students with emotional difficulties less overt in their manifestation. The effects of SES on referral decisions …

An Exploratory Study Of High School And College Students Attitudes Toward Suicide, Kathy Jo Carroccio

Masters Theses

The present study examined whether demographics such as education level, age, gender, religious background, and experience with suicide affected individuals attitudes toward suicide with 93 college students. The Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ) was used to assess attitudes including: acceptability-normality; mental & moral illness; suicide as semi-serious; religion; risk; and normality. The Suicide Attitude Vignette Experience (SAVE) was used to measure attitudes toward a number of different problem areas. Church attendance was the best predictor of an individual's attitude toward suicide. Females scored higher, but not significantly so, on the sympathy, empathy, and agree scales of the SAVE. College students viewed …

The Effects Of Sex Guilt And Communication On Condom Use, Renée M. Souva

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine whether sex guilt and communication were related to condom use. Past research has examined variables that affect condom use and has found that individuals who communicate more about sexual matters, and individuals who have low sex guilt, have been found to use condoms/contraceptives more consistently. This study examined sex guilt and communication and how they predict condom use. The participants were 80 female undergraduates recruited from psychology classes at Eastern Illinois University. Mosher's revised Sex Guilt Inventory and Catania's Health Protective Communication Scale were administered along with a question that assessed condom …

The Effects Of Timing And Type Of Judge's Instructions And Jurors' Beliefs On Verdicts And Sentence In A Child Sexual Assault Trial, Dawn R. (Campbell) Goldstein

Masters Theses

In order to investigate the effect of judge's instructions and juror beliefs, eighty-three undergraduate males enrolled in psychology classes at Eastern Illinois University participated in a simulated sexual abuse trial. Participants either heard standard instructions in which the judge instructed jurors to decide guilt or innocence based on evidence alone or standard instructions plus information regarding children's limitations as witnesses. Instructions occurred either after testimony or before and after testimony. Certainty of guilt was unrelated to either the timing or type of instructions. However with regard to sentence, there was a significant interaction between timing of instructions and type of …

The Comparison Of The Academic And Behavioral Characteristics Of Children With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury And Children With Learning Disabilities, Leah R. Pace

Masters Theses

This study investigated the differences of academic and behavioral characteristics of children with a suggested history of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) and children with learning disabilities (LD). Parents were given a survey which asked about their child's history of any blow or hit to the head. Teachers were also given a survey which included a rating scale for specific academic and behavioral characteristics. Results indicated that the MTBI group was not different from the LD group. However, there was a significant difference between those children who had a blow or hit to the head that resulted in a loss …

Relations Of Burnout To Elementary School Teachers, Special Education Beliefs, And Referral Expectations, Nichole A. Ledermann

Masters Theses

The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI; Maslach, Jackson, & Schwab, 1996), a teacher survey of expectations and preferences concerning case study evaluation referral, and demographic questions were completed by regular education elementary school teachers (n=88) in a midwestern city suburb. Results suggested that symptoms of burnout were not evident among this sample of professionals according to Maslach et al. (1996) criteria. Spearman Rho correlations between the MBI subscales and expectations or preferences to have students referred, tested and placed into special education services were not significant. Significant correlations were replicated among the subscales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Results suggested that …