Psychology Commons^™

Attachment Theory And Self-Disclosure Of Hiv Status, Amy H. Grimshaw

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the influence of attachment style on self-disclosure of HIV seropositive status. Subjects were classified according to Bartholomew's model of adult attachment (i.e., secure, preoccupied, fearful, or dismissing). Steps were then taken to assess differences in the subjects' willingness to disclose their HIV seropositive status, the communication style chosen for disclosure, the subjects' perceptions of the importance of disclosing their HIV seropositive status, and the feared negative consequences of disclosure. To increase generalizability subjects were asked to assess their self-disclosure to three types of target persons: lover, same-sex friend, and opposite-sex friend. Attachment style significantly affected perceived importance …

Development Of A Measure Of Homosexual Stress: A Factor-Analytic Approach, Lynn Marie Morris

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Although homosexual stress has been studied in the past, an examination of the literature indicated a need for a reliable and valid measure of this construct. The current study describes the creation and validation of the Homosexual Stress Inventory (HSI), a new measure for I} stressors specific to homosexual men and women. A 70-item measure was created and factor analyzed. For the female subjects, 50 of the original items were retained and four factors emerged, which were labeled Visibility, Family, Work Discrimination, and Violence and Harassment. Among lesbians, homosexual stress seems to be related to more depression, to less social …

Comparing Traditional Statistical Models With Neural Network Models: The Case Of The Relation Of Human Performance Factors To The Outcomes Of Military Combat, William Oliver Hedgepeth

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Statistics and neural networks are analytical methods used to learn about observed experience. Both the statistician and neural network researcher develop and analyze data sets, draw relevant conclusions, and validate the conclusions. They also share in the challenge of creating accurate predictions of future events with noisy data.

Both analytical methods are investigated. This is accomplished by examining the veridicality of both with real system data. The real system used in this project is a database of 400 years of historical military combat. The relationships among the variables represented in this database are recognized as being hypercomplex and nonlinear.

The …

African-American Women's Career Development: Predicting Nontraditional Educational And Career Choices Educational And Career Aspirations And Career Salience, Tonya Alicia Miller

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the current research was to develop and to test a model pertaining to the unique career development experiences of African-American women. The model concentrates on African-American women's educational and career aspirations, educational and career choices, and their career salience. A sample of 183 female African American undergraduate and graduate students from three local universities supplied data for the study. Results of the hierarchical block regression analyses conducted to test the proposed model were mixed. The proposed predictor sets, self-perceptions, career exposure, and relational support, were more strongly related to educational aspirations, career choice, and career salience, than …

An Approach For Representation Of Organizational Mental Models Using System Dynamics, Jörg-Peter Theissen

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The concept of mental models has received much attention within recent years, especially within the context of organizational learning. This research is based on and departs from the Organizational Learning Process as developed by Keating, Robinson, and Clemson (1994). That process, which is based on a verbal representation of mental models, does not call forth the kind of change that is desired in Organizational Learning. This research investigates if mental models can be represented in the form of system dynamics models and inquires if this representation is beneficial to the process of Organizational Learning.

The research was designed as a …

Psychosocial Determinants Of Age-Appropriate Immunizations Of Infants In Norfolk, Virginia, Hoda Youssef Atta

Health Services Research Dissertations

This study represents an investigation of psychosocial factors affecting age-appropriate immunizations of infants in Norfolk, Virginia. A household survey was conducted in Norfolk, Virginia, from 4/93-8/93, to assess immunization coverage of children 12-30 months of age. This survey included a total of 389 children in the target age range. A subset of 201 mothers were randomly selected and reinterviewed to assess their knowledge and attitudes and the relationships of these factors to age-appropriate immunizations at 12 months of age. Sixty-two percent of children were not age-appropriately immunized at 12 months of age. Almost all mothers (99%) considered vaccines to be …

Childhood Sexual Abuse: Attribution Of Responsibility, Dennis W. Goodwin

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Attribution theory is used to address a disparity between the number of male victims of child sexual abuse reported in clinical samples versus those reported in community samples. Participants were 48 female and 48 male undergraduate students. Participants were asked to read a vignette of a 25 year old male/female having sex with a 13 year old male/female. Two settings were used in the vignettes. The incident occurred at the victims home in half the vignettes and at a party in the other half. Participants completed an attributional questionnaire and a demographic questionnaire. Results indicate that female respondents considered the …

The Teamwork Components Model: An Analysis Using Structural Equation Modeling, Rebecca Rosenstein

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

As the world increases in complexity, teams have assumed greater importance in the work place as a method used by organizations to cope with global competition and technological progress. Thus, an understanding of team processes and outcomes has become critical to individuals who study and work in organizations. The purpose of this investigation was to undertake a construct validation study of a model of the processes that underlie teamwork. This investigation was accomplished in two parts. A first study was conducted in order to determine the construct validity of scales that were developed to measure the nine teamwork components: task …

An Assessment Of Four-Hour Sample Durations Used To Determine Full-Shift Noise Exposures In A Foundry, Vince Marlo Fleming

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

Full-shift sampling, usually eight hours, is traditionally performed to assess daily occupational noise exposure. This sampling approach is inefficient, and costly for repeated, long-term exposure evaluations. This study assessed the use of four-hour sample durations and subsequent data analysis to determine daily occupational noise exposures in a foundry. The four-hour sample durations were extracted from full-shift samples and analyzed on their ability to provide valid data for estimating mean daily noise exposure levels without significantly affecting sampling precision or accuracy. Results of this study indicate four-hour sample durations can be used successfully to estimate full-shift noise exposures provided certain criteria …

Vigilance: Instruction Effects And Personality Correlates Of Performance Workload And Boredom, David A. Sawin

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present laboratory study examined variables that are believed to impact vigilance in operational settings. Instructions were manipulated by telling half of the subjects to relax, and to focus on positive task characteristics (relaxation-emphasis), while the remaining subjects were instructed to "detect as many critical signals as possible" (detection-emphasis). It was expected that instructions emphasizing detection would lead to increased subjective workload ratings, though all subjects participated in the same 30-min vigilance task. Further, it was expected that decreasing demands by emphasizing relaxing qualities of the task would not impact performance, though lower workload ratings were expected. In addition, response …

The Role Of Laughter In The Thought Of Friedrich Nietzsche, Paul D. Gerdes

Institute for the Humanities Theses

The objective of this thesis is an analysis of the role of laughter in the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), by which I mean both its influence on his intellectual development, and the incorporation of it in his philosophy. Such an undertaking is important because, while it might seem somewhat odd for a philosopher, and particularly a German philosopher, to consider laughter fundamental to his thought, laughter does play an essential role in all of Nietzsche's writing.

For the purposes of this thesis, I will investigate three separate but interrelated aspects of Nietzsche's thought: the influence of the Dionysian tragic-comic …

The Effects Of Perceived Upward Influence Rewards And Personality Moderators On Job Satisfaction And Productivity In An Employee Suggestion Program, David J. Braun

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The extent to which work satisfaction, task satisfaction, suggestion quantity and suggestion quality may be affected by upward influence and reward in a suggestion program was investigated using 160 students as subjects. Locus of control and growth need strength were investigated in terms of their effects as personality moderators. Subjects offered suggestions during three trials for nine topics representing university problems. The percentage of suggestions accepted by a review committee was manipulated as four levels of an upward influence condition (0'/o, 25'/0, 50'/o and 75'/o). In addition, subjects were randomly assigned to either a no-reward or reward condition, in which …

Judging Statistical Significance: The Effects Of Standard Error Bar Formats And Visual Displays, Rebecca Wilson Miller

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study examined various graphical displays for illustrating statistical significance. These displays were created following Dunlap and May's (1989) recommendation about representing statistical significance in figures with error bars derived from the pooled estimate of error variance. In the first experiment, 15 graduate students were asked to judge whether the relationships depicted in a series of graphs and tables were significant or nonsignificant. Four significance levels were combined factorially with three standard error bar formats, unidirectional opposite direction, unidirectional same direction, and bidirectional, and two displays, line graphs and bar graphs. A tabular display was also presented for comparison. …

Premature Infant Attractiveness And Temperament In The Prediction Of Maternal Sensitivity, Cheryl L. Shiflett

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The influence of infant attractiveness and temperament on maternal sensitivity is important to examine in infants born prematurely because many characteristics associated with prematurity, such as postnatal cranial molding, may negatively impact maternal response. The present study investigated maternal perceptions of preterm infant development, attractiveness, age, and temperament, and examined the influence of attractiveness and temperament on maternal sensitivity. Twenty-nine mothers of preterms completed questionnaires on infant behavior, development, temperament, rated photographs for attractiveness and age, and were videotaped with their infant to measure maternal sensitivity according to CARE-Index procedures (Crittenden, 1988). Results indicated that mothers have more negative expectancies …

Body-Image Disturbances In Anorexia Nervosa And Bulimia Nervosa: A Meta-Analysis Of Extant Research, Edwin A. Deagle Iii

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Body-image disturbances are key among the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. However, the specific nature of this disturbance is not precisely defined by DSN-III-R or DSN-IV. The numerous body-image assessment techniques have generated inconsistent and conflicting results concerning the nature of body image in the eating disorders. This study is the first quantitative review, a meta-analysis of (n = 59) studies of body image among anorexics and bulimics relative to controls. The results indicated that attitudinal measures of body dissatisfaction, including perceptual self-ideal discrepancy measures, produce much larger effect sizes for clinical populations than do perceptual assessments …

Visual Information Processing Of Geometric Figures As A Function Of Complexity And Field Of Vision, Karen E. Inn

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether human information processing does occur in parallel in the right hemisphere and serially in the left hemisphere as suggested by the hemisphere strategy model. In addition, this study was also designed to determine if there is a right hemisphere advantage in the processing of nonverbal information as indicated by the material specific theory.

In this 3 x 3 x 3 x 2 x 2 mixed design, Complexity (3) and Gender (2) were the between-subjects variables. Time Factor (3), Field of Vision (3), and Type (2) were the within-subjects variables. Complexity was …

The Effect Of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Education Program On Knowledge, Attitudes And Sexual Behavior Of Selected College Students, Arlene Jaine Jackson Montgomery

Health Services Research Dissertations

The problem studied in this investigation was whether a behaviorally focused Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Program affects the knowledge, sexual attitudes and sexual behavior of college students.

Three hundred and six first-and third-year college students were included in the study from one university located in Southeastern Virginia. The sample was predominately female, African-American and mainly between the ages of 16-22 years of age.

Freshmen students were presently enrolled in the institution's HIV/AIDS education program, which was a part of a required course. The class sessions consisted of a pretest prior to student's completing the reading assignment …

Neuropsychological Functioning Among Violent And Nonviolent Sex Offenders, Pamela Knox-Jones

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Violent sex offenders, nonviolent sex offenders, violent non-sex offenders, and nonviolent non-sex offenders were compared on neuropsychological testing and on personality testing. A neuropsychological test battery and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - 2 (MMPI-2) were administered to 93 and 50 male felons respectively. Subjects were drawn from a data base provided by the state Department of Corrections. Potential indicators of neuropsychological impairment were controlled during the selection process. Analyses of Variance (alpha =.05) found that violent sex offenders scored significantly lower than the other three groups on two measures that are sensitive to left hemisphere impairment and one that …

Teamwork In The Workplace: A Discovery Of The Work Processes One Team Used To Meet Its Goals, Thomas Andrew Hassler

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A century-old disagreement in academia surrounds the question of whether individuals acting alone accomplish all work or whether workers can truly act in concert to meet management's production requirements. Total Quality Management (TQM) is a powerful force today in the industrial world, and the formation of teams to solve short-term problems is one of its fundamental techniques. This dissertation focuses on a particular TQM team with the purpose of understanding the processes it used to meet its goals. This ten-member team functioned for about one year and was assigned goals leading to improved accelerator reliability. The investigator was a member …

Electrodermal Activity As A Function Of Name Stimulus Match And Facial Familiarity, Donald Cherry

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present experiment examines the relationship between name stimulus match and facial familiarity using electrodermal activity (EDA) as a dependent measure. Twenty male and 20 female undergraduate students from Old Dominion University were used as subjects. A within-subjects design allowed subjects in the experimental conditions to view familiar written names and faces which varied on the dimension of naming (name-face pairings). Three combinations of naming conditions were incorporated: (1) match, (2) mismatch, and (3) no name. As a control, subjects experienced the same naming conditions, but the names and faces were unfamiliar. Results based on EDA amplitudes revealed that familiar …

Sexual Orientation, Attachment, And Adult Relationship Quality, Earl Calvin Riggins Iii

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Comparisons were made between 55 heterosexual males, 49 heterosexual females, 56 homosexual males, and 35 homosexual females on measures of attachment, relationship satisfaction and relationship success. Results indicated that adult homosexuals experience greater difficulty than adult heterosexuals in becoming close to others. Individuals endorsing the secure attachment style reported greater relationship satisfaction than individuals endorsing either of the two insecure attachment styles. In addition, females reported greater relationship satisfaction than males. Significantly more individuals endorsing the secure attachment style reported their mothers to have been warm/responsive; significantly more heterosexual males and females than homosexual females reported their mothers to have …

Maternal Perceptions Of The Social Development And Behavior Of Asthmatic Children, Chelley A. Merrell

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

To assess the effects of asthma on the social development and behavior of asthmatic children, 60 mothers of 6- to 13-year-old children (30 mothers of asthmatics, 30 mothers of non-asthmatics) completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL: Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1986) and were administered the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (Vineland: Sparrow, Balla, & Cicchetti, 1984). It was hypothesized that asthmatic children would lag behind non-asthmatic peers in social development, defined as the development of age-appropriate behaviors (i.e., communication, daily living skills, and socialization). In addition, it was hypothesized that asthmatic children would exhibit more internalizing behaviors than non-asthmatic children. There were …

Computer-Based Procedural Performance As A Function Of Window Size And Format Type, Christina Ann Dipalo

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present experiment examined the effect of three levels of format (flowchart, menu, and extended text), two levels of window size (6-line and lg-line), two levels of procedural plan (Plan A and Plan B), and two levels of gender (male and female) on task completion speed and performance accuracy. A computer-based procedure display task was employed to measure subject performance on three dependent variables; the overall task completion time, the decision time between steps, and the performance accuracy on steps executed. Plans A and B were examined for equal cognitive complexity using a logical analysis prior to the start of …

Intersection Decisions And Reaction Time, Orhan Earle Beckman

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Reaction time (RT) as a dependent variable can be used to assess human performance and identify variables influencing performance. Donders (reprinted in English as Donders, 1969) defined three types of reaction time (RT). Simple RT is defined as RT in a situation involving one stimulus and one response. The selective reaction time (SRT) is defined by a situation involving two or more stimuli with only one possible response. Choice reaction time (CRT) is defined by a situation with more than one stimulus category and an equal number of possible responses.

The Hick-Hyman law defines CRT as a logarithmic function of …

Choice Reaction Time And Conjunctions Of Form Size Color And Orientation, Cristina Bubb-Lewis

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Reaction time (RT) is frequently used as a dependent measure in studies that examine the organization of perceptual and cognitive processes. Hick's law states that RT in a choice-reaction-time (CRT) task is a linear function of the amount of information transmitted per stimulus-response event. RT has been used to try to determine whether serial or parallel processing is being employed in CRT tasks (Sternberg, 1966). There is research evidence suggesting a serial, exhaustive search process (Sternberg, 1969a; Wingfield, 1973), as well as findings which suggest parallel processing (Neisser, 1963; Neisser, Novick, and Lazar, 1963) in CRT tasks. All the experiments …

A Test Of Bass's Model Of Transformational Leadership Among Managers In The Dominican Republic, Nancy Urbaez Echavarria

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study tested the generalizability of Bass's theory of transformational leadership to employees of a company in the Dominican Republic. A Spanish translation of Bass's Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was used to assess the leadership styles. The factor structure for Dominican workers was not identical to the structure observed in United States samples. Nevertheless, the pattern of results followed rather closely the pattern observed in United States samples. Consistent with research conducted in the U.S., subordinates who had transformational leaders reported more satisfaction and effectiveness and greater effort and organizational innovativeness than subordinates who had transactional or laissez faire leaders. …

The Effect Of Prior Cooperation And Competition On Approaches To A Decomposed Social Dilemma, Keith M. Rettig

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The effect of cooperation and competition in a primer task upon subject's later choice of strategy in a social dilemma was examined. The effect of explicit and implicit instructions and cooperative and competitive milieu on subjects' behavior, individually and as a team, during both the primer task and the social dilemma was also examined. Male and female subjects participated in a naval simulation task under Implicit-Cooperative, Explicit-Cooperative, Implicit-Competitive, and Explicit-Competitive instructions and later participated in a prisoner's dilemma game. Simmons, Wehner, Tucker, and King's (1987) Cooperative / Competitive Strategy Scale was used as a covariate. A significant effect of instructions …

The Relationship Between Negative Affectivity And Perceptions Of Performance And The Workplace, Johanna M. Merritt

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The relationship between negative affectivity and work-related variables was examined. Participants in the study included 75 faculty administrators and 234 undergraduate students who currently held jobs. Negative affectivity was negatively related to overall job satisfaction. Mixed results were found for the relationship between negative affectivity and specific facets of job satisfaction. The hypothesis that negative affectivity would relate negatively to three evaluation measures was only partially supported in both the student and faculty samples. The hypotheses that negative affectivity would negatively relate to organizational commitment, to perceptions of organizational support, and to procedural justice were strongly confirmed. Regression results offer …

Dependency Autonomy Stress And Depression: A Test Of An Interactive Model, Kathryn Kern Drury

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Two diathesis-stress models were used to predict depression. The additive model combined dependency and autonomy (dependency-autonomy) as the diathesis and also combined dependent and autonomous hassles or life events as stressors. The congruent model used either dependency and dependent stressors or autonomy and autonomous stressors. Ninety-seven female and 42 male undergraduate students completed self-report measures of dependency and autonomy, hassles and life events, and depression at three testing sessions one week apart. Hierarchical multiple regressions — with prior depression entered first and followed by dependency and/or autonomy, stress, and their interaction — indicated that additive models with a significant interaction …

The Relationship Between Self-Efficacy, Outcome Expectancy, And Metabolic Control In People With Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus, Edwina Rudisill Giddens

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the present study is to examine the relationships between self-efficacy, outcome expectancy, and metabolic control in people who have insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Thirty-seven adults with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus completed questionnaires assessing diabetic-related self-efficacy and outcome expectancy. Their level of metabolic control was determined using glycosylated hemoglobin (GHb) and blood glucose. The subjects were statistically divided into groups of metabolic control--good and poor--based on the results of their GHb. The relationships between self-efficacy and outcome expectancy were analyzed for both groups. Results of Pearson Product Moment correlations did not reveal significant correlations between GHb and self-efficacy …