Psychology Commons^™

Effects Of Sleep Loss On Information-Processing In An Absolute Judgment Task As A Function Of Task Difficulty, Frieda O'Steen Carlton

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The effects of 36 hours of sleep loss on information-processing were assessed in an absolute judgment task. Of the 24 subjects employed, 12 served in the sleep-loss (experimental) and control conditions, respectively. All subjects were tested individually for a total of ten sessions; the control group was tested on ten consecutive days, whereas the experimental subjects were tested every four hours over a 36-hour period of sleep loss, and at a recovery session following approximately 12 hours of rest and recovery. The task required subjects to make absolute judgments of the size of two small circles of light and to …

Effects Of Practice On The Rate Of Gain Of Information In A Paper And Pencil Task, Dennis Howard Jones

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Investigations into the effects of practice on choice reaction time (CRT) performance and the rate of gain of information have produced confusing and often contradictory results. This seems to stem from the fact that (1) a small number of subjects were utilized and (2) there were an insufficient number of experimental conditions. In the present experiments, the author has developed a Reaction Time Battery (RTB) that allows a large group of subjects to be tested efficiently and economically. Using three levels of stimulus uncertainty (1, 2, or 3 bits) factorial to two levels of S-R compatibility (low and high), Experiment …

The Effect Of Tone Frequency Spacing On Perception Of Order In Repeating Tone Sequences, James Raymond Comstock Jr.

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The "stream" hypothesis states that the order of repeating tone sequences in which the tones are closely spaced in frequency is easier for subjects to report, than is the order of sequences in which the tones are widely spaced. To permit a partial replication of prior tests of this hypothesis in the present experiment, a uniformly-spaced-narrow condition (sinusoidal waves spaced at intervals of 1/4 octave), and a uniformly spaced-wide condition (intervals of 1 1/8 octave), were used. Two additional conditions were created to test the hypothesis that a large frequency separation, or "gap," between the highest or lowest tone in …

Figural Identity Effects On The Perception Of Apparent Movement Produced By A Bistable Multielement Motion Display, Don Michael Mcanulty

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study investigated the effect of figural identity, and its interaction with temporal presentation variables, on the perception of apparent movement when the preservation of figural identity did not conflict with the perception of a change in stimulus location. The tachistoscopic presentation of bistable multielement motion displays permitted the analysis of the type of motion perceived (either one element or the group of elements), rather than the probability of perceiving motion, which eliminated the conflict between the figural preservation and locational displacement of the stimuli. Twelve subjects nested in each of three stimulus configuration ensembles (N = 36) were …

The Retention And Maintenance Of An Information Processing Skill, Jerry Willard Hedge

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

In the performance of most skilled activities, there are definite limits to the proficiency attainable by an individual. These limits and how they affect the retention and maintenance of a skill are of major interest to performance-- assessment research. While much is known about verbal and motor skill retention, very little research has focused on the long~term retention and maintenance of information processing skills. The purpose of the present investigation was to determine the extent to which the information processing skills involved in a typical choice reaction time (CRT) task are retained and maintained over periods of two to eight …

The Effects Of An Alternative Training Program And Increased Rates Information On Halo Error And Accuracy, Robert J. Jones

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Cognitive And Behavioral Effects Of Participant Modeling: A Comparison With An Equally Credible Placebo, Bruce Dennis Etringer

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Thirty-eight snake phobic subjects were given one session of either participant modeling, an initially equally credible placebo treatment, or experienced a no-treatment control condition. Both the subjects in the participant modeling and placebo treatments showed significant changes on both behavioral and self-report indices, with the participant modeling subjects evidencing significantly greater improvement across conditions. Between group differences were not obtained at a four week follow-up, possibly as a result of shortness of treatment and differential attrition. Although initially equal across treatments, credibility increased significantly for the participant modeling group and stayed virtually the same for the placebo group. Differential concepts …

The Effects Of Stimulus Flooding Procedures With Acrophobia: A Test Of Nonspecific Treatment Effects, Gil Krawitz

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Twenty acrophobics recruited from the community and 11 undergraduate student acrophobics were assigned randomly to either a stimulus flooding condition or a placebo control condition.

Initially, care was taken to ensure that the treatments were not significantly different on the dimensions of treatment credibility and generated expectancy for improvement. Additional

measures of expectancy for improvement and treatment believability were taken during and after treatment. Results indicated that neither treatment was significantly different on any of the expectancy measures or on behavioral and self'-report measures of outcome performance. Furthermore, subjects' belief in the efficacy of treatment was significantly correlated with improvement …

The Use Of Picture-Symbol Pairings To Demonstrate Fading In Preschoolers Of Normal Intelligence, Donna Edwards Slaughter

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Forty preschoolers were exposed to one of four groups in which the manner of presenting a stimulus, which consisted of a picture and a symbol, was varied. In the Standard (Std.) group, picture and symbol were ~f equal visibility, while the picture gradually became less visible over successive trials in the Fade· Picture Out (FPO) group. The Increase Symbol Size (ISS) group had the picture remain clearly visible and the symbol gradually increase in size while the Fade Picture Out-Increase Symbol Size (FPO-ISS) group had both the picture become less visible and the symbol increase in size over trials. A …

The Effects Of Physical Attractiveness And Sex-Role Stereotyping On Peer Performance Evaluations, Claire Trimer Edwards

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Each of 216 female and 72 male college students read an essay that supposedly had been written by either a male or a female college freshman on a topic that was either masculine, feminine, or neuter. Photographs attached to the essays were used to create physically attractive and unattractive conditions. Photographs were omitted in the physically anonymous condition, Statistical analyses on six performance variables indicated that physical attractiveness enhanced some evaluations of performance for both male and female essayists in accordance with the what-is-beautiful- is-good stereotype. For male essayists, the attractiveness effect occurred on all essay topics regardless of their …

Menstrual Cycle And Training Effects On Physical Work Capacity, Sarah Jane Miller

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study examined the effects of women's menstrual cycles on their capacity to perform physical work. Most of the studies of the effects of the menstrual cycle on performance have reported no differences; however, the lack of demonstrated effects could be attributed, in part, to the inability of experimenters to specify the critical phases of the menstrual cycle. The length of the menstrual cycle (between and within subjects) is more variable than commonly expected and this fact, in combination with the inadequacy of current predictors of phase onset, tends to produce error variability in the menstrual cycle independent variable. …

Sex Differences In Causal Attribution: A Self-Presentation Interpretation, Caroline G. Slane

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Equal numbers of male and female subjects succeeded or failed on an anagram task and made causal attributions explaining their outcomes. Actual outcome was manipulated by varying the difficulty of the anagram task. Half of the subjects were led to believe their scores and ratings would remain private, whereas the other subjects were told they would participate in a group discussion about scores and causal explanations. Manipulation of anticipated privacy level had little effect under conditions of success, but after failure female subjects made relatively modest attributions in the public condition and relatively self-aggrandizing attributions in private. The attributions of …

The Effects Of The Couples Communication Program On Marital Communication And Perceived Satisfaction With The Relationship, Candace Barbara Waller

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The increasing popularity of marital enrichment programs suggests a need for a systematic analysis of their effectiveness. Earlier evaluative studies contained numerous methodological shortcomings, making it difficult to draw inferences about enrichment-induced change. Twenty married couples participated in the Couples Communication Program (CCP) or a placebo control group. Measures of marital communication and perceived marital adjustment were obtained prior to the program, at the conclusion of the program and at a one month follow-up. The simulation measure of communication indicated that the experimental couples learned the skill taught in the CCP. However, there was no significant change in marital satisfaction. …

The Influence Of Item Wording On Scale Scores, Ratchaneewan Wanichtanom

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Authorities on scale construction recommend that negatively worded items be used along with positively worded items to reduce careless responding. Negatively worded items are assumed to force respondents to consider item content more diligently. The present study investigates the influence of item wording in three versions (i.e., 33% positive, 67% positive, and 100% positive) of the Hardiness scale (Bartone, Ursano, Wright, &. Ingraham, 1989). These versions were administered to undergraduate psychology students (N = 325). Multi-sample, confirmatory factor analyses is used to compare the measurement models obtained with each version of the hardiness scale. The results of the study show …

Therapist Warmth As A Factor In Automated Relaxation Training, Kenneth Dittmar

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Automated relaxation training was administered by two therapists, each using a warm and cold voice. A self relaxation group which heard the warm or cold voice but no relaxation instructions were used as a control (a 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design: therapist I - therapist II; warm — cold; relaxation instructions — self relaxation). The effectiveness of the procedures was measured by reduction in physiological level of arousal (EKG and EMG) and self report. No physiological differences were found. The self report measure was significantly reduced for the groups who heard the warm voice.

Effects Of Hypothesizing On Concept Learning, Barbara Blinn Bryant

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of hypothesizing on concept learning. Such effects may depend upon task requirements. A 3 X 2 X 2 factorial design was used to assess the variables of time of hypothesizing (early in the task, late in the task, or no hypothesizing), rule type (conjunctive or conditional), and amount of information in the instructions (low amount as defined by a complete learning task or high amount as defined by an attribute identification task). The conjunctive rule was solved significantly more quickly than the conditional rule and attribute identification was solved significantly …

A Multidimensional Scaling Analysis Of Sex Guilt, Kevin E. O'Grady

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Sixty males and 60 females, divided at the median of their scores on the sex guilt subscale of the Mosher Forced Choice Guilt Inventory, made all possible comparisons between 15 stimulus cues. The cues were descriptions of individuals written to reflect characteristics felt to be important to the concept of sex guilt. Ratings of dissimilarity were analyzed by INDSCAL, and an unfolding method, both of which are multidimensional scaling techniques. Results indicated that high sex guilt individuals perceived a greater degree of dissimilarity between the stimulus "individuals" than did low sex guilt subjects. Furthermore, although the dimensions along which high …

The Role Of Serotonin Depletion On The Behavioral Effects Of Ethyl Alcohol, Linda J. Ward

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

In the first experiment of this study p-Chloroamphetamine (PCA), a serotonin depletor, was given to experimental rats at least two days prior to aversive Pavlovian conditioning. Rats were subjected to aversive conditioning while drugged with ethyl alcohol (ethanol) and were tested for memory of the aversive stimuli later in the non-drugged state. Utilizing the auditory conditioned stimulus, ethanol-treated rats - PCA treated and nontreated combined - exhibited significantly less conditioned suppression of drinking than did saline controls. A priori comparisons demonstrated that PCA treated rats• ethanol-produced dissociation was greater than nontreated controls. Experiment two compared PCA treated and nontreated rats' …

Effects Of Physical Attractiveness And Warmth On The Perception Of Deviant Behavior, Midge Wilson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The impressions formed by male and female subjects of a female target were investigated as a function of her physical attractiveness, warmth, and behavior. Experimental sessions consisted of subjects viewing a videotape depicting one of the factorial conditions, and then responding to an impression questionnaire. Multivariate analysis revealed, as predicted, that subjects' trait ratings of the target were significantly more positive when she was attractive compared to unattractive, warm compared to cold, and behaved neutrally compared to deviantly. No effect on the subjects' degree of confidence in their ratings was observed. Two causal attribution measures were obtained: responses of subjects …

The Effects Of Central And Peripheral Graphics On Personal Disclosure, Louis C. Saksen

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Forty-eight college students, twenty males and twenty-eight females, were used to assess the effects of central and peripheral graphic environments on personal disclosure and subjective evaluation. Scales developed by Cash (1972) were used to determine the type and amount of subjects' disclosure and non-disclosure; scales developed by Nehrabian and Russell (1974) were utilized to assess subjective evaluation of the environmental space in terms of information theory and approach-avoidance.

Results replicated a previous study by Cash (1974), indicating that females made more positive self-references than males (p < .01) . Hales also chose to disclose less often than females (p < .05) . No significant differences resulted from the graphic environmental conditions.

The data did produce substantial variance between the sexes in response to the environments. …

Learning Factors In The Development Of Environmental Aversions, Jon S. Freda

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

Changes In Perceived Guilt As A Function Of False Heart Rate Feedback, Darryl Lee Hawkins

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

Intimacy And Content Of Self-Disclosure As A Function Of Target-Status, John Richard Mccallum

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

Temperature Dependent Behavior In Goldfish: (Carassius Auratus): Some Implications For Memory Processes, Jean M. Hamberg

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Goldfish maintained in water temperatures of 18°C or 31°C received active avoidance training in a shuttlebox. Subjects housed in warm water acquired the response more quickly than those in cold water. A photophobic response in warm water may have affected acquisition rates. Subjects were tested for retention of the avoidance response after 10 minutes, 2.5 hours, 24 hours, or 72 hours. No significant evidence of the Kamin effect was found. A second study investigated shock threshold levels as a function of temperature levels. Cold water was found to lower the threshold level at which a motor reaction to electric shock …

The Effect Of Pre-Exposure To Sucrose On The Acquisition And Extinction Of A Conditioned Aversion, Shirlee Fenwick

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Twenty-eight female, water deprived rats were given 5 minutes access to sucrose for either 1,7,14, or 21 days. They were then given LiC1 injections every third day until an aversion to the sucrose developed. The results indicated that as amount of pre-exposure to sucrose increased, the number of illnesses required to develop an aversion increased. Also, the rate of extinction of the conditioned aversion was inversely related to the number of exposures required. to establish the aversion.

A Comparison Of The Perceptual And Motor Abilities Of Learning Disabled And Normal Students At Ages Eleven And Twelve, Rachel Adams Thompson

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

Behavioral Styles Of Computer Programmers - Revisited, Edward M. Cross

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper describes the second phase of a continuing research project concerned with the attributes associated with membership and success in the computer programming occupation.   The second phase of this research has differed some-what, both in intent and practice, from the first phase. First, the initial purpose of the study was to test an approach to job analysis which included the application of the principal instrument used in the study, the JAIM, or Job Analysis and Interest Measurement.1 The use of computer programmers as the subject group was the result of the investigator's previous career as a systems analyst and …

An Investigation Into The Incidence Of Psychogenic Factors Underlying The Temporomandibular Joint Pain/Dysfunction Syndrome, Ernest William Small

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

A Survey Of Selected Objectives, Opinions, And Attitudes Of High School Seniors In Norfolk, Virginia, Robert Eugene Brown

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.

A Replication Of Gouldner's Latent Role Identifications Of Cosmopolitan And Local In A Public High School, Ronald S. Godwin

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

No abstract.