Psychology Commons^™

Comparing Two Methods Of Teaching Inter-Personal Relationship Skills To Student Nurses In Training Programs, Elizabeth Ann Bertoch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine which of two methods of teaching interpersonal relationship skills to student nurses was the most effective. The two methods compared were the traditional "established" method and a programmed group teaching method, the Basic Interpersonal Relations program.

Subjects were 45 sophomore associated degree nursing students in their psychiatric rotation.

Subjects were administered as pretests and posttests the Leory Interpersonal Checklist (ICL) and the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior (FIRO-B).

Four groups were formed. Two groups (I and IV) were taught in the "established" way and in two groups (II and III), the Basic Interpersonal …

The Development Of A Values Assessment Device Based Upon The Assumptions Underlying The Direct Approach To Moral Education, Todd Scott Larsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purposes of the present research were two-fold. The first purpose was the development of a test construction strategy by which an objective assessment device, based upon the unique goals of moral education within a specific school district, may be developed. The second purpose was the actual development of a psychometrically sound instrument based upon such goals. To accomplish these aims, seven interrelated studies were conducted involving a total of 775 subjects.

The rationale for the nature of the test was based upon the assumptions of the direct approach to moral education. These assumptions are that children should learn and …

Assertion Training Groups: Therapist-Directed And Self-Directed Goal Orientation Methods, Lawrence George Jarvis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of two methods of goal specification in Assertion Training groups as assessed by two self-report measures, the Goal Attainment Scaling process and the Assertion Inventory. An Assertion Training group method having specific behavioral steps for approaching individualized goals was represented as the Therapist-Directed Assertion Training group. The second Assertion Training group was a Self-Directed group that allowed subjects to independently set and approach their own goals without the assistance of therapists in setting goals. Subjects were selected from among individuals who volunteered for the Assertion Training group in response to solicitation …

Conscious Anxiety, Conscious Repression And Ego-Strength As Related To Dream Recall, Content And Vividness, David Newbold

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Subjects' reported dream recall frequency, dream content and vividness or recall were discussed and examined in relation to sex of the subject and MMPI Conscious Anxiety, Conscious Repression and Ego-strength scores.

Fifty-three Utah State University students, who volunteered to participate in a study of dreaming behavior, were administered the MMPI and asked to complete a dream log diary. The dream log required a daily recording of total number of dreams recalled, the number of vividly and vaguely recalled dreams and a rating of each dream in one of four dream content-process categories. Content-process categories included pleasurable, working, conflict and disorganized/frightening …

A Proposed Method Of Student Selection Using A Biographical Inventory As An Adjunctive Predictive Criterion, Jeffrey Scott Orme

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this paper was to investigate whether or not the use of a biographical inventory would be a feasible and viable adjunctive means of making more accurate predictions of student success in programs of upper-division and graduate study in speech pathology and audiology. During the past years, biographical inventories have been found to be predictive of creativity, performance as a military officer, performance in varied occupations, and academic performance. It was hypothesized that a biographical inventory could be developed which, when used in conjunction with the existing academic predictors of Grade Point Average and Graduate Records Examination scores, …

Teacher Strategies To Improve Pupil Self-Concept, Kathleen L. Van Horn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to assess the effects of the Utah State University Pupil Self-Concept Program on the performance of inservice elementary school teachers and on the self-concepts of pupils in their classrooms. Four volunteer teachers were trained in the Self-Concept behaviors as part of an inservice course. A single-subject multiple baseline design was used to determine teacher effects for these four teachers. The first teacher was the main subject, and the study was then directly replicated three times using the other three experimental teachers. Data on these four subjects were collected through observation of program-related teacher behaviors. …

A Comparison Of Cerebral Electrotherapy And Relaxation As Anxiolytics, Robert B. Shelton Jr.

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The treatment of anxiety is assumed to be fundamental to the alleviation of various kinds of psychopathology. Because of the unwanted side effects of anxiety reducing (anxiolytic) drugs, non-pharmacological treatments should be investigated. A considerable body of literature exists on the use of relaxation techniques, such as progressive muscle relaxation, as anxiolytic methods. Previously published reports have suggested that cerebral electrotherapy (CET) also possesses anxiolytic properties. In this study 33 subjects from an alcohol rehabilitation unit were randomly divided into three groups. The treatment subjects received seven 1/2 hour sessions of CET using bi-polar electrodes and .3 ma current or …

The Imitation Of Prosocial Behaviors In Children: The Effects Of Peer And Adult Models And Vicarious Reinforcement, Richard Louis Sanok

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of the present laboratory study was to investigate the relative effects of sharing and nonsharing peer and adult models on the facilitation of prosocial behaviors with and without reinforcement to the model. One hundred and sixty second and third grade children served as subjects and were randomly assigned to six treatment groups and one control group. For replication purposes, half of the subjects participated in each condition prior to the second half doing so.

Children in the treatment groups viewed videotaped sequences portraying both a male and female model sharing or not sharing tokens with poor children. Models …

The Effects Of Various Levels Of Counselor-Offered Empathy On Client Anxiety In The Initial Counseling Session, Duncan R. Adams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of the present study was two-fold: (1) to investigate various degrees of counselor-offered empathy in initial interviews, in order to determine whether consistently high levels of counselor-- offered empathy in the initial therapy interview causes high levels of client anxiety, and (2) to determine whether increased client anxiety or the levels of counselor-offered empathy that the client receives in the initial counseling interview affects the client's likelihood to continue in counseling following one session. To accomplish the purpose of the study 27 high-anxiety and 27 low-anxiety undergraduate, incentive volunteers were seen in an initial counseling session by one …

Dissociation, Association And Running Time, Dana L. Miller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of this research was to investigate relationship between dissociative and associative cognitive strategies for coping with the discomfort of running and running performance.

Subjects were volunteers enrolled in two Dynamic Fitness classes which were taught during Spring Quarter, 1980, at Utah State University. Class A consisted of 36 subjects (24 male, 12 female) and Class B consisted of 28 subjects (13 male, 15 female). All pretest, posttest, and treatment procedures were conducted during the class's respective regularly scheduled meeting times.

Subjects completed a 2.75 mile, timed, pretest run and were systematically assigned to one of three groups based …

Hypnosis, Pain Control And Personality Change In Rheumatoid Arthritic Patients, G. Craig Orme

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this project was to examine the effect of hypnosis as a treatment in the control of pain in a population of rheumatoid arthritic patients and further to examine any associated change in emotionality.

Three groups of patients suffering from the pain of rheumatoid arthritis were selected. One group served as a control group. The other two groups served as a modified control group and as a treatment group, respectively.

All three groups were pre, mid, and post-tested using the McGill Pan Questionnaire, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the California Personality Inventory Well-Being scale items, and a check …

Nonidentity Matching-To-Sample With Retarded Adolescents: Stimulus Equivalences And Sample-Comparison Control, Robert Stromer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In Experiment 1, four subjects were trained to match two visual samples (A) and their respective nonidentical visual comparisons (B); i.e., A-B matching. During nonreinforced test trials, all subjects demonstrated stimulus equivalences within the context of sample-comparison reversibility (B-A matching): When B stimuli were used as samples, appropriate responding to A comparisons occurred. A-B and B-A matching persisted given novel stimuli as alternate comparisons. However, the novel comparisons were consistently selected in the presence of nonmatching stimuli: i.e., during trials comprised of a novel comparison, an A or B sample from one stimulus class, and an "incorrect" comparison from the …

The Effects Of Taped Relaxation Training On Physiological Events And Home And Classroom Behavior Of Hyperactive Children, Phyllis L. Cole

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A multiple baseline design across subjects was employed to study the effects of taped relaxation training on frontalis EMG, EEG alpha and theta activity, finger skin temperature, and classroom and home behavior (Experiment I) of three male elementary school children identified as hyperactive by their classroom teachers and parents on behavior rating scales for hyperactivity. The three subjects ranged in age from 5 years 10 months to 7 years 9 months, with a mean age of 6 years 8 months. Four physiological variables of the subjects were monitored during daily sessions from Monday to Friday in a laboratory setting. After …

The Interaction Of Locus Of Control And The Structure Of Relaxation Training, Bevan Todd Graybill

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the thesis that matching locus of control with therapeutic treatment enhances behavior change. This idea was tested by comparing the effectiveness of a structured. and an unstructured. home practice of relaxation for internal and external locus of control subjects. It was expected that internal locus of control subjects would respond better to the unstructured. training method and external locus of control subjects would respond better to the structured technique.

The subjects were 80 undergraduate college students. Forty internal locus of control students and 40 external locus of control students, with the highest …

Primary Representational Systems As A Basis For Improved Comprehension And Communication, Alan Thomas "Chip" Mattar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine the usefulness of primary representational systems (prs) as a basis for improved comprehension and communication. Primary representational systems were discussed as being cognitive representations of experience which are revealed through auditory (A), visual (V), or kinesthetic (K) language.

Specifically, this study tested Bandler and Grinder's assumption that an identified A, V, or K individual would better comprehend a communication which contained predicates representative of that individual's prs. Comprehension was operationalized into general information (GI) and specific predicate usage (SPU) segments in order to isolate possible group differences on this dimension.

A total …

The Effect Of Modeling On Cooperation In The Laboratory And In The Natural Environment, Janice V. Siegel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In this study a multiple-baseline design was used to determine the effectiveness of three different modeling sequences in increasing cooperative behavior in children in a laboratory situation. The research also assessed the short- and long-term effects of the laboratory procedures on children's behavior in a free-play setting.

Subjects were 9 pairs of preschool-aged children. In the laboratory situation pairs of subjects performed a block-stacking task which allowed them to respond either cooperatively or independently. Following baseline periods of varying lengths, the pairs of children were exposed to one of three videotapes of cooperative models. In Tape 1 adult models demonstrated …

Variables Effecting College Enrollment Or Nonenrollment, Randy Jay Mendelson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the reasons why students did not enroll at Utah State in the fall quarter of 1978 when they had listed the university as their first choice among institutions to attend. An equally important purpose was to determine whether or not there were differences in the personal characteristics of the enrolled and nonenrolled groups.

Both students who entered U.S.U. in the fall quarter of 1978 and those who failed at that time to enroll served as samples for the study. A random sample of 150 students per group, 300 students altogether, was employed …

A Comparative Study Of Kibbutz Children's And City Children's Concepts Of Family And Self Within The Family, Rachel Tal

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine if any significant difference existed between kibbutz and city children in terms of their concept of family and concept of self within the family.

The subjects chosen for the investigation consisted of 51 pupils in the third and fourth grades from two communities in Israel. The two communities were a kibbutz community and a middle class small suburb community. Raw score data were obtained for the investigation from two testing devices. The Draw-A-Family Test (DAF) was used here in order to gain insight to the subjects' perception of the two concepts under …

Criteria For The Selection Of Students Into A Counseling Program: A Review Of Literature, Douglas N. Reeder

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In his paper, "Graduate Education in Psychology - A Passionate Statement" Carl Rogers (1957) has stated, 'We are doing an unintelligent, ineffectual and wasteful job of preparing psychologists, to the detriment of our discipline and society. “” He further stated, 'We should be selecting and training individuals for creative effectiveness in seeking out and discovering the significant new knowledge which is meeded." He then examines ten implicit assumptions on which programs of graduate education appear to be based, showing them to be totally inadequate in training future psychologists. It is time to reevaluate the purpose, procedure, and content of graduate …

The Effects Of Abrupt And Graduated Temporal Reductions On Academic Behavior, James Pezzino

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The author investigated the effects of abrupt and graduated temporal reductions on academic performance. Six elementary school children who were referred to a remedial special education classroom received token reinforcement contingent on the number of correct math problems answered during daily sessions. A multiple baseline across subjects design with replication of baseline and experimental conditions was employed. The design also balanced the order of exposure to an abrupt reduction in time limits (20 - 5 - 20 min.) and a graduated sequence of time reductions (20 - 15 - 10 - 5 - 20 min.). Children also performed copying tasks …

Utah High School Sophomore Attitudes Toward Women's Roles And Non-Traditional Vocational Career Choices, Ellen S. Walch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Role behaviors for men and women in our society are undergoing change. Research data to reveal student attitudes toward these role behaviors and choices were needed for the development of strategies to eliminate sex bias and sex stereotyping in our educational programs and ultimately in the socialization process.

The purpose of the study was to collect research data to determine Utah high school student attitudes toward women's roles and non-traditional vocational career choices. The survey instrument used to collect the data was constructed, pilot tested, factor analyzed, and revised prior to its administration to the sample. The revised instrument contained …

Effects Of Varying The Opportunity To Attack During A Fixed-Time Schedule, Phillip G. Muller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three White King pigeons were exposed to a fixed-time 120-second food delivery schedule and a live target pigeon. In order to evaluate whether induced aggression can take place in time periods other than immediately after food delivery, the target bird could be attacked (l) throughout the interfood interval; (2) after fixed post-food times had elapsed, or (3) after random post-food times had elapsed. When target availability was continuous or limited to random 30-second periods of the interfood interval, attacking was greatest after food delivery and decreased thereafter. Attacking did not predominate in any 15-second target access period occurring 15, 45, …

The Effects Of The Physical Attractiveness Stereotype On Therapists' Perceptions Of Clients, Todd S. Larsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of the present study was two-fold: (1) to determine whether the ratings a client receives on measures of likeableness, psychological effectiveness, and prognostic outcome differ as a result of the client's perceived level of physical attractiveness (high or low) and, (2) to determine whether the level of professional training in clinical/counseling psychology possessed by the raters mediates these effects.

To achieve these purposes, four groups of subjects (varying in level of training in clinical/counseling psychology) listened to the same 12-minute audio-tape excerpt of an actual initial interview with a client. Half the subjects in each group viewed a …

The Temporal Distribution Of Short-Duration Keypecks In Variable-Interval Schedules Of Reinforcement, Joseph G. Williams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An experiment was conducted in order to determine the duration of pigeons' keypecks during three separate variable-interval schedules of reinforcement. Pigeons were exposed to variable interval (VI) 30 sec, VI 60 sec and VI 120 sec schedules of reinforcement for twenty sessions each. Response durations were analyzed in terms of VI schedule, location in time during the inter-reinforcement interval and any pattern of short and long duration pecks. Mean duration of response was reliably different for three out of four birds for VI 30 sec and VI 120 sec schedules of reinforcement. The VI 30 sec schedules produced longer durations. …

The Use Of Self-Control Procedures With Pre~Adolescents Classified As Educable Mentally Retarded, Lizabeth A. Mcgill

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effectiveness of self-recording and self-reinforcement procedures implemented in the classroom setting with six pre-adolescent children classified as Educable Mentally Retarded was determined relative to changes in on-task behavior. A multiple baseline design was used and each subject was exposed to both a self-recording procedure and a self-reinforcement procedure. After an initial baseline period, three subjects were exposed to self-recording first, and three subjects went through self-reinforcement first. Contingent reinforcement was not provided for accuracy in either self-recording or self-reinforcement patterns. Observations were conducted to investigate generalization effects of each procedure, and two weeks of follow-up observations were conducted to …

Influence Of Clinicians' And Clients' Religion On Diagnosis Of Mental Illness, Robert Dombey Wadsworth

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Theorists propose that because psychodiagnosis is not a completely objective procedure, it is influenced by sociocultural values. It was hypothesized that religion might be one aspect of sociocultural values which influences psychodiagnosis. The present study sought to determine, by using a clinical analogue design, whether psychologists' formal diagnoses of clients are biased by their present religious affiliations and activity levels, their religious upbringing (assessed by their fathers' and mothers' religious affiliations and activity levels), the clients' religious affiliations and activity levels, or interactions between psychologist and client religious variables. Questionnaires were sent to 228 psychologists licensed to practice in Utah, …

The Impact Of Television On Mother-Child Interaction And Play, Eva L. Essa

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Television is a pervasive influence in today's family life. The number of hours family members, particularly young children, spend watching TV must replace some other functions in the viewer's lives. Since one of the primary tasks of families with young children is the socialization of their youngsters, one might assume that TV interferes to some extent with this process. Among aspects of the socialization process are the need for the child to observe and interact frequently with role models, to obtain ample feedback on the appropriateness of his behavior, and to have many opportunities to test out what he has …

A Validity Study: Relationship Between The Self Inventory Scale, The California Psychological Inventory, And The Adjective Check List, David Newbold

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The specific objective of this research was to begin assessment of construct validity of the Self Inventory Scale.

Subjects were 100 Utah State University students, living in university dormitories, chosen at random.

Subjects were administered the Self Inventory Scale and the California Psychological Inventory. Subjects submitted names of peers, one of whom was asked to complete an Adjective Check List describing the subject.

CPI subscale scores were correlated with Self Inventory Scale subscale scores, to determine the relationship between underlying constructs. Sixty-four of the 126 correlations computed were significant at the .01 significance level. Similarity of construct and configurational analysis …

Bait Shyness And Neophobia In Several Species Of Osteichthyes: An Extension Of Taste Aversion Studies To The Superclass Pices, Brent W. Roberts

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three experiments were conducted with five species of tropical fish to investigate the phenomena of taste aversion and food neophobia. In addition, an experiment determined specifically if position in the tank could acquire conditioned aversive properties.

In Experiment 1 , four habituated fish were fed novel meat-flavored pellets on the treatment day. Six were made ill within 30, 60, or 90 minutes (2 subjects each) by intragastric administration of syrup or Epicac. The following day all were fed familiar commercial pellets. On the second day after treatment, all were offered the meat-flavored pellets. Results showed longer latencies, more tasting, and …

The Development Of A Video Tape Procedure To Train Awareness Of Behavioral Cues Of Anxiety, Brian Lee Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of the present investigation was two-fold: (1) to develop a training procedure which might be helpful in trying to teach beginning counselors how to recognize levels of anxiety by observing silent, nonverbal behavior of clients in association with EMG feedback, and (2) to assess the effectiveness of this procedure by using it to train a group of graduate psychology students. Graduate trainees exposed to the training procedure were compared with a control group of students to determine whether the training procedure effectively taught the skill.

Using the split image capabilities of a videotape recorder, video tapes were made …