Psychology Commons^™

The Effects Of Female Supervision On A Heterosexual Blue Collar Work Group, Ila Young

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This field study examined the effects of the leadership dimensions of "consideration" and "initiating structure" on turnover behavior. The subjects were male and female blue collar workers under the direction of female supervisors. The Supervisory Behavior Description Questionnaire measures of "consideration" and "initiating structure" were not found to be related to turnover for this group of employees. Implications for future research concerning turnover with blue collar workers is discussed.

Demographic Characterization Of Wisc-R Factor Score Profiles, Don Twyman

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Factor score profiles based on scores in the standardization sample for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Revised were visually surveyed for patterns of the demographic characteristics sex, race, parent’s occupation and religion and area of residence, these characteristics having been listed with the intelligence quotients obtained in the standardization sample. Patterns of the demographic characteristics and frequencies were described over the range of profiles, then the various profiles were described individually in terms of percentage of frequency and predominant demographic characteristics. The profile descriptions demonstrate a differential distribution of characteristics in relation to profiles, and suggest investigation of …

The Effects Of Locus Of Control & Victim Responsibility Upon Helping Behavior, Jerri Fritzo

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Previous research has suggested that external locus of control and victim responsibility influence individuals' helping behavior (Lerner & Reavy, 1975; Phares & Lamiell, 1975; Phares & Wilson, 1972). The present study investigated the relationships between locus of control and helping behavior in a situation where the victim was or was not responsible for her predicament. A locus of control scale was administered to 67 male and 93 female undergraduates at Western Kentucky University. Subjects were assigned to one of the responsibility situations in which they could volunteer to help a graduate student with either none, one, two, three, or four …

Validity Of Bender Gestalt Test Emotional Indicators For Functional Fifth-Grade Children, Donald Britt

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Both the Bender Gestalt Test and the Children's Personality Questionnaire were administered to 75 fifth grade students. Analyses were made to determine the possible relationships between the Koppitz Emotional Indicators on the Bender Gestalt Test and the various personality factors assessed by the Children's Personality Questionnaire. The results of these analyses found few significant relationships. Those that were significant were frequently conflicting and the opposite of the results which would have been predicted by Koppitz. These results provide a basis for questioning the validity of the Koppitz Emotional Indicators and their adequacy for use as a technique for personality assessment …

The Relationship Of Emotio-Sexual Orientation In Females To Androgyny & Social Self-Esteem, Joyce Gayles

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The research on sex-role development, psychological androgyny, and personality variables in lesbian women was reviewed. Since previous research suggested that lesbian women tend to have characteristics which might be labelled androgynous, a study was undertaken to assess the presence of androgyny among lesbian and heterosexual women and to cross-validate the findings on the relationship between androgyny and self-esteem. In order to assess sex-role classification, the PRF-Andro Scale was administered to 30 lesbian and 30 heterosexual women. The Texas Social Behavior Inventory was used to measure self-esteem. Results showed that a significantly greater proportion of the lesbians were androgynous, and a …

The Effect Of Prenatal Administration Of Amphetamine Upon The Cognitive-Intellectual Functioning Of The Offspring At Adulthood, Theodore Cole

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The effect of prenatal administration of amphetamine upon the offspring’s cognitive-intellectual functioning at adult levels was investigated. Three groups of Max hooded rats were used, each composed of seven females and twelve males. One group was subjected to prenatal injections of amphetamine, one group received injections of saline, and the final group received no treatment. After the subjects reached adulthood they were presented with a series of complex mazes, and the dependent variable was the number of errors committed during the series. The data were analyzed by an analysis of variance of a 3 x 2 factorial design. The results …

The Recall Of Strens, Traumas & T-S Experiences By Adults, Phyllis Hatfield

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

There is a developing trend in psychology to study the healthy personality. Investigations have been conducted which attempt to identify and study meaningful experiences as they occur in a person's life. These studies have focused on both the negative and positive experiences and the consequences of these experiences in the life and personality of persons. One of the researchers in this area, Norman Finkel (1974; 1975), investigated the incidence and pattern of three types of experiences in the lives of college students. The three types of experiences which he investigated were traumas (T), strengthening experiences (S), and traumas that were …

Patient-Technique Orientation, Personality Factors, And Training Effects In Nursing Students, Gerald Case

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if nursing students could be differentiated along a patient-technique nursing orientation continuum, and whether there would be a shift in the orientation of student nurses subsequent to participating in a training program for nurses. This study attempted to determine if personality traits could be used as predictors of the patient-technique orientation of the student nurses and if the personality of the student nurses remained stable over one year. Thirty-four student nurses in the two-year associate degree nursing program in a southern regional university were administered the nursing Pictures Interest Test (NPIT), the …

Wisc-R Short Forms For Identification Of Intellectually Sub-Normal Children, John Ward

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to develop short forms of the WISC-R for use in identifying children as intellectually average or below average. The national WISC-R standardization sample and a local WISC-R generalization sample were used. Both samples were restricted to those subjects with Full Scale IQ scores less than or equal to 100. Five different development procedures were used. Three procedures used stepwise multiple regression and two procedures used multiple discriminant analysis. The short forms developed by the multiple discriminant analysis were the most accurate. The administration time per subject was reduced but scoring complexity was increased. Usable, …

Degrees Of Familiar & Affective Music & Their Effects On State Anxiety, Stephen Rohner

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The success of the therapeutic use of music in various institutions and other research settings has pointed to the possibilities of using music to reduce anxiety in high anxiety subjects representing the non-institutionalized segment of the population. Ten sections of introductory psychology students (N=321) were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions or the control group. Forms A and B of the Eight State Questionnaire (8SQ) were administered in a counterbalanced fashion prior to and following the music (or no music) treatment. Results proved to be statistically non-significant. However, there appeared to be a trend for sedative music to …

Awareness Of Facial Decoding In Nonverbal Communication As A Function Of People Oriented Activity, Ines Morgado

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

An attempt was made to investigate the extent to which individuals involved in people oriented activity were better decoders of facial emotions than individuals engaged in non people oriented activity. It was hypothesized that the recognition of emotions through facial expressions would be more accurate if the decodification process were made by individuals engaged in people oriented activity than if it were undertaken by individuals engaged in non people oriented activity. Subjects participating in this study were an equal number of adult male and an equal number of adult female individuals engaged in people oriented activity and non people oriented …

Personality Variables & Sex-Role Classifications Of "Total Woman" Participants, Lou Brown

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The "Total Woman" philosophy and previous research concerning the development of sex-roles, androgyny, how women view themselves and personality differences in group members were reviewed. Since no previous research on the personality variables and the sex-role classification of "Total Woman" participants had been reported, an exploratory study was undertaken. In order to assess personality variables the Personality Research Form-E was administered to 67 "Total Woman" participants from two southern cities. The "Total Woman" subjects were found to have a significantly higher need for Harmavoidance and a significantly lower need for Autonomy, Change, Play and Understanding than the norm group. The …

The Relative Efficiencey Of The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (Wais) As A Predictor Of College Academic Achievement, Ollie Dennis

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examined the predictive validity of the WAIS in an academic setting. Traditional WAIS IQ scores and subtests of 127 male and 163 female college students were correlated with Grade Point Averages at the end of four semesters and within five academic areas. Five groups were examined including the total group, male group, female group, black group, and white group. The academic University's general and Communication of areas investigated corresponded to the education requirements; Organization Ideas, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Studies, Natural Science and Mathematics, and Physical Development. Results indicated that dictor of both semester GPA and five groups. …

Death Anxiety And Religious Orientation, Dennis Wagner

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A sample of the general population from a small mid-South town was divided according to orthodoxy, devotionalism, denomination and denominational upbringing. Degree of death anxiety was assessed by the Templer Death Anxiety Scale. A multiple regression analysis of the data indicated that non-orthodox individuals or individuals having no religious affiliation had significantly lower death anxiety than their heterodox or religiously affiliated counterparts. Devotionalism, denomination and denominational upbringing were not significantly related to death anxiety. Several covariates were found to be related to death anxiety: death of a family member or friend (within one year), education, and father living or dead. …

Peer Facilitators: An Exploratory Study, Jeffrey Haskins

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Seventh grade males were trained as peer facilitators ;or a group of sixth grade males (peers) as part of an experimental guidance program. Training of peer facilitators was implemented through a modified short term human relations development model. Measures of personal, social, and overall adjustment, as assessed by the California Test of Personality, were obtained for the facilitators and group members before and after the peer facilitator program. No significant pre- and post-test differences were obtained on the select personality variables for either group. A method for assessing facilitative responsiveness was developed using written peer stimulus statements. In comparison to …

Proximity Of Reinforcement & The Protestant Ethic Effect, Sharon Miller

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Twelve food-deprived male rats were trained to barpress for food pellets in one of three operant chambers. The chambers were of standard size, double in length, or triple in length. After training, cod cup full of pellets was placed in the corner opposite the operant bar, and the eating behavior of the rats in this choice situation was observed. The dependent measure was the percentage of the total amount of food consumed that had been obtained by barpressing. Individual comparisons between the mean percentage of food earned over the four test sessions revealed that those rats in the longest chamber …

Leniency Error As A Function Of The Rater's Need For Social Approval, Danny Bean

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The effects of the rater's need for social approval (N-SA) on leniency error in ratings was investigated. Each of 19 supervisors rated the performance of a common set of 12 workers. Using an ANOVA procedure (Guilford, 1954) leniency error was identified. The effects of N-SA as measured by the Personal Reactions Inventory (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960) and the Least Preferred Coworker (Fiedler, 1967) were partialed out of the ratings. When the ANOVA was repeated on the partialed ratings, it was hypothesized that reduced leniency error would result. Contrary to expectations, there was virtually no reduction in leniency error. The low …

The Effects Of A Group Therapy Program On Truancy, Keith Politi

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Two truancy groups were conducted for the Simpson County School System. A multifaceted group treatment approach was used with truants in an attempt to reduce school absences, increase feelings of personal and social security and change negative attitudes toward school. A contingency contract in conjunction with a modified token economy was used to increase school attendance. Group discussions were used to increase feelings of personal and social security and to change negative attitudes toward school. A comparison of group members pre- and postgroup school attendance records showed that group members significantly increased their school attendance. A comparison of group members …

The Relationship Between Number Of Sessions And Client-Judged Outcome, Jay Athy

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Outpatient clients from a community mental health center were surveyed by questionnaire to examine the relationship between number of therapy sessions attended and client-judgments of therapeutic outcome. The results indicated that client-judgments of therapeutic benefit tended to be independent of length of therapy when the client-judgement is a global assessment of therapeutic benefit. Controls for mode of therapy, initial diagnosis, type of referral, and status of case yielded similar findings. The nature of these relationships was nonlinear with the possible existence of different zones of sessions that account for varying degrees of client-perceived success. It also appeared that clients evaluated …

An Examination Of Commitment To Scholarly Openness & Religious Belief Among Academicians, Jim Alsdurf

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The relations between faculty religiosity, changes in reliaious beliefs, and commitment to scholarly openness were examined through a survey of 257 faculty at three universities. A new measure of scholarly openness was developed for this study because of ambiguities in previous indirect and attitudinal measures. Patterns of faculty religiosity as a function of education, graduate school prestige, academic discipline, and educational period of religious change are generally compatible with previous studies, but patterns for scholarly openness are not. Faculty religiosity and scholarly openness were negatively correlated for those Faculty who had never experienced sinnificant reliaious change and for those who …

Indicators Of Anxiety On Bender Records: A Correlational Study, Kevin Dooley

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Since the Bender's growth in popularity as a tool for assessing organic brain damage, other factors have been shown to influence the accuracy of design reproductions. Mental deficiency, cultural background, early age and :ex are among those factors. Attempts to demonstrate the effect: of personality traits have been few, but supportive. Research into the influence of personality on Bender performance has largely been group comparison designs. The degree of overlap found among groups has reduced the degree of confidence with which the results can be applied to individual performance:. The present study used a correlational approach to determine how validly …

The Relationship Between Sensation Seeking & Conformity, Shirley Rabuck

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Two hundred male, Introductory Psychology students were tested using the A:L and SSS. Forty-two students were then selected using approximately the upper, lower, and middle 7'7 of the distribution of scores on the total SSS as cut-of: points. The Asch Conformity Test (ASCII) was then administered to each of those 42 subjects. It was hypothesized that high sensation seekers (based on total scale score, SSS) would behave in a nonconforming manner and that low sensation seekers would more readily conform to social pressures as measured by the ASCH. It was also hypothesized that when the effects of dominance and autonomy …

Age As A Variable Affecting The Protestant Ethic Effect, Roger Laird

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Fourteen female rats divided into three age groups of 110, 160 and 240 days old were compared for amount of barpressing in the Protestant Ethic Effect choice situation. All subjects were maintained on a 23 hour water deprivation schedule and trained to barpress for a 10% sucrose solution. Training consisted of one 12 hour massed practice session then 15 daily training sessions followed by 5 days of testing. During testing the rats were placed in the center of the cage and allowed to obtain the reinforcer from either the drinking tube attached to the barpress mechanism or from an identical …

Moral Reasoning Structures & Character Structures: A Review & Extension Of Relationships Between Moral Judgment Stages & Personality Organization, Gregory Wilmoth

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The theoretical and empirical relationships of moral behavior and moral judgment to personality were reviewed. Kohlberg's moral development theory and Fromm's character development theory provided the integrating organization for the review of nineteen personality variables examined with six moral judgment instruments.

The Moral Judgment Scale, the Sexual Moral Judgment Scale, the Objective Moral Judgment Scale, and the Measure of Moral Values were administered to eighty adult students. Four problems were tested: (1) psychometric comparisons of the four moral reasoning instruments, (2) a test of a trait theory of moral character, (3) a test of increased self-actualization with moral development, and …

The Assessment Of Competence In Elderly Geriatric Subjects, Bernard Schut

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the present research was two-fold- (1) to investigate competence, using the Protestant Ethic Effect (PEE) paradigm, in institutionalized, elderly subjects and (2) to determine the viability of an alternative task such as problem solving to motor tasks in the PEE situation. Two groups of patients, who differed in functioning level, performed a cognitive and a motor task in a situation with four response/reinforcement alternatives. Three dependent variables were used to evaluate subject's performance Analysis of tokens obtained in experimental situations indicated tow functioning patients, carrying out the cognitive task, preferred position-, where tokens were available without responding, …

Personality Variables Of United States Auto Club Sprint Car Drivers, Jerry Nowicke

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The personality profile of 25 United States Auto Club sprint car drivers was compared to the previously established profile compiled by Dr. Keith Johnsgard, Dr. Bruce Ogilvie, and Kenneth Merrit on 30 highly successful Formula I and Sports Car Club of America sports car drivers using the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) as the instrument of differentiation. Although no statistical significance was attached to the difference between means of the two groups due to a lack of variance estimates for the 15 scales that comprise the EPPS regarding the sports car driving group, quite similar scores were obtained on 13 …

Developmental Study Of The Mueller-Lyer Illusion Under Conditions Of Restricted Exposure Time & Task Interference, Jerald Clampitt

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The present study brought together two lines of research in an attempt to explain some issues in perceptual development. The first pertained to the Mueller-Lyer illusion which tends to decrease with age. Piaaet attributed this change to increased perceptual activities, such as eye movements in the older subjects. Pollack related it to changes in the physical structure of the eye. Grice attributed the charge partially to cognitive processes, and partially to perceptual activities. Second, the concept of iconic memory was reviewed. Grice had employed the concept of iconic memory in an attempt to relate the age related changes in illusions …

Motivation In Alcoholics To Seek Treatment, Cecil Miller

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The relationships between two personality variables in alcoholics and motivation to seek treatment were examined in this study. The Psych -)logical Screening Inventory (PSI) was administered to a group of 73 alcoholics admitted to a detoxification unit. Before being discharged from the unit each alcoholic was referred to a treatment agency. Each alcoholic was then followed up at the agency to which he was referred. On the basis of this follow-up the alcoholics were divided into two groups; those seeking treatment and those not seeking treatment. No significant differences were found between the two groups on the personality variable measured …

Growth Indicators As A Function Of Cognitive & Affective Experiences In A Structured Classroom Setting, Michael Miller

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Change in self-actualizing, assessed by the Personal Orientation Dimensions (POD), was examined for two sections of a sophomore level psychology class. The subjects were administered the POD at the beginning and the end of the semester. No significant differences were found in the amount of change in self-actualizing between the two groups. It was suggested that college may be a growth experience and that students at the sophomore level will not engage in growth exercises if they feel it is not related to their grades. It was further suggested that more research is needed on the POD and of ways …

Learned Helplessness Through Observation: Failure To Escape Traumatic Shock As A Result Of Observing A Helpless Situation, Donald Jary

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Twenty naïve male and female hooded rats were randomly divided into four groups of five subjects each. The Observe Helpless group was allowed to observe Helpless subjects receive signaled, inescapable electric shock, after which they were tested for effective escape response acquisition. Subjects in the Observe Naïve group were allowed to observe Naïve subjects being given escape-avoidance training using signaled presentations of electric shock, after which the Observe Helpless group was given similar escape-avoidance training. Results indicate that there were significant differences in the acquisition of effective escape responses between the Observe Helpless group and the other two groups. Possible …