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Articles 751 - 780 of 1153

Full-Text Articles in Psychology

The Incorporation Of Emergent Literacy Into Head Start Classrooms, Emily Seeger May 2002

The Incorporation Of Emergent Literacy Into Head Start Classrooms, Emily Seeger

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Emergent literacy may be described as the process of learning about the environment that leads to the development of meaning and concepts, including concepts about the functions of reading and writing. Research supports certain practices that promote emergent literacy in young children, and federal legislation outlines requirements for Head Start programs with regard to specific activities that should be promoted to enhance children's emergent literacy skills. This study asked teachers from 318 Head Start programs in the Southeast United States to complete a survey that asked specific questions targeting the emergent literacy practices used in classrooms, as well as familiarity …


The Effect Of Cognitive Load On Illusory Correlation, Jason Simpson May 2002

The Effect Of Cognitive Load On Illusory Correlation, Jason Simpson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study investigated two theories of illusory correlation in social judgment by examining how varying the level of cognitive load during encoding of social stimuli affected the amount of illusory correlation. If the level of illusory correlation increases in a monotonic relationship with increasing cognitive load, then this type of increase would provide evidence for the distinctiveness-based view of illusory correlation (Hamilton & GifFord, 1976); however, if levels of illusory correlation show a curvilinear relationship, this relationship would provide support for the differentiated meaning view (Haslam, McGarty, & Brown, 1996). Cognitive load was manipulated by having participants perform an auditory …


Faking Integrity Tests: More Than A Mindset?, Christopher Corthern May 2002

Faking Integrity Tests: More Than A Mindset?, Christopher Corthern

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Personnel selection procedures often include integrity tests to aid in the attempt to hire the best possible candidates for a given job. Meta-analyses of integrity test validity coefficients have found evidence of incremental validity in the prediction of many performance criteria, but questions remain regarding the nature of the construct they actually measure. The classical interpretation of higher integrity scores being linked with higher job performance is that honest people are more productive. This study surveys another possibility: those that score highly on these measures may possess higher degrees of a problem solving ability related to intelligence that allows them …


Modeling Organizational Culture In A Financial Institution, Lauren Rogers Apr 2002

Modeling Organizational Culture In A Financial Institution, Lauren Rogers

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Ideal versus current organizational culture perceptions, differences in perceptions of culture between hierarchal levels and departments, and the strength of organizational culture were investigated in the current study. Organizational culture was measured by Cooke and Lafferty's (1987) Organizational Culture Inventory. There were differences in culture perceptions between ideal versus the current culture, hierarchal levels, and departments. The organizational culture was perceived to be weak in comparison to the four desirable styles indicated by the OCI profile.


An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Motivation, Test Preparation And Test Performance, Cassidy Walton Mar 2002

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Motivation, Test Preparation And Test Performance, Cassidy Walton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The relationship between motivation, test preparation, and test performance was investigated using two samples, lire fighter applicants and college students. Motivation and test preparation were measured by Arvey and Stickland's (1991) Test Attitude Survey; test performance consisted of selection test scores or class examinations. The results indicated that the relationship between motivation, test preparation, and test performance varied depending on the sample (i.e., fire fighter applicants or college students) and the context (i.e., written or Physical Ability Test, class exam, or final examination). The results for fire fighters indicated that motivation was related to written test performance but not to …


An Investigation Into Traits Common To Structured Ministers And Traits Common To Musical Ministers, Matthew Cullum Jan 2002

An Investigation Into Traits Common To Structured Ministers And Traits Common To Musical Ministers, Matthew Cullum

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examines behaviors and preferences that are characteristic of different positions of service inside a nonprofit church organization. Interviews with incumbents in the Structural Ministry and the Musical Ministry involved with the churches of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee, were conducted to identify traits and behaviors common to these distinct groups. The traits and behaviors identified in these interviews were then used to predict college students' future membership into these positions. The NEO-FFI (Costa & McCrae, 1992) was also administered in order to assess the incremental value of a professionally developed instrument. The instrument successfully identified group membership, although some …


Electronic Versus Paper Surveys In An Upward Feedback Application: Are The Methods Equivalent?, Michael Yap Dec 2001

Electronic Versus Paper Surveys In An Upward Feedback Application: Are The Methods Equivalent?, Michael Yap

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis represents the first known study to investigate the equivalency of paper vs. electronic survey data collection formats in an upward feedback application. Findings are similar to recent research utilizing employee opinion survey data. Format explained less than 1% of variance in managers' total scores over that of ratee and rater demographic variables.


Helping At-Risk Students Add Up: Motivational Lessons For Students In High School Mathematics, Karen Beckner Dec 2001

Helping At-Risk Students Add Up: Motivational Lessons For Students In High School Mathematics, Karen Beckner

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.


Phonemic Awareness In Preschool Children In Relation To Reading Practices In The Home, Anna Hayes Dec 2001

Phonemic Awareness In Preschool Children In Relation To Reading Practices In The Home, Anna Hayes

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Research suggests that phonemic awareness predicts later reading achievement and that children from low-SES families are "at-risk" for failing to develop phonemic awareness. Before children enter school, they spend the majority of their time with their caregivers. Therefore, activities that take place in the home are of importance when looking at what fosters development. The present study focused on children participating in two Head Start programs and on their families as well. The parents were interviewed to learn about the home activities, and the children were given a phonemic awareness assessment. The study found that the majority of parents reported …


Temporal, Perspectives, Dispositional Styles, And Subjective Well-Being, Mary Naeger Dec 2001

Temporal, Perspectives, Dispositional Styles, And Subjective Well-Being, Mary Naeger

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study investigated the relationship between time perspective (TP) and the personality dispositions of optimism, pessimism, and realism with regard to their proposed influence on three measures that collectively assessed subjective well-being (SWB). The Depression-Happiness Scale (McGreal & Joseph, 1993) assessed happiness or the presence of positive affect and the absence of negative affect, the cognitiveaffective components of SWB. The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) provided the measurement of subjective life satisfaction, the essential final cognitive-judgmental component of SWB. The Life Orientation Scale-Revised (LOT-R) (Scheier, Carver, and Bridges, 1994) and a Reality Scale, composed …


Literature Size Related To Diagnostic Inaccuracy Of Personality Disorders, Vincent Intoccia Aug 2001

Literature Size Related To Diagnostic Inaccuracy Of Personality Disorders, Vincent Intoccia

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Personality disorders offer clinicians a unique diagnostic challenge. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between literature size and diagnostic accuracy for personality disorders. The data used in this study were taken from the Blashfield & Intoccia (2000) and Blashfield & Herkov (1996) studies. The data were analyzed using a combination of correlations and single subject experimental designs. The results indicated that from 1980 to 1987 as literature size increased diagnostic accuracy increased across personality disorders. When examining literature growth three personality disorders (borderline, schizotypal, antisocial) appear to be carrying the literature growth for the group. These …


Examining Children's Iep Knowledge And Preferences In The Special Education Process, Sharon Eagles Aug 2001

Examining Children's Iep Knowledge And Preferences In The Special Education Process, Sharon Eagles

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

According to IDEA (1997), students who receive special education must have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Student goals are a required portion of the IEP and can be developed, monitored, and evaluated with or without the student. The literature indicates personal involvement in goal setting increases commitment to achieve the goal, mastery of learning concepts, and intrinsic motivation (Muir, 2000). The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) students' knowledge of their IEP goals, (b) the level of participation students "liked" as depicted in 3 videotaped IEP development scenarios, and (c) the extent of students' participation in IEP goal …


Emotional Intelligence In Adolescents: How It Relates To Giftedness, Sean Corso Aug 2001

Emotional Intelligence In Adolescents: How It Relates To Giftedness, Sean Corso

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current study addresses the concept of emotional intelligence and how it relates to gifted adolescents. Until recently, it was not possible to test the theory of emotional intelligence. With the advent of the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory and BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version, it became possible for the first time, to measure emotional intelligence in adults and adolescents. However, up to this point, there has been very little if any empirical research conducted with gifted adolescents and emotional intelligence. In addition, there has been a long-standing debate within the scientific literature concerning the social emotional adjustment of academically …


Mood, Social Goals And Children's Outcome Expectancies, Bridgette Harper Aug 2001

Mood, Social Goals And Children's Outcome Expectancies, Bridgette Harper

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Past research suggests that emotions, arousal, and goals affect how children reason in social situations, but, thus far, there has been very little research on how these variables interact. It has been hypothesized that emotion could affect any area of social information processing directly, but it has also been hypothesized that emotion might have an indirect effect on social information processing. Therefore, a primary hypothesis of the current study was whether emotion influences each step of social information processing directly or whether emotion influences social information processing indirectly by first influencing goal orientations which, in turn, influence the other areas …


Body Length, Activity Level, And Avoidance Learning In Zebrafish Exposed To Nicotine As Embryos, Tim Lawrence Aug 2001

Body Length, Activity Level, And Avoidance Learning In Zebrafish Exposed To Nicotine As Embryos, Tim Lawrence

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Smoking continues to be a significant health problem in the United States and throughout the world. One of the many aspects of the health risks of smoking that have been investigated is the effect of maternal smoking on developing embryos. In particular, exposure of embryos to nicotine is believed to cause attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and related problems in children. Both correlational research with humans and experimental research with animals have supported this belief. However, the mechanisms of the effect of nicotine on developing embryos are not fully understood. The zebrafish offers a useful model of the effects of nicotine on …


Spectral Sensitivity Of The Goldfish Erg And Optic Tectum Before And After Optic Nerve Damage, Jenel Pile Aug 2001

Spectral Sensitivity Of The Goldfish Erg And Optic Tectum Before And After Optic Nerve Damage, Jenel Pile

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

It is well known that visual neurons in lower vertebrates regenerate after damage. Thus, the visual system has served as a useful model for neural regeneration studies. However, most of the research on neural regeneration has focused on the recovery of anatomical connections; little has been done assessing the return of visual function. The purpose of this study was to determine the return of function of the goldfish optic nerve at four time intervals after damage (crush). An increment threshold procedure was used to obtain electroretinogram (ERG) and tectal responses to light onset and termination to various wavelengths of light. …


Parapsychological Beliefs And The Effects Of Exposure To Skeptical Inquiry, Augustine Seeger Aug 2001

Parapsychological Beliefs And The Effects Of Exposure To Skeptical Inquiry, Augustine Seeger

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Belief in parapsychological/paranormal phenomena is widespread in the American public (Gallup & Newport, 1991). Messer and Griggs (1989) reported that misinformation through the media, including uncritical reports of events and pseudodocumentaries about paranormal phenomena, is a possible reason for the substantial belief in the paranormal evidenced by the American public. The realm of the parapsychological is a particularly important area of research, especially to those who teach psychology. Messer and Griggs (1989) provided evidence that the prevalence of belief in the paranormal was also rather extensive in a sample of college students. Belief and involvement in certain paranormal phenomenon has …


Paranormal Beliefs And Personality Traits, Heather Auton Aug 2001

Paranormal Beliefs And Personality Traits, Heather Auton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current study examined the non-skeptic view of paranormal belief, suggesting that belief in the paranormal does not indicate psychopathology. This study examines the non-pathological personality traits present in paranormal believers by using a broad personality test. One hundred and one participants completed the Paranormal Belief Scale (PBS) and the Personality Research Form (PRF) in order to examine the differences among the personality traits of high and low paranormal believers. High and low paranormal belief was determined by the participants overall score on the Paranormal Belief Scale. The results indicated that there were only two significant personality differences among high …


The Relationship Between Social And Emotional Intelligence In Children, Shannon Herring May 2001

The Relationship Between Social And Emotional Intelligence In Children, Shannon Herring

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The relationship between social and emotional intelligence was investigated. The study sample consisted of 31 females and 28 males who were between the ages of 9 and 12. The student participants completed the Social Skills Rating System-Student Form (SSRS), which assesses social competence, and the Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version (EQ-i:YV), which measures emotional intelligence. Parents of the children also completed the Social Skills Rating System-Parent Form for comparison purposes. Both forms of the SSRS yielded statistically significant correlations with the EQ-i:YV. The results indicate that the instruments designed to assess emotional intelligence and social intelligence were highly related. The …


Orientation Programs And Realistic Job Previews: Tactics To Reduce Dysfunctional Turnover, Andrea Glaze May 2001

Orientation Programs And Realistic Job Previews: Tactics To Reduce Dysfunctional Turnover, Andrea Glaze

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Two approaches were utilized to reduce turnover in a printing company. First, the orientation program was revised to incorporate tactics from the organizational socialization literature, which indicates that the more socialized employee will report greater levels of satisfaction and commitment, lower intentions to quit, less role ambiguity, and less role conflict. Second, realistic job previews (RJPs) in the form of temporary employment, department tours, and job descriptions were utilized. It was hypothesized that new hires attending the revised orientation program that incorporated socialization tactics and new hires that received a RJP would remain on the job longer than new hires …


The Effect Of Age-Related Stereotypes On Memory Self-Efficacy And Memory Task-Performance Of Older Adults, Brenda Karns May 2001

The Effect Of Age-Related Stereotypes On Memory Self-Efficacy And Memory Task-Performance Of Older Adults, Brenda Karns

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Forty-six older adults participated in a study to examine the hypothesis that there is a significant association between stereotypes of age-related memory decline and memory self-efficacy beliefs. It was also hypothesized that this relationship affects performance on measures of memory performance. A measure of age stereotype vulnerability was assessed along with two measures of memory self-efficacy, four measures of implicit, explicit, and working memory, and two measures of implicit and explicit sequential learning. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships among stereotypes of age, memory self-efficacy, and subsequent performance on various tasks of memory and learning. Emphasis was …


Test-Retest Reliability Of Phonemic Awareness Assessment Instruments Of Kindergarten Students, Lorie Craycroft May 2001

Test-Retest Reliability Of Phonemic Awareness Assessment Instruments Of Kindergarten Students, Lorie Craycroft

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

As a child develops, one of the most critical factors in future success in school is reading ability. The extent to which a child is phonemically aware can predict how well he or she will be able to read. With this in mind, many instruments exist that test for these phonemic awareness skills. The purpose of this research was to examine the test-retest reliability of four phonemic awareness instruments. Six elementary schools in the Bowling Green City School District participated in the study. A total of 152 students in the kindergarten grades of each school were administered the Comprehensive Test …


The Effects Of Attitudes Towards Homosexuality On The Ability To Reason Logically About Homosexuality, Jeanette Myers May 2001

The Effects Of Attitudes Towards Homosexuality On The Ability To Reason Logically About Homosexuality, Jeanette Myers

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This researcher examined how participants' attitudes towards homosexuality influenced their ability to reason on logic test items concerning homosexuality. A 64-item logic test was developed to measure distortion in reasoning due to prohomosexual or antihomosexual beliefs (measured by 32 items), while controlling for distortions caused by the truth or falseness of conclusions on nonhomosexual matters (also measured by 32 items). McFarlands' (2000) abbreviated version of the Attitudes Towards Homosexuality Scale (ATH Scale) was administered to directly measure participants' attitudes. The logic test and ATH Scale was administered to 201 undergraduate psychology students. Data analyses showed a significant amount of distortion …


Improvoing Head Start Children's Emergent Literacy And Phonemic Awareness Through Parent Training, Kelli Bradbury May 2001

Improvoing Head Start Children's Emergent Literacy And Phonemic Awareness Through Parent Training, Kelli Bradbury

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Typically, research on emergent literacy and phonemic awareness is focused on children older than five years of age. The research clearly suggests that emergent literacy and phonemic awareness skills are precursors for children to learn to read and that low-income children often lack these skills. However, very little research has focused on emergent literacy and phonemic awareness skills of four-year-olds. Another important factor that has been neglected, thus far, is the impact parents may have on their children acquiring these skills. Therefore, this study presents a training program that addresses emergent literacy and phonemic awareness in low income, four-year-old, Head …


A Descriptive Study Of The Selection Procedures Used By Kentucky Manufacturers, Amy Dumanois Dec 2000

A Descriptive Study Of The Selection Procedures Used By Kentucky Manufacturers, Amy Dumanois

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the selection practices used by manufacturing companies in Kentucky and whether the size of the organization and the number of employees hired in 1999 affected the use of valid selection procedures and compliance with EEO Guidelines. Surveys (300) were mailed to Human Resources professionals with a response rate of 35.7%. The majority of participants reported using three selection procedures: interviews, application blanks, and reference checks. The size of the organization and the number of employee hired in 1999 were not found to be related to the tendency to use a …


Distributive Justice And Perceptions Of Fairness In Team Sports, Leslie Specht Dec 2000

Distributive Justice And Perceptions Of Fairness In Team Sports, Leslie Specht

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Distributive justice refers to the perceptions of fairness of outcomes received by individuals for their efforts in organizational settings. Punishment is frequently used to eliminate offensive or undesirable behavior in organizations. The present study was based on distributive justice theory and assessed the effects of severity of punishment and the application of distributive justice rules in a sports team setting. Eight scenarios were developed combining two levels of distribution of punishment (consistent or conditional), two levels of severity of misconduct (severe or moderate), and two levels of severity of punishment (severe or moderate). It was hypothesized that consistent punishment across …


The Role Of Gender Interactions, Company Tenure And Job Tenure In Upward Feedback Ratings, Vanessa Johnson Dec 2000

The Role Of Gender Interactions, Company Tenure And Job Tenure In Upward Feedback Ratings, Vanessa Johnson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Using feedback scores from an established upward feedback program, the role of gender interactions, company tenure, and job tenure on leadership ratings of managers by subordinates were examined. Four separate analyses were conducted: a 2 X 2 ANOVA, a 2 X 6 ANOVA, and two Aptitude-Treatment Interaction (ATI) regression analyses in accordance with the procedure set forth in Pedhazur (1997). No significant main effects or interactions were found for manager gender and subordinate gender on ratings of managers. Manager company tenure had a significant effect on ratings of managers, R = .002, F (1, 168) = .53, p < .05, but manager job tenure was not found to have a significant effect on manager ratings. Subordinate company tenure also had a significant effect on manager ratings, F (5, 3973) = 5.95, p < .01. A post-hoc Scheffe's test indicated significant differences were shown between subordinates whose tenure was 6 months to 1 year and 1 to 3 years versus subordinates whose tenure was greater than 10 years, p < .05. The need for further research of factors that may influence upward feedback ratings was emphasized; limitations of the study were also discussed.


The Role Of Eeoc Factors In Determining Perceptions Of Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment, Libby Miller Dec 2000

The Role Of Eeoc Factors In Determining Perceptions Of Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment, Libby Miller

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Equal Employment Opportunity Guidelines on Sexual Harassment identify six factors that are relevant in determinations of sexual harassment. This study attempted to determine if three of these factors (i.e., frequency of harassment, number of victims and number of perpetrators) drive perceptions of what constitutes sexual harassment. Participants role-playing jurors on an hostile environment sexual harassment case demonstrated no differences in perceptions as a function of number of victims or number of perpetrators. The significant effect for frequency of harassment was not in the hypothesized direction, with less frequent harassment being perceived as more likely to constitute sexual harassment. The …


Attitudinal Outcomes Of Punishment Events In Team-Sporting Settings, Jason Tapp Nov 2000

Attitudinal Outcomes Of Punishment Events In Team-Sporting Settings, Jason Tapp

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The organizational justice perspective suggests that procedural and distributive justice evaluations of a specific punishment event will affect an individual's reactions to the punishment. A 3 (decision-making procedure: autocratic, participative, group) X 3 (punishment severity: low, moderate, high) factorial design was utilized to develop punishment scenarios in team-sport settings which were evaluated by 205 participants. Decision-making procedure and punishment severity both produced significant main effects on evaluations of the fairness of the procedure. Only punishment severity produced a significant main effect on perceptions of the fairness and appropriateness of the punishment, as well as on perceptions of the likelihood of …


A Survey Of Minority Students Who Use Retention Program Services At A Predominantly White Institution, Jamalya Luney Aug 2000

A Survey Of Minority Students Who Use Retention Program Services At A Predominantly White Institution, Jamalya Luney

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This researcher seeks to examine the characteristics of those minority students, at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI), who frequently use retention program services versus those who do not frequently use retention program services. Frequent use of retention program was considered to be every other week or more. Infrequent user of retention program was considered once a month or less often. Data analysis revealed many similarities between the groups relating to grade point average (GPA), marital status, and housing status. Despite the similarities between the groups, there were some differences, although not significant. The mean age of the frequent users was …