Applied Behavior Analysis Commons^™

Behavior Of Retarded Clients As A Function Of Access To Leisure Activities Oriented Toward Task Completion, David R. Keltner

Home Economics and Family Living Theses

This thesis represents an investigation of the effects of increased access to task completion activities on the behavior of institutionalized retarded clients. The hypothesis was that increased access to task completion leisure activities (non-competitive free time activities requiring the subject to attend to a constructive task during at least five free time periods over the course of the study) would result in reduced frequency of unacceptable social behaviors in a group of institutionalized retarded clients. A hobby kit designed according to the experimental definition of leisure activity was made available to each subject in the experimental group. Target behaviors (social …

The Relationship Among Parent Knowledge Of Special Education, Assertiveness, And Participation In Planning Their Handicapped Child’S Educational Program, Lynne Faxon Croxton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study addressed the relationship among parent assertiveness, parent knowledge of special education and the handicapping condition of their child, and parent participation in the annual meeting of the School-Based Admissions and Release Committee (SBARC). Fifty-one (51) parents of learning disabled and mentally handicapped children in a suburban area of Kentucky participated in the study. The effects of the child’s handicapping condition and the number of years the child’s handicapping condition and the number of years the child had received special education on parent assertiveness, knowledge, and participation were also analyzed. Parents were given the Special Education Knowledge Survey, and …

The Relationship Between Rating Strategy And Accuracy Of Performance Rating, Richard Carter

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Given the recent theoretical emphasis on the process of performance rating (e.g., Landy & Farr, 1980), a test of the suggestion that better raters may use different rating processes than poorer raters was implemented. Specifically, this study was designed to determine if more accurate raters use a systematically different rating strategy than less accurate raters. Accuracy, the proximity of a rating to the ratee’s true score, was operationalized by differential accuracy (Cronbach, 1955), while rating strategies were determined through a policy capturing method (e.g., Zedeck & Kafry, 1977).

Seventh-three subjects rated a series of videotapes, developed by Borman (e.g. Borman, …

The Relationship Between Drinking And Assertiveness In College Students, Ernest Small

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The relationship between drinking patterns of college students and their measured level of assertiveness was examined in this study. The subjects were categorized into six groups based on their self-reported frequency and amount of drinking. They were also asked to record the number of drinks they had drunk in the prior week. The MacAndrews Alcoholism Scale and the Rathus Assertion Schedule were administered to all the subjects. Pearson Product-moment correlations were calculated to assess the relationship between levels of drinking, the number of drinks in the prior week and scores from the Rathus Assertion Schedule and the MacAndrews Alcoholism Scale. …

A Comparison Of The Central & Peripheral Theories Of Work Decrement Through The Separation Of Stimulus & Response Components In The Mental Imagery Of A Motor Task, Bruce Jennings

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A total of 180 introductory psychology students from Western Kentucky University were tested with their left hands on the rotary pursuit apparatus. Practice conditions consisted of the following: imagery of the rotor's light movements (stimulus component), imagery of pursuit-type arm movements (response component), imagery of both light movements and arm movements, imagery of the integrated task, and a no practice control group. Nine-minute rest periods were given to half of the subjects in each of these conditions. In addition to providing a better understanding of the processes underlying mental imagery through the breakdown of its components, differences between the stimulus …

The Traditional Sex-Stereotype Of A Job As A Moderator Variable For The Directionality Of Sex Biases In Performance Evaluation, Bernard Bena

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Accurate and objective performance appraisals are absolutely necessary due to their utility in important personnel decisions such as promotion, demotion and training. This study examines the contaminating effects of sex bias on performance evaluations and it's relationship to the sex-stereotype of the job and levels of performance. Unlike previous studies, this study not only examines these effects at the extremes of performance, but at average levels as well. Also, unlike previous studies, the subjects empirically determined the sex-typed nature of the jobs and the levels of performance within those jobs rather than the experimenter having made a priori decisions. Hypothetical …

The Influence Of A Diverse Relaxation Training Program Upon A Measure Of Anxiety, Julie A. Joseph

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Fourteen subjects from among the student and staff population complaining of anxiety, volunteered to participate in a relaxation training program. The subjects were referred by the University Counseling Center, the Office of Undergraduate Advisement, or responded to an article and advertisement published in the school newspaper. Assignment to control or experimental groups was based on date of response and availability for participation. The experimental group, which consisted of eight subjects, received training in deep muscle relaxation, electromyography, skin temperature, and concomitant biofeedback, and systematic desensitization over a three week period. The controls received no relaxation training. Both groups were administered …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The Effects Of A Sympathiomimetric Stressor On The Protestant Ethic Effect In Rats, Peter Mirabelle

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In an experiment which investigated the effects of stress on the Protestant Ethic Effect (PEE) 12 Wistar rats were trained for 20 days to barpress for their total water intake. Following training the rats were divided into two groups and were allowed to choose between barpressing for a 10% sucrose solution and consuming a freely available sucrose solution under either stress or nonstress conditions. Stress was defined as a .01 cc per 36g body weight injection of norepinephrine. The stress and nonstress conditions were counterbalanced during the choice session. Regardless of stress order both groups preferred the free over the …

The Influence Of A Relaxation Training Program Upon A Measure Of Self-Actualization, Karl Bodtorf

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Students at Western Kentucky University were asked to participate in a three week relaxation training program. The program focused upon relaxation as a coping skill and employed the Lazarus series of relaxation tapes, bio-feedback mediated relaxation training, and presentation of a relevant hierarchy in the form of an abbreviated systematic desensitization procedure. Subjects were measured prior to and following the relaxation program. It was hypothesized that subjects undergoing such a training procedure would experience gains as demonstrated by a measure of self-actualization when compared to individuals receiving no such treatment. A multivariate discriminant analysis indicated that the training program had …

Achievement, Affiliation & Nurturance Needs In College Women: A Comparison By Age & Marital Status, Lochia Farrar

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Previous research concerning the relative strengths of women's achievement, affiliation, and nurterance needs is reviewed. eased on Bardwick's theories, it was predicted that the need to achieve would be significantly higher for married than for single women and significantly higher, the older the age group. It was also Predicted that the need to affiliate would be significantly higher for single than for married women and significantly higher, the younger the age group. Based on Benedek's theories, it was predicted that the need to nurture would not differ significantly between married and single women and that it would not differ significantly …

The Effects Of A Drug-Induced Stress On The Contrafreeloading Phenomenon In Rats, Jeanne Bennett

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this experiment was to determine if stress, induced by intraperitoneal (IP) injections of epinephrine, influenced rats' preference to freeload (drink sucrose solution from a drinking tube) or to work for a liquid reinforcer (obtain sucrose solution by barpressing). Furthermore, the order in which stress was introduced was investigated.

Following two weeks of water deprivation, 6 female and 6 male Hooded rats approximately 90 days old were divided into two experimental groups. The first group (S-N) was stressed the first and second experimental testing days in which a choice was presented between barpressing and freeloading for a 10% …

The Protestant Ethic Effect: Children In A Multi-Choice Situation, Patricia Anderson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Twelve kindergarten and 16 first grade children were placed in a four Protestant Ethic to obtain tokens choice situation in order to investigate the Effect (PLE). The task for each child was to trade for candy. These tokens were available from three black boxes (choice locations) which were rotated in a clockwise manner around the four corners of the testing room. These three choice locations were as follows: (B1) a location where the child was allowed the option to manipulate switches and/or obtain freely accessible tokens, (82) a location at which tokens were freely accessible, and (84) the work location …

The Effects Of A Social Stimulus On The Protestant Ethic Effect In Rats, Gary L. Cotton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether rats’ preference to freeload (eat food pellets from a food cup) or to work for food (obtain food pellets by bar pressing) could be influenced by observing either a working or freeloading model in an adjacent operant chamber.

Following equal amounts of bar press and freeloading training, 18 male Sprague-Dawley rats approximately 100 days cold were divided into three experimental groups. The first group was permitted to view a working model while being presented a choice between bar pressing and free-loading. A second experimental group was exposed to a freeloading model …

A Methodological Consideration In The Comparison Of Two Explanatory Hypotheses Of Imagery, Paula Carter

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A replication of the Carter and Craig (1975) investigation comparing the “conceptual peg” and “relational connective” explanations as to the effectiveness of an interaction imagery strategy in paired-associate learning was performed with the suggested changes in methodology. These changes included training the subjects and presenting the stimulus and response nouns on separate screens rather than visually side-by-side. In addition, two separation imagery strategies were investigated so that the nouns were visualized on opposite sides of the imaginary visual field or on opposite walls of an imaginary room.

An interaction imagery strategy, a separation imagery—space strategy, a separation imagery—wall strategy, and …