Social Psychology Commons^™

A Geographic Distribution Analysis And Examination Of Social-Psychological Factors And Their Lmpact On Death Penalty Support In The United States, Katy Moharter

Masters Theses

Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the United States in 1977, research has focused on shifting attitudes and waning public support for this institution. Support for the death penalty varies between different temporal, geographic, and demographic boundaries. Research also suggests that social-psychological factors such as attributional style and moral disengagement play a significant role in rationalization of death penalty support, as well as the intensity of the support. Aspects of moral disengagement serve as reliable predictors for death penalty support for a limited sample of participants, which this research intends to evaluate at a greater scale. This research …

The Effects Of Electronic Response Systems On Student Learning, James D. Morrison

Masters Theses

One of the most technologically advanced methods of implementing active student responding is the electronic response system (Judson & Sawada, 2002). This technology is known under several names including audience response system, classroom response system, and colloquially as clickers (Smith, Shon, & Santiago, 2011). To accurately assess the impact of clickers on learning performance and classroom achievement, more quantitative analysis and systematic replication of studies was needed (Kay & LeSage, 2009). This study examined the effects of ASR questions on exam performance in two sections of an organizational psychology class for majors and non-majors. A social validity questionnaire was also …

Using Normative Messages And Incentives To Improve Organizational Performance, Anna L. Conard

Masters Theses

While social norms have been a popular area of study among social psychologists, they have yet to receive much consideration from an Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) standpoint. Much of OBM research has focused on consequences and the utilization of incentives to improve organizational performance. Such research has shown incentive systems to have sustaining, long-term effects on behaviors. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the impact of normative messages and lottery incentives on organizational performance. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: a) Standard Message with Lottery Incentive, b) Standard Message without Lottery Incentive, c) …

A Comparison Of The Effect Of In-Street Pedestrian Signs Alone, The Rectangular Rapid-Flashing Beacon Alone And Both Together On Yielding Behavior, Hana Sahar Manal

Masters Theses

This study examined the effectiveness of a rectangular rapid-flashing beacon (RRFB) alone, in-street signs alone, and the RRFB plus in-street sign together on motorist yielding to pedestrians. Participants consisted of drivers in Oakland County, Michigan. Pedestrians were confederate data collectors. The target behavior was driver yielding. The two treatments utilized were the RRFB and the instreet sign. A reversal design was used in which the first set of conditions included baseline, the RRFB alone, two in-street signs alone and the combination of the two in-street signs with the RRFB. All of the treatments affected yielding in the predicted direction, except …

A Study Of Body Scent As A Social Identifier Among Members Of The Arabic Culture, Mia M. Wilson

Masters Theses

Body scent plays a major factor in how individuals interact with one another. While Americans have their own perception of what is "proper" body scent, they still remain uninformed about the various ways body scent is used to deliver social messages and form interpersonal relationships within other cultures. With many immigrants continuing to move to the United States (Frey, 2004), American societies need to become educated on other cultures' social aspects of body scent to avoid alienation of foreign communities. This qualitative research study explores how individuals of the Saudi Arabian culture use body scent as a social identifier to …

Date Rape: Assessment Of Facial Emg Arousal And Cue Recognition During Audiotaped Vignettes, Scott Walter Maieritsch

Masters Theses

Introduction

Date Rape

The issue of rape has long attracted considerable attention in the popular press. It has only been within the past three decades, however, that rape has captured the attention of the scientific community as a focus of study. Recent research has challenged the long held beliefs and stereotypes which have characterized the typical rapist as a stranger who violently attacks his victim in public places such as dark alleys and parking lots. There is mounting evidence that women are far more likely to be sexually assaulted by men whom they know, including friends, dates, and lovers (Russell, …

The Effects Of Publicly Displayed Individual Feedback On Social Loafing, Nelson R. Eikenhout

Masters Theses

The decrease in individual performance output that occurs when individuals perform a task in groups in which the output is pooled has been labelled social loafing. The purpose of this study was to determine what would happen to the quantity and quality of individual performance in groups when public, individual feedback was present and absent.

An ABCBC experimental design was used. Four subjects worked individually, together in a group without feedback, and in the group in the presence of feedback making widgets out of plastic pop beads. The number of widgets made and the number of widgets made correctly were …

Examination Of Community Mental Health Services For Persons With Serious Mental Illness: A Descriptive Study Of 31 Counties In Michigan, Pamela C. Werner

Masters Theses

Thirty-one out of 55 Community Mental Health Boards participated in a survey conducted by the Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Michigan. This study examined a number of variables in the questionnaire using a product-moment correlational analysis.

Results indicated that family and consumer input is modestly correlated with comprehensive service delivery and staff/consumer education and training. Budget and the active number of mentally ill cases had a low correlation with comprehensive service delivery and staff/consumer education and training. Interagency collaboration was modestly correlated with program evaluation, and comprehensive services available to consumers. Weaknesses were noted in the management structure of …

A Comparison Of Selected Old And New Right Wing Groups: Involvement With Law Enforcement, Elvin W. Keith

Masters Theses

This study has determined that current right wing extremist groups in the U.S. have no greater propensity for damage to the national security than older right wing groups.

Although right wing groups are dangerous due to the popularity of conservative causes and the proliferation of modern weaponry, an examination reveals that dedication and increased military capability are offset by more efficient law enforcement response and lack of support by the general populace.

A careful examination of the American right wing, both old and new shows the disparity between the two groups. Emphasis is placed on exploring the old right wing …

An Analysis Of Four Empathy Variables As Predictors Of Marital Satisfaction, Teck Seong Chee

Masters Theses

The objective of this study was to determine if empathy was predictive of marital satisfaction, and which, if any, of the four empathy variables from Davis' Interpersonal Reactivity Index (1980), would serve as predictors of marital satisfaction. Correlation and regression analyses were used to evaluate the relationships of fantasy, empathic concern, perspective taking and personal distress with marital satisfaction. Variables of secondary interest included those of sex. birth order, length of marriage and age married. Both Individuals and couples were used as units of analysis.

Empathic concern and perspective taking were found to be predictors of marital satisfaction. No significant …

Factors That Relate To Job Retention For Former Welfare Recipients, Lisa Spadafore

Masters Theses

This descriptive study attempted to determine the factors that relate to job retention for former welfare recipients. Welfare recipients (15 women and 17 men), who were participating in a job club program, completed the Wonderlic Personnel Test (Wonderlic, 1985), the 16 Personality Factors Test (Eber, Cattell, & IPAT Staff, 1985), and a Background/Monetary Questionnaire. Thirty-two clients who obtained jobs were divided into two groups, those who retained their job for 90 days (n = 21) and those who did not (n = 11). Of the 31 factors analyzed, four showed a statistically significant relationship with job retention; amount of jail …

An Evaluation Of The Effects Of An Infant-Care Skills Training Program On Fathering Behaviors, G. Joseph Vrazo

Masters Theses

This study replicated the findings and expanded the assessment procedures of a previous study that had established the effectiveness of a multi-component infant-care skills training program for first-time fathers. A multiple probe design was used in this study to demonstrate that the training program produced criterion performance of the infant-care skills by four experimental fathers; also, an increase in the frequency of infant stimulation activities initiated by these fathers was observed. A pre/post training evaluation of the effects of the training program on the fathers' performance of play and affectional behaviors and daily infant-care activities yielded negative results. Four control …

Drug Use And Abuse: A Survey Of Mentally Retarded Citizens In Kalamazoo County, Michigan, Sandra Ann Burdick

Masters Theses

An abundant array of research in the area of drug use and abuse among various populations has been conducted in recent years. These studies have determined that although several demographic variables affect the prevalence of drug use, all segments of society who have access to drugs are at some risk. Whether relative risk is influenced by subaverage intelligence is unclear, however, for very little has been done to determine the prevalence of drug use and abuse among the mentally retarded.

In this survey methods were utilized to gather such information in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. A survey return rate of 73% …

Increasing The Participation Rate For International Behaviorists At The Convention Of The Association For Behavior Analysis, Marsha Lee Benz

Masters Theses

This is a descriptive study that reviewed past participation of International behaviorists at the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA) convention, to provide sore help to these presenters to improve the experience, and to disseminate behavioral information outside of the United States by trying to Increase International participation at the ABA convention.

These methods were used to Invite the behavioristsi (a) call for papers, (b) personalized invitations, and (c) poster invitations. Procedures used to improve the convention experience weret (a) an interest questionnaire, and (b) pre- and post-convention surveys.

Comparisons were made between the number of International presenters from years 1981 …

Social Skills In Vivo: An Experimental And Theoretical Analysis, Stephen Earl Eversole

Masters Theses

A multiple baseline across behaviors was employed to demonstrate generalization effects across settings. A 14 year old shy female was presented with social skills treatment package to increase the rate of eye contacts, verbalizations and smile sin vivo. One of the intervention phases included role-playing of social situations with a peer. A second phase required the occurrence of desired responding while playing foosball-- the same activity which took place in vivo during generality data collection. A third intervention required interaction assignments to be completed in vivo. Results indicate inconclusive evidence of an increase due to the treatment package. A general …

An Exploration Of The Relationship Among Rhetorical Sensitivity, Communication Apprehension, And Nonverbal Decoding Ability, Mary Aileen Palanca

Masters Theses

This study explored the potential relationship which might exist among rhetorical sensitivity, communication apprehension, and nonverbal decoding ability. Three measuring instruments, the Rhetorical Sensitivity Scale, the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension, and the Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity, were administered to 109 participants, 68 females and 41 males. Gender and age were examined to see what effect they might have on the potential relationship. No relationship was found among rhetorical sensitivity, communication apprehension, and nonverbal decoding ability. In addition, no relationship was found between gender and the three variables or between age and the three variables. However, it is important to …

Behavioral Science In The Design Of Cultures, Robert G. Brown

Masters Theses

In order the alleviate some of the problems that confront modern society, it has been suggested that we implement a science of cultural design based on the analysis of behavior. A first step in redesigning the entire culture would be the establishment of a pilot experimental community, or behavioral utopia. While Skinner (1969) has suggested that the creation of such a behavioral utopia is currently feasible, to date none has emerged in spite of some noteworthy attempts. The reasons for this are discussed in terms of current behavioral principles, and the early history of one such attempt is described. It …

Effect Of Changing Appointment Making Procedures On Increasing The Number Of Initial Appointments Kept At A Family Planning Agency, Carla A. Jones

Masters Theses

The procedures for making initial client appointments at a family planning clinic were manipulated to increase the number of kept appointments. Receptionists and counselors made appointments on the two appointment forms used. Questions on the appointment sheet varied depending on the age of the caller. The 1,432 women participating in the study were placed into three groups (a) 19 years of age and under (b) 20 to 30 years of age and (c) 31 years of age and over. The results showed that the occupation of the person making the appointment at the agency did not affect the number of …

Establishing Verbal Behavior: The Effects Of Using Establishing Operations And Imitative Prompts To Teach Mands To Two Non-Verbal Elderly Retarded Persons, Terry Steven Bradford

Masters Theses

The present study tested a procedure to establish vocal mands in a 47- year-old non-verbal male with Down's syndrome and manually signed mands in a 64-year-old severely retarded female who was physically incapable of speech. In a multiple baseline design across subjects and settings, subjects were taught to complete four behavioral sequences. An establishing operation was then introduced: an item required to complete each sequence was systematically removed once as a probe for manding. Following this, relevant establishing operations were paired with imitative prompts to train manding missing items. Following mastery of a ll mands during booster training, subjects were …

A Suggested Sight Vocabulary Training Program, Martin Halvorsen

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Behavioral Analysis Of Ethical Systems, Glen R. Peterson

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Elimination Of Disruptive Bus Riding Behavior Via Token Reinforcement, Sandra J. Ferrell

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Development And Increase Of Two Prosocial Behaviors As A Function Of Social And Peer Reinforcement With Preschool Children, Carol R. Solander

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Sex Roles Orientation And Career Orientation On The Career Development Of Adolescent Females, Karen Fenske Kamischke

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Training Social Work Students In A Practicum Setting, Linda L. Maier

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of The Ecological Psychology Literature With Respect To School Size, Behavioral Psychology And Cultural Survival, Bruce E. Hesse

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Behavioral Assessment Of Preference For Erotic Visual Stimuli, Robert P. King

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Sex And Curriculum Differences In Conceptions Of The Teacher Role: A Role Theoretical Analysis, Steven Michael Koning

Masters Theses

This study is concerned with factors which influence the way individuals conceptualize and define their social roles. Role theory suggests that role conceptions, which are individual orientations to a role, are affected by expectations associated with the role and personality characteristics that an individual brings to the role. These suggestions are tested by examining sex and curriculum differences in conceptions of the teacher role among education students at a midwestern university. Conceptions of teacher control and nurturance are assessed by two scales developed by the author. Results indicate that factors associated with a student's curriculum influence orientations toward teacher control …

Feeling Good And Helping: Really?, Gregory A. Blevins

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Imposed Roles On The Direction And Magnitude Of Group Polarization Of Initially Dominant Responses (Risky Shift) In Small Discussion Groups, Neil W. Blahut

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.