States

Time-Compressed Speech Discrimination and Its Relationship to Reading-Readiness Skills (open access)

Time-Compressed Speech Discrimination and Its Relationship to Reading-Readiness Skills

Time-compressed speech discrimination of children grouped as high and low risk on a reading-readiness test was examined. Children were grouped according to performance on a measure of reading-readiness skills. All passed a hearing screening at fifteen decibels for octave frequencies 250-4000 Hz. The Word Intelligibility by Picture Identification (WIPI) comprised the time-compressed speech task, in a sound field at seventy decibels Sound Pressure Level and zero degrees azimuth. The protocol for administration of the time-compressed speech task was sixty per cent time compression, then zero per cent time compression. Significant effects appeared for time compression ratio and test group. Average difference was twelve per cent and approximately eight per cent at zero.
Date: August 1976
Creator: Danko, Mary Carole
System: The UNT Digital Library
Investigation into the Nature of b-d Confusion Among Selected Samples of Elementary Children (open access)

Investigation into the Nature of b-d Confusion Among Selected Samples of Elementary Children

The problem explored by this study is the nature of b-d confusion as it is exhibited by remedial and nonremedial readers at various elementary ages in the areas of letter identification, spelling, and reading. The purposes of Phase I of the study were to examine the progressive phase-out of b-d errors committed by samples of remedial and nonremedial readers and to explore certain factors that could be related to the problem. The object of Phase II was to describe subjects with extreme b-d reversal problems. Extreme b-d reversers were found to have been average or below on first-grade-readiness scores and significantly below grade-level placement in reading achievement. School marks were also generally low. As a whole, the extremes were predominantly right-handed and no sex bias was detected. When the extremes were compared to subjects above average in b-d responses, the extremes made significantly more errors on other letters, were able to read significantly fewer words, and required significantly more assistance in spelling. These groups significantly differed on position of b-d reversals in reading, but not in spelling, nor on the proportion of real words actually produced when reversals were made in reading. Reversal of b and d was not associated …
Date: May 1976
Creator: Merwin, Marjorie Ann
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Drawings Between a Group of Dyslexic Adolescents and a Group of Non-Dyslexic Adolescents (open access)

A Comparison of Drawings Between a Group of Dyslexic Adolescents and a Group of Non-Dyslexic Adolescents

The purpose of this paper is to compare a group of adolescents with the learning disorder of dyslexia and a group of adolescents without dyslexia in regard to their ability to make realistic drawings. Subjects selected for the study were from a suburban junior high school in which a random sample was taken of both dyslexic and non-dyslexic students. Each was given three standardized drawing tasks, including a still-life drawing, a contour drawing, and a perspective drawing. The drawings were judged by five evaluators on a continuum of realistic to non-realistic. The ratings were then analyzed by the application of the Mann-Whitney U-Test, which indicated that there are no significant differences in the abilities of the two groups to render drawings realistically.
Date: August 1976
Creator: Tillman, Karen A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Anxiety Relief, Progressive Muscle Relaxation, and Expectancy Relaxation in the Treatment of Speech Phobia (open access)

Anxiety Relief, Progressive Muscle Relaxation, and Expectancy Relaxation in the Treatment of Speech Phobia

Relaxation procedures and anxiety relief were reviewed. Effects of cognitive and expectancy variables in reduction of avoidance behavior were also extensively reviewed. Various theoretical models for desensitization were presented. Use of symbolic control in classical conditioning and use of self-control methods in anxiety reduction were discussed. Special emphasis was given to self-desensitization and cue controlled relaxation. One goal of the experiment was to determine whether a musical stimulus associated with counter anxiety procedures could reduce or prevent subjects' phobic responses in the presence of the phobic situation. Another goal was to determine the relative efficacy of two counter anxiety procedures (anxiety relief and progressive muscle relaxation) in lowering muscle tension and in reducing or preventing speech anxiety. Several implications were drawn from the study. Relaxation alone may alleviate anxiety and phobic behavior without being paired with phobic stimuli. Cognitive variables such as expectancy and feedback of progress make a substantial contribution to treatment of situational anxiety. Progressive muscle relaxation may not be the technique of choice for producing low levels of muscle tension. Recommendations for future research were specified, including additional measures and control procedures.
Date: August 1976
Creator: Lynd, Robert Sterling
System: The UNT Digital Library
Noise in School Power Laboratories: Its Effects and Control (open access)

Noise in School Power Laboratories: Its Effects and Control

This study was made to find the effects of noise on the human body, to measure sound levels that exist in school power laboratories, and to design and evaluate the effectiveness of two noise control devices. An accurately calibrated testing device was used to measure sound levels in an attempt to determine if excessive noise exists in school power laboratories and to find the extent to which such noise can be reduced by shielding or enclosing the engine test area. It was found that noise has undesirable physical and psychological effects on the human organism. Sixty-two and one-half per cent of the engines tested registered sound levels above 90 dBA; even so, simple, inexpensive noise control devices do control the noise levels generated in the school power laboratories.
Date: August 1976
Creator: Schwab, David L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Environmental Consequences and Data Collection in the Behavior-Contracting Treatment of Obesity (open access)

The Effects of Environmental Consequences and Data Collection in the Behavior-Contracting Treatment of Obesity

This study investigated the effects of environmental consequences and data 'collection in a behavior contracting procedure for obesity. Also, a validity study examined the GSR as a subject-independent-monitoring technique. Sixteen subjects matched on sex and percent overweight were assigned to one of three contract conditions or to a no-treatment condition. The Data Only Contract Group received consequences for data collection. The With Consequences Contract Group received consequences for data collection and behaviors relevant to weight loss. The Without Consequences Contract Group received no consequences for data collection or behaviors relevant to weight loss. The With Consequences Contract Group lost significantly more weight ( p ≤ .05) than the No Treatment Group. Specific effects were not determined. The results of the validity study suggest that the GSR may not be a valid instrument as a subject-independent-monitoring technique. Factors affecting the galvanic skin response's- effectiveness were discussed.
Date: May 1976
Creator: Rumph, Robin R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Investigation of Crisis Intervention Services (open access)

An Investigation of Crisis Intervention Services

The purpose of the study have been: (1) to provide an explanatory, descriptive, and analytic viewpoint of the functions and structure of crisis intervention centers (2) to provide an intensive investigation of counseling and treatment practices in crisis intervention centers and (3) to relate the experiences that the writer has encountered as a resident counselor at Help House Inc. (twenty-four hour drug and crisis intervention center in Denton, Texas) to sociological, psychological, social psychological and philosophical constructs that deal with or pertain to crisis intervention, particularly in the area of drug use. The study indicates how participatory observation serves as an aid in acquiring insight into sociological areas such as crisis intervention centers. The role of the participatory observer is most important because concepts and theories arise out of actual situations.
Date: December 1976
Creator: Sammons, Daniel G.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Differential Life History Factors Among Incarcerated Female Offenders (open access)

Differential Life History Factors Among Incarcerated Female Offenders

This study was designed to be the first step in an empirical investigation of the female offender, using biographical information. It Is the goal of the research to eventually be able to predict probable criminal activity among women. The most readily delineated group for study was female prisoners. The purpose of the study was to determine if factor clusters could be produced which were representative of women in prison. Specific objectives were to organize descriptive biographical information of incarcerated women and to correlate bio-data results with important current and post-incarceration events. This study makes it clear that merely labeling behavior as criminal—connoting a deviant class of behavior—is highly inexact in identifying it. The female offender cannot as yet be defined in the same way as a person suffering from depression, hypochondriasis, or schizophrenia—that is, by distinctive response groupings. While this study made many inroads, generating descriptive factors and significant behavioral/life-history correlates, incarcerated female offenders as a class cannot as yet be identified by responses that make up a valid category of behavior.
Date: December 1976
Creator: Mebane, Bette G.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Learned Helplessness and Internal-External Locus of Control in the Elderly (open access)

Learned Helplessness and Internal-External Locus of Control in the Elderly

The present research has focused on an often-neglected segment of society—the aged. A number of phenomena which appear relevant to a study of aging have been discussed and the pertinent literature reviewed. Specifically, learned helplessness, depression, internal-external locus of control, and disengagement versus activity have been examined. The present research was divided into two studies. Study Number 1 has investigated internal-external locus of control in an elderly sample and related it to indices of activity and morale. Study Number 2 has extended Seligman's (1975) theory of learned helplessness to an elderly population and investigated the phenomenon in individuals with either an internal or an external locus of control. The locus of control construct (Rotter, 1966) and the theory of learned helplessness (Seligman, 1975) appear to have immediate relevance for the treatment of aging individuals. The present study suggests that exposure to controllable reinforcement may break-up or alleviate learned helplessness in elderly individuals.
Date: December 1976
Creator: Hamrick, Narecia D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Symbolic Language Transfer in the Autistic Child (open access)

Symbolic Language Transfer in the Autistic Child

The problem of this study is to see if there is more symbolic language transfer by autistic children in an untrained matching situation if there has been previous training on similar matching situations. The purposes of the study are twofold. The first is to see if subjects will make a motor sign response untrained to an object if the word for the object has been trained to the motor sign response and to see if they will make a motor sign response untrained to a word for an object if they have been trained to make the response to the object named. The second is to see, if transfer occurs, whether the order presentations of object and word are a factor.
Date: August 1976
Creator: Busbee, Mary Cheryl
System: The UNT Digital Library
Relationship of Certain Fungi to Azotobacter in Nitrogen-Free Media (open access)

Relationship of Certain Fungi to Azotobacter in Nitrogen-Free Media

Azotobacter and various fungi were grown together in nitrogen-free media. Maximal fungal growth in the medium used was possible only at the expense of Azotobacter cells and growth was always accompanied by acid production. When the medium reached a pH of 2, the bacterial cells were aggregated on fungal hyphae and the culture fluid appeared to be free of Azotobacter. Aspergillus niger grew well at the expense of viable bacteria and other fungi grew well on heat-killed cells of A. vinelandii. Members of the genus Hormodendrum, although not causing significant decrease in pH, were also able to clear turbid cultures of Azotobacter. However, clearing, which involved the attachment of bacteria to fungal hyphae, was dependent on acid production by the fungi. Bacterial aggregation was followed by hyphal attachment, bacterial inactivation, and finally, bacterial cell lysis.
Date: August 1976
Creator: Ray, Manfred G.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Political Life of a Carpetbagger: Stephen W. Dorsey, 1873-1883 (open access)

The Political Life of a Carpetbagger: Stephen W. Dorsey, 1873-1883

This thesis investigates the political career of Stephen Dorsey, an Ohio industrialist who moved to Arkansas in 1871. Dorsey was elected to the U.S. Senate from Arkansas in 1873, served as secretary of the Republican National Committee for. the election of 1880, and was tried twice, in 1882 and 1883, for the Star Route postal frauds. Although Dorsey was acquitted, the Star Route frauds ended his political career. Separate chapters treat each phase of Dorsey's career. Major sources included the D41 Arkansas Gazette, the Congressional Record, the Garfield Papers, and the official transcripts of the Star Route trials. The thesis concludes that Dorsey's career was, the product of Ulysses S. Grant's influence within the Republican party in. the Gilded Age.
Date: May 1976
Creator: Lowry, Sharon K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Content Analysis of Lexicons, Word Lists, and Basal Readers of the Elementary Grades: Their Relation to Art (open access)

A Content Analysis of Lexicons, Word Lists, and Basal Readers of the Elementary Grades: Their Relation to Art

In this investigation, a content analysis was made with eleven lexicographical sources and three basal reading series to determine if art and art-related words were present. The analysis was made with the use of two charts, in which each was divided into eight categories of word context. The Composite Chart contained 6,576 words found in six lexicons, five word lists and forty-two readers, and the Reader Chart contained 407 words found only in the readers. The analysis revealed: dominant categories and percentages, word and cumulative word frequencies, high and low frequency words, and the percentage of words found in the basal readers as compared to the lexicographical sources.
Date: May 1976
Creator: Hogan, Priscilla Lea
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Harmonic Interval of the Seventh in the Works of Representative Composers of Italian Madrigals, 1542-1614 (open access)

The Harmonic Interval of the Seventh in the Works of Representative Composers of Italian Madrigals, 1542-1614

This study is an attempt to shed some light on the treatment of one dissonance—the seventh—in the works of the following composers: Cipriano de Rore (1516-1565); Philippe de Monte (1521-1603); Giaches de Wert (1535-1596); Luca Marenzio (1553-1599); Carlo Gesualdo (ca. 1560-1613); and Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643). The purpose of this thesis is to discover (1) the frequency of occurrence of primary (relatively accented) sevenths and their inversions (^ chords, etc.) in a selection of each composer's madrigals; and (2) the methods of handling sevenths employed by each composer, with particular emphasis on the relationship between these methods and sixteenth century theory.
Date: December 1976
Creator: Dowden, Ralph D.
System: The UNT Digital Library