The purposes of this study were to determine whether brain growth spurts occur in normal pupils and to determine whether there was a uniform difference in head circumference between boys and girls. Subjects were 3,062 normal elementary pupils, grades one through six, from one suburban school district. Fiberglass measuring tapes were used to measure pupils' head circumference. The hypotheses of the study predicted that the relationship between head circumference and age would be linear. Further, it was predicted that the differences in head circumference between boys and girls would be uniform over seven specified ages. The first hypothesis was tested using a test for linear trend and deviation from linear trend using the General Linear Models procedure. The results indicated that there was a significant linear trend between head circumference and age. The test for deviation from the linear trend was not significant. This would suggest that any deviation from a straight line observed in the data can be attributed to chance. It was concluded that since there was no significant deviation from linear trend, it would suggest a continuous growth of the brain for the ages included in this study. A two-way analysis of variance was used to test …

India's nonalignment policy attracted the attention of many newly independent countries for it provided an alternative to the existing American and Russian views of the world. This dissertation is an examination of both India's nonalignment policy and the official American reaction to it during the Truman-Eisenhower years. Indian nonalignment should be defined as a policy of noncommitment towards rival power blocs adopted with a view of retaining freedom of action in international affairs and thereby influencing the issue of war and peace to India's advantage. India maintained that the Cold War was essentially a European problem. Adherence to military allliances , it believed, would increase domestic tensions and add to chances of involvement in international war, thus destroying hopes of socio-economic reconstruction of India. The official American reaction was not consistent. It varied from president to president, from issue to issue, and from time to time. India's stand on various issues of international import and interest to the United States such as recognition of the People's Republic of China, the Korean War, the Japanese peace treaty of 1951, and the Hungarian revolt of 1956, increased American concern about and dislike of nonalignment. Many Americans in high places regraded India's nonalignment …

This study investigated the relationship between stress and pain crisis incidence in pediatric Sickle Cell Anemia (SCA). It was hypothesized that SCA children were exposed to higher levels of stress than healthy children. It was also hypothesized that a significant positive correlation existed between level of stress and pain crisis incidence both within and between years. The sample consisted of 20 Black elementary school children with SCA. There were 12 female and 8 male children. The period of investigation included the calendar years 1983 and 1984. Pain crisis incidence was determined through parent interviews and verified by a review of medical records.

Personal construct psychology, as formulated by George Kelly (1955), contributed substantial knowledge to the study of psychopathology. The small amount of research in the area of depression has focused generally on the content of self-constructs and the cognitive complexity characteristic. The purpose of this study was to examine the construct system of the depressed patient specifically by investigating the endogenicity, exogenicity, and severity of depressive symptoms in relationship to construct content as applied to others, cognitive complexity, and ordination.

The present investigation involved the development of a psychobiologic profile of individuals who experience exercise-related mood-enhancement and those who do not. The sample (N=301) consisted of students participating in 10-week exercise classes at North Texas State University. All subjects completed pre-test inventories assessing various psychological (i.e., trait anxiety and depression, attitude toward physical activity, self-estimation of physical ability and attraction to physical activity, expectancies of health benefits from exercise, and self-motivation) and biological (i.e., aerobic capacity and body fat percentage) variables. Trait anxiety and depression were also assessed before and after the 10-week exercise program and state anxiety and depression were assessed on an acute basis on two separate occasions during the program. Multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant function analysis were employed to determine which variables maximally discriminated between individuals who experienced mood-elevations following exercise and those who did not enjoy such rewards. The hypothesis that these two groups of individuals differ significantly from each other was not upheld by the results; thus, an overall psychobiologic profile could not be developed. However, the data did reveal that individuals who held a more positive attitude toward physical activity for the purpose of health and fitness reduced their state anxiety and …

A survey of stress and crisis literature indicated traumatic events tend to initially overwhelm individual coping resources. The adjustment process following such events appears to be characterized by phases in which gradual perceptual and cognitive reorganization occurs. Emotional shock, denial processes, and intrusive ideation accompany initial phases. A survey of stress and crisis literature indicated traumatic events tend to initially overwhelm individual coping resources. The adjustment process following such events appears to be characterized by phases in which gradual perceptual and cognitive reorganization occurs. Emotional shock, denial processes, and intrusive ideation accompany initial phases.

Aldose reductase inhibitors (ARI's) have been shown to attenuate or prevent several complications of diabetes in animals. Tolrestat is a potent and unique ARI from Ayerst Laboratories, New York, NY. The efficacy and toxicology of tolrestat via topical ocular administration was examined. Tolrestat effectively enhanced corneal reepithelialization and was efficacious in the prevention of cataracts in the streptozotocin-diabetic rat. Ocular tissues were examined by slit lamp biomicroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and light microscopy. Liver and kidney tissue was also examined. The presence of tolrestat was confirmed in urine, feces, and eye specimens, and quantitated in serum. There was no evidence of local or systemic tolrestat induced toxicity. Tolrestat prevented cataract formation at less than one-third the reported oral dose and at approximately one-fiftieth the associated serum concentration in rats. ED-50 and TD-50 calculations indicate that tolrestat is a relatively safe drug by topical ocular administration.

Review of the studies in the area of subvocalization reveals that its role in silent reading comprehension remains in question. It appears clear that subvocalization does occur during reading, usually among poorer readers or as reading becomes more difficult, and that it slows the reading process. However, how it affects reading comprehension, or if it affects reading comprehension, remains unclear. This study attempted to answer the question of whether subvocalization affects reading comprehension in an adult community-college population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of subvocalization on the reading comprehension of the community college students in developmental reading programs.

Although the suicide literature is replete with studies approaching risk assessment from the standpoint of the external observer, research into the intrapsychic mechanisms involved is rare. This study investigated the importance of hope, threat, competence, succorance, helplessness, and control among inpatients hospitalized for suicidal behavior.

The goal of this experiment was to determine whether group rational emotive therapy would prove superior to usual group therapy in improving the psychological functioning of male alcoholics in an inpatient treatment facility and to determine if memory dysfunction would impede therapeutic progress. Four areas of psychological functioning were discussed for their relevance to etiology, recidivism, and treatment evaluation; they were depression, self-conception, social anxiety, and cognitive functioning. Further, rational emotive therapy as a potentially superior treatment for alcoholism was discussed and outcome research was reviewed.

This dissertation attempts to determine what Britain expected from participation in the Supreme Economic Council (SEC) of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and to what extent its expectations were realized. An investigation of available sources reveals that access to European markets and raw materials and a balance of power to prevent French, German, or Russian hegemony in Europe were British foreign policy goals that SEC delegates sought to advance. Primary sources for this study include unpublished British Foreign Office and Cabinet records, published British, United States, and German government documents, unpublished personal papers of people directing SEC efforts, such as David Lloyd George, Austen Chamberlain, Cecil Harmsworth, Harry Osborne Mance, and John Maynard Keynes, and published memoirs and accounts of persons who were directly or indirectly involved with the SEC. Secondary accounts include biographies and histories or studies of the Peace Conference and of countries affected by its work. Primarily concerned with the first half of 1919, this dissertation focuses on British participation in Inter-allied war-time economic efforts, in post-war Rhineland control, in the creation of the SEC, and in the SEC endeavors of revictualling Germany, providing food and medical relief for eastern Europe, and reconstructing European communications. It concludes …

One purpose of this primarily exploratory study was to explore whether differences in beliefs about the etiology of homosexuality exist between homosexuals and nonhomosexuals. Another purpose was to investigate whether differences exist between groups in the extent to which they feel that it is appropriate to manifest homosexual behaviors in public. Finally, this study examined the question of whether a relationship exists between one's perception of the cause of homosexuality and the degree to which that person felt it was appropriate to manifest homosexual behaviors.

Use of time-compressed speech stimuli has been found to be clinically effective in differential diagnosis of lesions of the temporal lobe. However, notably absent from the literature is information concerning performance of adults on time-compressed closed-set speech discrimination tasks. The goal of this study mas to compare performance of 12 males and 12 females between age 50 and age 70 on a time-compressed closed-set speech discrimination test against the performance of 12 males and 12 females between age 10 and age 28 on the same task. The Word Intelligibility by Picture Identification test (WPI) was presented in both non-compressed and time-compressed conditions to all subjects. Previous research suggests that a difference in performance between age groups and between males and females in the older age group should be expected. Average results indicated negligible differences between age or gender groups under any of the conditions tested. Additionally, the test yielded perfect or near perfect scores for all subjects in the non-compressed condition. Lack of differentiation of results suggests that the Word Intelligibility by Picture Identification CUIPI) may be insensitive to the discrimination disorders expected in older adults, that the subjects included in the study were atypical of older adults in general …

The purpose of this study was to validate the Spanish version of the Dallas Pain Questionnaire (DPQ). Not only does the DPQ offer the potential of statistical and clinical diagnostic value but also is easily interpretable across cultural lines. No such instrument has presently been validated for the Mexican-American population. A total of 81 Spanish speaking subjects participated in this study. Of these subjects, 56 were classified as chronic pain patients by nature of their medical diagnosis and duration of pain. The 25 normal subjects were family members of the chronic pain patients and members of the Northern New Mexico Hispanic community chosen at random. Hypothesis one predicted that reliability would be obtained on Spanish speaking populations based on test-retest with correlation coefficients of the items. The second hypothesis predicted that the Spanish DPQ would have content validity or consistent internal structure on those items that measure the trait or behavior of interest based upon factor analysis approaches and internal consistency measures. Hypothesis three predicted that the Spanish version of the DPQ would significantly correlate with the English version of the DPQ on all four factors. All four hypotheses were supported. The Spanish DPQ showed reliability over time based on …

The research problems of this dissertation were: 1) A description of the perceived value of music in light of political undercurrents in Boston prior to and during the years under investigation, and 2) the profile of the constituency of the Boston School Committee and Committee on Music in 1837 and 1845. Questions addressed the effect of religious and moral concerns of the day on the decision by the School Committee in 1837 to try music in the curriculum, and the possible effect of religious politics on Lowell Mason's dismissal from the schools in 1845. In the minds of mid-nineteenth century Bostonians, religious and moral values were intrinsic to the very nature of music. Key members on the School Committee portrayed music as being spiritual yet nonsectarian in its influence. Therefore, the findings suggest that music was believed to provide common ground between opposing and diverse religious sects. Reasons given for Mason's dismissal by John Sargent, a member of the Committee on Music, showed parallels to H. W. Day's accusations in the press a year earlier that Mason had managed his position in a sectarian manner. Sargent's background supports the theory that religious politics were at work in Mason's dismissal. Although …

This study evaluated the role of asymmetric processing of information in depression. Depression has been hypothesized to involve a deficit in the global processing of information (Tucker, 1982). This type of global processing has been manipulated through the use of hypnosis by Crawford and Allen (1983). In the current study, a 3 x 2 ANCOVA design allowed the comparison of three groups of subjects on their performance on a perceptual task measuring global perception. The task chosen was designed by Navon (1977) and consisted of designs which differed on global or local features. The groups were screened with the Beck Depression Inventory, the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, and the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory, yielding 46 subjects divided into three groups of right-handed males and females. The experimental group consisted of high susceptible depressives from the community. The controls were one group of high susceptible normals and one of low susceptible depressives. All groups performed the Navon task under both waking and hypnosis conditions. Analysis of the results revealed a main effect for group (F(2, 86) = 9.60, p < .01) on the global scores. In addition, high social desirability scores predicted slower presentation times. However, hypnosis was not effective …

The Behavioral Medicine Questionnare (BMQ) is a 44- item instrument administered via a computer CRT display or pencil and paper. The BMQ was designed to help primary care physicians treating spinal disorders to screen for emotional factors which warrant further psychological evaluation. The test is composed of three scales: Anxiety, Depression, and Somatization. Concurrent validity for each scale was determined through comparisons with subject (n = 133) scores on clinician judgement ratings, pain drawings, and the MMPI. The psychometric properties of the test were supported through statistical analysis. Significant correlations were found between the BMQ, MMPI, and clinician ratings, with the latter showing relationships of lesser strength. The only significant correlation to subject generated pain drawings was to the BMQ depression scale. Analysis indicated the need for seperate norms for males and females. Further research is needed to facilitate measurement and interpretation of the BMQ.

This study evaluated the efficacy of a cognitive behavioral treatment for insomnia among inpatients who met the diagnostic criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The cognitive behavioral treatment consisted of progressive relaxation, stimulus control, and thought stopping with cognitive restructuring.

The problem with which this investigation was concerned was that of determining the relationship between the variables of acculturation, imagery, self-concept, anxiety, stress, and seriousness of disease in Mexican-Americans. The purposes of this study were 1) to determine the statistical predictive efficiency of stress and its relation to disease, 2) to determine if a combination of anxiety, acculturation, self-concept, imagery, along with stress, would increase the statistical predictive efficiency concerning seriousness of disease, and 3) to provide information that may help to develope a theoretical base concerning the above variables and disease in Mexican-Americans.

Cognitive therapy for the treatment of depression has generated substantial research indicating its effectiveness and it is currently considered among the most viable conceptualizations of depression. However, it has remained controversial because its methods do not directly address emotional symptoms in depressed persons. Treatment of depressed emotions is a primary focus of hypnotic mood elevating techniques. These techniques enable depressed persons to experience positive emotions during hypnosis sessions and to re-experience them daily concurrent with performance of certain specified behaviors. This study evaluated the efficacy of a multicomponent treatment which combines the techniques of cognitive therapy and hypnotic mood elevation in the treatment of depressed persons. The three treatment conditions constructed for this investigation were cognitive therapy plus hypnotic mood elevation, cognitive therapy plus pseudo-biofeedback, and no treatment waiting list.

Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 19659) were damaged by exposure to various concentrations of glutaraldehyde, as shown by decreased germination rates. The damage caused was repaired or otherwise obviated by the presence of sodium lactate in the holding medium. When two different salts of lactic acid were compared for ability to overcome the effect of glutaraldehyde, it was found that calcium salt of lactate was more effective than the sodium salt. The damage repair system involved l-alanine, lactate and either the sodium or calcium ions. The study involved in determining the difference in efficiency of spore repair was due to an organic or an amino acii snowed that the presence of two carboxylic functional groups did not effectively alter the reactivity.

This study examined perceived child-parent relationships and child adjustment in families with both adopted and natural children. Of interest was the relationship between these perceptions and the social and emotional adjustment of the children. Perceived parent-child relationships were measured by the Child Parent Relationship Scale developed by Swanson. The California Test of Personality was utilized to measure the children's adjustment.

This study analyzes the prisoner of war program in Texas and evaluates the Army's role in carrying out this assignment. Additional questions were, how were POWs treated? What problems did they create? How did civilians react to the presence of 50,000 prisoners?

This study was designed to assess the reliability of "The Psychiatric Rating Scale for Diagnostic Classification of Children and Adolescents" as an instrument for determining diagnoses congruent with DSM-III criteria. In Phase I graduate students from a University doctoral program in psychology independently rated case vignettes and completed the 64-item rating scale to arrive at Axis I or II diagnoses consistent with DSM-III classifications for Disorders Usually First Evident in Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence. Subsequent correlations to determine individual scale reliability yielded significantly positive correlations. Clinicians practicing in three diverse metropolitan mental health settings acted as raters in Phase II of the study. Paired raters jointly interviewed a total of 54 child or adolescent patients and independently completed the rating scale to arrive at Axis I or II diagnoses. These diagnoses were subsequently correlated with diagnoses previously obtained by traditional psychometric methods. Phase II interrater agreement was 92 percent for Axis I and II combined, with a .96 correlation. Rating scale diagnoses when correlated with traditional psychometic diagnoses yielded an overall rate of agreement on Axis I of 95 percent for Rater 1 and 90 percent for Rater 2 and correlations of .96 and .95 respectively. Clinicians were asked to …