Effects of Monitoring Positive and Negative Events on Measures of Depression (open access)

Effects of Monitoring Positive and Negative Events on Measures of Depression

This study examined psychoanalytic, physiological, and social learning models of depression in terms of etiology and symptomatology. Emphasis was placed on social learning theories of depression. First, Beck's cognitive approach stated that the root of depression was a negative cognitive set. Depressive episodes might be externally precipitated, but it was the individual's perception and appraisal of the event that rendered it depression inducing. Secondly, Seligman's learned helplessness model explained reactive depression in terms of a belief in one's own helplessness. Specifically, Seligman stated belief in the uncontrollability of outcomes resulted in depression, irrespective of the correspondence of such beliefs to objective circumstances. Additionally, depression resulted from noncontingent aversive stimulation and noncontingent positive reinforcement. Thirdly, Lewinsohn's model was based on these assumptions: a low rate of response-contingent positive reinforcement which acted as an eliciting stimulus for depressive behaviors. This low rate of response-contingent positive reinforcement constituted an explanation for the low rate of behaviors observed in the depressive. Total amount of response—contingent positive reinforcement is a function of a number of events reinforcing for the individual, availability of reinforcement in the environment, and social skills of the individual that are necessary to elicit reinforcement.
Date: May 1981
Creator: Ellis, Janet Koch
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Psychological and Physiological Components of Migraine and Combination Headaches (open access)

A Comparison of Psychological and Physiological Components of Migraine and Combination Headaches

To aid in understanding headache etiology and symptomatology, psychological and physiological variables were examined in patients with migraine and combination headaches (combined migraine and muscle-contraction headaches). One hundred patients being evaluated for treatment of their headaches at The New England Center for Headache participated in this study. They were assigned to the migraine or combination group, based on diagnoses made by three headache specialists—a psychologist, a psychiatrist, and a nuerologist. Personality data from the MMPI and frontalis electromyographic readings reflecting muscle tensions across three stimulus conditions were compared between the two groups. Subjects were also asked to rate the perceived level of stress elicited by the three conditions.
Date: December 1981
Creator: Weeks, Randall E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Muscle Tension and Locus Of Pain in Subjects With and Without Chronic Backpain (open access)

Muscle Tension and Locus Of Pain in Subjects With and Without Chronic Backpain

The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between the location of the initial onset of back pain as revealed by the subject's pain drawing and the site of maximum muscle tension at rest, while jaw-clenching and during a cold stressor, in men and women. Subjects were 30 males and 30 females divided into three groups of 10 males and 10 females each and designated according to back pain history as no back pain (NBP), upper back pain onset (UBP) and lower back pain onset (LBP). Six bipolar, bilateral electromyographic (EMG) recording sites were instrumented on each subject. EMG levels were recorded from the forehead, forearm, upper back, lower back, thighs and ankles under conditions of rest, jaw-clenching and a cold stressor. Seven hypotheses predicted that EMG levels would distinguish groups and gender of the subjects and that interactions would exist between site of pain onset and EMG elevations.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Montgomery, Penelope Sandra
System: The UNT Digital Library
Post-Traumatic Changes in Perceptions of Purpose in Life and Three Dimensions of Locus of Control in Stroke and Hip Surgery Patients (open access)

Post-Traumatic Changes in Perceptions of Purpose in Life and Three Dimensions of Locus of Control in Stroke and Hip Surgery Patients

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.
Date: May 1984
Creator: McGraw, Richard Michael
System: The UNT Digital Library
Group Rational Emotive Therapy Versus Usual Group Therapy in Residential Treatment of Alcoholism (open access)

Group Rational Emotive Therapy Versus Usual Group Therapy in Residential Treatment of Alcoholism

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.
Date: December 1981
Creator: Whitley, Michael D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Homosexual and Heterosexual Attitudes Toward the Etiology and the Public Practice of Homosexuality (open access)

A Comparison of Homosexual and Heterosexual Attitudes Toward the Etiology and the Public Practice of Homosexuality

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.
Date: August 1983
Creator: Myers, Emilie J. (Emilie Joyner)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Differential Effects of Left Ear Versus Right Ear Versus Both Ears Input Under Biofeedback or Relaxation Tape Conditions in Lowering Frontales Electromyographic Levels (open access)

The Differential Effects of Left Ear Versus Right Ear Versus Both Ears Input Under Biofeedback or Relaxation Tape Conditions in Lowering Frontales Electromyographic Levels

This investigation focused on two major areas of investigation, (a) the differentiation of functions between the two cerebral hemispheres and (b) the effectiveness of electromyographic biofeedback versus relaxation tape input as methods of lowering levels of arousal. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the differential effects of EMG biofeedback and relaxation tape input to the right ear only, to the left ear only and to both ears in a strongly lateralized population. Subjects were 56 students recruited from undergraduate psychology classes. To be included in the study, subjects had to score at minimum, and Edinburgh Handedness Inventory Laterality Quotient of 68, Declie = Right 3, and had to demonstrate a right ear advantage on the Dichotic Listening Task for Words.
Date: May 1984
Creator: Ginn, Charles E. (Charles Edward)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Lecithin Therapy for Tardive Dyskinesia (open access)

Lecithin Therapy for Tardive Dyskinesia

Drug-induced tardive dyskinesia, an irreversible involuntary movement disorder caused by neuroleptic drugs, may reflect cholinergic hypofunction in the corpus striatum. Therapeutic results have been reported in trials of choline and lecithin, nutritional substrates which may enhance cholinergic neurotransmission. Lecithin's effects on dyskinetic symptoms were examined in 50 male patients in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Patients were randomly assigned to treatment or control groups; 31 patients were retained in the analytic cohort. Experimental patients were treated with 60 gm/day lecithin (55% phosphatidyl choline) for 11 days. Symptom frequency was rated from videotapes made at baseline, 3 and 11 days of treatment, and 1 week follow-up.
Date: December 1981
Creator: Beckham, Barbara
System: The UNT Digital Library
Interpersonal Versus Impersonal Problem Solving Skills in a Public and Private Context: An Examination of the Parameters of the Learned Helplessness Model with Clinically Depressed Males (open access)

Interpersonal Versus Impersonal Problem Solving Skills in a Public and Private Context: An Examination of the Parameters of the Learned Helplessness Model with Clinically Depressed Males

Forty volunteer patients from a Veteran's Administration Hospital served as subjects for this study. On the basis of Beck Depression Inventory scores, the subjects were divided into depressed (11 and above) and nondepressed (7 and below) groups. Subjects were assigned randomly to either public condition (experimenter present with the subject during experimental procedures) or a private condition (subject performed the procedures alone). Subjects in each condition were asked to perform three tasks which varied in the amount of interpersonal involvement each required ranging from low through medium to high. The low interpersonal involvement task consisted of an anagram-solving procedure. Both the medium and high interpersonal involvement tasks employed modification of the Means-Ends Problem-Solving Procedure (MEPDS) (a measure of interpersonal problem solving ability).
Date: August 1982
Creator: Logsdon, Steven Alan
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effect of Anterior or Ventromedial Hypothalamic Stimulation on Immunoglobulin G (open access)

Effect of Anterior or Ventromedial Hypothalamic Stimulation on Immunoglobulin G

Although research has linked central nervous system activity with changes in immunoresponsivity, research on the possible role of the central nervous system in altering a specific class of antibody is lacking. This study was an investigation of the possible relationship between anterior or medial hypothalamic functions on Immunoglobulin G. concentrations in rat serum. Thirty-six male albino rats were randomly assigned to three groups of equal size. Animals within the anterior hypothalamic group received bilateral electrode implants in the anterior hypothalamus while animals in the medial hypothalamic group received electrode implants within the ventromedial area of the hypothalamus. A control group received bilateral electrode implants within the lateral hypothalamus. Electrical brain stimulation was administered to animals in both experimental groups. Control animals spent a comparable time in an operant chamber but did not receive electrical brain stimulation. Following brain stimulation of animals within the experimental groups, Immunoglobulin G. concentrations were determined for all groups 3, 6, 12, and 24 hours post-stimulation sessions.
Date: August 1983
Creator: Lambert, Paul L. (Paul Louis)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Multifaceted Treatment for Myofascial-Pain Dysfunction: A Comparison of Treatment Components (open access)

A Multifaceted Treatment for Myofascial-Pain Dysfunction: A Comparison of Treatment Components

This study compared the clinical effectiveness of cognitively oriented stress-coping training with and without biofeedback training to biofeedback training only in the treatment of myofascial pain dysfunction (MPDS). These groups were also compared to a fourth treatment consisting of pseudo-biofeedback plus stress-coping training. Subjects were 32 adults suffering from MPDS who had failed to previously profit from other treatments. Subjects averaged 33.5 years of age and 58.7 months of myofascial pain. Treatement consisted of 10 individual sessions over a five-week period. Stress-coping training was designed to teach subjects to monitor their congitive responses to stress-eliciting situations and to learn cognitive coping skills. Biofeedback training was designed to provide relaxation skills that would enable subjects to reduce masseter muscle tension (EMG). Subjects receiving pseudo-biofeedback training did not receive veridical feedback training.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Waid, Lewis R. (Lewis Randolph)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Biofeedback Training During Stress Stimulation (open access)

Biofeedback Training During Stress Stimulation

The assumption that EMG biofeedback cultivates an antistress response was tested under stress conditions while investigating the comparative efficacy of low versus high arousal treatment strategies. Biofeedback-assisted, cue-controlled relaxation training was used as the low arousal treatment strategy for half of the 20 normal subjects used in the study. The other half received a high arousal treatment strategy which used the same training in combination with an avoidance conditioning procedure. In this procedure mild electric shock was used as contingent aversive stimulation designed to reinforce relaxation responses. Both groups received four in-lab training sessions with a 4-day interim of home practice of cuecontrolled relaxation prior to the last in-lab training session. Pretraining assessment consisted of four 10-minute periods of alternating no-stress and stress conditions. Mild electric shock and loud tones were used as stressors. Posttraining assessment was identical to pre training except subjects employed self-directed, cue-controlled relaxation rather than self-directed relaxation based on instructions without training. Frontal EMG, subjective mental and muscle tension ratings, and behavioral observations of relaxation behavior served as dependent measures during pre- and posttraining assessment. EMG readings were used during in-lab training and the two subjective rating scales were used during home practice.
Date: August 1981
Creator: Spurgin, Raymon David
System: The UNT Digital Library
Internal vs. External Imagery as a Mental Preparation When Applied by Intermediate League Bowlers (open access)

Internal vs. External Imagery as a Mental Preparation When Applied by Intermediate League Bowlers

Mental preparation is an important component in athletic performance. Mental preparation often involves imagery of the actual execution of the physical act. Imagery may be either "external" or "internal." External imagery occurs when people view themselves performing an act from the perspective of an external observer. Internal imagery requires that the person feel those sensations that are involved while participating in a physical act. The assumption that internal imagery will be more likely to improve athletic performance was tested using intermediate league bowlers for a period of ten weeks.
Date: May 1982
Creator: Barnes, Patrick Richard
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Psychoanalytic Developmental Psychology Approach to the Classification of Separation-Individuation in the Adult (open access)

A Psychoanalytic Developmental Psychology Approach to the Classification of Separation-Individuation in the Adult

A diagnostic classification of Borderline subgroups was developed for the purpose of reducing the current ambiguities existing in the range of pathologies between the psychoses and neuroses. This classification is a questionnaire of forty items and is intended to be used in treatment settings as a measure of object relations, i.e., of ego development and arrest. The criteria which define the Borderline subgroups were derived from the normative developmental data of Mahler, Pine, and Bergman (1975). In Experiment I, raters used the Mahler criteria as operational definitions of the developmental stages and sorted 180 items taken from Benjamin's structural Analysis Social Behavior (SASB) into the four Mahler substages. Those items which were reliably sorted eight out of nine times into the same Mahler stage or substage were retained as critical items to be administered in Experiment II to three groups of subjects. These groups consisted of nineteen schizophrenic inpatients, eighteen outpatients, and twenty nonpsychiatric volunteers. These subjects rated each item of the SASB questionnaire on a scale of 0 to 100; means for each type of psychiatric group according to sex were submitted to a repeated measures 2 (sex) X 3 (group) X 4 (Mahler substage) Analysis of Variance.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Little, Myrna M. (Myrna Marie)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Psychiatric Diagnosis: Rater Reliability and Prediction Using Psychological Rating Scale for Diagnostic Classification (open access)

Psychiatric Diagnosis: Rater Reliability and Prediction Using Psychological Rating Scale for Diagnostic Classification

This study was designed to assess the reliability of the "Psychological Rating Scale for Diagnostic classification as an instrument for determining diagnoses consistent with DSM-III criteria and nomenclature. Pairs of raters jointly interviewed a total of 50 hospital patients and then independently completed the 70-item rating scale to arrive at Axis I and Axis II diagnoses which were subsequently correlated with diagnoses obtained by standard psychometric methods, interrater agreement was 88 per cent for Axis I and 62 per cent for Axis II, with correlations of .94 and .79 respectively.
Date: August 1982
Creator: McDowell, DeLena Jean
System: The UNT Digital Library
Physiological Responses to Affective Stimuli of Obese and Nonobese Females Differing in Dietary Restraint (open access)

Physiological Responses to Affective Stimuli of Obese and Nonobese Females Differing in Dietary Restraint

The present study translated the major theories of obesity into physiological terms, then tested for the ways these theories might find physiological expression. Theoretical positions included the psychoanalytic perspective, emphasizing intrapsychic processes; psychosomatic perspective, emphasizing food as an anxiolytic agent; and Schachterian perspective, emphasizing heightened sensitivity to external stimuli. Additionally, two classificatory distinctions, age at onset of obesity and extent of dietary restraint, were examined. The later distinction suggested that Schachterian findings on obese behavior were due not to obesity, but to a dieting life style.
Date: May 1981
Creator: Framer, Edward Marc
System: The UNT Digital Library
Genotypic Handedness, Memory, and Cerebral Lateralization (open access)

Genotypic Handedness, Memory, and Cerebral Lateralization

The relationship of current manual preference (phenotypic handedness) and family history of handedness (genotypic handedness) to memory for imageable stimuli was studied. The purpose of the study was to test the hypothesis that genotypic handedness was related to lessened cerebral lateralization of Paivio's (1969) dual memory systems. The structure of memory was not at issue, but the mediation of storage and retrieval in memory has been explained with reference to verbal or imaginal processes. Verbal mediation theories and supporting data were reviewed along with imaginal theories and supporting data for these latter theories. Paivio's (1969) dual coding and processing theory was considered a conceptual bridge between the competing positions.
Date: August 1980
Creator: Perotti, Laurence Peter
System: The UNT Digital Library
Psychotherapy Pre-Training Using an Introductory Document Offering a Choice as to Therapeutic Framework (open access)

Psychotherapy Pre-Training Using an Introductory Document Offering a Choice as to Therapeutic Framework

Previous attempts to alter client expectancy and behavior using brief therapy introduction documents have yielded mixed results. This paper reports on the clinical evaluation of such a document which presented individual therapy clients with suggested in-therapy behaviors and offered them a choice as to therapeutic framework. The document told clients that they would be allowed to choose between short term and long term therapy, but woven into the descriptions of these alternatives were repetitions of suggestions for in-therapy behaviors which were intended to positively alter the therapy process and the clients' attitudes toward it. A third choice, no therapy at all, provided the opportunity to present information about what therapy would not offer (medical treatment, direct advise, etc.). Twenty-nine adult subjects (14 experimental, 15 control) were given either the experimental document or a control document (offering no suggested behaviors and no choices) immediately following their initial intake appointment at the North Texas State University Community Psychology Clinic.
Date: August 1983
Creator: Smith, Albert Hill
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Biofeedback and Cognitive Therapy in the Control of Blood Pressure Under Stress and No-Stress Conditions (open access)

A Comparison of Biofeedback and Cognitive Therapy in the Control of Blood Pressure Under Stress and No-Stress Conditions

This study evaluated the efficacy of cognitive therapy and biofeedback training in lowering Dlood pressures of normotensives under no-stress and stress conditions. A cognitive therapy group was compared to biofeedback and habituation control groups with 32 normotensives. Subjects were taught to use the electronic sphygmomanometer that served as the device to measure blood pressure during pretreatment and posttreatment phases of the study. These measurement phases each consisted of three 19 minute periods. Trie first period consisted of no-stress, and then a stress period followed. Return-to-no-stress was the final period. Subjects in the cognitive therapy and biofeedbacK groups received five sessions of self-control training of 66 minutes each between the pre- and posttreatment phases. The cold pressor was the analogue stressor used to induce bxood pressure elevations,
Date: August 1982
Creator: Dafter, Roger E. (Roger Edwin)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Haptic Visual Sensory Integration: A Comparison Between Normal, Schizophrenic, and Brain Damaged Groups (open access)

Haptic Visual Sensory Integration: A Comparison Between Normal, Schizophrenic, and Brain Damaged Groups

Neuropsychological tests have been used in differentially diagnosing schizophrenic and brain damaged populations. Research indicated some subgroups of schizophrenia exhibit certain symptoms of brain damage; and that schizophrenia involves difficulty in sensory integration. The Haptic Visual Discrimination Test (HVDT) designed to test tactilevisual integration, Bender Gestalt, and Information and Digit Symbol subtests of the WAIS were used to test performance abilities of forty schizophrenic subjects, forty subjects medically diagnosed as brain damaged (10 right hemisphere, 10 left hemisphere, and 20 diffuse), and normals as defined by the standardized age norm scores.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Wigodsky, Ann
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Social Judgement Scale of Body Composition (open access)

The Social Judgement Scale of Body Composition

Obesity has been referred to as a common and chronic medical condition in our society. It has been associated, directly or indirectly, with numerous medical complications. These have included increased risk of cardiovascular problems, diabetes mellitus, breast cancer, problems during pregnancy and delivery, and low back pain. Psychological complications of obesity have included emotional problems, body image disturbances, and discrimination practices. The literature has utilized numerous methods to measure body composition, particularly according to the underweight overweight continuum. However, these methods have not taken into consideration the importance of social judgement. A scale was needed to further define desirable/undesirable body composition in a way more traditional definitions have not attempted.
Date: May 1984
Creator: DuBois, Keith Eric
System: The UNT Digital Library
Sex-Role and Self-Concept Among Prisoners (open access)

Sex-Role and Self-Concept Among Prisoners

This study was undertaken to examine possible relationships among sex-role types, self-concept, and length of incarceration in residents at a federal minimum security co-correctional prison. Twelve female and 53 male subjects completed the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale, StateTrait Anxiety Scale, Bern Sex-Role Inventory, Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, Self-Concept Scale, and a Reaction to Imprisonment Q-sort. MMPI scores and demographic data for each subject were obtained from institution records. Subjects were divided into three groups (New, N = 25; Three Month, N = 20; and One Year, N = 20) on the basis of the length of time they had been incarcerated. Those in the New group were retested with all instruments except the MMPI after they had been imprisoned approximately three months. Instruments were administered only once to the other groups. On the basis of scores on the Bern Sex-Role Inventory, subjects were classified by sex—role type (masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated). Discriminant function analyses were used as an initial screen to determine which of the dependent variables might contribute to the "simple effects" factors of the main multivariate analysis of variance procedure.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Roberts, Dan H. (Dan Haynes)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Olfactory Preferences in Human Females (open access)

Olfactory Preferences in Human Females

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between olfactory preferences and sexual orientation in Heterosexual, Entire Life lesbian, and Adopted Lifestyle lesbian women. Research in the area of olfaction and sexual behavior was reviewed and, on the basis of the literature, it was hypothesized that Heterosexual women would prefer male odors, Entire Life lesbian women would prefer female odors, and Adopted Lifestyle lesbian women would prefer male odors more than Entire Life lesbians. The design involved having female subjects sniff male and female odors and indicate a preference for either the male or female odor. The odor samples were human apocrine gland secretions obtained by having odor donors wear gauze pads in their armpits. The odor collected on the pads was then stabilized through applications of alcohol and subsequent freezing.
Date: August 1983
Creator: Stange, Judy L. (Judy Lynne)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Cognitive Development and Premarital Sexual Permissiveness on Adolescent Pregnancy (open access)

The Effect of Cognitive Development and Premarital Sexual Permissiveness on Adolescent Pregnancy

A literature review revealed 15 variables as commonly studied as associated with adolescent pregnancy. The research showed conflicting results in many of these areas. Twenty-one pregnant and 20 non-pregnant adolescents were tested using the Arlin Test of Formal Reasoning (ATFR) and the Reiss's Premarital Sexual Permissiveness Scale. Pregnant participants were expected to score lower than non-pregnant participants on the ATFR; and, the low permissives (based on responses to the Reiss's Premarital Sexual Permissiveness Scale) were expected to score higher than high permissives on the ATFR. However, the results did not support the hypotheses. Several areas were examined for exploratory purposes. There was a significant difference between high permissives and low permissives for parent/peer orientation for sexual behavior attitudes. Additional exploratory demographic information was collected using a General Information Questionnaire.
Date: December 1988
Creator: Powers, Pamela Kay
System: The UNT Digital Library