Grandparent Satisfaction and Family Structure: a Descriptive Study of Multigenerational Families in Denton County, Texas (open access)

Grandparent Satisfaction and Family Structure: a Descriptive Study of Multigenerational Families in Denton County, Texas

This descriptive study of 45 multi-generational families contributes empirical knowledge about grandparent-grandchild relationships. A questionnaire was developed and completed by 74 subjects who were part of a randomly selected sample taken from a tax roll of homeowners over age 65 in Denton County, Texas. The responses provide information which expands the existing data base in the area of grandparenting. The study pinpoints areas in the grandparenting literature which need refinement and contributes data to those areas, rather than producing a set of conclusions. Areas as yet undocumented or inadequately documented in the literature are identified as the following: (a) family structural composition; (b) grandparents' personal characteristics; (c) selected aspects of grandparent-grandchild contact; and (d) satisfaction with the grandparent role. Data for these areas should help reveal factors having an impact on grandparent-grandchild relationships. A base for further investigation in these areas is established, and data are also analyzed to determine satisfaction or lack of satisfaction with grandparenting. The seventy-four subjects, from 45 households, included 44 grandmothers and 30 grandfathers. The number of generations per family was used as the base to report the findings. The study substantiates other research on grandparenting, particularly in the area of timing of grand-parenthood. Data …
Date: May 1989
Creator: Hettinger, Barbara J. (Barbara Jane)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Type A Behavior Pattern: Its Relationship to the Holland Types and the Career Choice Process (open access)

Type A Behavior Pattern: Its Relationship to the Holland Types and the Career Choice Process

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of the Type A behavior pattern to Holland's occupational types and the career choice process. The Type A behavior pattern is characterized by high levels of achievement striving, time urgency, chronic activation and hostility, and is an independent risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease. It was hypothesized that Type A college students would be more attracted than Type B individuals to aspects of a future work environment which would reinforce their Type A behaviors. Previous research had suggested a relationship between the Type A behavior pattern and Holland's Enterprising and Investigative types (Martin, 1986). This study sought to replicate those findings, and further examine the nature of the Type A/B-Holland types relationship. Data were collected from undergraduate students in a variety of academic fields of study. Subjects completed a questionnaire packet consisting of the student version of the Jenkins Activity Survey (Jenkins, Rosenman, and Zyzanski, 1965; Glass, 1977), the Vocational Preference Inventory (Holland, 1985b), and a modified version of the Minnesota Job Description Questionnaire (Rosen, et al., 1972) . The findings demonstrated that the Type A/B pattern is a significant factor in the career choice process. …
Date: May 1989
Creator: Martin, Kyle Thomas
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of College Stress and Its Measurement (open access)

A Study of College Stress and Its Measurement

The purpose of the study was to compare the academic stress of freshmen in a community college with that of freshmen in a university. An additional purpose was to determine if gender, ethnicity, or semester course load was related to perceived academic stress. The sample consisted of a total of 303 university and community college freshmen from English and Psychology classes at the University of North Texas and Richland Community College during the spring semester, 1989. The instrument that was administered to these volunteer students was the Academic Stress Test, a 35-item checklist of possible academic stressors. The students were asked to check the items which were perceived by them to be stressful and had occurred during the current semester. The T-statistic was used to analyze the total mean stress score for each variable being considered. Multiple regression was used to determine if there was any possibility that the variables might have a predictive effect for academic stress. It was found that for these freshmen students there was a significant difference between the perceived academic stress of community college freshmen and university freshmen. The mean academic stress score for university freshmen was higher than the mean for community college freshmen. …
Date: August 1989
Creator: Garrett, Sandy, 1945-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of the Relationship between Field-Independent and Field-Dependent Cognitive Styles and Social Behaviors during Free-Play of Preschool Children (open access)

A Study of the Relationship between Field-Independent and Field-Dependent Cognitive Styles and Social Behaviors during Free-Play of Preschool Children

The problem of this study was to discover the relationship between field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles and social behaviors during free-play of preschool children in a school setting. This study also compared the field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles and social behaviors during free-play between age-groups and sex-groups. Thirty-six children from a university child development laboratory were subjects. They were selected from a 3-year-old classroom and a 4-year-old classroom. The research instrument, the Preschool Embedded Figures Test, was utilized to measure field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles. The children's social behaviors were observed during free-play for four consecutive weeks. The nine categories of social behavior were solitary, parallel, and group play; .unoccupied, onlooker, transitional, and aggressive behaviors; and conversations with teachers and conversations with peers. Correlations between field-independent and field-dependent cognitive styles and social behaviors indicated that field-independence/field-dependence was related to social orientations in preschool children and also related to the choice of play activity. Field-dependent children tended to engage in conversations with teachers more often than field-independent children. Four-year-old children who were field-independent tended to spend more time in solitary play than 4-year-old children who were field-dependent. Four-year-old boys who were field-independent tended to play more often in the manipulative learning …
Date: August 1989
Creator: Jun, Ye-Hwa
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Factors Influencing Older Adults' Patterns of Information Acquisition (open access)

Factors Influencing Older Adults' Patterns of Information Acquisition

A group of 101 older adults (sixty-five years of age and over) who lived independently in three retirement apartment residences in Denton, Texas, were asked about their patterns of reading, television viewing, and radio listening habits for two periods in their lives: (1) at age forty to fifty-five and (2) at the present. Respondents were asked about their use of external information sources (public library, grocery store, newsstand, etc.) and their use of proximate information sources (radio, friends/relatives, television, etc.) They were also asked about access to transportation, income satisfaction, status of general health, vision, hearing, physical mobility and reasons for utilizing various information sources. Four hypotheses relating changes in health, environment, economic status, and education to reasons for reading and use of information sources were tested through the use of t-tests, regression analysis and analysis of variance. Within this group of older adults, use of external information sources decreased from the past to the present. There was, however, no change in the use of information sources located in or near the residence as difficulties in these areas increased. A relationship was found between educational level and reading for pleasure earlier in life. Also, those with higher educational levels reported …
Date: May 1989
Creator: Barnett, Mary Jane, 1952-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Sequencing Microeconomics and Macroeconomics on Learning (open access)

The Effect of Sequencing Microeconomics and Macroeconomics on Learning

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect on student learning from the sequence in which microeconomics and macroeconomics courses are taken. The sample for this study consisted of all students enrolled in 23 sections of Economics 1100 (Principles of Microeconomics) and 10 sections of Economics 1110 (Principles of Macroeconomics) during the fall semester, 1987, at the University of North Texas. The sample also consisted of all students enrolled in 14 sections of Economics 1100 and 12 sections of Economics 1110 during the spring semester, 1988, at the University of North Texas. The instruments chosen for use in measuring cognitive gains were two versions, each with 14 items, selected from the Joint council on Economic Educations's Revised Test of Understanding College Economics. Data were analyzed using hierarchical regression on five models. Each model used a different dependent variable to measure cognitive gain. The dependent variables were additive grade points, additive absolute improvement posttest scores, gap-closing posttest scores, microeconomic gap-closing scores and macroeconomic gap-closing posttest scores. The general hypothesis that students who complete microeconomics instruction followed by macroeconomics instruction have significantly higher cognitive gains than students who complete macroeconomics instruction followed by microeconomics instruction was not verified by the …
Date: August 1989
Creator: Trask, Jill A. (Jill Ann)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of Remediation of Language Arts Objectives Using an Experimental Curriculum (open access)

A Study of Remediation of Language Arts Objectives Using an Experimental Curriculum

The purpose of this study was to determine if students who participated in language arts remediation which was infused with critical thinking activities and metacognition would make greater gains in skills and achievement than those students who were remediated with a regular language arts curriculum. The population for this study was a group of at risk students who were fourteen to sixteen years old and who were participants in the 1987 summer Youth Opportunities Unlimited project at the University of North Texas. Their progress was measured with California Achievement Test and Iowa Test of Basic Skills pretests and posttests. The organization of the study includes a statement of the problem, a review of the literature, the methods and procedures used to collect the data, the analysis of data, and a summary of the findings, conclusions, educational implications, and recommendations tor additional research. Data from the eight hypotheses were treated with an analysis of covariance. The analysis of data revealed the following: 1. The infusion of critical thinking activities and metacognition did not improve students' skills or achievement in the following areas: spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. 2. The infusion of critical thinking activities and metacognition did not improve students' skills in …
Date: May 1989
Creator: Long, Lucy Banks, 1938-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Degradation of Phenolic Acids by Azotobacter Species Isolated from Sorghum Fields (open access)

Degradation of Phenolic Acids by Azotobacter Species Isolated from Sorghum Fields

Sorghum plants excrete phenolic acids which reduce subsequent crop yields. These acids accumulate in field soil by combining with soil and clay particles to form stable complexes which remain until degraded by bacterial metabolism. The amount of phenolic acids in soil samples were obtained by gas chromatography measurements, while Azotobacter populations were obtained by plate counts in 40 sorghum field samples from Denton County, Texas. One can conclude that increasing the Azotobacter population in the soil increased the degradation rate of phenolic acids proportionally. It is proposed that seed inoculation will introduce selected strains of Azotobacter into the soil. The presence of Azotobacter should increase crop size in subsequent plantings.
Date: August 1989
Creator: Al-Hadhrami, Mohamed N. (Mohamed Nasser)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Demographic and Psychological Predictors of Suicide Attempts and Ideation Among Adolescents (open access)

Demographic and Psychological Predictors of Suicide Attempts and Ideation Among Adolescents

The present study attempted to identify demographic and psychological variables predictive of adolescent suicidal ideations and attempts. Data from 90 adolescents, who completed an intake form at a university community mental health clinic or were student volunteers, were utilized. Two judges tabulated information regarding age, gender, number of siblings, ethnicity, parental marital status, drug use, depression, suicidal ideation, and previous suicidal attempts. A multiple regression analysis was performed to identify which variables had predictive significance. Depression was the best predictor of both suicidal ideations and attempts. Ethnicity was also predictive; white adolescents were found to be at higher risk for suicide than individuals from other ethnic groups. It is suggested that additional studies be done exploring other predictors of suicide among adolescents.
Date: December 1989
Creator: Leonhardt, Heather
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Manipulation of Efficacy Information to Enhance Muscular Endurance Performance (open access)

Manipulation of Efficacy Information to Enhance Muscular Endurance Performance

The present investigation was designed to examine the effects of the positive manipulation of information on self-efficacy and subsequent performance of 180 female subjects. High, moderate, and low self-efficacy subjects were randomly assigned to a treatment condition in a 3 x 4 x 3 (preexisting self-efficacy x efficacy information source x trials) factorial design. Information from the three efficacy sources of performance accomplishments, verbal persuasion, and vicarious experience was manipulated towards success after subjects completed a muscular leg endurance task. The results supported self-efficacy theory with high self-efficacy subjects extending their legs significantly longer than moderate and low self-efficacy subjects. However, subjects did not differentially [sic] respond to the manipulation of the efficacy information. Results are discussed in terms of efficacy as a mediator of performance on an endurance task as well as the lack of differential changes in efficacy based on the source from which that information is derived.
Date: December 1989
Creator: Lerner, J. Dana (Jocelyn Dana)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Unexpected Findings in a Study of Visual Perception During the Naturalistic Near-Death Out-of-Body Experience (open access)

Unexpected Findings in a Study of Visual Perception During the Naturalistic Near-Death Out-of-Body Experience

Study of visual perception during the naturalistic near-death out-of-body experience (nND OBE), that aspect of the NDE in which the experiencer seems to view normal physical surroundings from a vantage point outside the physical body, which yielded some unexpected findings that contradicted or augmented previous research. Each of these findings is discussed relative to previous research and analyzed in light of the limitations of the current study.
Date: Spring 1989
Creator: Holden, Janice Miner
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Catalog of the University of North Texas, 1989-1990, Undergraduate (open access)

Catalog of the University of North Texas, 1989-1990, Undergraduate

The UNT Undergraduate Bulletin includes information about class offerings as well as general information about the university (academic calendar, admissions and degree requirements, financial information, etc.) about research, and about the colleges and schools on campus. This centennial issue includes additional information about the founding and history of UNT (1890-1990). Index starts on page 248.
Date: June 1989
Creator: University of North Texas
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Catalog of the University of North Texas, 1989-1990, Graduate (open access)

Catalog of the University of North Texas, 1989-1990, Graduate

The UNT Graduate Bulletin includes information about class offerings as well as general information about the university (academic calendar, admissions and degree requirements, financial information, etc.) about research, and about the colleges and schools on campus. This centennial issue includes additional information about the founding and history of UNT (1890-1990). Index starts on page 264.
Date: June 1989
Creator: University of North Texas
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library