Accelerated EMG Biofeedback Relaxation Training and Tension Headache: The Effects of Home Practice and Headache Presence During Training (open access)

Accelerated EMG Biofeedback Relaxation Training and Tension Headache: The Effects of Home Practice and Headache Presence During Training

This study investigated the value of headache presence during elecromyographic (EMG) feedback relaxation training and the contribution made by home relaxation practice in the elimination of tension headache. Eighteen participants, mainly coeds in their twenties, recorded headache and medication data for two baseline weeks, and were assigned to one of three training groups. Group A received EMG feedback training with headache presence during the session and home relaxation practice. Group B received EMG feedback without headache Presence and home practice. Group C received only home relaxation practice. Statistically significant treatment differences were not found, but declining trends of headache activity and medication use tend to support the efficacy of EMG training with headache presence.
Date: August 1975
Creator: Christianson, James D. L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Analysis of Perceptions and Demographic Factors of Selected College Students' Vote in the 1972 Presidential Election (open access)

Analysis of Perceptions and Demographic Factors of Selected College Students' Vote in the 1972 Presidential Election

"The present investigation was concerned with college students' perceptions of candidates in the 1972 Presidential Election."--[1].
Date: August 1973
Creator: Brandon, Patricia
System: The UNT Digital Library
Anger/Hostility: Reliability of Measurement and Correlates of Health History (open access)

Anger/Hostility: Reliability of Measurement and Correlates of Health History

The purpose of this study was to (1) assess the reliability and validity of anger/hostility measures, (2) examine the relationship between anger/hostility and other negative emotions, and (3) examine the relationship between anger/hostility and health history. Sixty-five subjects were given the Buss Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI), the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI), the Profile of Mood States pomsS), the Clinical Analysis Questionnaire (CAQ), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Health and Wellness Attitude Inventory (HWAI), and a health questionnaire designed to provide information about past disease and alcohol/drug use. Overall, the BDHI and POMS displayed good test-retest reliability. All six of the global indices of anger/hostility intercorrelated at a significant level, thus demonstrating good concurrent validity. The six global measures of anger/hostility also correlated at a significant level with other negative emotions.
Date: August 1990
Creator: Buri, Robert J. (Robert John)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Assessing Defensiveness with the PAI: a Cross Validational Study (open access)

Assessing Defensiveness with the PAI: a Cross Validational Study

The use of scales on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) to detect defensiveness in criminal and nonclinical samples was evaluated. Forty-five male inmates of a county jail and 38 male undergraduate psychology students were provided with incentives to complete the PAI under two conditions: standard instructions and experimental instructions to feign a specific, positive role. The sequence of instructions was counterbalanced in both samples for the purpose of examining ordering effects. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed, yielding significant main effects of condition, group and order. Additionally, a step-wise discriminant function analysis significantly predicted group membership (i.e., subjects under honest and faking conditions) with a hit rate = 84.4%. Finally, a more effective cutting score for the Positive Impression scale was recommended.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Cashel, Mary Louise
System: The UNT Digital Library
Attention and Information Processing Variables in Hypothetically Psychosis-Prone College Students (open access)

Attention and Information Processing Variables in Hypothetically Psychosis-Prone College Students

Considering the explanations of schizophrenia that presume schizophrenia spectrum disorders (e.g., schizotypal personality disorder, schizoaffective disorder, etc.) to be genetically related to schizophrenia, the purpose of this study was to investigate the attention and information processing abilities of individuals who have been identified as schizotypal or psychosis-prone (i.e., schizophrenia spectrum functioning in individuals who do not have schizophrenia). Research indicates that persons identified as psychosis-prone may show attention and information processing deficits similar to individuals with schizophrenia. The identification and description of individuals who later decompensate into schizophrenia would advance the understanding of schizophrenia and its causes. The Chapman's PER-MAG scale (Perceptual Aberration-Magical Ideation) was used to identify 35 hypothetically psychosis-prone college students (schizotypy group) and 42 normal college students (nonschizotypy group) out of the 806 volunteer subjects. Their attention and information processing abilities were measured by COGLAB (a multiparadigmatic cognitive test battery that represents a continuum of cognitive functions, from preattentional to attentional, to conceptual). Their social adjustment was measured by the Premorbid Adjustment Scale (PAS). The hypotheses of the study were that the hypothetically psychosis-prone subjects would perform poorer than controls on COGLAB measures and that COGLAB measures of a more molar nature would better predict social adjustment …
Date: December 1995
Creator: Ottesen, James McBride
System: The UNT Digital Library
Attitudes Toward Psychodiagnostic Testing and Doctoral Clinical Psychology Students' Professional Expectations and Training (open access)

Attitudes Toward Psychodiagnostic Testing and Doctoral Clinical Psychology Students' Professional Expectations and Training

Responses of 111 doctoral clinical psychology students to Garfield and Kurtz' (1973) Testing Attitude Scale were subjected to a 2 x 2 factorial analysis. Attitudes toward psychodiagnostic testing were found to be related both to academic versus nonacademic professional expectations (academics scoring more negatively, M = 32.69, than nonacademics, M = 37.19), F (1, 107) = 5.994, p < 0.016, and to internship training exposure (non-interns scoring more negatively, M = 34.64, than interns, M = 38.80), F (1, 107) = 10.321, p< 0.002. Results paralleled previous research on academic and nonacademic working psychologists' attitudes. Similarities in students' and role models' attitudes were discussed in terms of Kelman's (1953; 1958), Festinger's (1957), and Bem's (1970) attitude theories. Results seemed to imply continued controversy over both the desirability of producing psychodiagnostically oriented clinicians, and also traditional paradigms of psychodiagnostic training.
Date: August 1976
Creator: Steele, J. Richard
System: The UNT Digital Library
Behavior Rehearsal Combined with Anxiety Relief Conditioning : A New Assertion Training Paradigm and Its Relative Efficacy (open access)

Behavior Rehearsal Combined with Anxiety Relief Conditioning : A New Assertion Training Paradigm and Its Relative Efficacy

An experiment was conducted to investigate the relative effectiveness of a combined behavior rehearsal anxiety relief conditioning paradigm with a more conventional behavioral rehearsal program in the treatment of deficient assertive behavior.
Date: May 1973
Creator: Arnold, Bill R.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Beliefs of Internal Versus External Control and Their Relationship to Stage of Moral Judgment (open access)

Beliefs of Internal Versus External Control and Their Relationship to Stage of Moral Judgment

This investigation sought to explore the relationship of Julian Rotter's concept of internal versus external control (I-E) to stages of moral judgment. The I-E dimension is defined as the attribution by the individual of responsibility for behavioral outcomes to either oneself or to outside entities. The internal oriented person believes that the events in which he is involved lie within his control. Conversely, the external oriented person believes that the events that happen to him are controlled by other factors.
Date: August 1971
Creator: Coulter, Wylie A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Birth Order and Parent-Child Relations (open access)

Birth Order and Parent-Child Relations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the birth order differences in perception of parental child-rearing practices in one-and two-sibling families. The two-sibling families were separated into all the possible sex permutations (male-male, female-female, male-female, female-male) to assess the influence of sex of sibling in viewing the parents' child-rearing practices.
Date: August 1972
Creator: Hale, Allyn Kay
System: The UNT Digital Library
Coacting Group Effects of Learning and Performance across Anxiety Levels (open access)

Coacting Group Effects of Learning and Performance across Anxiety Levels

The problem with which this study is concerned is that of determining the effects of coacting groups and test anxiety on the learning and performing abilities of children. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of small coacting groups and test anxiety on specific "performance" and "learning" tasks. This study also provides a direct test of Zajonc's theory.
Date: August 1972
Creator: Stevens, Jimmy L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
College Students at Risk of Academic Failure: Neurocognitive Strengths and Weaknesses (open access)

College Students at Risk of Academic Failure: Neurocognitive Strengths and Weaknesses

This study examined the neurocognitive skills, incidence of mild head injury, incidence of learning disabilities, and study habits among college students with grade point average of 2.00 or below (N = 25) as contrasted with college students with grade point average above 2.00 (N = 70). The intent of this research was to extend the work of Segalowitz and Brown (1991) and Segalowitz and Lawson (1993) who found significant associations between reported history of mild head injury and developmental disabilities among high school and college samples. MANOVAs conducted on measures of academic achievement, global cognitive skills, verbal and nonverbal memory, motor and tactile functioning, and study habits did not discriminate between probationary and non-probationary students. Probationary and non-probationary students also did not differ with regard to incidence of reported head injury, frequency of diagnosed learning disabilities, and study habits. Measures of neurocognitive functioning and study habits did not contribute to the prediction of grade point average over and above that predicted by Scholastic Aptitude Test composite score. Several exploratory analyses were performed examining the relationship between study habits and neurocognitive skills. Gender differences, implications for future research and development of study skills courses, and limitations of this study were discussed.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Saine, Kathleen C. (Kathleen Chen)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Comparative Effectiveness of Behavior Rehearsal and Systematic Desensitization in the Treatment of Social Anxiety (open access)

The Comparative Effectiveness of Behavior Rehearsal and Systematic Desensitization in the Treatment of Social Anxiety

The present study was concerned with comparing the relative effectiveness of behavior rehearsal and systematic desensitization in the treatment of social anxiety.
Date: May 1972
Creator: Friedberg, Roger M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison between the Self-concept of Visually-impaired Adults and Sighted Adults (open access)

A Comparison between the Self-concept of Visually-impaired Adults and Sighted Adults

Self-concept scores of 19 visually-impaired adults were compared to those of 19 matched sighted adults using the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS). All participants attended the University of North Texas. Scores were examined against the Vocabulary and Information subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R).
Date: May 1995
Creator: Martinez, Ramiro, 1964-
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Empathic Ability between Business and Psychology Majors (open access)

A Comparison of Empathic Ability between Business and Psychology Majors

This study was undertaken in the belief that students of psychology possess a significantly greater degree of empathic ability than do students of other college majors. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is any significant difference in empathic ability between psychology students and business students as a group.
Date: January 1961
Creator: Sturhahn, Edward M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Comparison of Group and Individual Methods of Presenting Baldwin's Social Expectations Scale (open access)

Comparison of Group and Individual Methods of Presenting Baldwin's Social Expectations Scale

Forty Ss from introductory psychology classes participated in a study to determine whether or not the investigator's group Social Expectations Scale (SES) was a useful research instrument and to determine whether or not intelligence was a factor determining the fit of a particular cognitive model, the BSE, to the social expectations of Ss as measured by the SES.
Date: May 1971
Creator: Pitts, Emily C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Performance and Levels of Aspiration of High and Low Anxious Males and Females (open access)

A Comparison of Performance and Levels of Aspiration of High and Low Anxious Males and Females

The present study was concerned with the relationship between level of aspiration and anxiety. Level of aspiration is a term used for goal setting behavior. In other words, if a person sets his goals high it is said that he has a high level of aspiration. Anxiety, for the purpose of the present study is assumed to possess drive properties. Theoretically, at least, a highly anxious person has a high drive level. This assumption may be warranted in terms of physiological unrest--causing an effort toward equilibrium or homeostasis; or it can be defended psychologically as the need to achieve or the need to prove one's abilities to himself. However, the present paper was not concerned directly with the current controversy of anxiety as a drive mechanism. Rather it was the general purpose of the study to determine whether or not highly anxious college students set their goals higher, in response to previous experimental success or failure experiences than low anxious students. To be more specific the purpose was to determine whether or not highly anxious subjects differ significantly from low anxious subjects with respect to responses on a level of aspiration task. The particular response measures or scores investigated on …
Date: August 1964
Creator: Cotten, Larry L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Physics and Psychology Majors on FIRO-B Variables (open access)

A Comparison of Physics and Psychology Majors on FIRO-B Variables

It is the basic assumption of this study that a relationship exists between the interpersonal needs of inclusion, control, and affection and occupational choice as indicated by college major. Studies in the area of vocational choice have largely dealt with people who are practicing the vocation, leaving doubt as to whether people are attracted to the vocation as a result of need-satisfaction behavior, or whether the people determine their orientation by practicing the occupation. The need for further clarification of these questions was recognized, and this study was an effort to add to the evidence for or against the validity of the concept of interpersonal need satisfaction as a factor in vocational choice.
Date: January 1960
Creator: McCown, John Rae
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of the Relative Ego Strengths of Two Prison Groups and a Non-Prison Group as Measured by the IES Test (open access)

A Comparison of the Relative Ego Strengths of Two Prison Groups and a Non-Prison Group as Measured by the IES Test

This study was concerned with the differences between two types of prisoners on a personality dimension and differences between these prison groups an a non-prison population. The impetus for this study stemmed from the development of a new test designed to scientifically measure the Freudian concept of the personality structures, the id, ego, and superego.
Date: January 1966
Creator: Stevenson, David Michael
System: The UNT Digital Library
Comparison of Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Tests in Adults (open access)

Comparison of Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Tests in Adults

Two continuous performance tests were administered to normal adult subjects. The mode of presentation (visual or auditory) and the type of task (vigilance or distractibility) were varied, and their effects on performance measured. Data were collected on eighty-two subjects, and results indicated that auditory presentation of stimuli increased the difficulty of both tasks. Results also suggest that the distractibility task administered in either mode was more difficult than the vigilance task. Intercorrelations among the four continuous performance tasks are provided. Normative data are presented on all four tasks administered. A measure of symptoms of attention-deficit disorder in adults, the Adult Behavior Checklist, was found to correlate significantly with another measure of pathology, the SCL-90-R.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Taylor, Cindy J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Continuation in the Defining of the Construct of Optimism (open access)

A Continuation in the Defining of the Construct of Optimism

One hundred twenty-two undergraduate students at the University of North Texas were administered several different optimism scales and also measures of similar constructs such as hope. Results indicated that most measures of optimism show only low to moderate intercorrelations with other measures of the same construct. Additionally, factor analysis confirmed that the measures of optimism actually appear to be assessing multiple factors and not necessarily optimism alone. Implications of the present study include the necessity of individual researchers to be familiar with the specific measure of optimism used in a given study as scores on differing measures of optimism may actually be providing very different information.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Hinze, Travis Wayne
System: The UNT Digital Library
Control, Commitment, and Challenge: Relationships to Stress, Illness, and Gender (open access)

Control, Commitment, and Challenge: Relationships to Stress, Illness, and Gender

Male and female college students were administered scales assessing their daily hassles, negative life events, control, commitment, challenge, psychological symptomatology, psychological distress, and physical symptomatology. Stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that control, commitment, and challenge act in an additive (rather than multiplicative) manner in relation to psychological and physical outcome measures.
Date: May 1992
Creator: Embry, Judy K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cue-Controlled Relaxation: Saving Time Versus Efficacy (open access)

Cue-Controlled Relaxation: Saving Time Versus Efficacy

Cue-controlled relaxation is looked at to determine whether a component is efficacious as the entire procedure. Subjects were 40 male and 40 female undergraduates. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: cue-controlled relaxation, progressive muscle relaxation, breathing exercises with a paired. cue word, on a presentation of the cue word without being paired. It was hypothesized that cue-controlled relaxation would be superior to a component of cue-controlled relaxation. It was determined that cue-controlled relaxation is not more efficacious than a particular component. Data suggests the majority of anxiety reduction takes place when the treatment focuses on the same modality from which the subject receives the most information about their anxiety. Implications and suggestions for further research are presented.
Date: August 1983
Creator: Todd, John Bruce
System: The UNT Digital Library
Deep Muscle Relaxation Obtained with Analog Electromyographic Information Feedback (open access)

Deep Muscle Relaxation Obtained with Analog Electromyographic Information Feedback

The purpose of the research study was to provide improved relaxation training with the use of an electromyography feedback device based on the design of Green et al. (1969). It was intended that this instrument would allow the training of deep muscle relaxation to the point of neuro-muscular silence, while remaining inexpensive enough to be applied in the clinical setting.
Date: May 1973
Creator: Bates, Charles Edward
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
System: The UNT Digital Library