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.

This study investigated the possible differential effects of a series of soluble discrimination problems on internal versus external locus of control subjects. It was hypothesized that externals exposed to a series of discrimination problems would perform better on a test task than external controls, while internals exposed to the same problems would not perform better on the test task relative to their controls. As anticipated, the internals were not affected by the discrimination problems. However, contrary to expectations, the externals were not facilitated by exposure to the soluble problems. Since many external subjects failed to solve all of the soluble problems, a facilitative effect may depend upon the problems being solved.

Cerebral electrostimulation (CES) as a treatment for migraine headache was investigated. Eighteen participants recorded data on headaches for two baseline weeks. Six were assigned to each of three groups--an active treatment group receiving CES, a placebo group receiving a simulated version of CES, and a no-treatment control group placed on a waiting list during the study. The CES group evidenced a significant reduction in headache duration and intensity relative to the placebo group. The waiting list control group did as well as the CES group. A number of hypotheses were put forth in an attempt to account for the unexpected finding.

The following research questions were investigated: (a) Can the age-mates scales from the Dales developmental task scales be used with southwestern-urban adolescent populations? (b) Are there any systematic differences between northeastern-nonurban and southwestern-urban subject populations on the response to these scales? The subjects consisted of 884 adolescents, 11 through 15 years, evenly divided by sex. Subject responses were analyzed by sex and age groups using Guttman scalogram analysis. Goodman's test of significance revealed that the results could have occurred by chance (p > .05). The instrument in its present form was not found useful'-for an urban population. Lack of reproducibility made comparison of the performance of urban and nonurban adolescents unjustified.

Traditional personality research on accident behavior has produced conflicting opinions as to the traits that describe the "accident-prone" personality type. Other research has shown that psychosocial life stress, while partially determining the temporal onset of a variety of illnesses, may also be a factor contributing to increased accident liability. This study examined the role of temporary and stress-producing life changes in groups of accident-free and accident-involved industrial employees. The accident sample was found to have significantly higher stress over baseline during the period of accident involvement, but generally lower pre-accident levels than the non-accident sample. A cause-effect analysis of the data from within the accident-involved sample proved inconclusive. Several implications for future research and managerial actions to alleviate stress were also discussed.

Factors which influence severity of moral judgement in men and women were investigated in this study with 94 male and 89 female undergraduate students as participants. Effects of "sex of judge," "sex of transgressor," and "value orientation" variables were examined across five diverse story conditions. A measure of identification was also obtained. As hypothesized, a significant main effect was found for "value orientation," but not for "sex of judge" or "sex of transgressor" variables. The hypothesized disappearance of a "sex of judge" by "sex of transgressor" interaction was found. Hypotheses concerning a permissive trend and the effects of degree of identification were not confirmed.

The study investigated the relationships between perceived contingency of parental rewarding and punishing behaviors and locus. of control. Scores on Levenson's Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance locus of control scales were correlated with scores on Yates, Kennelly, and Cox's (1975) Perceived Contingency of Rewards and Punishments Questionnaire. Few significant correlations were obtained. Maternal non-contingent reward related negatively and significantly to internality for males. Paternal non-contingent reward related positively and significantly to males' perception of control by powerful others. And paternal contingent reward related negatively and significantly to females' perceptions of control by chance. Results are discussed relative to learned helplessness research interpretations.

This study investigated relationships involving peer acceptance, mathematics achievement, and birth order among 74 fifth-grade students. The children were administered a standardized achievement test and a sociometric measurement in one sitting. They were then listed in rank order on the basis of number of choices received for each of two areas-- Social- and Work-acceptance. A comparison of High and Low Social- and Work-acceptance groups in terms of mean mathematics-achievement scores indicated a significant positive interaction between peer acceptance and mathematics achievement. No significant difference was evidenced between mean mathematics-achievement scores of males and females. As expected, birth order was not shown to interact significantly with Social- or Work-acceptance for either sex. Results indicate the importance of utilizing various techniques such as sociometrically determined work groups and seating arrangements in order to improve the peer climate of the classroom.

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.

A paired-associate list of three-word stimuli and one-word responses comprised the first list of an A-B, A-Br paradigm. Each of the three words from the first-list three-word stimuli was singly re-paired with first-list responses to make up three of the second-list conditions. The fourth second-list condition used the first-list stimuli plus re-paired first-list responses. Results obtained were that: (a) nine of the sixteen subjects spontaneously shifted encoding cues from first to second lists, (b) evidence of significantly greater negative transfer occurred only in the A-B, A1 2 3-Br condition, and (c) although not attaining significance level, across all A -Br conditions there were more errors on second-list learning for those not shifting encoding cues from first to second list. For those who did shift, performance was only slightly lower than the A-B, C-B control condition. Neither the encoding variability nor the associative variability theory was entirely supported. A gestalt interpretation was suggested.

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) Picture Arrangement (PA) subtest has often been assumed to be a measure of social intelligence. The present study compared WISC PA performance and performance on a verbal conditioning task (production of plural nouns) as a measure of social intelligence. Four groups, high and low PA with reinforcement, and high and low PA without reinforcement, were compared on production of plural nouns over two consecutive four-minute periods. The four groups did not differ significantly in the production of plural nouns. The present study, using verbal conditionability as a measure of social intelligence, found no evidence to support the assumption that WISC PA performance is a measure of social intelligence in children.

Traditional two-process theory predicts that a conditioned stimulus (CS) paired with shock offset on Pavlovian trials will inhibit operant avoidance responding. Two explanations of the inhibitory mechanism involved were compared: contemporaneous pairing of CS with a hedonic relief reaction versus the predictive, discriminative relationship of CS to the non-shock interval. The pattern of avoidance inhibition associated with cessation CSs paired with electric shocks of constant duration was expected to be different from the pattern accompanying cessation CSs paired with shocks of variable duration. Mean rates of responding by the two groups were compared by analysis of covariance using baseline as the covariate. Neither CS displayed any reliably observable effects on avoidance rates. Possible procedural flaws and compatible improvements are discussed.

Seventy-five adolescent members of a local church youth organization completed Jourard's 40-item Self-Disclosure Questionnaire. The subjects were assigned to three groups, matched for degree of self-disclosure. A control group filled out Green's Sentence Completion Blank. A second group filled out the completion blank after listening to popular music while reading printed lyrics. The third group listened and also wrote a few sentences about the "meaning" of the music. Two judges scored the sentence completion blanks for self-disclosure. An analysis of variance of the sentence completion scores was significant at the .05 level. However, the Scheffe method revealed that only the latter two groups' means differed significantly, in that the second group increased in disclosure while the third group decreased in self-disclosure. Several factors are discussed which may account for the results.

To determine correlates of better academic performance, a scale was devised for this study to measure children's attributions to ability and effort in academic success and failure situations. These measures as well as measures of locus of control an d perceived contingency of teacher rewards and punishments were related to achievement test scores, grades, and a teacher's ratings of the helplessness or competence of classroom behaviors. Subjects were 137 sixth-graders (66 girls and 71 boys). Intercorrelations of the variables show consistent relationships between attributions to lack of effort in failure situations and to ability in success situations and better academic performance. Locus of control was only weakly related to academic achievement measures. The contingency measures, also devised for this study, were disappointingly unreliable.

This investigation represents an attempt to employ the Devries Suicide Prediction Scale and the Rorschach Inkblot Test in a two-stage predictive model which was designed to decrease the high false positive rate associated with the Devries and to design a way in which the Rorschach could be used efficiently in suicide prediction in a large mental hospital setting. The Rorschach was not found to significantly improve the predictive ability of the Devries. An unexpectedly high percentage of mental patients in the study, thirty-eight percent, admitted to previous suicide attempts, raising the question of whether suicidal behavior is not more common than is usually thought.

It was hypothesized that field dependence and attention measures would differentiate accident-loaded and accident-free employees of a petroleum services company. Analysis of variance revealed main effects and a three-way interaction for the Rod-and-Frame Test. Main effects occurred for the Attention-Diagnostic Method and Embedded- Figures Test. No differences occurred for the Closure Test. Regression analysis produced an R (76) = .41, p < .01, with the Attention-Diagnostic Method contributing more to prediction. Equality-symmetry violations occurred in the data. Cautious interpretation was advised because of the assumption violations. The accident-loaded subjects produced consistently greater performance variances, which suggested general performance characteristics in several respects. Future research should be longitudinal-predictive, oriented from Kerr 's complementary safety theories.

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether or not significant correlations could be obtained between raw scores on fifty-three scales of the Mini-Mult Prison Questionnaire (MMPQ), a personality test, and nine selected behavior variables for a group of thirty-two institutionalized male delinquents. A correlation matrix using Pearson's r revealed that seven MMPQ scales correlated at the p = .05 level of significance with the behavior criteria. Thus, four of the five hypotheses formulated were supported. However, caution was emphasized in interpreting the results due to sample size, sample homogeneity, and the dissimilarity of the adolescent sample from the adult prison population on which the MMPQ was developed.

Two groups of eleven retarded adults each were used as subjects. An individually consequated token economy was in effect during baseline-1 for both groups. The treatment phase of the experiment consisted of group consequation, the first group receiving a high rate of reinforcement and the second group receiving a low rate. The individual token system was reinstated for both groups during baseline-2 measures. Attending behavior and work output were measured during each phase of the experiment. Significant differences were found between group versus individually contingent reinforcement treatments on attending behaviors, and between high and low contingency groups on performance behaviors. Differences between the high contingency and low contingency groups were found to be non-significant in regard to attending behaviors.

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.

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.

Reflective eye movementa as a function of cognitive nodes were studied in English speaking and Spanish bilingual populations (N=20). A total of 40 questions were asked with the initial, lateral eye movement recorded. Questions consisted of 20 verbal-mathematical type intended to elicit right-eye movement and 20 spatial questions intended to elicit left-eye movement. A significant difference in responses was found dependent on the type of questions asked (F=114.3421,p<.001). No significant differences were obtained between the two groups.

This investigation focused on an empirical evaluation of the efficacy of preventative systematic desensitization, a recently developed psychotherapeutic technique intended to preclude the formation of a phobic or adverse autonomic reaction. While earlier research suggested the therapeutic viability of this technique, various methodological difficulties inherent in the experimental designs negated any clear an unequivocal statements regarding therapeutic efficacy. The design of the experiment central to this dissertation was developed expressly to avoid the methodological problems which characterized prior research, expand upon the hypothesis of earlier investigators, and evaluate the effectiveness of prophylactic desensitization. The following results were obtained: (a) the experimental group did not show an increase in fear on the dependent measures following conditioning, (b) the placebo control group did show a significant increase in fear on the dependent measures following conditioning, (c) the group that received traditional systematic desensitization showed a significant fear increase after conditioning which was reduced to baseline following systematic desensitization, and (d) the measurements control group confirmed the above result and showed no significant differences in fear at retests. The major conclusion of this experiment is that within the context of the laboratory, it would appear that preventive systematic desensitization is an efficient psychotherapeutic …

This investigation is concerned with demonstrating the effects of an easily managed classroom contingency-management treatment package on increasing arithmetic performance while decreasing disruptive behavior for whole classes of students. The study proposed, among other things, that programs differ in the degree to which each student must depend upon other students for reinforcement

The present study sought to alleviate the response cost inefficiency of the behavioral approach to controlling classroom hyperactivity by increasing the observer-student ratio via behavioral-electronic technology. A portable, integrated-circuit, counting and timing device was developed to enable immediate time-sequenced data recording and reinforcing of eight target behaviors by a single observer. A multiple-baseline design, across matched individuals was utilized to demonstrate the reinforcing effects. The results indicated a significant increase over mean baseline frequency in attention-to-task behavior for the group of eight students. It was concluded that by utilizing the behavioral-technological intervention strategy applied in this study, one observer could accurately monitor and reinforce eight students simultaneously and subsequently increase task attentiveness.