55 Matching Results

Results open in a new window/tab.

Children's Perceptions of Family Environment in Step and Intact Families (open access)

Children's Perceptions of Family Environment in Step and Intact Families

This purpose of this research study was to identify key differences that distinguish stepfamilies from intact families with regard to individual members' perceptions of family environment and family functioning. Additionally, an initial look at how membership in a stepfamily impacts the young children's perceptions of interpersonal family functioning is offered.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Elliott, Lisa M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Meal Size and Type, and Level of Physical Activity on Perceived Masculinity, Femininity, Likability and Attractiveness (open access)

Effects of Meal Size and Type, and Level of Physical Activity on Perceived Masculinity, Femininity, Likability and Attractiveness

Previous research indicates that women are judged on the amount of food eaten and that both men and women are judged on the type of food eaten. This study is an attempt to determine whether meal size or type predominantly accounts for these findings on the variables of masculinity, femininity, attractiveness, thinness, fitness, and likability. Physical activity was also included to determine its effect on these variable. Subjects used were 313 undergraduate students. Results indicate that meal type is more influential than meal size and that physical activity significantly influences judgements of others. The results are discussed in terms of future research and relatedness to socio-cultural theories of eating disorders.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Hill, Christie D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Commitment as an Indicator of Turnover in First Line Manufacturing Supervision (open access)

Commitment as an Indicator of Turnover in First Line Manufacturing Supervision

Organizational commitment is most commonly defined as a measure of an employee's commitment to the company or larger organization. In a longitudinal study, the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire was administered to 123 first line manufacturing supervisors in a defense contracting firm. After a one year check, subjects were grouped into categories of voluntary and involuntary turnover. The results suggest that significant relationships exist among the variables of departmental commitment, turnover and tenure. However, the study failed to show any relationship between organizational commitment and turnover.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Tuggle, Tamara K. (Tamara Kay)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship of Adult Attachment Styles to Working Models and Behaviors in Marriage (open access)

The Relationship of Adult Attachment Styles to Working Models and Behaviors in Marriage

The relationship between adult attachment style and romantic relationship quality in marriage relationships was explored. Romantic relationship quality was measured at the working model (or perceptual) and the behavioral levels. No previous research had investigated romantic relationship quality as reflecting specific attachment related perceptions of self and spouse or as attachment related behaviors. Two hundred and six married subjects were recruited from university campuses, churches, and on an individual basis. Most of the subjects were white, middle class, and had children. Subjects completed self-report questionnaires measuring adult attachment style, working model of self and romantic partner, and reports of relationship behaviors of self and romantic partner. The first hypothesis proposed that attachment style differences would be seen in specific attachment related working models of self and romantic partner. The second hypothesis proposed that attachment style differences would be seen in reports of attachment related behaviors for self and romantic partner. Hypotheses were tested using multivariate analysis of variance.
Date: March 1994
Creator: Creath, Maxine Kay
System: The UNT Digital Library
Neuropsychological Functioning of Blind Subjects with Learning Disabilities Compared to Those with Blindness Alone (open access)

Neuropsychological Functioning of Blind Subjects with Learning Disabilities Compared to Those with Blindness Alone

It has been hypothesized that a disproportionate percentage of the blind population are learning disabled. In the past, norms and technology were not available to assess in a cost effective manner the blind client's neuropsychological functioning. Norms for the Wide Range Achievement Test - Revised (WRAT-R2) are now available for a blind population without any neuropsychological dysfunctioning. This study utilized the adapted WRAT-R2 and the Comprehensive Vocational Evaluation System (CVES), a neuropsychological test battery adapted for the blind, to investigate the possibility that learning disabilities are present in the adult blind population. Suspected learning disabled, blind subjects were compared with normal blind subjects. There were significant neuropsychological differences between the two groups.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Rabeck, Deborah D. (Deborah Denise)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Age/Cohort Differences in Aspects of the Self-System (open access)

Age/Cohort Differences in Aspects of the Self-System

Age/cohort differences in several aspects of the self-system were investigated utilizing a sentence completion paradigm. Eighty-eight adults over age sixty and one hundred eight adults under age forty served as subjects. Subjects were asked to complete 30 self-referent sentence stems which were pre-structured to elicit information from the self-system. Responses were subjected to a content analysis utilizing a coding system which contained concepts used by subjects in their self-representations. Contents were coded for dimensions conceptually related to Physical Health, Autonomy, Self-Evaluation, Depression, Spirituality, and Altruism. Frequencies of codings were counted and subjected to statistical analysis for performing age group comparisons.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Hanselka, Larry L. (Larry Lynn)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Middle Aged and College Aged Adults' Perceptions of Elder Abuse (open access)

A Comparison of Middle Aged and College Aged Adults' Perceptions of Elder Abuse

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of (a) respondent age, (b) age and gender of perpetrator and victim, and (c) history of experienced violence on perceptions of elder abuse. Two-hundred and one (N = 201) middle-aged adults and 422 college students were assessed. Measures included adaptations of the Severity of Violence Against Women Scale and Elder Abuse Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions Scale-Revised. Middle-aged respondents viewed psychological behaviors more harshly than young. Middle-aged females and young males were less tolerant of middle-aged perpetrators. While past performance of elder abuse was predictive of future elder abuse, history of childhood abuse was not. Exploratory analyses examined middle-aged respondents' judgments of abusive behaviors and perceptions based on age of perpetrator. Middle-aged and young adults' willingness to respond to dimensions of quality, severity, and reportability were also examined.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Childs, Helen W. (Helen Warren)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Predictors of Compliance and Aggressive Behavior in the Presence of Command Hallucinations (open access)

Predictors of Compliance and Aggressive Behavior in the Presence of Command Hallucinations

The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Change Version (SADS-C), the Social Adjustment Scale-Patient Version II (SAS-PATII) and the Command Hallucination Questionnaire (CAQ) were administered to 86 psychotic inpatients to investigate the relationship between command hallucinations, aggressive behavior, and compliance. Two SADS-C items ("severity of hallucinations" and "depersonalization") were useful as indicators of command hallucinations. Ninety-two percent had complied with their command at least once in the past month. Three SADS-C variables related to compliance with command hallucinations were identified: middle insomnia, the belief that the voice was acting in your best interest, and overt irritability. The patients' level of distortion of reality did not appear to influence compliance rates. Results also indicated that patients who experience command hallucinations were not significantly more or less dangerous than other psychotic inpatients.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Kasper, Mary E. (Mary Elizabeth)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Memory and Attention in the Healthy Elderly (open access)

Memory and Attention in the Healthy Elderly

This study investigated the influence of age and health status on verbal and visual memory and attention. The objective was to select subjects resembling participants in normative studies, and to contrast the genuinely healthy component with the "contaminants." A rigorous and detailed self-report of health status plus a standard neurological examination were used to screen and divide subjects into two health status groups: normal and super healthy. It was speculated that the strong effect of age on memory and attention commonly found among the elderly would be diminished with more restrictive control over health status.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Orchard, Rebecca J. (Rebecca Jean)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Breast Cancer Screening Health Behaviors in Older Women (open access)

Breast Cancer Screening Health Behaviors in Older Women

Health beliefs of 221 postmenopausal women were assessed to predict the Breast Cancer Screening Behaviors of breast self-examination (BSE) and utilization of mammography. Champion's (1991) revised Health Belief Model (HBM) instrument for BSE, which assesses the HBM constructs of Seriousness, Susceptibility, Benefits, Barriers, Confidence and Health Motivation, was utilized along with her Barriers and Benefits instrument for mammography usage. Ronis' and Harel's (1989) constructs of Severity-Late and Severity-Early were evaluated along with Cuing and demographic variables. These exogenous latent constructs were utilized in a LISREL path model to predict Breast Cancer Screening Behavior.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Hammond, Marsha V.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Personality Correlates of Anorexia Nervosa in a Nonclinical Sample (open access)

Personality Correlates of Anorexia Nervosa in a Nonclinical Sample

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between anorexia nervosa and several personality traits. Past research in this area has been contradictory for several reasons. Sociocultural theories have described the media's role in promoting eating disorders by portraying a thin body-type as the ideal. However, they have neglected to describe the personality ideal which our society promotes in women. It is proposed here that anorexics incorporate and oppose this ideal. Therefore, the anorexic personality is one filled with conflict.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Rogers, Rebecca L. (Rebecca Lynn)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Training Condom Use Skills for Sexually Active College Students (open access)

Training Condom Use Skills for Sexually Active College Students

Eighty-nine single, sexually active, heterosexual college students (ages 17-24) participated in one of two intervention conditions. Experimental groups were taught skills specific to condom use and sexual communication via a multimedia presentation. Control groups viewed a video on an unrelated topic. Individuals in the experimental conditions were expected to show higher levels of self-efficacy, greater knowledge concerning diseases, and improved attitudes about condoms immediately following the intervention. They were also expected to report safer sexual practices at the one month follow-up. Findings reveal that improved attitude and knowledge scores did not translate into behavioral changes.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Smith, Teresa E. (Teresa Elizabeth)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Racial Differences in Female Achievement Motivation and Motivation to Work (open access)

Racial Differences in Female Achievement Motivation and Motivation to Work

In the present project racial differences in female achievement motivation and motivation to work were examined, and related this information to the theory that African American females, when compared to White females, are less likely to marry someone equal to themselves in the areas of education, employment, and earning potential because of an assumed shortage of suitable African-American males. It was hypothesized that African-American females would score higher on assessments of achievement motivation and motivation to work, and rate lower the likelihood of meeting and marrying a partner equal in education level, employment level, and earning potential than would White females. Data analysis supported all hypotheses. The results were discussed in the context of the female achievement motivation literature as well as the literature concerning female motivation to work.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Bruner, Yolanda Kaye
System: The UNT Digital Library
Precocious Ego Development in Physically Abused Children (open access)

Precocious Ego Development in Physically Abused Children

The Rorschach records and Wechsler Intelligence Scale scores of sixty-six children between the ages of 5 and 13 were compared. Subjects in each group were from one of three conditions: children who have documented histories of physical abuse, children referred for clinical intervention with no history of abuse, and a community sample of children with no documented history of abuse or psychological treatment. Data from the groups were analyzed to examine evidence of increased reliance on ego functions related to motor activity and concurrent deficits in other areas of ego function by subjects in the physical abuse group. Results revealed that the physical abuse group showed a greater tendency toward color-dominant responses on the Rorschach than the comparison groups and that the Community control group produced records with lower extended form quality than the clinical groups. No significant differences were found for Performance/Verbal IQ split, EB style, Cooperative Movement or Aggressive content.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Coyle, Edward L. (Edward Louis), 1965-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Magical Contagion and AIDS Scale: Development and Validation (open access)

Magical Contagion and AIDS Scale: Development and Validation

A Magical Contagion and AIDS Scale was developed to address problems with existing Contagion and AIDS measures. Magical Contagion is an influence that exists after contact is terminated. It is comprised of Permanence, Holographic Effects, Moral Germ Conflation and Backward Action. Data from 280 undergraduates revealed low mean levels of Magical Contagion and AIDS. Contagion effects did not differ on demographic variables. Content validity, criterion-related validity, discriminate validity, and internal consistency were evaluated. Significant correlations were found between the Contagion Scale and Merging/Separation and Homophobia Scales. Negative correlations were found between the Contagion scale and the AIDS knowledge and social desirability scales. Alpha reliabilities were high (a > .93) for the Contagion scale and subscales. Factor analysis suggested the existence of a single factor and mixed support for three factors.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Oizumi, Joelle J. (Joelle Julienne)
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
Impact of Interpersonal Skills Training on the Effectiveness of Self-Managed Work Teams (open access)

Impact of Interpersonal Skills Training on the Effectiveness of Self-Managed Work Teams

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the teams that received interpersonal training would function more effectively as a team than the teams that did not receive training. Individuals from a large division of a major defense contractor in the southern part of the United States served as subjects. Data were collected using the Team Effectiveness Profile designed to measure team effectiveness. This survey measures the overall score as well as five sub-scores. It was hypothesized that the teams that received training would function more effectively than the teams that did not receive training. The hypotheses were not supported. Results were explained, among other things, by the internal and external changes that hampered the transition towards self-managed work teams.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Flax, Stacey L. (Stacey Lynn)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Relationship of Team Design and Maintenance on Performance and Satisfaction for Self-Directed Work Teams (open access)

Relationship of Team Design and Maintenance on Performance and Satisfaction for Self-Directed Work Teams

Five models for designing work teams from the Work Group Design Measure (Campion & Medsker, 1992b) and the models7 relationships to effectiveness criteria were compared using 30 self-directed work teams (SDWTs) in a manufacturing/production setting of a large defense contractor. The models which are from social psychology, socio-technical systems theory, industrial engineering, and organizational psychology include Job Design, Composition, Context/Resources, Potency/Interdependence, and Process. The study also examined distinguishing demographics, team characteristics, and interpersonal processes within the teams that differentiate higher performing teams and/or teams with higher job satisfaction. Effectiveness criteria were performance and job satisfaction. Among the findings, four of the five team design models (i.e., excluding the Composition Model), and the team-oriented interpersonal group processes correlated with performance and SDWT member job satisfaction.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Root, Dawn G. (Dawn Gaignat)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Depression and Heart Rate Variability in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease (open access)

Depression and Heart Rate Variability in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Depression is an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Altered autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, a common feature of depression, is also a risk factor for cardiac events in patients with CAD. Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects ANS activity, and reduced HRV predicts morbidity in cardiac populations. The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences in HRV exist between depressed and nondepressed patients with CAD. Twenty-one depressed inpatients, with angiographically documented CAD were retrospectively matched to 21 nondepressed CAD patients by sex, age, and smoking status. Demographic, medical, psychological interview data, and 24-hour ECG recordings were obtained. Depressed subjects had significantly lower HRV, or trends toward lower HRV, than nondepressed subjects, even after controlling for severity of CAD. Subject groups did not differ on left ventricular ejection fraction, history of myocardial infarction, or any other relevant medical variable assessed. These results suggest that depression is associated with decreased HRV in patients with CAD, and may help to explain the increased rates of cardiac events observed in CAD patients with depression.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Saunders, Roger D. (Roger Dean)
System: The UNT Digital Library
MMPI-2 Correlates of Chronic Pain: An Examination of the Role of Anger (open access)

MMPI-2 Correlates of Chronic Pain: An Examination of the Role of Anger

The primary purpose of the present study was to examine the potential relationships that exist between anger expression, as measured by several MMPI-2 scales, and chronic pain.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Nieberding, Ron J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Preparedness to Counsel HIV-Positive Clients: a Survey of Practitioners (open access)

Preparedness to Counsel HIV-Positive Clients: a Survey of Practitioners

This purpose of this study was to investigate and examine the attitudes of therapists who treat HIV-positive (HIV+) clients. Specifically, therapists' perceptions of their own preparedness in dealing with specific issues and emotions of HIV+ clients were examined. Also, therapists' evaluation of their own efficacy of specific therapeutic approaches with HIV+ clients was examined. These therapists' perceptions and evaluations of all their clients in general were compared to their HIV+ clients. Comparisons were also made within the two groups.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Rowe, Christina J. (Christina Jo)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Object Representations of Sexually and Multiply Abused Females: A TAT Analysis (open access)

Object Representations of Sexually and Multiply Abused Females: A TAT Analysis

Object representations of sexually abused girls were compared to those of a clinical control group with no history of maltreatment. In addition, girls subjected to sexual abuse by itself were compared with girls who were sexually abused in conjunction with physical abuse and/or neglect (i.e., multiply abused). TAT stories were analyzed using the Object Relations and Social Cognition Scale which assesses four dimensions of object relations. It was hypothesized that sexually abused children would manifest more general and highly pathognomic impairment than controls along four dimensions of object relations. It was also hypothesized that multiple abuse would be associated with more general and highly pathognomic impairment in object relations than sexual abuse by itself.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Thode, Rick D. (Rick Davis)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Ambiguity on Peak Weightlifting Performance : A Study of Experienced Weightlifters (open access)

The Effect of Ambiguity on Peak Weightlifting Performance : A Study of Experienced Weightlifters

Recent studies in the area of sport and exercise science have suggested that weightlifting performance may be significantly improved under ambiguous conditions—namely, when the amount to be lifted is unknown. In the present study, procedural concerns from previous studies examining the effect of ambiguity were noted and a methodological variation was introduced.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Rattan, Randall Hampton
System: The UNT Digital Library
Factors Impacting Employee Acceptance of an Alternative Reward System (open access)

Factors Impacting Employee Acceptance of an Alternative Reward System

This study is intended to analyze employee acceptance of an alternative reward system that reinforces continuous learning, teamwork, major expansion of individual capabilities, business knowledge application, and business unit (team) performance. This system is in contrast with traditional pay systems that reward seniority and individual performance determined by the subjective ratings of a direct supervisor, with pay increases based mainly on current job grade (and the availability of higher job grades within the company) and comparison with market value of the job. Individuals from three areas of a major electronics manufacturing company in the southwestern part of the United States served as subjects.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Rose, Jodi (Jodi Louise)
System: The UNT Digital Library