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Programming Generalization: A Comparison of Behavioral and Cognitive Response Transfer Operations in Assertive Training (open access)

Programming Generalization: A Comparison of Behavioral and Cognitive Response Transfer Operations in Assertive Training

The assertive training literature has documented the effectiveness of both behavioral and cognitive methods to increase individual's assertiveness. However, the ability for such methods to enhance the generalization of treatment effects to untrained assertive response classes and the natural environment has been poor. In addition, little notice has been paid to the durability of these changes. Although the past several years have witnessed more intensive efforts by investigators to program generalization as part of their interventions, results have continued to be disappointing. A specific generalization-enhancing treatment strategy, self-directed practice, has been utilized with much success in phobic populations. This strategy, and the theoretical orientation it reflects, has been proposed for use in assertive training. The present study sought to examine the effectiveness of this method as compared to the traditional assertive training procedures and investigate the role of self-efficacy expectations in mediating initial behavior change and its subsequent generalization.
Date: May 1981
Creator: Lefebvre, Richard Craig
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Expertness and Similarity as Factors of Influence in the Preferences of Deaf College Students for Therapists (open access)

Expertness and Similarity as Factors of Influence in the Preferences of Deaf College Students for Therapists

This study utilized Strong's (1963) theory of counseling as a social influence process to investigate the effect of therapist's training, experience, and similarity on hearingimpaired subjects' perceptions of the therapist's expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness and their willingness to see the therapist. Increasing levels of therapists' training and work experience was hypothesized to increase subjects' perception of expertness and their willingness to see the therapist. Increasing levels of therapists' similarity to the client was hypothesized to increase subjects' perceptions of expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness and their willingness to see the therapist. Subjects' ratings of the therapist were hypothesized to change when therapists with different levels of similarity were seen in different orders of presentation.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Thigpen, Sally Elizabeth
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
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
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Nondirective and Paradoxical Therapist Communication on Core Therapeutic Conditions and Perceived Client Influence (open access)

Effects of Nondirective and Paradoxical Therapist Communication on Core Therapeutic Conditions and Perceived Client Influence

The purpose of this study was first to determine whether or not paradoxical communication could be designed to contain therapeutic levels of the core therapeutic conditions, and, second, to determine how paradoxical counselor communication compared to nondirective communication on the social influence dimensions of attractiveness, expertness, and trustworthiness. For the first phase, four judges rated audiotapes on the level of the core therapeutic conditions on one of four counseling conditions (paradox high or low on core conditions, and nondirective high or low on core conditions). For the second phase, 133 undergraduate college students were asked to listen to the four counseling conditions on audiotapes and to rate the counselor on the social influence dimensions
Date: August 1982
Creator: Beard, Myron Joseph
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Relationships of Sex-Role Identification, Self-Esteem and Attitudes Toward Women to Responses on a Scale of Sexist Humor (open access)

Relationships of Sex-Role Identification, Self-Esteem and Attitudes Toward Women to Responses on a Scale of Sexist Humor

Theories and research in the field of disparaging humor were reviewed, and sexist humor was studied as representative of this field. The relationships of sex-role identification, self-esteem, and attitudes toward women to the judgement of humor in sexist material were investigated. The Scale of Sexist Humor, developed for this investigation, utilized a set of 50 cartoons and jokes devised to approximate overlapping standard curves on the dimensions of sexist content and humor. Subjects were 57 males and 70 female undergraduate students. Each subject performed a forced Q^-sort of the cartoons and jokes, thereby rating them on a five-point scale of funniness, then completed instruments designed to evaluate sex-role identification (the Personal Attributes Questionnaire), self-esteem (The Texas Social Behavior Inventory), and attitudes toward women (the Attitudes Toward Women Scale), A demographic information sheet was also obtained from each subject to utilize in ancillary analysis.
Date: August 1983
Creator: Gravley, Norma J. (Norma Jean)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Rule Utilization and Rule Shift: A Developmental Study (open access)

Rule Utilization and Rule Shift: A Developmental Study

Current rule-utilization research indicated that subjects successively tested multiple conceptual rules, available from natural preexperimental experience, to solve a sorting task. Prior results suggested that older subjects were more efficient in utilizing rules and shifting to unused rules, possibly due to the availability of more conceptual rules at higher age levels. The experimental groups consisted of third, fourth, sixth, ninth graders, and college students. Each of the five groups contained 16 subjects. The rule-utilization procedure was applied to each group. The procedure contained a multitrial, card sorting task. The feedback given at the end of each trial was limited to the correctness of the entire card sort and did not provide information on the correctness of the sorting for any individual card. All subjects in each group were run until they used both bidimensional rules (the conjunctive and the inclusive-disjunctive rule), or until a limit of 30 trials was reached.
Date: August 1980
Creator: Rakowitz, Lambert William
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Environmental Effect: Activator of the Psychotic Process (open access)

Environmental Effect: Activator of the Psychotic Process

The purpose of the present study was to determine specific psychotic factors associated with environmental sensitivities, the changes in those tendencies occurring with ecological treatment and the extent to which those behaviors could be attributed to the chronicity of the illness. An inpatient group of 42 environmental patients was compared to an inpatient population of 20 chronic spinal pain patients. Instruments utilized in the study included the Bender Gestalt Test of Motor Ability, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) with the Harris and Lingoe subscales, and three subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised, Digit Symbol, Object Assembly, and Block Design. Data was analyzed via multivariate analysis of covariance, analysis of covariance, canonical analysis, and t tests for related and independent means.
Date: December 1984
Creator: Milam, Melody J. (Melody Joy)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Computer Games: Psychomotor Sequelae and Personological Covariates (open access)

Computer Games: Psychomotor Sequelae and Personological Covariates

This study investigated the relationship between the degree of involvement with video games of 72 male university students with performance on pilot screening tests of psychomotor abilities, perceptual abilities, and cognitive style, and also with several personological variables, school performance, locus of control, sociability, and social presence. Additionally, the effects of experience with a video game on the learning of perceptual and psychomotor skills was examined for different levels of previous computer game involvement. It was found that those students who began playing at earlier ages and who more recently played the most demonstrated increased psychomotor abilities, and those abilities appeared to be enhanced by video game play. Greater amounts of time per week spent with computer games were found to correlate with increased facility in learning perceptual skills on computerized instrumentation, and with relative underachievement in school. No systematic relationship was found between degree of video game involvement and measures of sociability, social presence, and field dependence-independence. The study concluded that computer games may have effects upon those individuals who play them, but the effects may not be as negative as many people believe.
Date: August 1983
Creator: Cordes, Dale S. (Dale Sheryl)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
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
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Use of Relaxation-Suggestions and Modeling-Instructions in Modifying Eating Behavior of Institutionalized Mentally Retarded (open access)

The Use of Relaxation-Suggestions and Modeling-Instructions in Modifying Eating Behavior of Institutionalized Mentally Retarded

Training programs designed to remediate eating deficits of higher level patients have involved some combination of verbal instructions, manual guidance, modeling, and reinforcement. Training methods which incorporate relaxation and imagery to facilitate behavior change have received little attention with this population. The current study was designed to explore the use of relaxation and suggestions as a training strategy to modify the shoveling behavior of moderately and mildly retarded institutionalized clients. Three treatment methods, relaxation-suggestion with reinforcement, modeling-instruction with reinforcement, and relaxation-suggestion alone, were compared. A greater reduction in shoveling behavior was hypothesized for the modeling-instruction with reinforcement group than for either of the relaxation-suggestion groups, and a greater reduction in shoveling behavior was hypothesized for the relaxation suggestion with reinforcement group than for the relaxation-suggestion alone group.
Date: December 1981
Creator: Polo, Linda Bridget.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
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
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Self-Disclosure: Structure and Measurement (open access)

Self-Disclosure: Structure and Measurement

An attempt was made to determine empirically the structure of self-disclosure. Based on the literature, a list of statements relating to the rating of self-disclosure was assembled. This list was condensed into dimensions by two evaluators, working independently. The dimensions were then used to score transcripts of male undergraduate students' verbal self-disclosures. Factor analyses of these scores produced four factors relating to self-focus, intimacy or depth, risk taking, and amount. A tentative fifth factor, intimacy value of disclosure topic, was also found. Regression analysis of dimensions on the Doster (1971) Disclosure Rating Scale produced three tentative scales for measuring self-disclosure. The first scale utilized stepwise regression of all dimensions, the second used stepwise regression of mechanical dimensions, and the third regression used composite scales representing the factors of the orthogonal factor analysis. For each scale, only three dimensions were included in the regression equation.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Perl, Moshe B. (Moshe Benzion)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Influence of Hypnotically-Induced Elevation of Mood on Learned Helplessness Deficits (open access)

The Influence of Hypnotically-Induced Elevation of Mood on Learned Helplessness Deficits

This study evaluated the efficacy of hypnoticallyinduced mood elevation techniques for individuals exposed previously to an experimental learned helplessness condition. The treatment conditions in this investigation included the mood elevation with hypnotic induction group as well as a mood elevation group without the benefit of hypnotic induction. As experimental controls, a group was exposed to hypnotic relaxation and an attention-only treatment group was used. Measures of treatment success included the administration of•the Depression Adjective Checklist, backward digit span, and five—letter anagrams. In a series of factorial analysis of variance procedures no significant interaction was noted although the main effect for the presence of hypnotic induction was significant with the Depression Adjective Checklist. Post hoc analysis to examine gender differences demonstrated no significant performance discrepancy between the sexes. Limitations of the study were explored and avenues of further research discussed.
Date: August 1984
Creator: Tassey, John Richard
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
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)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Maternal Employment and Family Life Cycle Stage on Women's Psychological Well-Being (open access)

The Effects of Maternal Employment and Family Life Cycle Stage on Women's Psychological Well-Being

The study examined the impact of maternal employment and family life cycle stage on the psychological well-being o£ middle socioeconomic status women. One hundred twenty eight mothers of children at the stages of birth to 6 years, 7 to 12 years and 13 to 17 years, completed a self-report questionnaire. To test the hypothesis of the study, a 3 X 3 (employment X family life cycle stage) analysis of covariance was conducted with age, income, time employed and psychological resources as covariates. Results indicated that middle socioeconomic status mothers employed full-time experienced significantly higher levels of role overload, occupational strain, spouse support and job commitment. A post hoc exploratory analysis using conflict level between commitment to work and parenting, yielded data which indicated that individuals with a large discrepancy between commitment to one role versus the other, experienced the greatest degree of difficulty. Results were evaluated in the light of selective characteristics of the sample. Recommendations for future research included the use of projective assessment to reduce the effect of defensive response styles. A life span approach using the concept of perceived conflict between roles was advanced, instead of the age specific developmental construct of family life cycle stage.
Date: August 1984
Creator: Marcus, Suzanne
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Race of Interviewer, Cultural Mistrust Level and Type of Problem on Ratings of Rapport Among Black Students (open access)

Race of Interviewer, Cultural Mistrust Level and Type of Problem on Ratings of Rapport Among Black Students

This study was to explore the relationship between race of interviewer, cultural mistrust level and type of problem upon black students' ratings of an initial interview. It was hypothesized that the combination of interviewer's race, mistrust level and the type of problem discussed would significantly influence students' ratings of the interviewer. Initially, 12 4 black students were administered the Cultural Mistrust Inventory (CMI). Based upon CMI scores, participants were divided into groups of high and low cultural mistrust. Next, half of these participants were interviewed by one of five white interviewers and the remainder were interviewed by one of five black interviewers. Within each of these groups, half of the participants were asked to discuss problems with their racial identity and the others were asked to discuss their vocational aspirations. After the session, each subject rated the interviewer on the Counselor Evaluation Inventory, Counselor Rating Form and Counselor Effectiveness Rating Scale.
Date: August 1983
Creator: Stephens, Jacqualene J. (Jacqualene Jones)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Allocation of Attention: Effects on Classical Conditioning (open access)

Allocation of Attention: Effects on Classical Conditioning

According to Deikman (1966), meditation (defined as a training to sustain attention) has a deautomatizing effect. This ascertion was utilized in the present study as a departure point and explored within an information processing framework for classical conditioning. A sample of 48 college students was selected and randomly assigned to four conditions with different instructional sets involving allocation of attention during a classical conditioning background situation. The basic hypothesis of the study was that provided arousal factors were controlled, focusing of attention upon internal stimulation (i.e. breathing) could delay or attenuate the affect of conditioning, habituation and extinction as compared with instructions to externally allocate attention (on the CS and US). A secondary hypothesis predicted that for subjects under switching conditions changing from internal to external allocation and vice versa would produce a more pronounced extinction pattern as compared with subjects under non—switching conditions.
Date: December 1984
Creator: Michel, Sergio B. (Sergio Barboza)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Assessment Center Ratings as a Function of Personality Factors, Sex and Rating System (open access)

Assessment Center Ratings as a Function of Personality Factors, Sex and Rating System

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between the traditional global rating scale and a new behavioral rating scale in a university-based assessment center. It was hypothesized that personality factors, as measured by the 16PF and associated with the global ratings of performance would differ from those associated with the behavioral ratings of performance. It was further hypothesized that the associated personality factors would also differ for males and females. These hypotheses were ^confirmed. Pearson correlations were computed for ratings of males, females, and all subjects combined on both global and behavioral rating scales.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Brennan, Mary Maureen
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Programmed Instruction as a Means of Enhancing Group Intelligence Test Performance of Externalizing Children (open access)

Programmed Instruction as a Means of Enhancing Group Intelligence Test Performance of Externalizing Children

This study focused on two major areas of investigation: (1) locus of control and (2) the influence on test performance of anxiety and motivation. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of programmed instruction dealing with motivation, anxiety, and test-wiseness as a means of enhancing group intelligence test performance of externalizing children. While earlier research demonstrated the viability of this technique x^ith a heterogeneous sample, no studies have utilized any kind of instruction to facilitate the performance of externalizers on standardized tests. It was hypothesized that intelligence test performance would be enhanced by programmed instruction. Furthermore, externalizers were expected to demonstrate greater gains than internalizers, which would thereby suggest that locus of control provides a source of variance in intellectual assessment.
Date: August 1980
Creator: Petty, Nancy Elizabeth
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cognitive Strategies for the Control of Experimentally Induced Pain: The Role of Pleasantness and Relevance of Content in Imagery (open access)

Cognitive Strategies for the Control of Experimentally Induced Pain: The Role of Pleasantness and Relevance of Content in Imagery

This study compared the relative efficacy of four imagery techniques in increasing tolerance to cold pressor pain. Relevant pleasant, relevant unpleasant, irrelevant pleasant, and irrelevant unpleasant imagery strategies were compared in a two-way factorial design. Prior research suggested that pleasantness and relevance both affect imagery potency. This study attempted to assess the relative contribution of these two variables to increases in pain tolerance. Also investigated were the roles of several hypothesized mediating variables; namely, contextual valence, self-efficacy, treatment credibility, and involvement in imagery. The subjects were 60 female undergraduates who were randomly assigned to the four imagery groups. Two-way analysis of covariance were performed on all dependent variables, using pain threshold as the covariate. Pearons r.'s were used to test correlational hypotheses.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Geary, Thomas Dennis
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
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
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Counseling Outcomes and Perceived Counselor Social Influence: Validity of the Counselor Rating Form Extended (open access)

Counseling Outcomes and Perceived Counselor Social Influence: Validity of the Counselor Rating Form Extended

This study investigated predictor variables of the Counselor Rating Form dimensions of expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness using the predicted variable of therapy outcome, measured by Goal Attainment Scaling and postcounseling scores on the Counselor Rating Form. One hundred-fifteen mental health center outpatients agreed to participate. Forty subjects (25 females and 15 males) met all criteria and were labeled "completors." An additional 30 subjects, labeled "dropouts," enrolled but did not meet criteria. These subjects' data were considered in a separate analysis for prediction of treatment continuation. All subjects rated their own need for therapy before their initial interview. After the initial and final interviews, both the subject and the counselor completed the Counselor Rating Form, rating their perceptions of the counselor1s behavior during that session. The Goal Attainment Scaling was used to generate both pre- and postcounseling outcome scores on each subject's individual, personalized goals.
Date: August 1982
Creator: Rucker, Iris Elaine Votaw
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
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)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Stress-Inoculation Treatment Procedure for Test Anxiety in Elderly Students (open access)

A Stress-Inoculation Treatment Procedure for Test Anxiety in Elderly Students

The major purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a stress-inoculation treatment and an equally credible attention-placebo control in alleviating self-reported test anxiety and in facilitating intellectual performance in nontraditional (aged 50 and over) college students. Many studies have demonstrated the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral approaches in the treatment of test anxiety among young college students. The literature suggests that persons returning to school after a long absence who have subsequently enrolled as college students experience greater test anxiety and decrements in test performance in evaluative situations than their younger counterparts.
Date: December 1982
Creator: Kooken, Robert A. (Robert Andrews)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library