Recent sex role research suggested that androgynous subjects demonstrated better adjustment than sex-typed subjects. Fundamentalist religious belief, however, has strongly supported sex role differentiation. This study hypothesized that the effect of appropriate sex role typing or androgyny on self-esteem would depend on religious belief. Although this hypothesis was not supported, a main effect on sex roles for females was obtained; androgynous females had a higher self-esteem level than feminine females. In addition, males in this study had a higher self-esteem level than females.

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.

Literature in semiotics lacks consideration of the elements in symbols that communicate specific concepts. Prohibition was the concept chosen for study. Potential prohibitors were represented by line configurations superimposed on background symbols. Seven prohibitors coupled with symbol backgrounds to form 49 experimental symbols were studied through a symbol inventory. Prohibitors constituted the independent variable, while dependent variables were verbal responses by 105 college students to the experimental symbols. Two hypotheses were tested: a) Prohibitors differ in effectiveness in communicating prohibition and b) Prohibitors differ in frequency of distortion of symbol meaning. Chi square analyses and comparisons of proportions showed diagonal lines most frequently elicited prohibition responses. A chi square analysis displayed no significant relationship between prohibitors in distortion of symbol meaning.

A procedure in which the S- was prevented from being responded to, by electro-magnets, was used to establish color discriminations. The procedure was modified in Situation 1, to include the prevention of responses to the S+ if the S- was responded to first. The original procedure and modified procedure were used in Situation 1, with only the modified procedure being used in Situations 2 and 3. The procedure of reinforcing responses to the S+ and extinguishing responses to the S-, through nonreinforcement, was used in Situation 4. Data recorded consisted of the number of trials, the number of reinforcements, and which stimulus was first responded to. Criteria for the acquisition of a discrimination was 100 first responses to the S+. Results indicated that the modified procedure was much more effective in establishing the discriminations, than the original procedure or the procedure of reinforcing responses to the S+ and extinguishing responses to the S-. The modified procedure enhanced the establishment of stimulus control, reduced the number of errors and eliminated stereotyped responses.

The problem of this study was to factor-analyze Rokeach's Dogmatism Scale and examine the factor structures of the scale for differences in the solutions obtained for the male and female groups. It was hypothesized that the Dogmatism Scale consists of several discriminable dimensions of the construct dogmatism and that these dimensions differ significantly for males and females. The dogmatism scale was administered to 186 male and 115 female college students. The male and female solutions yielded thirteen and sixteen orthogonal factors, respectively. Six male factors and eleven female factors were unique to their respective sex groups, indicating that the Dogmatism Scale is multidimensional and that significant sex differences are found when these dimensions are examined.

The investigation was concerned with determining the effectiveness of group systematic desensitization and group covert positive reinforcement, with a control group. The two treatment conditions were to be compared if both were effective in reducing test anxiety as measured by the College Form of the Test Anxiety Questionnaire. Three groups were employed, two treatment and one control group, with four subjects in each. An analysis of covariance yielded insignificant results at the .05 level. A review of the literature was presented, procedural aspects of the treatments were covered, and possible reasons for the insignificant results were discussed.

By applying geometric analysis to some experimental maze situations the present study attempted to determine if a continuity in the responding of experimental Ss existed. This continuity in responding might suggest the presence of alternative explanations for the behavior of these Ss in some maze problems. The study made use of a modified version of the Tolman, Ritchie, and Kalish (1946a) experiment using six runways during training rather than one. The results of the study show that three of the six groups obtained the identical angle of choice, angle between the runway trained on and the runway chosen during the experimental trial, indicating the possibility of an underlying behavioral factor determining this continuity in responding.

The investigation sought to examine resistance to extinction (Rn) as a function of previous experience with downward shifts in reward magnitude. It was suggested that previous research conducted within the framework of the Spence-Amsel frustration hypothesis and the sequential hypothesis failed to administer sufficient postshift trials to adequately establish the relationships that may exist. Under one condition, four groups of rats received twenty extinction trials following forty postshift trials. Under another condition, four groups were extinguished following eighty postshift trials. An inverse magnitude of reward effect occurred in the preshift phases, however, which prevented an adequate analysis of either the shift or the Rn data, This unexpected effect was discussed within the framework of Black's incentive-motivation interpretation of reinforcement.

The motivational properties of Longstreth's (1970) definitions of incentive and frustrative cues were tested using 32 rats in a two phase straight alleyway experiment. During pretraining, incentive cue Ss were presented a visual cue prior to reinforcement; frustrative cue Ss experienced the visual cue simultaneously with reinforcement. Ss encountered the same cue in mid-alley during 40 CRF training trials. Significant inhibition developed as frustrative cue Ss passed through the cue and postcue segments. Significant incentive effects occurred midway through training only in the postcue segment. Differential resistance to extinction was not found. The results did not support all of Longstreth's assumed functions. The motivational effects were interpreted using Spence's and Amsel's instrumental learning paradigms.