Month

Sex Dimension of the Dogmatism Scale: A Factor Analysis (open access)

Sex Dimension of the Dogmatism Scale: A Factor Analysis

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.
Date: May 1974
Creator: Gordon, William Knox
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Group Systematic Desensitization, Group Covert Positive Reinforcement, and Test-Retest in the Treatment of Test Anxiety (open access)

A Comparison of Group Systematic Desensitization, Group Covert Positive Reinforcement, and Test-Retest in the Treatment of Test Anxiety

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.
Date: May 1974
Creator: Smith, William Michael
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Application of Geometric Principles to the Place-Versus-Response Issue (open access)

An Application of Geometric Principles to the Place-Versus-Response Issue

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.
Date: May 1974
Creator: Williams, John Burgess
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Amount of Postshift Training on Resistance to Extinction (open access)

Effects of Amount of Postshift Training on Resistance to Extinction

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.
Date: May 1974
Creator: Wheeler, Royce Lee
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Incentive and Frustrative Cues on the Acquisition of an Alleyway Running Response in Rats (open access)

The Effects of Incentive and Frustrative Cues on the Acquisition of an Alleyway Running Response in Rats

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.
Date: May 1974
Creator: Morey, John Christopher
System: The UNT Digital Library