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Managerial Assessment Centers in the Hotel Industry: Concerns with Validity (open access)

Managerial Assessment Centers in the Hotel Industry: Concerns with Validity

A replication of an original study of managerial assessment centers performed by Sackett and Dreher (1982) is presented. Their major finding, indicating that assessment centers lack key tenets of internal construct validity, was corroborated in this study of a hotel managers' assessment center. This hotel managers' assessment center is also found to be externally valid using criterion-related validity. The argument is posed that assessment centers, as standardized tests of complex behavioral traits, appear to be operating outside the bounds of normal test construction principles. Five key explanations for this paradox are offered to guide much needed future research in this area. Additionally, a description of commonly utilized assessment center activities is offered the reader.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Baker, Thomas Grant
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Grotesque Tradition in the Short Stories of Charles Bukowski (open access)

The Grotesque Tradition in the Short Stories of Charles Bukowski

The style and themes central to Bukowski's prose have roots in the literary tradition of the grotesque. Bukowski uses grotesque imagery in his writings as a creative device, explaining the negative characteristics of modern life. His permanent mood of angry disgust at the world around him is similar to that of the eighteenth-century satirists, particularly Jonathan Swift. Bukowski confronts the reader with the uglier side of America--its grime, its corruption, the constricted lives of its lower class--all with a simplicity and directness of style impeccably and clearly distilled. Bukowski's style is ebullient, with grotesquely evocative descriptions, scatological detail, and dark humor.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Cooke, James M. (James Michael)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Angry Charmer (open access)

The Angry Charmer

This screenplay, dealing with the theme of anger, is divided into three acts: setup, confrontation and resolution, respectively. Beginning in medias res, flashbacks are employed for expositions of the two main characters, Connor Tracy, alias the Angry Charmer, and Howard Goldberg. Act I opens with Connor at the wheel of a van, driving wildly, Howard accompanying. The setup is established. Act IlI returns to the careening van and then flashbacks to the college meeting of Connor and Howard. By the end of the act, the two, now unwilling relatives, go off on a European trip together. The confrontation has begun in earnest. Act III resolves the problem of Connor's anger through the purgative experi ences of the vacation, in particular the climactic ending.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Wall, Jeffrey R. (Jeffrey Robert)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Relationship Between Ventilation and Oxygen Uptake at 40% And 85% of Peak Oxygen Uptake in 18-35-Year-Old Women Using the Arm Crank Ergometer (open access)

Relationship Between Ventilation and Oxygen Uptake at 40% And 85% of Peak Oxygen Uptake in 18-35-Year-Old Women Using the Arm Crank Ergometer

This study investigated whether or not a relationship exists between ventilation and oxygen uptake at 40% and 85% of V02 peak intensity in 30 upper body fit and 30 unfit 18- 35-year-old women. The correlations between ventilation and oxygen uptake at 40% of peak intensity for the fit group (r = -.51) and the unfit group (r = -.48) were modestly negative. At 85% intensity the relationship between ventilation and oxygen uptake in the two groups was -.44 and -.66, respectively. The lower correlations between ventilation and oxygen uptake observed at the 85% level of peak intensity among the unfit group could be due to a lower ventilatory threshold (66% = fit; 49% = unfit), lesser local muscle changes, along with reduced lactate and C02 management; all of which would be improved with training.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Zervopoulos, Peter C. (Peter Cosmas)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Perspective Taking and Self Disclosure (open access)

Perspective Taking and Self Disclosure

The effects of taking a third person role on self disclosure, self sympatheticness and several nonverbal parameters of task involvement were examined in a psychotherapy analogue study. Subjects were classified as high or low in ego strength using previously established norms for college students. In the third person role subjects were instructed to describe themselves from the perspective of an "intimate and sympathetic best friend." An encouragement to talk format was used to facilitate self description from the first person. Support was not found for the hypotheses that altering the perspective used in self description would increase self disclosure and that high ego strength subjects would be better able to use a perspective taking intervention. Theoretical and methodological issues are discussed. Recommendations for future research are made.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Allen, Bruce W. (Bruce Wayne), 1958-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Perceptions of Self-Disclosure in Interpersonal Compliance-Gaining (open access)

Perceptions of Self-Disclosure in Interpersonal Compliance-Gaining

One hundred thirty-five undergraduate students were queried at North Texas State University. Perceptions of self-disclosure as a compliance-gaining tactic were surveyed. A fifteen item questionnaire was utilized. Fourteen questions were tested by an analysis of variance. One question was tested by chi-square. Data indicated that self-disclosure was viewed as an effective compliance-gaining tactic for both males and females; but females were perceived as more effective than males utilizing the tactic. Self-disclosure utilized as a compliance-gaining tactic was perceived as appropriate by both males and females. Results indicated females and males have similar perceptions regarding the appropriateness of utilizing the self-disclosure tactic. Male and female raters did not differ significantly from each other.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Vande Zande, Ann R. (Ann Rachel)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Predictive Validity of the Retail Employment Inventory for the Selection of Over-the-Road Truck Drivers (open access)

Predictive Validity of the Retail Employment Inventory for the Selection of Over-the-Road Truck Drivers

An independent pilot study suggested that the Retail Employment Inventory (REI) might be predictive of subjectively and objectively measured Over the Road (OTR) truck driver performance. The present validation study consisted of three parts. First, an examination of the relationship between REI scores and 11 objective, performance criteria revealed weak and non-significant correlations. Second, a comparison of subjective ratings and REI scores failed to replicate the findings of the pilot study. And third, to confirm that the task components of the OTR job were correctly identified in the pilot study, a second job analysis was performed. Possible reasons for the failure of the REI to predict OTR performance and directions for future research are discussed.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Nygren, Richard Edwin, 1964-
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study of Political Leadership in Democratic Theory (open access)

A Study of Political Leadership in Democratic Theory

This thesis offers an alternative of political leadership through a literature review of democratic theory as categorized into three models: classical, elitist, and egalitarian. The three models considered an ethical, an institutional, and an economic institutional postulate of political elites and their relationships. Still, the democratic elitist model emerging as the dominant model has been challenged by the egalitarian model enforcing economic institutional elites to be accountable to mass interest. As a competing idea, the egalitarian democratic model has been analyzed for its desirability over the democratic elitist model. This study is worthwhile in instigating an underscored concern surrounding economic institutional elites in the scope of accountable political elites, and in calling forth a further study on the preferred alternative, democratization of economic institutional elites.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Seong, Haeyoung
System: The UNT Digital Library
Variables Affecting Grandchildren's Perceptions of Grandparents (open access)

Variables Affecting Grandchildren's Perceptions of Grandparents

While many studies have investigated grandparenthood from the point of view of the grandparent, few have considered this issue from the perspective of the grandchild. In this respect, a number of variables (i.e., grandchild age and gender, parents' marital status, and grandparents' age, gender, education, kinship position, residential proximity to and frequency of visiting with grandchildren, perceived influence on the grandchild, style of grandparenting, and relationship with the parents) were investigated as determinants of the quality of the grandparent-grandchild relationship in a sample of 171 adolescents and young adults. It was found that different sets of variables operated for different grandparents to predict the quality of their relationships with grandchildren.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Shore, R. Jerald (Robert Jerald)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Orality, Literacy, and Character in Bleak House (open access)

Orality, Literacy, and Character in Bleak House

This work argues that the dynamics of the oral and of the literate consciousness play a vital role in the characterization of Bleak House. Through an application of Walter Ong's synthesis of orality/literacy research, Krook's residual orality is seen to play a greater role in his characterization than his more frequently discussed spontaneous combustion. Also, the role orality and literacy plays in understanding Dickens's satire of "philanthropic shams" is analyzed. This study concludes that an awareness of orality and literacy gives the reader of Bleak House a consistent framework for evaluating the moral quality of its characters and for understanding the broader social message underlying Dickens's topical satire.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Nelms, Jeffrey Charles
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Validity of the MMPI in the Selection of Police Officers (open access)

The Validity of the MMPI in the Selection of Police Officers

This study examined the validity of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) as a predictor for police officer selection. The MMPI profiles of 212 police officer applicants selected to enter the training academy were compared to the standardized MMPI norms. Significant differences between the police officers and the normative population were found on all but two scales. When the average profile of officers still on the police force was compared with the average profile of terminated officers, two scales were significantly different. Significant correlations were obtained between four MMPI scales and the academy score criterion and two scales each for the commendation and supervisory rating criteria. A prediction equation was developed for academy score using multiple regression analysis.
Date: May 1988
Creator: West, Sandra Dean
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of the Participant Selection Process Under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act: Texas and Louisiana (open access)

An Analysis of the Participant Selection Process Under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act: Texas and Louisiana

Federal guidelines required prime sponsors under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, or CETA, to serve the "significant segments" of the eligible population. This study analyzes whether prime sponsors in Texas and Louisiana correctly identified and served those segments. This study finds that eligible ethnic groups were properly identified and were served equitably; age and gender distinctions, however, were inadequately observed in the providing of services.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Drake, William D. (William Daniel), 1950-
System: The UNT Digital Library
Four Stories of Fantasy and Science Fiction (open access)

Four Stories of Fantasy and Science Fiction

This thesis contains four stories of fantasy and science fiction. Four story lengths are represented: the short short ("Dragon Lovers"), the shorter short story ("Homecoming"), the longer short story ("Shadow Mistress"), and the novel ("Sword of Albruch," excerpted here).
Date: May 1988
Creator: Drolet, Cynthia L. (Cynthia Lea)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Development of a Definition and Applied Evaluation Criteria for Psycho-Narrative Video Art (open access)

The Development of a Definition and Applied Evaluation Criteria for Psycho-Narrative Video Art

This thesis is concerned with three problems. The first is that of distinguishing and defining one category of video art. The second is developing criteria for the evaluation of works in this category. The third problem is the application of these criteria to a new psycho-narrative video art piece created by the author as well as two pieces by other artists. This paper examines the use of film and video as an art form, focusing on specific influences affecting the evolution of psycho-narrative video art. Definitions for video art and psycho-narrative video art are developed. Descriptive criteria and three critiques are used to justify the conclusions. A concluding artist statement presents the personal view of the author.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Sadlowski, Gail
System: The UNT Digital Library
Parental Expectations of Social-Emotional and Self-Help/Self-Direction Development in Abused Children (open access)

Parental Expectations of Social-Emotional and Self-Help/Self-Direction Development in Abused Children

The present study examined the existence of unrealistic expectations in abusive parents. It was hypothesized that abusive parents would have higher expectations of their children's social-emotional and self-help skills than nonabusive parents. It was also hypothesized that abusive parents would have higher expectations of their children's social-emotional skills than nonabusive parents when both groups compared their children to average children. Abusive and nonabusive parents were administered the Social Competence Scales of the Child Behavior Checklist and the Daily Living Skills domain of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. The results contradict previous studies in this area and raise questions about present conceptualizations of expectations in abusive parents and the importance of this factor in child abuse.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Costas, Lisa Daniels
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Habitat Evaluation and Management Plan for a Riparian Ecosystem (open access)

A Habitat Evaluation and Management Plan for a Riparian Ecosystem

Ecological research involving habitat studies was conducted on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River in Denton County, Texas, from spring 1985 to spring 1986. Habitat Evaluation Procedures and Habitat Suitability Index Models developed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service were applied to a 1419 hectares study area to determine the quality of habitat for four species: beaver, Castor canadensis, wood duck, Aix sponsa, pileated woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus, and white crappie, Poxomis annularis. Population estimates were generated. A wildlife management plan was developed for the study area. Habitat Suitability Index Models were found to be overly conservative, underestimating the quality of habitat in areas of ecological transition.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Wilkinson, Robert N.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Twenty-Six Two- and Three-Voiced Canons by Johann Walter Transcribed for French Horn (open access)

Twenty-Six Two- and Three-Voiced Canons by Johann Walter Transcribed for French Horn

This thesis provides modern transcriptions for horn of twenty-six two- and three-voiced canons by Johann Walter, thereby adding to the literature available from the sixteenth century for that instrument. This project specifically attempts to introduce the high school and college student hornist to modal music in strict fugal form; the transcriptions appear as an appendix. The topics discussed in the body of this thesis include the canon, Johann Walter's life and significant contributions, sixteenth-century instrumental music, musicians' guilds, the zink, and the horn. This work is not intended to offer a comprehensive history of any of these areas, but to aid the teacher and student in the preparation and performance of these transcriptions.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Balthrop, Sharon
System: The UNT Digital Library
Validating the Rorschach Defense Scale by Examining Defensive Functioning in College Students (open access)

Validating the Rorschach Defense Scale by Examining Defensive Functioning in College Students

This study attempted to provide validation for Lerner and Lerner's Rorschach Defense Scale by investigating the relationship between primitive defenses as measured by the Rorschach Defense Scale, level of object relations as measured by the Developmental Analysis of the Concept of the Object Scale, and characteristic defensive operations as assessed by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. One hundred and twenty undergraduates completed the Rorschach and MMPI, and the RDS and DACOS were applied to their Rorschach responses. The results show a significant positive correlation between use of primitive defenses and level of object relations development -and a significant negative correlation between the defense Projective Identification and MMPI scale 6 (Paranoia) elevation. Overall, these results did not support the validity of the RDS.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Esparza, Jana Scoville
System: The UNT Digital Library
Problem-Solving a Behaviorological Analysis with Implications for Instruction (open access)

Problem-Solving a Behaviorological Analysis with Implications for Instruction

The paper documents the need for an effective technology to teach problem-solving. It asserts that a behaviorological analysis of problem-solving can speed the development of an effective technology to teach problem-solving behavior. A behaviorological definition of problem-solving is proposed. The history of behaviorological approaches to problem-solving is traced and suggestions are offered that may facilitate further empirical and theoretical work. One application of a behaviorological analysis to the teaching of problem-solving is illustrated by some preliminary data on the effectiveness of a technique for teaching a type of problem-solving behavior. Suggestions for further research are provided.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Bruce, Guy S. (Guy Steven)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Raven's Song: an Original Musical (open access)

Raven's Song: an Original Musical

Raven's Song is an original musical dramatizing the conflict between paganism and Christianity. The play revolves around a woman who has become disillusioned by her people and her gods. The only gods she has ever known were blood-thirsty, appeased only by the blood and entrails of human sacrifice. Therefore, Raven resists all religion. Through providential circumstances, she is married into a Christian family and is overwhelmed by their love, and the kindness of their God. In search for truth, Raven begins to question her disbelief. All men search for truth in their own way, and all, at one time, will question the existence and nature of God. The play does not presume to answer these questions, but allows each participant to decide for himself, as Raven must decide for herself.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Tarleton, Angela Brannon
System: The UNT Digital Library
Leni: A Screenplay Based on the Career of Leni Riefenstahl (open access)

Leni: A Screenplay Based on the Career of Leni Riefenstahl

This screenplay dramatizes the controversial career of German film maker Leni Riefenstahl during ten years of her association with the Nazi Party. Beginning with the premiere of her first film in 1932, this account chronicles her rise as a film director of such films as Triumph of the Will and Olympia to her arrest after World War II on charges that she had been a Nazi sympathizer. Besides delineating the character and talents of Leni Riefenstahl, this screenplay addresses the difficult question of the relationship between politics and art.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Gillespie, Dana M. (Dana Marie)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Validity of the California Psychological Inventory for Police Selection (open access)

Validity of the California Psychological Inventory for Police Selection

The study examined the validity of using the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) as a tool for police selection. The mean CPI profile of 211 police applicants was first compared to that of the CPI norms. Five performance criterion measures--retention on the job, academy grades, supervisory ratings, commendations, and reprimands of police officers--were studied to investigate their relationships with the CPI scales. The results indicated that there were significant mean differences on all the CPI scales between police applicants and CPI norms. The scale of Flexibility significantly differentiated the criterion groups of retention on the job. The CPI was useful in predicting academy performance; however, it did not correlate well with job performance as measured by supervisory ratings, commendations, and reprimands.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Hwang, Guo Shwu-Jen
System: The UNT Digital Library
Purification and Characterization of a Differentiation Factor From Rat Lung Conditioned Medium (open access)

Purification and Characterization of a Differentiation Factor From Rat Lung Conditioned Medium

A Differentiation Factor (DF) was purified from rat lung conditioned medium by a four-steps procedure. The DF has a molecular weight of 27000, and an isoelectric point of 4.70. Although DF is stable up to 60°C, it is sensitive to digestion by trypsin, chymotrypsin and subtilisin. DF forms granulocyte colonies in soft agar. Studies using anti-NRK CSF antibody demonstrated that DF is distinct from GM-CSF.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Ansari, Naser A. (Naser Awni)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Aspects of Fathead Minnow Reproductive Behavior (open access)

Aspects of Fathead Minnow Reproductive Behavior

Following a study of normal reproductive behavior of fathead minnows, Pimephales promelas, experiments were conducted to determine the stability/variability of behavior by sexually mature, territorial males under a variety of manipulated conditions. Collectively, these experiments indicate that although the individual behaviors of fathead minnows appear to be quite variable, the overall process, reproductive behavior, is stable.
Date: May 1988
Creator: Pyron, Mark
System: The UNT Digital Library