This investigation is concerned with demonstrating the effects of an easily managed classroom contingency-management treatment package on increasing arithmetic performance while decreasing disruptive behavior for whole classes of students. The study proposed, among other things, that programs differ in the degree to which each student must depend upon other students for reinforcement

This investigation explored relationships between four determinants of first-semester undergraduate academic achievement derived from Holland's (1973) theory of vocational development. Groups of 438 male and 468 female students completed the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory and were categorized in terms of congruency, consistency, differentiation, and modal personality type. Undergraduates with congruent college-major choices enjoyed greater academic success than students with incongruent choices. Students with high- and low-consistency personal orientation codes outperformed students with moderately consistent codes. Freshman with clearly differentiated personality profiles outperformed students with nondifferentiated profiles. The order of mean gradepoint averages for the modal personality types was not significantly correlated with Holland's predicted ordering.

Reflective eye movementa as a function of cognitive nodes were studied in English speaking and Spanish bilingual populations (N=20). A total of 40 questions were asked with the initial, lateral eye movement recorded. Questions consisted of 20 verbal-mathematical type intended to elicit right-eye movement and 20 spatial questions intended to elicit left-eye movement. A significant difference in responses was found dependent on the type of questions asked (F=114.3421,p<.001). No significant differences were obtained between the two groups.

The purpose of this study was to determine if an autistic child who had been nonverbal, and who had a history of failure to make auditory discriminations, would rely on visual cues rather than auditory cues in making speech discriminations. It was hypothesized that she would learn to articulate more correctly those words presented with concomitant visual cues than the ones with visual cues absent.

This investigation focused on an empirical evaluation of the efficacy of preventative systematic desensitization, a recently developed psychotherapeutic technique intended to preclude the formation of a phobic or adverse autonomic reaction. While earlier research suggested the therapeutic viability of this technique, various methodological difficulties inherent in the experimental designs negated any clear an unequivocal statements regarding therapeutic efficacy. The design of the experiment central to this dissertation was developed expressly to avoid the methodological problems which characterized prior research, expand upon the hypothesis of earlier investigators, and evaluate the effectiveness of prophylactic desensitization. The following results were obtained: (a) the experimental group did not show an increase in fear on the dependent measures following conditioning, (b) the placebo control group did show a significant increase in fear on the dependent measures following conditioning, (c) the group that received traditional systematic desensitization showed a significant fear increase after conditioning which was reduced to baseline following systematic desensitization, and (d) the measurements control group confirmed the above result and showed no significant differences in fear at retests. The major conclusion of this experiment is that within the context of the laboratory, it would appear that preventive systematic desensitization is an efficient psychotherapeutic …

The purpose of the present study was to compare their (avoidance contingency and positive-reinforcement contingency) relative effectiveness in producing a desired behavior.

The problem with which this study was concerned involved the identification of minimally brain-injured children. The performance on the "Birch-Belmont Auditory-Visual Integration Test" by twenty-five minimally brain-injured students was compared to the performance of twenty-five non-brain-injured children. It was found that when ages and I.Q. scores were not significantly different, and when sexes were approximately proportionate, the M.B.I. children scored significantly lower than did the non-brain-injured children. While it was indicated that the minimally brain-injured children perform less adequately on auditory-visual integration, no comparison of intrasensory and intersensory functioning was made. It was suggested that the test not be employed for sole determination of minimal brain injury, but that it may be used as a screening device quite appropriately.

The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between job satisfaction and the level of city urbanization. Significant job satisfaction differences between employees in highly urban and in moderately urban cities are expected on the basis of past research. It is hypothesized that employees in moderately urban cities will have higher satisfaction scores than employees in highly urban cities. An affirmative finding would enhance the value of the relationships described in past research, and it would imply a basis for generalization of findings along a rural-urban continuum.

This study attempts to show that there is no significant difference in performance between volunteers and non-volunteers in terms of cooperation in a psychological experiment.

The present study explored the possibility of applying Koppitz's developmental scoring techniques of mental maturity to retarded adults. The following hypotheses were tested: 1) that there is a significant correlation between the Koppitz HFD Test scores and the WAIS Full Scale scores; 2) that the correlation between the Koppitz HFD Test scores and the WAIS Performance Scale scores is also significant. Statistical computations did confirm the latter hypothesis but not the former one.

The problem investigated is that of determining if there are differences in the ability of mentally retarded persons over age 21 to learn motor skills as opposed to those under 21. Data were gathered at the Denton State School on 110 subjects. The first chapter is concerned with the theoretical background, purpose, and the hypothesis. The second chapter contains information on subjects, materials, method, and statistical treatment. The third chapter covers presentation and discussion of the data, and the fourth chapter includes the summary, conclusions and recommendations. Results of the study indicated that there were few differences between the two groups. Future studies should be run with samples from individual age groups extending from 6 through 21. This would be realistic in establishing a motor learning curve for this population.

The hypothesis was investigated that school training was more effective than on-the-job training. Of a sample of 349 male subjects, 217 received on-the-job training and 132 received school training. Data were collected and analyzed on tenure, performance, promotions, salary increases, and accidents. Training type had a significant positive correlation with tenure and accident occurrence at the .01 and .05 level, respectively, and a significant correlation with salary increase at the .05 level. A regression model using accident occurrence and salary increase yielded a prediction of training type significant at the .05 level. No difference was found between the two types of training, as measured by the study variables.

The present study sought to alleviate the response cost inefficiency of the behavioral approach to controlling classroom hyperactivity by increasing the observer-student ratio via behavioral-electronic technology. A portable, integrated-circuit, counting and timing device was developed to enable immediate time-sequenced data recording and reinforcing of eight target behaviors by a single observer. A multiple-baseline design, across matched individuals was utilized to demonstrate the reinforcing effects. The results indicated a significant increase over mean baseline frequency in attention-to-task behavior for the group of eight students. It was concluded that by utilizing the behavioral-technological intervention strategy applied in this study, one observer could accurately monitor and reinforce eight students simultaneously and subsequently increase task attentiveness.

This study investigated whether a salicylate-restricted diet (eliminating foods containing artificial additives and natural salicylates) could effectively reduce hyperactivity in children more so than a diet not restricting salicylates (ostensibly restricting foods containing refined sugar). Ten hyperactive children, nine boys and one girl, were matched on their pre-treatment activity rates and assigned to either a salicylate-restricted diet (Group I) or a diet not restricting salicylates (Group II). After approximately nine weeks, post-treatment activity rates were obtained, and a significant difference in favor of the salicylate-restricted diet group was found with this diet group exhibiting a significantly lower mean post-treatment activity rate in comparison to the group placed on a diet not restricting salicylates (p<.05). Implications for diagnosis and treatment of hyperactivity in children were discussed.

A one-trial learning color discrimination task was extrapolated from Jarvik's (1953) teaching color discrimination to primates. A yellow-blue discrimination was selected to teach eleven autistic children. As in Jarvik's, SD and SA, reinforcer and punisher, were one and the same. Sugar-flavored water was the S D alum-flavored water, S . The instrumental response of reaching for a colored glass and drinking was established. Then one-trial learning occurred. The learning tests were a block of twenty-five trials for each individual subject on the following day. The second day another block of twenty-five trials was administered to each subject. It was hypothesized that the subjects would function at a ninety per cent criterion level. None of the subjects learned the task.

This research demonstrates that experience with uncontrollable reinforcement, here defined as continuous non-contingent positive feedback to solution attempts of insoluble problems, fails to produce the proactive interference phenomenon, learned helplessness, while uncontrollable aversive events, here defined as negative feedback to solution attempts of insoluble problems, produces that phenomenon. These results partially support the "learned helplessness" hypothesis of Seligman (1975) which predicts that experience with uncontrollable reinforcement, the offset of negative events or the onset of positive ones, results in learning that responding is independent of reinforcement and that learning transfers to subsequent situations. This research further demonstrates that experience with controllability, here defined as solubility, results in enhanced competence.

The Purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of the repression-sensitization dimension and leisure preferences, specifically threatening versus nonthreatening physical activity and television program preferences. The hypotheses were that sensitizers would prefer threatening (violent) television programs and threatening (competitive) physical activities to a significantly greater degree than repressors. Sixty college undergraduates were designated repressors, sensitizers, or middle group by their scores on Byrne's Repression-Sensitization Scale. Preference sheets determined subjects' preferences for threatening and nonthreatening television programs and physical activities. Simple analyses of variance revealed no significant differences in repressors', sensitizers', or middle group's preferences for threatening television programs or physical activities, and thus the hypotheses were rejected. Non-significant tendencies in the data, in hypothesized directions, suggest further research.

The effect of selected driver and instructional variables on attitude change of school bus drivers was examined. A total of 113 male and 69 female in-service Texas school bus drivers participated. The course of instruction, totaling 20 classroom hours, consisted of 11 units related to driving efficiency. Driver attitude was measured by a multiple-choice check list, administered prior to and following the course of instruction. A significant positive change occurred in those variables related to driver age, educational attainment, and number of classroom participants. Those variables involving course participation status and sex difference resulted in no significant positive attitude change. These findings may prove helpful in designing training programs for school bus drivers.

This study attempted to clarify the relationship between visuo-spatial abilities and reading achievement at the first and fifth grades. Groups of good and poor readers were selected at each grade level on the basis of student's scores on the Wide Range Achievement Test in Reading. All subjects had obtained an I.Q. score of ninety or better. The sample was composed of twenty-one females and twenty-seven males. Four tests from the Reitan-Indiana Neuropsychological Battery were given to assess visuo-spatial ability. It was hypothesized that visuo-spatial abilities are related positively to reading achievement and that this relationship is approximately equal at the two grade levels. Statistical analyses of results gave partial support to the first hypothesis.

The purpose of this study was to assess content and concurrent validity of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). The subjects were thirty-four art majors at North Texas State University between the ages of nineteen and thirty-nine. Content validity for the TTCT, as assessed by seven judges (art professors), was very high; concurrent validity was very low. Only one judge's ranking of the criterion was significantly intercorrelated with that of the other judges (p<.05). There were no significant rho correlations between the TTCT and the criterion (p<.05). The t-ratio differences between the males and females, for all tasks of the TTCT, were non-significant (p<.05). It was concluded that the TTCT were not appropriate for use with adult art majors.

The present study was designed to determine the effect of skin-temperature-biofeedback training on cellular proliferation in three psoriasis patients. It was hypothesized that (a) psoriasis patients would be able to consciously decrease skin temperature of psoriatic tissue, and (b) there would be a positive correlation between rate of cellular proliferation and temperature change. Results obtained indicated biofeedback training to be effective in decreasing the surface temperature of psoriatic tissue. A 2 X 7 analysis of variance for two repeated measures indicated the change in skin temperatures as a function of sample period to be significant, F (6,26) = 3.29, p < .02. Generalization of temperature-training effects from the biofeedback to the no-feedback condition were observed. Rate of proliferation decreased from pretraining to posttraining biopsies.

The purpose of this experiment was to study the effect of audio feedback from an electromyograph on reading speed and comprehension. The subject reduced as much audio feedback, and thus laryngeal tension, as possible, thus permitting more efficient reading. After baseline, the subject received twelve half-hour practice sessions, six ten-minute testing sessions on easy, or light, material and six ten-minute testing sessions on difficult material. A post-test without feedback was given after training and a follow-up test, without feedback, was given. This method of training permits a higher rate of reading speed, while allowing the subject to process complex information and maintain a constant level of recall.

An investigation of concurrent validity of the Non-ah Speech Disturbance Ratio (Non-ah SDR) with the State Form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Twenty male college students talked on an anxiety-arousing topic before female audiences who rated observed anxiety. Each subject completed the State and Trait Forms of the STAI. Reliabilities were, by the Intraclass correlation for Raters on Day 1, .63 (p<.01) and Day 2, .20 (p<.05). Pearson's r for scorers was .98 (p<.01). The Non-ah SDR and all other measures of anxiety correlated. A partial correlation test found the naive ratings significantly determined by manifest speech disturbance, as measured by the Non-ah SDR. Certain categories of speech disturbance were only infrequently utilized and added little to the measure as a whole.

This study compared women with a highly positive interest in becoming mothers with women having little interest in having children,with respect to biographical data, childrearing attitudes, and personality characteristics. One hundred twenty-one undergraduate college women were administered a biographical questionnaire, the Parental Attitude Research Instrument, the Adjective Check List, and an attitude index designed to assess level of interest in having children. A statistical analysis revealed the remarkable similarity of the two groups of women, as the groups differed significantly in only two areas. Women with little interest in having children scored higher on the subscale Ascendancy of the Mother, and the women also differed in their view of the ideal situation for an adult woman.