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Test Anxiety and Exam-Taking Skills as Mediators of Information Processing in College Students

Description: Cognitive-attentional test anxiety theory posits that test-anxious individuals direct attention internally, thus interfering with task-relevant information processing. Nevertheless, working-memory deficits are often obscured by compensatory exertion of increased effort by anxious subjects on cognitive tasks. Failure to identify anxietyspecific performance decrements has led some authors to replace the test anxiety construct with one emphasizing skill deficiencies. This investigation examined wh… more
Date: August 1982
Creator: Paulman, Ronald George
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Interpersonal Reactions to Bereaved Parents: An Exploration of Attachment and Interpersonal Theories

Description: The experiment examined negative social reactions to bereaved parents from unrelated others. Both the behavior displayed by the parent and attachment style of the perceiver were expected to influence reactions to bereaved parents. Undergraduates at a southern university (N = 239) completed both attachment measures and measures of reactions to videotapes of bereaved parents. Results indicated that bereaved parents do indeed receive negative evaluations from unrelated others, in the form of decre… more
Date: June 1990
Creator: Wilhite, Thomas R. (Thomas Ray)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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A Comparison of Counterconditioning and Role-Playing Strategies in the Hypnotic Treatment for Cigarette Smoking

Description: This study compared the relative efficacy of two different theoretically-derived strategies in the hypnotic treatment for cigarette smoking. The use of counterconditioning suggestions (present or absent) was compared to the use of role-playing suggestions (present or absent) in a two-way factorial design. Also investigated was whether there were any pretreatment variables which could predict successful long-term smoking control. Fifty adult chronic smokers were matched on the dimensions of base… more
Date: December 1984
Creator: Bowman, David Ross
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Premenstrual Syndrome: Daily Stress and Coping Style

Description: The premenstrual syndrome (PMS) continues to be an enigma for many: those women who report PMS, for professionals who attempt to treat premenstrual symptoms, and for researchers attempting to identify PMS and to compare treatments. The present study investigated the responses from 86 subjects between the ages 30-45 for their perceptions of daily stress and coping styles by PMS level. Three levels of PMS were formulated by subject responses to the questionnaire (a) PMS for scores within the crit… more
Date: August 1985
Creator: Schulte, Murriel Ardath
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Treatment of Insomnia in Cancer Patients Using Muscle Relaxation Training

Description: Previous research suggested that sleep onset insomnia was significantly reduced with the use of relaxation techniques; however, the majority of these studies used college student populations with mild to moderate insomnia. The objective of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of using muscle relaxation training in a clinical population known to have sleeping difficulties—cancer patients. Results of this study suggest that muscle relaxation training is an effective technique to redu… more
Date: December 1979
Creator: Cannici, James Paul
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Effects of Videotape Playback on Causal Attribution in Distressed Couples

Description: A videotape playback treatment was investigated in the present study with regard to its effects on acceptance of responsibility for conflict in distressed couples. Three major hypotheses were tested. The first hypothesis that subjects given videotape playback of their pretherapy sessions would show a significant increase in self-attribution was supported.The second hypothesis that subjects who received videotape playback of their pretherapy sessions would show a significant increase in the freq… more
Date: May 1980
Creator: Thompson, Ron Allan
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Critical Expectations of Workers Undergoing a Major Change in the Workplace

Description: In an effort to determine whether job satisfaction and expectations in a group of workers undergoing major change in the workplace differ from groups of workers not undergoing major change, data were collected from three groups of workers at the operator level in a major U.S. electronics manufacturing company. Two of the groups were not undergoing a major work redesign and served as control groups. A group undergoing the early stages of a major work redesign, characterized primarily by their fo… more
Date: May 1990
Creator: Cheney, Alan B. (Alan Bruce)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Processes of Relapse and Recovery in Alcoholics

Description: This study was designed to investigate risk factors for resumption of alcohol use during the early period following treatment. Specifically, the influence of cognitions, stressful life events, subjective appraisal of stress, expectancies about alcohol use, and personal coping responses was explored.
Date: August 1984
Creator: Floyd, Dorthy Rhea
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Relationship Between Mood Elevation and Attribution Change in the Reduction of Depression

Description: This study investigated the relationship between the depressive attributional style described by Beck and Seligman and elevation of mood. It was proposed that mood elevation would reduce the level of depression and, in addition, would reduce the number of negative attributions. The reduction of negative attributions was assumed to be a more cognitively mediated process and was proposed to occur subsequent to mood change. These assumptions are contrary to the current cognitive theories of depres… more
Date: August 1985
Creator: Swenson, Carol
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

First-Time Parenthood: Attachment, Family Variables, Emotional Reactions, and Task Responsibilities as Predictors Of Stress

Description: The purpose of this study was to explore factors which are predictive of parenting stress for first-time parents. Based on attachment theory and empirical research, the factors investigated were the responsibility for child care and housework, the current and retrospective relationship with the family of origin, the change in emotions related to parenthood, the marital relationship, and attachment and individuation.
Date: December 1990
Creator: Abbott, Donna Christine
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Effects of Reframing and Self-Control Statements on Loneliness, Depression and Controllability

Description: Reframing, a therapy technique which allows the therapist to restate a situation or problem so that it is perceived in a new way, has received considerable attention recently because of its purported positive effects on the therapeutic process. The increase in the use of reframing has taken place despite an absence of empirical confirmation of its effectiveness. Proponents of reframing comment on its usefulness early in the therapeutic process as a means for helping clients to more positively v… more
Date: August 1983
Creator: Garber, Ronald Alan
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Premarital Contraceptive Behavior: Attitude Among Adolescents

Description: This study investigated attitudes toward personal use of premarital contraception among sexually active adolescent males and females. All students within the selected classrooms were asked to complete questionnaires assessing attitudes toward contraception, contraceptive knowledge, and sociodemographic and sex-related life history variables. Subjects were rated with regard to their effectiveness of contraception (high, moderate, or low). Separate univariate analyses indicated the following: The… more
Date: May 1980
Creator: Nelson-Wernick, Eleanor
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Reframing, Self-Control, and Neutral Interventions: The Differential Influence on High and Low Trait-Anxious Individuals

Description: This study compared the differential influence of reframing, self-control, and neutral counselor interventions on high and low trait-anxious subjects' self -descriptions as measured by the Adjective Check List. Reframing was predicted to be superior to self-control and neutral interventions in eliciting more favorable self-descriptions. An interaction was also predicted between counselor intervention and trait anxiety such that, in the reframing condition, low trait-anxious subjects would descr… more
Date: August 1983
Creator: Stewart-Bussey, Duke J. (Duke Jeffery)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Employed Stepmothers: Psychological Stress, Personal Adjustment, Psychological Needs, and Personal Values

Description: Employed and non-employed stepmothers were compared on four psychological dimensions: stress, adjustment, needs, and values. Employed stepmothers were hypothesized to experience greater stress, lower adjustment, different needs, and different values. Racial and race by employment status differences along these four dimensions were also addressed.
Date: August 1983
Creator: Rila, Barbara A. (Barbara Ann)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Cognitive Congruence and Interactional Behavior of Cotherapists

Description: Proponents of the use of cotherapists have stressed the importance of compatibility for effective cotherapy teams; however, the nature of compatibility has received little attention in experimental literature. This study investigated the nature of an effective cotherapy relationship through use of concepts espoused by George Kelly in his personal construct theory. Based on the results of the study, it was recommended that cotherapists be paired on the basis of their cognitive congruence. It was… more
Date: August 1980
Creator: Achterberg, Gloria Jeanne
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Religious Inventory for the Assessment of Psychologically Healthy and Unhealthy Beliefs

Description: The problem concerns determining whether healthy and unhealthy religious beliefs can be distinguished. A 150 item Religious Beliefs Inventory (RBI) was developed to assess healthy and unhealthy religious beliefs. In a pilot study, RBI scales were developed and the MMPI-168 was used as the criteria measure. Fifteen of the 23 RBI scales yielded an average reliability of .79 and an average validity of .48 for 95 undergraduate university subjects. The present study seeks to cross-validate the resul… more
Date: August 1985
Creator: Gardiner, Joseph R. (Joseph Rowe)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Assessment of Visual Memory and Learning by Selective Reminding

Description: A test of free recall visual memory and learning was developed for the present study. The purpose of the study was to determine the utility of the Visual Selective Reminding Test and the Verbal Selective Reminding Test for differentiating among groups of patients having memory impairments with organic etiologies. It was hypothesized that neurologically impaired patients would perform differently on the Visual and Verbal Selective Reminding Tests, the difference depending on the location of the … more
Date: August 1983
Creator: Cummins, Shirley Jean
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Determinants of Coping Strategies and Seeking Counseling Among Older Adults

Description: This study investigated older persons' perception of the negative impact of ill health, retirement, and widowhood in relation to the mobilization of relevant coping mechanisms. In addition, the relationship of coping mechanisms and dissatisfaction with current gender-role identity to seeking counseling was studied. A distributed questionnaire package provided demographic data as well as information pertaining to satisfaction in various areas of life, impact of live events, and coping style. Sub… more
Date: August 1983
Creator: Cole, Carolyn Fillis
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Relationship of Self-Acutalization and Marital Models to Marital Adjustment

Description: The present study was an attempt to further investigate what factors contributed to whether married individuals defined their relationship as traditional or nontraditional. The project, moreover, explored what variables affected marital adjustment levels. The variables whose effects were assessed regarding whether married individuals defined their relationship as traditional or nontraditional included self-actualization and presence or absence of children. The factors examined thought to affect… more
Date: August 1982
Creator: Caswell, Lucy
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Development of the Ecological Q-Sort: A Self Concept Instrument for Use with the Elderly

Description: Attempts to measure self concept in the elderly have been characterized by a variety of differing definitions of self concept, and differing methodological procedures. Previous investigations have used instruments which are stereotypic and not ecologically valid for elderly, test formats which make excessive demands on some elderly persons' cognitive and sensory-motor abilities, and administration procedures which penalize the less psychologically sophisticated older person, factors precluding … more
Date: May 1983
Creator: Redus, Karan
Partner: UNT Libraries
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Theoretical Orientation, Style, and Compatibility as Factors in Spouse Cotherapy

Description: Cotherapy has been advocated as an effective treatment mode, especially with groups, couples, and families. The relationship between the cotherapists has been identified as an important determinant in the success of this method. This relationship has been compared to the marital relationship between spouses, and the marriages of therapists have been viewed as offering advantages for cotherapy. Since not all therapists who are married to each other work as cotherapists, the purpose of this study… more
Date: August 1982
Creator: Benningfield, Anna Beth
Partner: UNT Libraries
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The Recovery of Cognitive Functions by Males Diagnosed as Chronically Alcohol Dependent During Increased Periods of Abstinence

Description: The present study addresses questions regarding the cognitive functioning of recently detoxified male alcoholics during increasing time periods of abstinence. Such questions relate to whether alcoholic males between the ages of 30 and 55 demonstrate a recovery to normal cognitive functioning within a six week abstinence period.
Date: December 1983
Creator: Beaty, John W.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Relaxation Training in Anxiety and Stress Management Differential Effects of an Audible vs. Imaginal Meditational Focus

Description: The hypothesis was tested that meditation using an audible word-sound would be superior to silent repetition of the same word in producing decrements in autonomic arousal and improvements in anxiety, mood, and the ability to cope with stress. The influence of hypnotic susceptibility upon improvement was also evaluated. Thirty subjects, assigned to one of three groups: audible meditation, silent meditation, and relaxation control, met one hour weekly for six weeks to practice their respective te… more
Date: December 1986
Creator: Shaw, Patricia (Patricia Hyman)
Partner: UNT Libraries
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