UNT Libraries - 216 Matching Results
Search Results
- Felony Offenses Related to Personality Traits
- The problem with which this investigation is concerned is whether relationships may exist between personality and type of offense in a felon population. The Eysenck Personality Inventory, which measures extraversion-introversion (E), neuroticism-stability (N), and includes a lie scale (L), was used to determine subject's personality traits. Offenses were divided into crimes against persons, crimes against property, and crimes against the morals of the state. Subjects consisted of 751 adult male felons. The product-moment correlation was computed for each offense-variable EPI pair. A negative association between E and crimes against persons, together with a positive association between L and crimes against persons, were found to be statistically significant at the 0.05 level, although quite low. It was concluded that results obtained should be guardedly interpreted in view of the minimal amount of variability accounted for, though of possible value in suggesting future research.
- Formation of a Receptive Vocabulary and its Effect on the Rate of Acquisition of its Expressive Counterpart in an Autistic Child
- The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between receptive oral expressive vocabularies. It was hypothesized that receptive discrimination pretraining has a greater influence on the reate of acquisition of its expressive vocal counterpart as compared to the reate of vocal acquisition of words without receptive pretraining.
- Frankel's Hypothesis of a Relation Between Phobic Symptoms and Hypnotic Responsiveness: Its Generalization to Agoraphobia
- The present study was designed to test Frankel and Orne's hypothesis that persons with a clinically significant phobia also show high susceptibility to hypnosis. The hypnotic susceptibility scores of 10 persons who sought treatment with hypnosis for agoraphobia were compared with the susceptibility scores of a control group of 20 persons having comparable motivation to succeed in hypnosis. The susceptibility measure was the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: Form C (SHSS:C, Weitzenhoffer & Hilgard, 1962). The groups were also compared on: a) the Archaic Involvement Measure (AIM; Nash, 1984); b) the Field Depth Inventory (FDI; Field, 1965); and c) the Tellegen Absorption Scale (TAS; Tellegen & Atkinson, 1974). No significant differences were found between the groups on the dependent measures. Factors which qualify the results are discussed.
- Free Association as a Mnemonic Device for Retention in Younger/Older People
- The purpose of this study was to determine whether and to what extent free association following exposure to written material would affect the memory of that material, and whether the effect upon memory would vary with age of the subject. A test of learning (immediate retention) resulted in a significant difference in performance between young and old women--the older learning less. Free association was not found to be significant as a mnemonic aid to either age group, and was compared with characteristics of other more common mnemonics. Suggestions for additional research are discussed.
- Free Time as a Positive Reinforcer in the Management of Study Behavior in an Aversive Educational Environment
- The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of the use of free time as a positive reinforcer in the management of study behavior in an aversive educational environment. It was hypothesized that the presentation of free time contingent upon completion of the study assignment would result in maintained study behavior and reduced student absenteeism.
- Helping Among Children
- This study investigated the effect of cost-of-escape on helping among children. Forty-four children between the approximate ages of six and twelve served as subjects. The experiment was performed in a natural setting using an ice cream truck. The driver (experimenter) manipulated the cost-of-escape and then had an "accident." The easy-to-escape group received their ice cream before the driver spilled 300 spoons on the ground. The difficult-to-escape group had paid for their ice cream but had not received it before the "accident" occurred. The number of spoons picked up by each condition and the lapse time before a member of each group began to help was recorded. No differences were found between the groups (all ps > .05). Implications for cost-of-escape were discussed.
- History of Self-Disclosure and Premature Termination from Therapy
- The present study was designed to investigate the hypothesis that female clients who tend to terminate therapy prematurely will have been assigned to a male therapist. The study also tested the hypothesis that female clients who defect from therapy will have reported a history of low self-disclosure to individuals of the same sex as their therapist. Neither hypothesis was supported by the results of this study, but findings suggest a possible bias in the manner by which male and female therapists select their clients for therapy. It also appears that female defectors may be over-identifying with their family of origin or that they may be overly dependent on it as a resource system. This may be the reason for their apparent difficulty in developing a prototype that will accommodate their therapist.
- How Much Do Self-Disclosers Reveal to Professional Groups?
- Previous studies of help-givers have stressed subjects' perceptions using nine generic problem areas and a list of 100 descriptive adjectives. The present study attempted to specify major personality variables entering into subjects' perceptions of adviser, high school counselor, college counselor, counseling psychologist, clinical psychologist, and psychiatrist. The personality variables of self-disclosure and risk were studied, as well as a comparison using the 100 descriptive adjectives. The results from 217 female undergraduate college students indicated that subjects revealed risky information to help-givers in the same manner that they tended to self-disclose. Findings also revealed that subjects tended to differentiate among help-givers in reference to the extent that they were willing to reveal risky information. Favorable findings with reference to validity for the Norton risk scale are discussed, as are discrepancies between descriptions of help-givers in the current study as opposed to descriptions of the same help-givers in previous studies.
- Human Learned Helplessness: Uncontrollable Negative Feedback or Total Amount of Negative Feedback?
- To determine if learned helplessness results from lack of control over negative events or simply the number of negative events experienced, 60 university students were assigned to one of five treatments: controllable low negative, uncontrollable low negative, controllable high negative, uncontrollable high negative, and no treatment. Backward digit and letter span tasks served as test tasks. The generally nonsignificant results were discussed as possibly due to a procedural error. Further research on this question is needed.
- The Importance of Staff Cohesiveness in Treatment Effectiveness as Demonstrated by Client Self-Disclosure
- Much research has studied cohesiveness within client groups in terms of making therapeutic gains. These studies have defined cohesiveness in terms of a) attraction of the group as perceived by a group member, b) how clearly each member sees his/her role within the group, and c) the effectiveness of one's skills in attaining group goals. Little research has dealt with the role of staff cohesiveness in developing an effective treatment program. Effectiveness, in this study, is defined as the degree to which clients are willing to disclose personal information to the staff. The results show a positive correlation between staff's perceived effectiveness with clients and the clients' willingness to self-disclose. On-hand experience with clients seems important in involving clients in therapy.
- Influence of Internal/External Instructions on Children's Moral Judgments
- Past research, guided by Piaget's and Kohlberg's theories of moral development, has shown that young children base their moral judgments on the consequence of the story protagonist's behavior while older children base their judgments on the protagonist's intent. Three age groups of children (144 subjects) heard four stories and were placed in three conditions to investigate whether their judgments could be influenced by asking them to pay attention either to why the protagonist did what she or he did or to what happened in the story, or given no instructions. As age increased, children's recall of stories and use of a protagonist's intention as a reason behind their judgments increased. Judgment scores followed the same pattern for all ages. Results were discussed in terms of social-emotional and cognitive development.
- The Influence of Popular Music on Self-Disclosure Among Adolescents
- Seventy-five adolescent members of a local church youth organization completed Jourard's 40-item Self-Disclosure Questionnaire. The subjects were assigned to three groups, matched for degree of self-disclosure. A control group filled out Green's Sentence Completion Blank. A second group filled out the completion blank after listening to popular music while reading printed lyrics. The third group listened and also wrote a few sentences about the "meaning" of the music. Two judges scored the sentence completion blanks for self-disclosure. An analysis of variance of the sentence completion scores was significant at the .05 level. However, the Scheffe method revealed that only the latter two groups' means differed significantly, in that the second group increased in disclosure while the third group decreased in self-disclosure. Several factors are discussed which may account for the results.
- Influence of Specific Training on Graduate School Aptitude Test Performance
- The study was undertaken to investigate if a course of instruction, utilizing specific procedures, could be employed to enhance performance on an aptitude test. A punishment procedure involving the removal of a positive reinforcer was instituted within a classroom setting.
- Initial Interview: Impact of Gender and Sex-Role Orientation
- The present study examined the impact of gender and sex-role orientation on therapy effectiveness. Previous research suggested that same-sex pairings and androgynous therapists would be most desirable. Interviewers (therapists) were 25 male and 15 female third-year doctoral psychology students, each interviewing a male and a female undergraduate student (client). Results did not support the hypothesis that gender and sex role were powerful predictors of therapy effectiveness. However, this study did find that therapist self-rated interpersonal competency and accurate self-perception predicted therapy effectiveness for female clients. Therapists' consistency in using various parameters (techniques) of therapy was related to client perceived effectiveness. Opposite-sex pairings were less likely to result in momentary feelings of discomfort during initial interviews.
- Insight versus Desensitization: a Comparative Study
- The present study was an attempt to show that the behavioral technique of desensitization is superior to insight-oriented psychotherapy in terms of not only behavior change for individuals undergoing desensitization but in terms of case of acquisition to novice therapists who have virtually no clinical experience.
- Internal-External Locus of Control in Glossolalics
- Internal-external locus of control was studied in relationship to the religious phenomena "glossolalia." Contrary to the main hypothesis formulated, glossolalics were found significantly more internal in locus of control than non-tongues speakers. Intercorrelations were studied between the variables of I-E, age, length of church membership, income level, educational level, and perceived control by God, for tongue-speaker and non-tongue-speaker groups. Chisquare comparisons were made between the groups on educational level, income level, and perceived control by God, with significant differences being found in educational level. Additional analysis was made between I-E and the variables of educational levels, income levels, and perceived control by God. Historical and current interpretations of the personality of glossolalics are challenged. The construct validity of the Rotter scale for use with religious populations is challenged.
- Interpersonal Responsiveness as a Function of Self-Concept
- This study considers the relationship between scores on the "Experimental Draw-A-Group Projective Technique for Measuring Interpersonal Responsivenesss" (DAG), and self-concept as indicated by scores on the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS). The study assumes a significantly positive relationship between interpersonal responsiveness and self-concept. The study further seeks to establish sound empirical data to justify the use of the DAG scale in the research of self-concept.
- Interrelationships Between Children's Perceptions of Parents, Teacher Ratings, and Human Figure Drawings
- This study investigated the relationship between children's perception of parents as loving or rejecting and the general emotional adjustment of these children. Emotional adjustment was reflected by behavior within a regular classroom as observed by the teacher and by performance on a projective personality test.
- An Investigation of I.Q. and Achievement Score Increase in Classes for the Emotionally Disturbed and Minimally Brain Injured as a Result of Operant Conditions Using Tangible Reinforcers
- This study was an objective investigation of an operant program in behavior modification using tangible reinforoers, which was conducted in two Special Education classes in the Denton Independent School District.
- An Investigation of Personality Characteristics of Bulimic Women Late Adolescent Through Adult Ages in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
- The incidence of bulimia seems to be increasing dramatically as actors, models, dancers, and college populations are seeking help for this eating disorder. In this study, the Adjective Checklist was administered to 21 bulimic women and 17 normal women to compare personality characteristics on the following scales: abasement, affiliation, autonomy, achievement, aggression, personal adjustment, succorance, and self-control. Results showed bulimic women scored higher on abasement and succorance. A multiple regression was performed which elucidated the scales responsible for the greatest amount of variance. These were aggression, autonomy, and self-control. Further studies of personality measures may aid in describing this population more fully.
- An Investigation of the Relationship between Intelligence, Self-Concept and Social Competency among the Mentally Retarded
- The purpose of this study is to add to the body of knowledge concerning intelligence, self-concept, and social competency as related to the habilitation of retardates by investigating the following problem: what is the relationship between intelligence, self-concept, and social competency among the mentally retarded?
- An Investigation of the Religious Intensity of Paranoid-Type Schizophrenics and Sociopaths
- The present investigation was concerned with the effectiveness of religion in personality development and the significance of church attendance in ethical and moral control. These concepts were related to specific diagnoses of psychiatric patients to ascertain the effect of religion upon those patients diagnosed as paranoid-type schizophrenics and as sociopaths. In addition, the effect of this variable on other variables related to the patient's past religious experience, such as church attendance, was examined. The religiousness of the patients was measured by a single religious intensity questionnaire.
- Lateral Eye Movement as a Function of Cognitive Mode in a Spanish Bilingual Population
- 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.
- Learned Helplessness, Attribution, and Clinical Depression
- To test predictions of learned helplessness theory and attribution theory, depressed and nondepressed subjects were exposed to a word-association task in a skill, chance, or no-instructional-set condition. Subjects were asked to make attributions of success and failure to four factors--ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck--and rate expectancy of success. The predictions of both theories were only partially confirmed. Difficulties relating to the experimental design may account for the failure of nondepressed/skill subjects to show greater expectancy change. As predicted, all subjects in the chance condition displayed similar expectancy changes. Also as predicted, nondepressed subjects did not rate effort as being the least influential factor. Depressed subjects, however, rated all factors equivalently, instead of rating effort least influential.
- Learning Rates Between Introverts and Extroverts in EMG Biofeedback Training
- In order to test Eysenck's hypothesis that introverts would condition faster than extroverts, twenty undergraduates were given muscle tensing and muscle relaxing trials using a feedback myograph to obtain electrical activity levels of the frontalis muscle. The subjects were divided into two groups of ten each. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was used to select ten students classified as introverts and ten classified as extroverts. .Both groups were given forty thirty-second trials to learn muscle relaxing and tensing. Analysis of covariance indicated a significant within trials effect for both the relaxation and tensing trials. No significant differences were found, however, between the introverts and the extroverts in either the muscle relaxing or muscle tensing training.
- Locus of Control as a Function of Perceived Contingency of Parental Rewards and Punishments
- This study investigated the relationships between locus of control and perceived contingency of parental rewards and punishments. Questionnaires measuring subjects' locus of control and their perception of parental contingency behavior were administered to undergraduate college students. The obtained measures of contingency of parental rewards and punishments were correlated with scores on Rotter's I-E Scale. Of the maternal contingency factors, only noncontingent punishment related significantly and negatively to internality (males only). Paternal contingent punishment related positively and significantly to internality for both males and females. There was a significant negative relationship between paternal noncontingent punishment and internality (males only). None of the parental reward factors related significantly to locus of control.
- Locus of Control as a Function of Seminary Training
- This study sought to determine if the locus of control of seminarians is altered as a result of graduate theological training. Gaskins' (1978) locus of control scale was selected because it included God as one of several external controls. This scale was either mailed or administered directly to first year and graduating students from two Southern Baptist and two Disciples of Christ seminaries. The 187 responses revealed no significant difference between the locus of control scores of the two levels despite the fact that all but one school reported mean graduating scores lower than their first year average. The effects of seminary on locus of control appears to be statistically insignificant.
- A Longitudinal Investigation of Different Exercise Modalities on Social Physique Anxiety
- The current study examined if students' levels of social physique anxiety vary depending on the type of exercise setting they select. The study determined the degree to which social physique anxiety changed over the course of semester-long involvements in different exercise settings.
- Magical Contagion and AIDS Scale: Development and Validation
- A Magical Contagion and AIDS Scale was developed to address problems with existing Contagion and AIDS measures. Magical Contagion is an influence that exists after contact is terminated. It is comprised of Permanence, Holographic Effects, Moral Germ Conflation and Backward Action. Data from 280 undergraduates revealed low mean levels of Magical Contagion and AIDS. Contagion effects did not differ on demographic variables. Content validity, criterion-related validity, discriminate validity, and internal consistency were evaluated. Significant correlations were found between the Contagion Scale and Merging/Separation and Homophobia Scales. Negative correlations were found between the Contagion scale and the AIDS knowledge and social desirability scales. Alpha reliabilities were high (a > .93) for the Contagion scale and subscales. Factor analysis suggested the existence of a single factor and mixed support for three factors.
- Male Sexual Aggression and Humor Response
- The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of sexually aggressive behavior through the examination of humor appreciation among male undergraduates. As compared to nonaggressive males, sexually aggressive males showed a significantly greater appreciation for humor which negatively stereotyped females, portrayed prejudicial views of rape-and rape victims, and contained content related to male sex drive and virility. Differences in humor appreciation were also found for males with high sex drive. Additional findings included correlations between aggressive drive and sexually aggressive status, as well as between sex drive and likelihood to rape.
- Marital Adjustment and Interspousal Personality Relationships
- Husbands and wives of 67 couples described themselves on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, described their spouses on an altered form of this test, and completed the Locke-Wallace Short Marital Adjustment Test. Results for each man were matched to a woman's results based on socio-cultrual similarity to create a comparison group of nonmarried couples. A chi-square test indicated that related spouses of the married group did not have more similar personalities than unrelated partners in the comparison group. An F-test suggested that actually, interspousal personality similarity affects marital adjustment for both sexes, but it is not affected by perceived similarity. Accuracy of perception on the introversion-extraversion scale had a positive effect on the marital adjustment of wives, but not of husbands.
- A Measure of Prospective Memory in the Elderly
- The effect of aging on prospective memory was examined. Fifty older subjects and 69 college students were given measures of both retrospective memory and the Wood Prospective Memory Test. It was found that: 1) The reliability of the WPMT subscales was lower than that required for clinical applications; 2) The WPMT subscales correlated significantly with several measures of retrospective memory; 3) There was a tendency for the WPMT subscales to have low, positive but non-significant correlations with the remaining measures of retrospective memory; 4) A self-report questionnaire on prospective memory did not correlate significantly with measures of either prospective or retrospective memory; 5) The older subjects significantly outperformed the younger subjects on the WAISR Vocabulary subtest, but performed significantly more poorly on the WPMT subscales and almost all other measures.
- Mistrust Level and Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help
- This study explored the relationship between cultural mistrust level and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. It was hypothesized that Blacks with high levels of cultural mistrust, when compared to those with low levels, would show less favorable attitudes toward seeking formal help for psychological problems. Black students were administered the Cultural Mistrust Inventory, Help-Seeking Attitude Scale, Reid-Gundlach Social Service Satisfaction Scale, and Opinions About Mental Illness Scale. Using a 2 (gender) X 2 (mistrust level) MANCOVA, a main effect for the factor of mistrust level was found along with a mistrust level by gender interaction. Students with higher levels of cultural mistrust were found to hold less favorable attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help when compared to students with lower levels of cultural mistrust.
- Modification of Disruptive Talking, Employing the Opportunity to Work as a Reinforcing Stimulus
- The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of "work" as a reinforcing stimulus in a behavior modification program designed to eliminate disruptive talking. A response-cost procedure was established whereby the reinforcement was made contingent upon the behavior of eight students with learning disabilities.
- Modification of Transsexualism: A Behavior Modification Program for Conditioning Masculine Behaviors in an Effeminate Boy
- Operant conditioning techniques were used to condition male-typical behaviors in an eight-year-old effeminate boy who had been described as transsexual. A probe of toys and activities was administered, which showed a trend toward his choosing feminine toys and activities. The two phases consisted of positive reinforcement of behavior associated with masculinity.
- Mothers as Play Therapists for their Children
- The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of determining whether previously untrained, non-professional personnel, in this case mothers, can be trained to undertake and cope with the responsibilities of a play therapy situation with their own children. The hypothesis of this study is that by placing mothers in such a situation, the mother's ability to communicate with her child will be modified as well as modifying the child's perception of her as a warm and accepting parent.
- Nonverbal Power Cues
- Studies investigating aspects of social influence or power in counseling settings have examined the relationship between nonverbal cues and social influence or power. This study investigated perceptions of power, responsiveness, attractiveness, expertness, and trustworthiness by manipulating posture, facial expression and sex of therapist. After viewing photographs of stimulus therapists and listening to audio tapes, 96 male and 98 female undergraduates completed the Counselor Rating Form and a questionnaire measuring therapists' power and responsiveness. Results indicated that facial expression was more salient than posture. Smiling decreased ratings of power and increased ratings of attractiveness, responsiveness, and trustworthiness. Open posture was seen as more attractive and more powerful than closed posture. Surprisingly, females were viewed as more powerful than males. Other gender differences were found only in interaction with other variables.
- Object Relations Theory and Personal Construct Theory: Rapprochement Opportunity
- Empirical investigation of the tenets of Object Relations Theory is recent. This study of the theoretical convergence between Object Relations Theory and Personal Construct Theory brought a new direction to the empirical investigation. It was hypothesized that individuals who displayed a well developed level of object relations, as measured by Object Relations Theory, would also display a highly adaptive blend of cognitive complexity and ordination, as described by Personal Construct Theory, and vice versa. A correlational analysis of personality measures on 136 college students approached but did not attain statistical significance. Results indicated no significant theoretical convergence between Object Relations Theory and Personal Construct Theory. Further research is warranted only if greater variability in sample age, life experience, and psychopathology is assured.
- One Session of Flooding as Treatment for Conditioned Avoidance Responding in Humans: the Effect of Individualization of Treatment Duration
- An avoidance response was conditioned to three stimuli presented in serial order. Following conditioning, each group of subjects received a different treatment procedure. The group I procedure involved distributed CS trials, contingent, non-anxious CS terminations, and individualized treatment durations. Group 2 subjects received massed CS trials, non-contingent CS terminations, and non-individualized treatment durations. Group 3 subjects experienced distributed CS trials, contingent non-anxious CS terminations, and non-individualized treatment durations. Individual izing treatment duration (termination contingent upon operational ized measure of anxiety dissipation) was found to significantly hasten the extinction of avoidance responses. Implications for the effective practice of implosive therapy were discussed. Yoked control methods were criticized for confounding the variable of individualization of the yoked variable.
- 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.
- Parental Perceptions of Abused Children
- Although numerous studies examining variables related to child abuse have been done in recent years, little is known about how abusing parents perceive their abused children's attitudes and behaviors. The present study attempted to examine parental perceptions of personality characteristics of children as a function of whether the parent abused the child. The Personality Inventory for Children (PIC) was utilized to obtain parental perceptions of their children's attitudes and behaviors. Twenty parents consisting of 10 abusers and 10 nonabusers were contacted through social agencies. Parents and children were matched for age, sex, and race. Of the 16 personality variables studied, only one significantly differentiated the two groups. Abused children were perceived as significantly more withdrawn than the nonabused matched sample. Results of this study suggest that various personality types are involved in the abusive cycle. Further research is needed to explore this promising area.
- Perceived Contingency of Parental Reinforcements, Depression, and Locus of Control
- To determine the relationships among perceived contingency of parental reinforcements, depression, and locus of control, 66 male and 54 female undergraduate university students completed questionnaire measures. Significant relationships were obtained between depression and locus of control for both sexes. Also, subjects of both sexes who described their parents as having administered rewards and punishments more noncontingently tended to describe themselves as more external and as more depressed. Parental rewards were perceived by both sexes as administered more noncontingently than punishments. Females tended to perceive parental rewards as delivered more noncontingently than did males. All the intercorrelations among perceived contingency of parental reinforcement, locus of control, and depression were in the prediction direction.
- Perception of Punitive Childhood Experiences, Adult Coping Mechanisms and Psychological Distress
- Differences in college student's psychological well-being, extrapunitiveness, and intropunitiveness were related to the presence or absence of maltreatment during childhood years, and its acknowledgement by the student. Subjects were 56 male and 85 female undergraduate students at the University of North Texas. Subjects were given structural scale v.3 of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), the Extrapunitive (E), and Intropunitive (I) indices of the Hostility-Direction of Hostility Questionnaire (HDHQ), and the Physical Punishment scale (PP-scale) of the Assessing Environments Questionnaire (AEIII). Results indicate no significant differences in psychological well-being, extrapunitiveness, or intropunitiveness, which would be explained by the presence of maltreatment or its acknowledgement.
- Perceptions of Parent-Child Relations and Their Relation to the Acceptance of a Naive Model for Social Expectations
- The central concern of this investigation was the determination of the relationships between Ss' perceived parent-child relations and their acceptance of the BSE model for social expectations. It was assumed that this model is a learned naive cognitive structure shared by the members of the society. It was predicted that certain parental behaviors critical to the socialization process would affect the acceptance or lack of acceptance of the BSE model. The measurement of perceived parent-child experiences was obtained through the use of the Roe-Siegelman Parent Child Relations Questionnaire (PCR). Baldwin's Social Expectations Scale was employed to obtain measures of the degree to which the BSE model could account for the variability of Ss' judgments of people-in-general in choice situations involving harming and helping behavior. Scores indicating the acceptance of the BSE model were then correlated with scores on each of the ten scales of the PCR. The results illuminated sex differences relating to the acceptance of the BSE model. For the females, warm, loving, and rewarding parent-child relations related positively to the acceptance of the BSE model. For the males, the effects of parental behavior were contingent on the individual parent. Fathers who were perceived as not overprotective or demanding and who promoted autonomous behavior in their sons were the fathers who had sons who made judgments according to the BSE model. Mothers who were perceived as demanding, punitive, and neglecting by their sons had sons who made judgments according to the BSE model. It was suggested that parental behaviors that are key factors in the development of the child's appropriate sex role may be the important factors affecting the acceptance of the BSE model for social expectations. Finally, the evidence suggested that the BSE model is capable of predicting people's social expectations, though not as effectively in the current …
- Permeability of Selves and Compliance with Therapeutic Homework
- A model of the person as a "community of selves" was used to investigate how adopting the perspective of different selves influenced anticipated compliance with therapy homework designed to decrease academic procrastination. A model of resistance to change derived from personal construct theory was used to predict which selves subjects would tend to see as more likely to take on the role of carrying out the homework. Focusing on different selves was found to influence anticipated compliance, and the model of resistance to change was partially successful in predicting which selves would be seen as more likely to carry out the homework. Implications for therapy and research are discussed within the framework of a model of first and second order change.
- Personality Correlates of Anorexia Nervosa in a Nonclinical Sample
- The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between anorexia nervosa and several personality traits. Past research in this area has been contradictory for several reasons. Sociocultural theories have described the media's role in promoting eating disorders by portraying a thin body-type as the ideal. However, they have neglected to describe the personality ideal which our society promotes in women. It is proposed here that anorexics incorporate and oppose this ideal. Therefore, the anorexic personality is one filled with conflict.
- 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.
- Physiological and Verbal Responses to Erotic Visual Stimuli in a Female Population
- In recent years, there has been a growing acceptance of sexual behavior as a legitimate area of research. An impetus for research utilizing erotic visual stimuli was supplied by the Presidential appointment of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography (1963). Research into the effects of erotic visual stimuli has typically employed male subjects (Neiger, 1966). The paucity of adequate research has not been a deterrent to the formulation of strong opinions regarding the nature of female sexuality. The present research has focused on female responses to visual representations of the nude male figure.
- Post-Traumatic Symptomatology in the Luby's Shooting
- The role of exposure to a human-made disaster and the subsequent development of post-traumatic stress reactions were examined. Subjects included 49 males and 30 females who were variously exposed to the Luby's shooting incident in Killeen, Texas in October of 1991. Post-traumatic stress symptomatology was measured by the SCL-90R. Exposure was operationalized by using a scenario-rating scheme with independent raters estimating each subject's level of exposure. A regression and commonality analysis revealed that exposure is an important predictor in post-traumatic symptomatology. Premorbid functioning and gender were also found to play important roles, with females expressing higher levels of symptomatology.
- Predicting Attrition of Baptist Foreign Missionaries Using the MMPI
- Relationships between MMPI subscale scores and premature resignations among Southern Baptist foreign missionaries appointed in 1964 were investigated in an effort to develop a predictive model for attrition. Unsuccessful attempts were made at cross-validating the results of a previous related study, and two separate discriminant function analyses were undertaken. The first sorted subjects into three groups, defined by subjects' length of service before resignation. The second classified them according to the reason stated for their termination, if applicable. Both procedures failed to establish a statistically reliable classification system for relating MMPI scores with premature resignations. Although consistent success has been achieved with the MMPI as a screening instrument for psychopathology, it is suggested that the instrument is not adequately sensitive as a screening device for groups lying predominantly within the normal range of variability.