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- Creator:
- Wright, Joseph Galen.
- Description:
- Gibson and Levin (1976) have reported that the study of reading
can be divided into three distinct time periods on the basis of
general approach. For the first period, starting around the turn of the
century until around 1925, the list of those who sought to investigate
the nature of reading from carefully appraised theoretical positions
reads like a Who's Who of early experimental psychology. The second
period saw a lessening of concern for underlying theoretical issues.
Attention shifted to more pragmatic ends. The main concern dealt with
what method of teaching reading was the best, stirring an empirical
controversy which yet remains unresolved. Currently, a third period
is beginning which marks a return to previous times. The analysis of
reading skills is again becoming embued with theoretical concerns.
This paper hopes to borrow from the spirit of these new times. Thus
theories delineating some of the constituent processes and subskills
of reading will be addressed as the essential groundwork for examining
the power of a relatively new test, the Spraings' Visual Discrimination
Battery (1974), to measure some of those processes and subskills.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Psychology
- Creator:
- West, Laurie Jean.
- Description:
- This study investigated the effects of attitudes toward and knowledge of overpopulation and sexism on childbearing and adoption attitudes. The subjects were 131 students drawn from three high school sophomore and three college sophomore classes. Subjects were assigned to one of three groups: a treatment group receiving a lecture on overpopulation, a treatment group receiving a lecture on traditional versus revised sex roles for women, and a control group receiving no treatment. Both prior to and following the lecture treatment, all subjects completed three surveys: an attitudes toward women scale, a population attitudes survey, and a series of questions regarding background data and childrearing plans which served as the dependent variables. Results indicated that: women receiving the sex roles lecture expected significantly fewer adopted children on the posttest; males in both treatment groups gave more thought to having natural children on the posttest than did males in the control group and more than females across all groups; and a trend indicated that college students both wanted and expected fewer natural children on the posttest than did high school students. Hypotheses regarding the effects of the two treatment groups on childbearing and adoption attitudes were not supported. Several possible explanations for this lack of support were discussed and strategies for future research were proposed.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Psychology
- Creator:
- Veale, David John.
- Description:
- The understanding of the effect of densely populated settings on human experience and behavior is just beginning. In the early psychological literature, the term "crowding" was used to denote a setting that lacked "enough" space due in part to "too many" people. Many studies would place a large number of people in a setting and compare the responses of this group with a smaller group placed into the same setting. Results were then interpreted in terms of a lack of adequate space. This interpretation was incorrect for the group size changed as well as the space per person.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Psychology
- Creator:
- Thomas, Barbara.
- Description:
- The purpose of this study was the initiation of the validation procedures for the Auditory Perception Test (APT), developed in the late 1960s by Walter Ambinder, a clinical psychologist at Wayne State University. Two studies concerning the APT preceded the present one. Armstrong (1974) undertook the first phase of standardization by completing a reliability study and a factor analysis on the test. The second phase was accomplished by Adams (1975) , who revised the APT and ascertained its reliability. The Adams Revised Auditory Perception Test was not available for the present study, and therefore, this validation was concerned with the original Ambinder APT.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Psychology
- Creator:
- Woods, David Michael
- Description:
- The Japanese American elders who lived through World War II, and who were incarcerated in the American concentration camps, specifically, are nearing the end of their lives. Their experiences and thoughts are invaluable, and the window of time available to learn from them is narrowing. It is important that the entirety of their lives is qualitatively assessed, rather than solely focusing on their experiences in the American concentration camps. Reminiscence sessions were conducted with 14 Japanese American elders residing in the Central Valley of California to assess their lives pre-Pearl Harbor, the impacts of growing up in the United States during the World War II era, and how they dealt with discrimination and injustice. Grounded theory was used to arrive at themes that arose from the elders’ responses. The Japanese American elders reported a sense of multicultural acceptance in their childhood friend circles prior to the events of Pearl Harbor, which left them shocked when they were forcibly removed from their homes in California. While in the American concentration camps, the loss of family cohesion was evident due to the fractured nature of their families’ activities and duties. The trauma did not end when the camps were closed. Elders reported high levels of racism and discriminatory practices that were oftentimes emotionally scarring. These struggles were mitigated and lessened by key individuals throughout their lives who reminded them that not everyone disliked Japanese Americans. These elders maintained an admirable perspective on life by preaching family as a priority and unity as a goal despite the differences between people.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Psychology
- Creator:
- McCarron, John.
- Description:
- Philanthropic concern for the particular problems of institutionalized elderly adults dates back to the late nineteenth century, but until recently a dearth in specialized psychological assessment devices for the aged existed. During the last decade a number of behavior rating scales and other clinical instruments were developed to describe the various behaviors, attitudes, and mental disorders of the elderly on psychiatric wards. Many institutionalized groups of younger age ranges and varying nosological categories have had the advantage of psychologically sophisticated assessment tools to abet their treatment, but psychometrics in skilled nursing care of the aged has been a neglected area. The need for a behavior rating scale designed and factored specifically for the aged residing in skilled nursing facilities has been unfulfilled.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Psychology
- Creator:
- Leonard, Jan.
- Description:
- Sputnik provided a powerful stimulus to the study of creativity,
but until then it was an area in which psychologists "feared tread"
(Guilford, 1950). Close to twenty-five years ago Morgan (1953) published
twenty-five definitions selected from the literature. The one aspect of
its definition which all agreed upon is that it involves the development
of something unique. The many other aspects of the definitions make it
apparent that "creativity" involves a number of variables. These
include personality traits or characteristics (Mooney, 1967), including
motivational and sociometric, as well as specific, abilities. Perhaps
due to the wide array of variables involved in the process, creativity
has been approached from a variety of directions.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Psychology
- Creator:
- Hijos, Diane Rose.
- Description:
- It was hypothesized that children of premature birth would not differ significantly in mental ability from children born fullterm, but the prematures would have a higher number of behavior problems and achieve developmental milestones at a later age. Twenty-four prematurely born children and twenty-three children born at fullterm were administered the McCarthy Scale of Children's Abilities, while their parents completed questionnaires concerning their children's personality, physical development, and medical history. Maternal pregnancy information and parental reactions and. feelings toward the premature birth and hospital practices were also collected in the study. The results found the prematurely born children to be within the normal range of development in mental ability although the fullterm born children evidenced significantly higher General Cognitive Index scores. Sex differences were noted with the girls in both groups attaining higher scores than the boys. There were no significant differences between the prematures and fullterm borns on the personality scale, but the prematures did learn to walk and achieve toilet training at a later date than the fullterm born children. The findings are discussed in terms of the methodology employed, the usefulness of the evaluation tools, and the value of parental involvement in the child's care during hospitalization.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Psychology
- Creator:
- Grover, Edward Vann.
- Description:
- The notion that there must be a relationship
between hypnotic susceptibility and other personality
factors is one that has titillated investigators in
hypnosis for some time. Because people differ greatly
in their susceptibility to hypnosis it seems logical that
one could use personality variables to explain or predict
the differences. For the most part, however, the results
of attempts to demonstrate relationships between hypnotic
susceptibility and personality traits have been negative
or inconclusive. Characteristically, when relationships
have been reported, attempts to replicate them have failed
(Barber, 1964; Dana and Cooper, 1964; Deckert and West,
1963; and Hull, 1933).
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Psychology
- Creator:
- Granata, Thomas.
- Description:
- The morality, ethics, and conscience of a society are the sum
total of the moralities, ethics, and consciences of the individuals
comprising that society. Establishment of a more advanced social
morality is contingent upon understanding the variables which affect
the moralities of the individuals comprising that society. Munsinger
(1971) establishes spanking as a consistent variable in our society
reporting that 75 percent of the preschoolers are di'sciplined in this
way. Corporal punishment as a form of discipline may be a variable
which retards moral development.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Psychology