Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

An Explorative Study Of Parents' Ability To Predict Representative Feelings Of Their Children, Kathleen Marie Koudele

Dissertations and Theses

This is a study of thirty fifth-grade children and their parents to examine how accurately parents can predict the feeling reactions of their children in various situations. This focus on parent-child interactions regarding feelings has several implications for the field of Social Work.

Invasions Of Personal Space : A Field Experiment, Lisa Demian

Dissertations and Theses

The present study examined the relationship between invasions of personal space and measures of glancing, blocking, leaning, head-shoulder orientation, movement away from the invader, and flight latency. These behaviors have been described in previous studies as occurring in response to spatial invasions, and the equilibrium model proposed to account for their occurrence. Hypotheses consistent with this model were tested in a 2 x 2 x 3 design which varied sex of invader, sex of subject and distance of subject from invader (1 foot, 2 feet, or 5 feet). None of the predicted relationships obtained, although females blocked more frequently than …

Job Seeking Patterns Of Vocational Rehabilitation Clients, Sandra Marie Schneider

Dissertations and Theses

Two hundred and seventy-three clients whose cases had been closed by the Oregon Vocational Rehabilitation Division (OVRD) between March 1, 1976 and February 28, 1977 were interviewed by telephone. They were asked to identify the different methods they had used during their job search, whether they had obtained a job while being served by OVRD, whether they were presently employed, and if employed whether the job was the same or different from the one they had obtained while being served by OVRD. They were also asked to identify the sources of the lead which led to their jobs. Friends or …

Perceptions Of Indian Tribal Leaders Regarding The Indian Self-Determination Act (Public Law 93-638), Ramona O'Connor

Dissertations and Theses

This study is an analysis of a policy, The Indian Self-Determination Act (Public Law 93-638), and consists of a survey designed to examine the perceptions of selected Indian tribal leaders regarding the policy. The findings of the survey are reviewed and analyzed and the study is concluded with a consideration of the implications of the findings for social work. In general, the study is concerned with an aspect of the social policy process. A specific policy is addressed and a survey of perceptions of people effected by that policy was taken. The policy itself is an indication of a seemingly …

A Study Of The Perceptual Parameters Of Voice In Aging Females, Barbara Ann Mathers

Dissertations and Theses

An interest in understanding the aging processes, as they relate to voice, has prompted research investigating physiological, acoustical, and perceptual attributes of the aging vocal mechanism. Recently, it has been demonstrated that perceptual parameters, in older male voices, differentiate speakers according to age estimations, as determined by a group of listeners.

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptual characteristics of the female voice which are associated with perceived age, as contrasted to chronological age.

Intelligence And Nonintelligence Factors Contributing To Scores On The Rorschach Prognostic Rating Scale, Anneke P. Hathaway

Dissertations and Theses

Correlation between the RPRS total and WAIS FSIQ showed that approximately 43% of the variance in the RPRS total can be accounted for by the variance in the FSIQ. Verbal IQ is not significantly higher correlated with the RPRS total than the Performance IQ (p < .10). Factor analysis of the 6 RPRS subscores resulted in 2 factors. Subsequent factor analysis of the 6 RPRS subscores plus FSIQ and the factor analysis of the 6 RPRS subscores plus PIQ and VIQ showed the first factor to be an intelligence factor accounting for 85% of the common variance. The RPRS variables FL, FM, M and Sh loaded on this factor. The second factor was a nonintelligence factor accounting for 15% of the common variance. Small m is clearly the main determinant of this factor followed by Sh. In addition, the results of 2 exploratory factor analyses are discussed. The first exploratory factor analysis involved 23 variables, namely the 6 RPRS subscores, RPRS total, the 11 WAIS subscales, FSIQ, VIQ, PIQ, VIS and OABD. The second exploratory analysis involved 17 variables, namely the 6 RPRS subscores and the 11 WAIS subscales.

Social Behavior In A Group Of Captive Bobcats : A Study In The Sociability Of Felids, Lon W. House

Dissertations and Theses

A group of four captive bobcats (Felis rufus), two males and two females, was observed for 102.67 hours over the period of one year. A pilot study was conducted consisting of a minimum of three separate observations for each daylight hour. The remaining observations were concentrated during the early morning hours immediately after feeding, the time of maximum activity and social interaction.

Memory For Crossed And Nested Classifications, John Ernest Garwood

Dissertations and Theses

Memory for crossed and nested classifications was investigated. Two experimental groups were exposed to stimuli which could be organized by both a crossed and nested classification. The stimuli consisted of nine drawings in a 3 x 3 matrix. Each drawing is characterized by attributes on five dimensions. The nested classification requires four dimensions to organize the nine drawings, while the crossed classification requires two dimensions. Of the five dimensions, three are unique to the nested classification, one is unique to the crossed classification, and one is common to both classifications. Subjects were presented the stimuli so that either the crossed …

Involuntarily And Voluntarily Committed Persons Compared Using Factor And Discriminant Function Analysis, Cheryl Marie Marrow

Dissertations and Theses

A comparison of the voluntary and involuntary patients at Dammasch State Hospital, Wilsonville, Oregon. A representative sample of cases over time, were chosen for the year 1976, 72 voluntary and 72 involuntary patients. One-hundred and twelve variables were coded onto sheets for each patient. The variables concerned marital status, job history, history of violent acts, present living situations and relationships, as well as drug history and diagnosis and treatment in the hospital. The data were coded onto cards and a computer analysis was done using Factor and Discriminant Function Analysis. It was hypothesized the populations of persons voluntarily admitted and …

Measurement Of Ambiguity Tolerance (Mat-50): Further Construct Validation, Burl Mostul

Dissertations and Theses

An historical introduction is made tying authoritarianism with ambiguity tolerance. Ambiguity tolerance is a personality variable in its own right, often associated with authoritarianism yet remaining separate from it.

Ambiguity intolerance is defined as the tendency to perceive and interpret information that is marked by vague, fragmented, incomplete, inconsistent, contradictory, or unclear meaning as actual or potential sources of psychological threat. Ambiguity tolerance is defined as the tendency to perceive ambiguous situations as challenging and desirable.

Efforts to measure ambiguity tolerance have met with varied success, however, it was not until Norton (197S) developed the Measurement of Ambiguity Tolerance (MAT-50) …

A Direct And Behavioral Travel Demand Model For Prediction Of Campground Use By Urban Recreationists, Andre Kimboko

Dissertations and Theses

The object of this research is to develop a travel demand model. The model predicts outdoor recreational travel of urban recreationists for camping. The development of this model is structured by a set of methodological criteria. These criteria relate to destination choice behavior in the context of recreation travel, and analytical structures of travel demand, in addition to the criterion of model performance. The thrust of this research is to define and evaluate a destination choice function with respect to recreational travel.

The Mentally Retarded's Right To Meaningful Treatment: A Review Of Legal And Psychological Literature, Susan Katherine Peters

Dissertations and Theses

A review of legal provisions and practices and current psychological theory and research concerning the mentally retarded indicated inconsistencies between the law and current theory, Laws have been based on archaic models which fail to consider the heterogeneity of those classified as retarded and their potential for development and training. Retardation professionals have agreed that normalization of institutionalized mentally retarded and mainstreaming in education are preferable principles. Research comparing the effects of community living and institutionalization and effects of special and integrated classes was sparse and inconclusive; the major thrust of research has been on the 4% of all mentally …

The Effect Of Two Levels Of Δ9 Thc On State-Dependent Learning In Rats, Roy Katzen

Dissertations and Theses

This experiment was performed to determine whether a state-dependent learning effect is produced when rats are under the influence of Δ⁹ THC. A latent learning procedure utilizing a Lashley III maze was used. Latent learning paradigms offer one a variety of measures not available when using an operant procedure.

Forty-five female rats were run; five in each of nine conditions. Each set of nine rats was run as follows:

Days 1-5. Each rat received an injection of 0.0 mg/kg, 0.4 mg/kg, or 1.0 mg/kg of Δ⁹ THC. One-half hour later the rat received one-half hour of exposure in …

The Use Of Discrediting Labels In The Maintenance Of Socially Constructed Reality, Nathan Church

Dissertations and Theses

Over the past two decades an increasing number of theorists and practitioners have called for a thorough rethinking of the underlying assumptions of the concept of rrental illness and the traditional psychiatric nodes of responding to mental disorders. The work of this group of writers has come to be referred to as the "antipsychiatry" literature. The insights of this perspective center largely about a rejection of those theories and methods of treatment that are based upon the medical model. Many writers point to the use of traditional psychiatric practice as an oppressive instrument of social control. While much of this …

Role Demands Of Professional Women In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Soraya Wali El-Deen Assad

Dissertations and Theses

The present thesis is concerned with professional women in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia. Because of the social changes taking place in Saudi Arabia, the position of women is subject to both traditional and modernistic influences. While an increasing number of females are receiving higher education and expanding their aspirations , the traditional cultural values dealing with woman's role in the family are still an important consideration.

The thesis is based on the theoretical perspective that the individual role system is over-demanding. Fulfilling role demands causes difficulty or "strain"; if a person conforms fully in one direction, fulfillment will be difficult in …

A Politically Appointed Task Force: Can It Be Effective?, Randolph Latourette Miller

Dissertations and Theses

Community service projects have consistently been an effective means of community involvement and an avenue in which improvement in an area may be measured. Although the roles each participant assumes may differ, the ultimate accomplishment of the project is paramount to each person involved.

This paper will explore the Governor's Task Force on Venereal Disease to determine both the effectiveness of the Task Force and the methods utilized to accomplish the task force goals. Primarily, this group of selected individuals will be reviewed to determine whether they were effective due to their ability to influence others, or simply through a …

The Effects Of A Political Boundary Running Through A Metropolitan Area: A Case Study Of The Establishment And Functioning Of The Jantzen Beach Shopping Center, Rose Romaine Reed

Dissertations and Theses

Jantzen Beach Shopping Center is an anomaly on the landscape challenging traditional criteria for the location of regional shopping centers. Located on Hayden Island on the Oregon side of the border, it has access from only one exit in each direction off the Interstate 5 freeway. The predominantly industrial and recreational land use of the region within a five minute travel time from the shopping center results in an exceptionally small adjacent residential population. Its potential trade area is further limited by the intervening shopping opportunity for Washington residents afforded by the Vancouver central business district which lies adjacent to …

The Divorce Experience And Its Impact On The Father-Child Relationship, Susan Coffman, Ellen Lane, Erika Worth

Dissertations and Theses

This project began with the notion that an in-depth examination of perceived changes in the parent-child relationship as reported by the noncustodial father would be both beneficial to mental health professionals as well as to paraprofessional groups and organizations working with divorced fathers. The authors were aware of much related research pertaining to the children of divorced parents and also the plight of divorced mothers, but felt there to be a lack of data concerning the noncustodial father and thus identified this area as an important mental health concern.

A Study Of Behavior Changes Among Children Who Have Left The Children's Psychiatric Day Treatment Center, Julia A. Jones, Larry G. Pederson

Dissertations and Theses

This study began with the authors' interest in the Portland Public Schools' program for Emotionally Handicapped children. Originally, the researchers were interested in assessing behavioral characteristics and changes among children in that program and in relating these variables to the kind and extent of parental involvement. Such a study was particularly timely, it was felt, since some schools were considering eliminating the parent involvement component of the program and there was discussion of phasing out the entire program as it then existed in favor of "mainstreaming." The researchers soon discovered the paucity of research information relating to program effects on …

Attitudes Of Psychiatric Nurses And Aides At An Oregon State Hospital Toward Homosexuality, Don Andersen

Dissertations and Theses

Homosexuality is something which has been a part of almost every society throughout history. In western society this has been a subject of secrecy and taboo. Throughout our history homosexuals have been persecuted and forced to hide their sexual identity. The effects of this on an individual should be something of concern to professionals in the mental health field.

While in the past there has been little knowledge of homosexuality, and no self-expression on the part of homosexuals, there has, in recent years, been growing information and expression. The effect of this change on mental health workers is what this …

An Evaluative Study Of Client Satisfaction At A Mental Health Clinic, Dianne E. Carlton

Dissertations and Theses

Evaluative research in the field of mental health is carried out pursuant to several goals. One is to study a very particular intervention on a very particular client (or client population) in a controlled way with the aim to test a theory of intervention. This form of research requires basically an experimental research design. It also requires rigorously defined and measured intervention and a good control for factors other than intervention. The requirements for this form of research are stringent and the number of such projects reported is, therefore, rare.

The present study was done as a pilot study for …

Disengagement Of Older People In An Urban Setting, Melvina Somers

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation reevaluates the controversial Disengagement Theory of aging introduced by Elaine Cumming and William E. Henry in their book, Growing Old (1961), with particular emphasis on aging in the city.

Disengagement theory embodies the antithesis to the traditional activity theory of aging based on a work ethic. Disengagement theory holds that normal aging is an inevitable mutual withdrawal or disengagement between the aging person and others in the social system, that it is universal, and that, by impl ication,it is a mutually satisfying condition since it results in a new equilibrium between society and the aging individual. The theory …

An Assessment Of The Impact Of Public Housing On The Low Income Elderly Residents Of The Burnside Community, Timothy C. Jacobs

Dissertations and Theses

This study will be a look at housing for Portland's Burnside population with special emphasis on the Foster hotel public housing project. Before housing or any other aspect of Burnside can be intelligently discussed, it is important to have a realistic historical and contemporary understanding of the Burnside community. The second chapter of this study is designed to provide that understanding. The third chapter surveys the ways that other American cities have dealt with their skid row communities. Cities roughly the same size as Portland were chosen. Their efforts will be compared to Portland's plans for and actions toward its …

The Vertically-Oriented Organization : A Theoretical Perspective, Beth M. Kurren

Dissertations and Theses

This study will focus on a particular program (The Area Agency on Aging) which was developed in response to the problems of fragmentation among the service delivery system for the aging.

In so doing, two very important questions will be answered:

1. To what extent do the characteristics of the Area Agency on Aging resemble a vertically-oriented organization?

2. To what extent does the Area Agency on Aging gear its activities toward the coordination of services for the elderly?

The basic assumption is that because the Area Agency on Aging resembles another vertically- oriented organization, its main focus of attention …

A Descriptive Study Of Some Problems Of Widows In Portland, Oregon, Kathleen Marsha Davis, Gail Petchesky

Dissertations and Theses

Widowhood is an inevitable phase of the life cycle for three out of every four married women. It is apparent by the lack of research about widowhood that it has been neglected as a developmental phase in the life cycle. Presently there are ten million widows in this country and their numbers are increasing each year. It is appalling that with a population this large, little attention has been directed towards research about widowhood. Other than recognizing that the widow may have financial problems for which Social Security provides assistance, few people realize what it means to be widowed. For …

A Demographic Study Of Two Alcoholic Populations In A State Hospital, James John Schelot

Dissertations and Theses

Twenty-five alcoholic patients in the Alcohol Treatment Program at Dammasch State Hospital near Wilsonville, Oregon, and twenty-five alcoholic patients in the same hospital who were not participating in the program were given a questionnaire designed to collect demographic data on both groups. The demographic characteristics were to be gathered in order to assess the possible need of diversified treatment programs for alcoholic patients at Dammasch State Hospital and in the Portland community.

Demographic data involved the social background, the alcohol background, and the medical/psychological history of the patients.

The results seemed to suggest that the two groups of patients were …

Grassroot Organizations In The Black Community In Portland, Danny B. Copeland

Dissertations and Theses

This is a descriptive study of grassroot organizations in the Black community of Portland, Oregon. The primary objective of this study is to determine whether the Black community of Portland is actively working to improve the socio-economic and political position of the Black residents of Portland, or whether it is disorganized, apathetic, and removed from the main stream of society.

To achieve the goals of this study, answers will be sought for the following questions: Are there grassroot organizations in the Black community of Portland, Oregon? If yes, how many are there? Who are the members? What is the nature, …

Gender Roles In The Camping Situation, Carol Alice Carlson

Dissertations and Theses

The intent of this thesis is to investigate the extent to which people depart from traditional gender roles in a situation of leisure. The lack of normative structure in the camping situation offers a chance for participants to do sex typed tasks differently than in the more structured home situation.

Participant observation was used because of the exploratory nature of the project. Research was conducted the month of July, 1973. Four Oregon campgrounds were visited. Campsite clusters to be observed were chosen randomly. A systemic time schedule was developed in which various clusters were observed at as many different times …

The Effects Of Urban-Rural Life Histories Of The Aged On Urban Adaptation, Michael R. Deshane

Dissertations and Theses

Among the major interests of students of urbanism and urbanization in the United States have been the understanding and explication of differences between urban and rural segments of American society. Coupled with this has been an attempt to theoretically delineate the effects of these differences on the social psychological adjustment of urban and rural inhabitants. The culmination of this work in sociology is to be found in Wirth's (1938) essay "Urbanism as a Way of Life." Wirth identified three major differences between urban and rural lifestyles which have been the impetus for considerable research and controversy. The three major differences …

The Influence Of Age And Stimuli On The Explanations Of "Same" And "Different" By Young Children, Pamela Callas Senders

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated the influence of chronological age and stimuli on the explanations of "same" and "different" by young children. Seventy children, between by young children. the ages of three-years, six-months and nine-years, six-months, selected on the basis of chronological age, normal speech and language development, and normal verbal maturity, were involved as subjects. A test consisting of a series of verbal tasks was administered to each child. The experimenter recorded and later analyzed and classified all responses for each child, following specific guidelines for judging appropriateness of response and assigning each appropriate response to one of three classifications.