Showing papers by "University of Memphis published in 1983"

Violent Intimacy: The Family as a Model for Love Relationships

Abstract: A survey of 461 college students provided data on the incidence of partner violence, by sex. The importance of modeling abusive behavior observed or experienced in the family of origin is discussed, along with the transfer of specific forms of violence from one generation to the next. (Abstract Adapted from Source: Family Relations, 1983. Copyright © 1983 by the National Council on Family Relations; Blackwell Publishers) Partner Violence Violence Against Women Gender Differences Female Violence Female Victim Female Offender Male Violence Male Offender Male Victim Adult Female Adult Male Adult Offender Adult Victim Adult Violence Dating Violence Causes Dating Violence Offender Dating Violence Victim Domestic Violence Effects Domestic Violence Victim Spouse Abuse Effects College Student Research Childhood Experience Childhood Victimization Children of Battered Women Child Abuse-Dating Violence Link Child Abuse Effects Child Abuse Victim Child Witness Child Victim Witnessing Spouse Abuse Witnessing Violence Effects Adult Survivor 07-04

Psychological preparation for invasive medical and dental procedures.

Abstract: Psychological preparation for invasive medical and dental procedures has been based on the rationale that high levels of preprocedural fear are detrimental to patients' subsequent adaptation. After a brief survey of the theoretical and empirical evidence pertaining to this rationale, the major psychological approaches designed to alleviate preprocedural concern and enhance recovery are discussed. Outcome studies that have employed informative, psychotherapeutic, modeling, behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, and/or hypnotic techniques are summarized and evaluated. Although the research suggests that each of these approaches can be effective, such serious methodological problems as heterogeneity of sample characteristics, limited range of outcome measures, and lack of manipulation checks prevent definitive conclusions. Legal-ethical concerns and the issue of cost effectiveness are also considered. Suggestions are made for future research and theory development.

Economic Dependence, Overurbanization, and Economic Growth: A Study of Less Developed Countries

Abstract: Excessively large and rapidly growing urban populations characterize social structural change in less-developed countries. This is in contrast to the developmental patterns which accompanied struct...

Feminization of channel catfish by oral administration of steroid sex hormones

Abstract: Oral administration of 17-β-estradiol or 17-α-ethynyltestosterone to sexually undifferentiated channel catfish Ictaturus punctatus during the first 21 days after yolk-sac absorption resulted in the production of 100% females. The androgen was effective at doses of 6 to 600 μg/g of feed, but not at 0.6 μg/g. Received February 5, 1983 Accepted June 12, 1983

Erythrocyte measurements of diploid and triploid Ctenopharyngodon idella x Hypophthalmichthys nobilis hybrids.

Abstract: Diploid and triploid hybrids resulted when grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella, and big-head carp, Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, were experimentally hybridized. Erythrocyte size can be used to distinguish C. idella×H. nobilis hybrids of different ploidies.

Cognitive strategies and running performance: an exploratory study

Abstract: Cognitive style differences between more and less successful but still highly skilled athletes have been identified. This study examined the cognitive strategy use of novice runners, and investigated the effects of training to adopt either associative or dissociative cognitive strategies on the performance of new runners. Students in fitness classes were randomly assigned to an Associative group, a Dissociative group or a Relaxation Control group. Before, during, and after five weeks of strategy training subjects competed in a one and one-half mile run. Analyses revealed that all runners used increasingly more associative cognitive strategies over the training period. However, those runners who employed relatively more dissociative cognitive strategies demonstrated a greater reduction in running time over trials relative to students who reported using more associative strategies. The interaction between cognitive strategy use and physical skills was discussed.

Religion, physical disabilities, and life satisfaction in older age cohorts.

Abstract: Concern here is with the relationship between religious affiliation and life satisfaction. Past research points to religion as an important factor in adjustment of the aged. However, there have been contradictory findings on aging and church attendance. Church attendance patterns are examined in relation to aging and personal adjustment. The intervening variable of the elderly person's physical disabilities is offered as an explanation for declining church attendance with age.

On approximating a linear combination of central wishart matrices with positive coefficients

Abstract: Consider linear combinations of central Wishart matrices with positive coefficients. By equating the expected values and the generalized variance of variances and covariances, we propose approximating the distributions of those linear combinations by central Wishart distributions. Some Monte Carlo results are given to demonstrate the closeness of this approximation.

A manual for content analysis of death constructs

Abstract: This paper details a system for analyzing the content of constructs that persons employ to conceptualize situations involving death and dying. The development of the content coding manual is reviewed, and the interjudge reliability of the scoring system is presented. The paper outlines instructions for using the manual and discusses potential areas for its application.

Analysis and management of geriatric anxiety.

Abstract: In this essay, the prevalence, negative health implications, and clinical management of geriatric anxiety are reviewed. Despite disproportionately high rates of anxiety amongst the elderly, little research effort has been directed at this problem. An interactive model of geriatric anxiety is proposed, whereby physical disease and anxiety processes enter into reciprocal stimulation as a function of 1) diminished capacity to withstand stress, and 2) hypervigilance of stress symptomatology. To date, pharmacotherapy has been virtually the sole approach to managing geriatric anxiety, although special hazards accrue to the elderly when anxiolytics are used. Potentially useful psychological treatments including relaxation, cognitive restructuring, activity structuring, and prevention are outlined. It is concluded that the potential human and financial rewards of increased understanding and control of geriatric anxiety are substantial.

Size Ramsey numbers for small‐order graphs

Abstract: A table of the size Ramsey number or the restricted size Ramsey number for all pairs of graphs with at most four vertices and no isolated vertices is given.

Conceptual differentiation, integration and empathic prediction

Abstract: Several investigators have examined the relationship of a rater's cognitive complexity to accurate empathic prediction of a target's self-concept or behavior, with mixed results. The present study sought to clarify this relation by considering both the conceptual differentiation (functionally independent construction) and integration (ordination) of both rater and target as they bear on predictive accuracy at early and later stages of acquaintance. Two sets of ten subjects participated in weekly self-disclosure groups, and attempted to predict one another's self-ratings on personal constructs after four and eighteen weeks of structured dyadic interaction. Results suggested that (a) the conceptual structure of the rater was unrelated to predictive accuracy, (b) high differentiated/low integrated targets were less accurately predicted at Time 1, (c) raters generally became more accurate predictors over time, and (d) conceptual structure was related to predictive accuracy at early, but not advanced stages of relationship. These findings were interpreted within an expanded theoretical framework emphasizing the multidimensional assessment of cognitive complexity as well as the stage of acquaintance at which social prediction takes place.

A delivery system for the treatment of primary enuresis.

Abstract: To illustrate how to deliver underutilized psychological treatments, a comprehensive, low-cost treatment for primary enuresis was developed consisting of bell-and-pad training, cleanliness training, retention control, and overlearning. Sixty primary enuretic children and their parents attended 1-hour group training sessions and implemented treatment in the home. Each case required 15 minutes of professional time, and net cost to each family was $50. Forty-eight (81%) achieved initial arrest of bedwetting and only 11 (24%) relapsed at 1-year follow-up. Significant association between relapse and prior treatment failure with imipramine was noted. The outcome was found to compare favorably with previous treatments that required more professional time.

The effects of sex and machiavellianism on self-disclosure patterns

Abstract: This study was aimed at replicating the findings of an earlier study examining the effects of sex and machiavellianism on self-disclosure patterns. Of particular interest was the question of whether or not a significant sex-machiavellian interaction would reoccur. A sample of 166 males and females recruited from the introductory course in sociology were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing several dimensions of friendship relations. Measures of self-disclosure and machiavellianism were included in the questionnaire. As hypothesised, a significant sex-machiavellian interaction was observed. The significant interaction was interpreted to suggest that self-disclosure may be a manipulation strategy for females. If this is the case, current measures of machiavellianism are intensitive to the range of manipulative techniques used by females.

Conjugal Power and Spousal Resources in Patriarchal Cultures

Abstract: Current sociological theory regarding the antecedents of conjugal power suggests that resource theory can be successfully employed in the prediction and explanation of marital power distributions o...

An Examination of the Random versus Nonrandom Nature of Item Omissions

Abstract: Item omission in mail surveys has received little attention other than as a variable measuring response quality in questionnaire design studies. Few researchers have attempted to examine item omission as a nonrandom process. The authors re-evaluate the nature of item nonresponse and analyze item omissions within topical domains. Two independent surveys and a replication study are reported. The tendency to omit survey items is tested for generalizability across domains and between similar studies. Sociodemographic correlates are investigated and a longitudinal analysis by item is performed. The results indicate that item omission is apparently a nonrandom process at an aggregate level, but the magnitude of the relationship is weak. When the data are disaggregated by topical domain, significant systematic relationships become less apparent.

Systematics of the Genus Blarina in Tennessee and Adjacent Areas

Abstract: Morphometric analyses were conducted on shrews of the genus Blarina in Tennessee and adjacent areas. Results indicate the presence of two distinct taxa. A large form, Blarina brevicauda , occurs in the Appalachian Mountains eastward to middle Tennessee. Within this group, two size forms were found which differ only in the averages of the characters. A smaller form, B. carolinensis , occupies western Tennessee and adjacent western and southern states. In Tennessee, the zone of contact between the two taxa appears to be an area slightly east of the Tennessee River. Generally, B. brevicauda shows an increase in size from the southwestern to the northeastern part of its range within Tennessee; overall size is correlated with temperature, longitude, and altitude. B. carolinensis appears to be relatively uniform over much of its range, with a slight increase in size from the west to the east and north. Mean July temperature (temperature extremes) has the highest correlation with overall size.

A procedure manual for the threat index

Abstract: Several of the foregoing papers have used versions of the Threat Index (1) as a means of exploring the personal meanings that individuals attribute to their own mortality. For the convenience of the interested clinician and researcher, the procedures for administering and scoring the most commonly used forms of the instrument are presented here. A detailed review of studies examining the psychometric properties of the TI has been provided elsewhere (2). Several additional publications (noted below) address the theoretical rationale underpinning the instrument, guidelines for interpretation of the scores derivable from it, and examples of the instrument's application.

Toward a personal construct conceptualization of depression and suicide

Abstract: Research is examined that is relevant to a conceptualization of depression and suicide from the viewpoint of personal construct theory This review highlights the role played by the following cognitive processes in the two disorders: (a) constriction in construct content and application, (b) construct system disorganization, (c) a breakdown in anticipation of the future, (d) negative self-construing, (e) polarized or dichotomous construing, and (f) perceived interpersonal isolation Similarities and differences in the construct systems of depressed and suicidal individuals are explored and testable implications of the personal construct model are detailed The paper concludes by noting construct theory's potential conceptual, methodological, and therapeutic contributions to further work in this area The prevalence of depression has given rise to numerous theories-ranging from the psychodynamic to the biochemical-that attempt to account for its etiology and offer guidelines for treatment One of

Age differences in cued recall and recognition under varying encoding and retrieval conditions

Abstract: This experiment investigated the role of the encoding-retrieval relationship in adult age differences in memory. To determine the optimal encoding-retrieval conditions for adults of different ages, young, middle-aged, and older adults were given a semantic or acoustic orienting task, followed by semantic and acoustic recognition tests or semantic and acoustic cued recall tests. As predicted, the results demonstrated the importance of similar encoding and retrieval conditions at all ages, especially with semantic processing. Age differences were reduced on the recognition test and when semantic encoding was combined with a semantic cue test at retrieval. It was concluded that acoustic processing is not as effective as semantic processing for older or younger adults, and that effective use of semantic processing by older adults depends on constrained task conditions. These conditions include congruent semantic orienting questions that specify precise meanings for each target item, and retrieval cues that match the information in the orienting questions.

Community And Commitment Among Catholics: A Test Of Local‐Cosmopolitan Theory*

Abstract: This study tests Roof's (1972,1976,1978) local-cosmopolitan theory of religious commitment using a sample of Catholics living in west Tennessee. Consistent with Roof's theory, local community refer...