Showing papers by "University of North Carolina at Greensboro published in 1974"

Effect of Noise on the Mathematical Parameters that Describe Isothermal Seed Germination

Abstract: A mathematical model is proposed to describe the isothermal germination rate of seeds as a function of time. All environmental parameters were held constant with the exception of the sound-pressure level and the frequency of the impinging sound waves. Each single frequency sound has its own set of mathematical parameters that describe the differential germination rate as a function of time. Frequencies of 100, 1000, 2000, 4000, and 9000 hertz as well as broad band noise, all at 100 decibels, were used in the experiments.

A note on [a, b]-compactness

Abstract: In this note we study the relationship between [a, b]-compactness in the sense of open covers, and [a, b]-compactness in the sense of complete accumulation points.

Exact methods in the unbalanced, two-way analysis of variance - a geometric view

Abstract: In the days when analyses of variance were typically performed on a desk calculator, approximate methods such as unweighted means were generally preferred to exact least squares methods when dealin...

The Edwards Personal Preference Schedule and Consumer Personality Research

Abstract: A primary objective in constructing the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) was to control for the well-known tendency of subjects to characterize themselves on paper and pencil personality inventories in socially desirable terms. The procedure Edwards adopted for controlling social desirability produces ipsative scales which are not suitable for most consumer behavior research. Also in focusing attention on the problem of social desirability bias Edwards gave only minor attention to the validity of the EPPS. After noting the prominence of the EPPS in consumer personality research we shall consider the problems of social desirability, ipsative scoring, and validity.

Ethylene Glycol-Induced Alteration of Conidial Germination in Neurospora crassa

Abstract: In nutrient medium containing 322 M ethylene glycol or glycerol, conidia of Neurospora crassa grow as single cells, without forming the germ tubes characteristic of normal morphological germination Ethylene glycol is more effective than glycerol in producing this response After growth in ethylene glycol medium for a suitable time, the cells are easily disrupted by an abrupt decrease in osmotic pressure Osmotic disruption yields intact nuclei and mitochondria, although mitochondrial fractions obtained in this way show significantly reduced concentrations of cytochromes c + c1, as compared to those observed for comparable fractions obtained from vegetative hyphae Cell cultures gradually adapted to lower concentrations of the glycol show a much higher degree of synchrony in the formation of germ tubes than do untreated conidia

The Validity of the Vane Kindergarten Test in Predicting Achievement in Kindergarten and First Grade

Abstract: The ability of the Vane Kindergarten Test (VKT) to predict academic achievement was assessed with 148 pre-kindergarten children (Group I) and 141 kindergarten children (Group II). Approximately one year after the administration of the VKT, Group I was administered the Metropolitan Readiness Tests. Comparably, Group II was given the Stanford Achievement Test, Primary I Battery approximately ten months after the VKT administration. Metropolitan-VKT and Stanford-VKT scores were correlated. Metropolitan-VKT coefficients, which were all significant (p < .01), ranged from .40 to .53. Several of the Stanford-VKT coefficients were significant (p < .01); the largest one was the VKT Vocabulary-Stanford Vocabulary (.47). Although most of the correlations obtained in the present study were significant, the VKT does not appear to have sufficiently high validity for use in assessment and program planning for individual children.

The Effects of Different Types of Teaching Methods and Verbal Feedback on the Performance of Beginning Readers.

Abstract: Initial reading acquisition was taught to 64 kindergarten children for 11 weeks utilizing a two × two × four factorial design. The two antecedent conditions were the Lippincott (phonics — Ph) and Scott-Foresman (sight recognition — SR) Series. The two consequent conditions were positive verbal feedback following correct reading responses (R-N) and negative verbal feedback following incorrect reading responses (N-W). Four experimenter-teachers (ET) were used. Utilizing standardized tests of reading achievement, it was found that Ph produced a reading response of letter-sound combinations, whereas SR produced recognition of a limited number of words. There were no consistent differences for the variables of teacher, IQ, or sex.

The process of suicide: the sequence of disruptive events in the lives of suicide victims.

Abstract: Certain disruptions in social relations or loss of social roles tend to precede the act of suicide. In general, this study has attempted to demonstrate the sequential ordering of these social losses and otherdisruptive events. It has been shown that loss of roles irn childhood and early adolescence, parents, home, sibilings, close relatives, and student role tends to be followed by chaotic marriages, loss of occupation role(s), and loss of one's own health either physical or mentalor, in some cases, both. Also parental roles tend to be lost through the death of a child. Take away one's social roles and you take away his humanity (See Palmer, 1970). An individual with nowhere to turn and having lost all, tends to be highly vulnerable to suicide.

Ecology of Blue-Green Algal Viruses

Abstract: Blue-green algal viruses have wide geographical distributions and are present in both fresh water and marine environments. Population control of Plectonema boryanum , a ubiquitous nonblooming alga, may result from infection and lysis of the cells by LPP viruses. The maintenance of the virus in the environment may be the result of lysogenized host cells with occurrence of both spontaneous and stress induction. This has been demonstrated in laboratory culture. A protozoan is described that serves as a probable reservoir for the cyanophage. Since the host algae are extremely difficult to isolate in the presence of the virus, this protozoan may be the dispersal agent along with the state of lysogeny.

Zone Planning for Accelerating Adaptive Behavior in the Retarded

Abstract: In an effort to develop an efficient, practical program to serve a heterogeneous population of mentally retarded children excluded from other treatment programs, an innovative teaching environment was developed. A period of individual therapy designed to increase attending behaviors and decrease self destructive, aggressive, or other interfering responses is followed by programing each child into a therapy zone plan of treatment. The zones of special education, self help, language skills, socialization, and motor skills are used. Children move from one prescribed zone to another upon completing daily goals, thereby avoiding the interfering stimuli of other zones and the distracting social stimuli of large groups. The zone approach is discussed as a viable community based model.

A study of the etiology of sociopathic behavior.

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to attempt to indicate a possible process by which a sociopathic personality emerges. It is contended that sociopathic behavior can be understood in relation to the emergence of the self and the concomitant ability to take the role of the other. For the purposes of this study the sociopath is conceptualized as one who is deficient in role-taking ability, that is, he is unable to judge his own behavior from the viewpoint of another person. The socialization process is considered crucial in the emergence of the self and the ability to take the role of the other. Adequate socialization is that which take place under conditions of primary relations between the socializing agents and the person(s) being socialized. It is assumed therefore that socialization which occurs under conditions of secondary relations is inadequate. Socialization marked by secondary relations characteristically occurs within institutions. This study specifically focuses on the relationship between childhood institutionalization and sociopathic behavior in later life. The samples consisted of 50 sociopaths and 59 non-sociopaths (32 paranoid schizophrenics and 27 psychoneurotics) randomly drawn from the resident male caucasian population of the New Hampshire Hospital. Although age was not consciously controlled, each of the samples had similar age distributions with the majority of the patients falling between the ages of 20 and 34. The major hypothesis was: the incidence of early institutionalization (before the age of 16) among the sociopaths will be significantly higher than for mental patients diagnosed other than sociopathic. The data were classified as follows: institutionalization was divided into two types; orphanages and "other residential institutions" solely responsible for the care of the child. The findings indicate that there is a statistically significant association between early institutionalization and sociopathic behavior in later life. The incidence of institutionalization was consistently higher for the sociopaths than for the total non-sociopathic sample and for each sub-set of that sample. The findings of this study seem to support the theoretical assumption that childhood socialization that takes place under conditions of secondary relations between the child and the socializing agents will be ineffective for the development of a self with adequate role-taking ability. Sociopathic behavior may be a consequence of such socialization experiences.

Take the Current When it Serves—NASPE is Launched!

Abstract: (1974). Take the Current When it Serves—NASPE is Launched! Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation: Vol. 45, No. 7, pp. 19-20.

The effects of verbal and motor noncooperation on instigative aggression

Abstract: In two studies of third party instigation of aggression Gaebelein (1973a, 1973b) has demonstrated that the behavior of the potential aggressor can significantly influence the aggressiveness of the instigations. That is, a subject, in the role of advisor, suggested that significantly less intense shock be set for an opponent when the subject’s partner, a confederate, refused to set high shocks, as compared to the intensities suggested by a sub-

Performance and Attitude of Student Teachers as Affected by Two Gradin Systems

Abstract: This experiment tested the effect of method of grading, the letter (A -F) and satisfactoryfail (S -F) grading systems, on performance and attitudes of home economics education student teachers at Iowa State University. Dependent variables were factor scores derived from instru ments administered to the student teachers and their cooperating teachers and ratings on 15 dimensions of two audiotaped class sessions taught by the student teachers. Responses of the 117 student teachers and their cooperating teachers were used in the factor analysis in which general and specific factors were extracted. Data from 50 student teachers and their 16 cooperating teachers were used in the tests for differences between groups. A control for response set variance was utilized. Analyses of variance revealed that method of grading did not affect performance and that student teachers were, in general, less anxious and more positive about their relationships with their cooperating teachers under S-F than under A-F grading.

Locus of Control as a Function of Confirmation or Disconfirmation of an Expectancy

Abstract: first quiz answer sheet, each student was requested to indicate how many questions they thought were answered correctly (expected score). The independent experimental manipulation was performed by providing feedback on the quiz which reflected a seven-point increase, decrease, or no change from the expected quiz score previously indicated. The manipulated scores were returned to the students and readministration of the Rocter scale ( posrces t ) imrnedia tely followed. An analysis of variance was calculated on the difference between pre- and post-manipulation I-E scores. The analysis yielded one significant main effect, the locus of control designation (F = 12.87, df = 2/49, fl < .01). Post hoc Neuman-Keuls tests indicated that this main effect was caused by a significant external shift from pretest to posttest by the internal group. The effect of manipulated expected scores and the interaction were not significant. The multiple regression analysis of pre- and posttest scores (test-retest reliability) gave a correlation between the two administrations of .78. The experimental manipulation of the students' expected scores had no effect upon their internal-external orientation. It seems probable chat this one specific disconfirmation of an expectancy did not have the importance to an individual that McArthuu had available. Certainly, the effect of avoiding two years of service had more long-range importance than receiving a quiz which was seven points higher or lower than expected.

A note on the possibility of a reinforcement theory of cognitive learning

Abstract: It is suggested that cognitive linkages are formed not by contiguity alone, but by contiguity plus a species of secondary reinforcement. It is also proposed that such linkages, when activated by the environment, result in a surrogate learning experience, the latter being responsible for the overt behavior which then occurs.