Showing papers by "University of North Carolina at Greensboro published in 1978"
TL;DR: The data suggest that Sensory Extinction may be a relatively convenient and rapid alternative for the treatment of self-stimulation and the efficacy of extinction as a behavior-modification technique to instances in which the reinforcer is purely sensory.
Abstract: This study was designed to investigate the role of sensory reinforcement in the motivation of self-stimulation. If self-stimulatory behavior is maintained by its sensory consequences, such as the proprioceptive, auditory, or visual stimulation it produces, then such behavior should extinguish when those sensory consequences are not permitted. The present study introduces a new procedure, Sensory Extinction, in which certain sensory consequences are masked or removed, to examine whether self-stimulation is operant behavior maintained by sensory reinforcement. The effectiveness of Sensory Extinction was assessed by a reversal design for each of three autistic children, and the results showed the following. First, self-stimulation reliably extinguished when a certain sensory consequence was removed, then increased when that consequence was permitted. This was replicable within and across children. Second, different Sensory Extinction procedures were required for different self-stimulatory behaviors, since the sensory reinforcers supporting them were idiosyncratic across children. Finally, regarding clinical gains, the data suggest that Sensory Extinction may be a relatively convenient and rapid alternative for the treatment of self-stimulation. The present findings extend the efficacy of extinction as a behavior-modification technique to instances in which the reinforcer is purely sensory. The implications of these results for the treatment of other forms of deviant behavior are discussed.
206 citations
TL;DR: The functional components of the VEP appeared to reflect the effects of attention on the activity of cortical size channels or detectors, and attention to one check size resulted in greater amplitude VEP components to that size than to other sizes.
158 citations
TL;DR: The effectiveness of systematic desensitization in ameliorating nightmares was evaluated in a controlled study as discussed by the authors, where participants were assigned to either systematic desenitization, a nightmare discussion placebo, or continuous self-recording.
75 citations
74 citations
TL;DR: The resurgence of ethnicity: Myth or reality? Ethnic and Racial Studies: Vol. 1, No. 3, pp 265-285 as discussed by the authors, is a popular topic in ethnic and racial studies.
Abstract: (1978). The resurgence of ethnicity: Myth or reality? Ethnic and Racial Studies: Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 265-285.
70 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the main questions to which this paper is addressed are these: Must an adequate ethical theory allow for genuine moral dilemmas? Or must an adequate theory rule out such cases in order to avoid incoherence?
Abstract: Recently it has been argued that there are genuine moral dilemmas and that any theory which does not account for this fact is an unrealistic one This represents a challenge to an assumption that most moral theorists have held: an adequate ethical theory must not allow for genuine moral quandaries John Stuart Mill, for example, in the last paragraph of the second chapter of Utilitarianism, seems to be committed to such an assumption Many others have also assented to this view The consensus among those who hold this view seems to be that if a theory allows for moral dilemmas then there is some sense in which it is incoherent or inconsistent Yet, oddly enough, the sense in which such a view would be incoherent is rarely, if ever, spelled out Put another way, there seem to be no arguments for the belief that genuine moral dilemmas must be ruled out W D Ross does suggest that if the same action were both morally required and forbidden, then "this would be to put an end to all ethical judgment"3 But how this would put an end to all ethical judgment, Ross does not explain Once one sees that few, if any, arguments have been advanced to support the commonly held assumption, one realizes that the recent challenges must be taken seriously
Thus the main questions to which this paper is addressed are these: Must an adequate ethical theory allow for genuine moral dilemmas? Or must an adequate theory rule out such cases in order to avoid incoherence? I shall approach these questions by first spelling out two different senses in which our ethical reasoning might be thought to be inconsistent if there are genuine moral dilemmas Discussing these two senses of inconsistency will cast light on the original questions The conclusion that I shall eventually argue for is that we have good grounds for supposing that an adequate moral theory must rule out genuine dilemmas
70 citations
TL;DR: In some isolated sections of the caves, footprints of the early peoples have been found in dust and in soil that once was mud, and some were made by bare human feet; others are of sandal (moccasin) impressions.
Abstract: An aspect of human identification that has received scant attention from forensic anthropologists is the study of human feet and the footprints made by the feet. During the last ten years, I have worked with archaeologists from Washington University (St. Louis) in studying the use of caves by prehistoric peoples in the Flint-Mammoth Cave region of Kentucky [1,2]. In some isolated sections of the caves, footprints of the early peoples have been found in dust and in soil that once was mud. Some of the footprints were made by bare human feet; others are of sandal (moccasin) impressions. When found, the footprints are recorded and photographed, usually by a Cave Research Foundation photographer, and left in situ. I measured some of the dust footprints in the lower passage of Salts Cave (Flint Ridge Cave system) in 1972, but at that time equipment was not available to “lift” a footprint so that it could be examined more fully in the laboratory.
65 citations
TL;DR: The automatic processing hypothesis holds that very familiar items are processed involuntarily, and two color-naming experiments were designed to test this further, suggesting that the way in which letters are encoded is influenced by the cognitive context.
Abstract: The automatic processing hypothesis holds that very familiar items are processed involuntarily, and two color-naming experiments were designed to test this further. Experiment 1 employed words as written stimuli and focal and nonfocal colors as inks. Supporting the automatic processing hypothesis, neutral words delayed color naming, indicating that their representations were activated involuntarily. There was no interaction of ink type and written item conditions. Experiment 2 employed single letters as written stimuli. Color-name initials delayed color naming when incompatible with the color and facilitated it when compatible, suggesting that, although letters may be processed involuntarily, the way in which they are encoded is influenced by the cognitive context. The data from both experiments were discussed in relation to current interpretations of Stroop effects.
62 citations
TL;DR: Motor development (body coordination) and self-concept scores were significantly higher for the group who participated in the physical activity program than for controls who did not, and there was a linear trend in motor skill improvement.
Abstract: To investigate the effect of organized physical activity on the development of specific motor skills (body coordination and self-concept) of elementary age children, 344 children from the ethnic origins, black and white, were administered the Schilling Body Coordination Test and the Martinek-Zaichkowsky Self-concept Scale for Children. Motor development (body coordination) and self-concept scores were significantly higher for the group who participated in the physical activity program than for controls who did not. There was a linear trend in motor skill improvement, with Grades 2, 3, 4, and 5 showing significantly higher gains than Grade 1. The self-concept scores indicated a significant decline for Grades 3, 4, and 5. There were no significant differences between blacks and whites. A two-way interaction was found between grade and race in motor development, with blacks demonstrating lower mean scores than whites in Grade 2 but higher mean scores in Grade 5. Correlations between self-concept and motor development were non-significant.
58 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of training in self-recording, four adolescent retarded subjects received intensive self-monitoring while five comparable subjects received minimal training, and all nine subjects self-recorded appropriate classroom verbalizations sometimes with a hand-held counter and sometimes with belt-worn counter.
56 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the test-specific group received coping statements with test referents, while the generalized group was trained with non-situation specific coping statements, and the test specific group showed greater test anxiety reductions over both controls while the general group showed anxiety reduction only over the waiting-list group on the first scale.
Abstract: Forty-eight highly test-anxious students in an introductory psychology class were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions. Two experimental conditions, a test-specific stress inoculation training and a generalized stress inoculation training condition were compared with two control conditions, a discussion control and a waiting-list control. The test-specific group received coping statements with test referents while the generalized group was trained with non-situation specific coping statements. Subjects were administered the Test Anxiety Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventories, and the Fear Survey Schedule prior to treatment, immediately following the three treatment sessions, and at the 3-week and 8-month follow-ups. Two verbal rating scales were administered after treatment to assess subjective feelings of test anxiousness and psychology test scores were recorded to assess performance changes before and after treatment. Testspecific training reduced test and trait anxiety relative to the two control groups and the generalized training reduced test anxiety relative to the waiting-list group. On both verbal rating scales the test-specific group showed greater test anxiety reductions over both controls while the generalized group showed anxiety reduction only over the waiting-list group on the first scale. These gains on the Test Anxiety Scale and State Trait Anxiety Inventories were maintained for both follow-ups.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors searched for reports of scientific evaluations of behavior modification and behavior modeling used in industrial training and found no reported scientific evaluations for behavior modification, and four reports (1976) of scientific evaluation of behavior modelling used in training managers were found.
Abstract: The training literature (1967-1976) was searched for reports of scientific evaluations of behavior modification and behavior modeling used in industrial training. No reported scientific evaluations of behavior modification were found. Four reports (1976) of scientific evaluation of behavior modeling used in training managers were found. The research designs used in these studies were analyzed for possible threats to internal validity. Enough threats to internal validity were discovered in the designs used to question the reported results of behavior modeling training of managers.
Abstract: It was hypothesized that male day care teachers who had adopted the “feminine” role of caregiver would score feminine in their personality traits and would reinforce children for feminine behaviors and punish them for masculine behaviors. A random sample of 20 male caregivers was contrasted to 20 male engineers on personality traits as assessed by The Adjective Checklist (ACL). Twenty female caregivers were also contrasted to the personality traits and the sex-typed contingency behaviors of the male caregivers. Feminine traits were defined by raw scores on the Abasement, Nurturance, Affiliation, Succorance, and Deference scales of the ACL. Masculine traits were represented by raw scores on the Achievement, Dominance, Endurance, and Autonomy scales. The Fagot-Patterson Checklist was employed to determine sex-typed contingency behaviors. Both male and female caregivers reinforced children significantly more for feminine behaviors than masculine behaviors (as defined by The Fagot-Patterson Checklist) and punished masculine behaviors more than feminine behaviors. The personalities of the male caregivers corresponded to the feminine direction of their female counterparts, but they were not significantly more feminine than the male engineers. The female caregivers, however, scored significantly more feminine in personality than the male engineers.
TL;DR: It is suggested that there are two main dimensions which divide behaviorists into meaningful units: the type of paradigm (behavior analysis versus methodological behaviorism) and the level of analysis (technical, methodological, conceptual, or philosophical).
Abstract: The differences within behaviorism in general and behavior analysis in particular have been described in many ways. Some of the more common distinctions are “basic versus applied”, “clinical versus non-clinical”, “behavior therapy versus behavior analysis”, and “experimental analysis of behavior versus applied behavior analysis”. These and other such distinctions do not seem to refer to truely important differences, or refer to important differences in confusing ways. It is suggested that there are two main dimensions which divide behaviorists into meaningful units: the type of paradigm (behavior analysis versus methodological behaviorism) and the level of analysis (technical, methodological, conceptual, or philosophical). By considering these two dimensions a number of issues in the field are recast. In particular, many of the differences within behavior analysis are recast into questions of the relationship between theory and technology.
TL;DR: In the early 1960s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration granted funds to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to study the societal impact of the space program as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the early 1960s the National Aeronautics and Space Administration granted funds to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to study the societal impact of the space program. A major product of that grant was a book entitled Social Indicators (Bauer, 1966), now acknowledged to be the cornerstone of the social indicators movement (Sheldon, 1975). In the decade since Bauer's work appeared, hundreds of published and presented papers and dozens of books have been produced on social indicators (Frisbie, 1975; Magura & Ball-Rokeach, 1975; Meile & Haese, 1969; Myers & Guttman, 1974), indicators of life quality (Holz & Glitter, 1975; Skogan, 1974; Stetson & Wright, 1975), health indicators (Derogatis, Yevzeroff, & Wittelsberger, 1975; Siegler, 1974; Taylor, Aday & Anderson, 1975; Tissue, 1972), environmental indicators (Dye, 1975), indicators of social mobility (Duncan, 1968), employment indicators (Berkowitz, 1973; Dillman & Christenson, 1974), religious indicators (Finner, 1970), welfare indicators (Angrist, 1974; Flax, 1971; Merriam, 1968), leisure indicators (Ennis, 1968; Noe, 1972; Room, 1972), and, yes, educational indicators (Beyer & Snipper, 1974; Duncan, 1968; Glitter & Peterson, 1970; Irvine, 1968; Swift, 1967). Despite the voluminous literature on indicators, or perhaps because of it, indicators are not clearly distinguished from statistics. They hold no exalted place. Further, the literature contains much discussion of their potential application but little evidence of their utility. Finally, although the label may be newly rediscovered, the existence of educational indicators can be traced throughout history (Goody, 1968; Impara, 1977; Lockridge, 1974; MacManus, 1944).
TL;DR: The main purpose of as discussed by the authors is to unify a number of theorems in topology whose conclusions state that a product of topological spaces has a compactness-like property.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to unify a number of theorems in topology whose conclusions state that a product of topological spaces has a compactness-like propertyThree such theorems are (1) the Tychonoff theorem: Every product of compact spaces is compact, (2) the theorem of CT Scarborough and AH Stone: Every product of at most N 1 sequentially compact spaces is countably compact, and (3) the theorem of N Noble: A countable product of Lindelof P -spaces is Lindelof
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a compatibility matrix which can be used as a possible aid for integrating production decisions, given the decision alternatives for its subsystems and compatibility relationships between each alternative of a subsystem and all the alternatives of the remaining subsystems.
Abstract: Most of the decisions in production management require simultaneous study of interdependent subsystems. In this paper we propose a compatibility matrix which can be used as a possible aid for integrating production decisions. The compatibility matrix generates decision alternatives for a production system, given the decision alternatives for its subsystems and compatibility relationships between each alternative of a subsystem and all the alternatives of the remaining subsystems. The mutually-exclusive decision alternatives provide the manager with a wide range to choose from. These alternatives can be used as inputs to mathematical simulation models. For ill-structured problems the compatibility matrix offers a viable tool in achieving synergy
TL;DR: This paper found that a lower social class status is related to a wider range of educational and occupational aspirations for young children, suggesting a potential for social mobility that is not contingent upon programs to change people's values.
Abstract: This is a study of parents' educational and occupational aspirations for their young children. A basic assumption underlying the research is that individuals have a range of aspirations rather than a single level of aspiration. Interview data from 436 black parents in Detroit, Michigan, are used to test the hypothesis that a lower social class status is related to a wider range of aspirations. The hypothesis is supported for several measures of the range of educational aspirations and occupational aspirations. This research has implications for social policy since the wider range of aspirations in the lower class suggests a potential for social mobility that is not contingent upon programs to change people's values.
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01 Jan 1978TL;DR: The results of these experiments suggest that the effects of varying grain duration may be small, compared to the results of varying other variables, and the location as well as the frequency of pecking may be an important measure in the analysis of factors controlling the pigeon's key peck.
Abstract: In a series of three experiments the effects of variation in grain duration on automaintenance were evaluated. In the first experiment, key illumination was followed by grain only when pigeons did not peck the key. Each subject was exposed to 2-, 4-, and 8-second feeder durations in blocks of 10 sessions. Subjects pecked on a high percentage of trials at all feeder durations. The mean peck latency was shorter in the 8-second condition than in the two other conditions in five of six subjects. The conditional probability of pecking given successive keylight-grain pairings did not increase as the number of pairings increased. The second experiment was identical to the first, except that key pecking had no scheduled consequence. Under these conditions, all three subjects showed substantial responding. The recorded measures showed no systematic relationship to feeder duration in this study. In the third experiment, two different stimuli were followed by feeder presentations of either identical (2- or 8-second) or different (2- and 8-second) durations within each session. Subjects tended to respond sooner and with a higher overall rate in the presence of the stimulus associated with the longer feeder duration only when different feeder durations were presented within the same session. This result was confirmed by direct observation of the pigeons. The results of these experiments suggest that the effects of varying grain duration may be small, compared to the effects of varying other variables. The results also suggest that the location as well as the frequency of pecking may be an important measure in the analysis of factors controlling the pigeon's key peck.
TL;DR: For example, this article found that differences in homemakers' education in addition to household income can have significant effects on the composition of household food expenditures and that the educational and income elasticities had the same sign suggesting similar directional effects of these two variables on expenditures.
Abstract: Data reported in the 1965–66 U.S.D.A. Household Food Consumption Survey were analyzed with two objectives: (1) to determine whether household consumption expenditures for various food products are related to homemakers' education and (2) to compare income elasticities and the effects of homemakers' education for selected food products. Income and educational elasticities estimated for 22 different foods indicate that differences in homemakers' education in addition to household income can have significant effects on the composition of household food expenditures. In most cases the educational and income elasticities had the same sign suggesting similar directional effects of these two variables on expenditures. All but two of the income elasticities and approximately one-half of the educational elasticities were significantly different from zero.
TL;DR: In this article, it was argued that the estimate of utility (strength of effect) for a within-subjects variable should be adjusted to reflect the underlying ANOVA model; viz., the inter-subject variability should be removed from the utility estimate.
Abstract: Procedures to estimate the magnitude of a treatment effect are examined for analysis of variance designs which have repeated-measures. It is shown that the estimate of the magnitude of an effect logically follows from the expected mean squares associated with the design in question. In particular, it is argued that the estimate of utility (strength of effect) for a within-subjects variable should be adjusted to reflect the underlying ANOVA model; viz., the inter-subject variability should be removed from the utility estimate.
TL;DR: Stage I zoea larvae of Panopeus herbstii were tested for their orientations while swimming in a glass chamber and exposed to either polarized or unpolarized light, and more of the larvae exposed to a horizontal e-vector were oriented to within a few degrees about the vertical direction.
Abstract: Stage I zoea larvae of Panopeus herbstii were tested for their orientations while swimming in a glass chamber and exposed to either polarized or unpolarized light. The larvae assumed a primarily vertical orientation of the dorsal spine (body axis horizontal) under all experimental conditions. Sensitivity to polarized light was demonstrated when larvae exposed to a polarization plane tilted off the horizontal shifted their orientations in the direction of the e-vector tilt. In addition, more of the larvae exposed to a horizontal e-vector were oriented to within a few degrees about the vertical direction, and they were less variable in their orientations than the populations of larvae exposed to unpolarized light. The possible ecological implications of such behavior are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that if X is a connected space which is not pesudocompact, then β X is not movable and does not have metric shape.
Abstract: In this paper it is shown that if X is a connected space which is not pesudocompact, then β X is not movable and does not have metric shape. In particular β X cannot have trivial shape. It is also shown that if X is Lindelof and KχβX − X is a continuum, then K cannot be movable or have metric shape unless it is a point.
TL;DR: Investigation of the effects of teacher-directed and decision-sharing models of instruction on the development of body-concept and reduction of anxiety in Greensboro public school children found girls have more positive concepts about their bodies than do boys.
Abstract: To determine the effects of teacher-directed and decision-sharing models of instruction on the development of body-concept and reduction of anxiety 99 Greensboro public school children in Grades 3 and 4 participated in either a movement program in which the teacher made all the decisions or in a program where they shared in the decision-making. The Cheffers adaptation of Flanders' Interaction Analysis System was used to verify the two treatments. The dependent variables were measured by Osgood's semantic differential for body-concept measures, and Sarason's General Anxiety Scale for Children. There was no significant difference between the groups for improvement in body-concept. Also, girls have more positive concepts about their bodies than do boys. Anxiety scores indicated that levels in fourth-grade children appear to be reduced when exposed to a teacher-directed model. However, a decision-sharing approach had a significant effect on reducing anxiety levels in third-grade children.
TL;DR: In this article, a discussion of school psychology practice is presented, with emphasis on school programs rather than on individuals, and it is suggested that school psychologists, operating from a framework of evaluation theory, are well suited to be evaluators of school programs.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors performed a noise escape task after observing a model's successful or unsuccessful performance of this task and found that the successful model observers performed more poorly on the task while the unsuccessful model observers showed enhanced performance.
Abstract: Subjects performed a noise escape task after observing a model's successful or unsuccessful performance of this task. Relative to a control group, the successful model observers performed more poorly on the noise escape task while the unsuccessful model observers showed enhanced performance. The results were interpreted in terms of a comparison level analysis and were related to research on learned helplessness.