Computer technology has made rapid advances over the past several years. New developments in hardware have included the use of disks, cassette tape storage, and computer graphics. Hardware designed for specific uses has rapidly become a major component of the computer graphics technology. Many new programs have advanced the field of computer graphics and have facilitated the development of a new process termed digitizing.The present study used an Intergraph Computer System to digitize Bender Gestalt Test (BGT) protocols. This digitizing approach, although performed by the computer, can be likened to (a) taking a grid at 1/100th inch resolution, (b) placing the grid over the drawn designs, (c) reporting the X,Y coordinates which intersect the lines of the BGT drawing, (d) interpreting those X,Y coordinates statistically, and (e) developing norms for various aspects of subject drawings.A comparison was made between the computer digitizing method and the traditional method of scoring BGT protocols. The comparison was based on six indices selected from the 1977 Hutt Adience-Abience Scale. Data were collected from 60 children diagnosed as severely emotionally handicapped (SEH) and 60 children diagnosed as "normal."Intra-rater and inter-rater reliability as well as criterion-related and concurrent validity were analyzed. Reliability results favored the computer approach, while criterion-related validity was essentially the same for both computer and traditional scoring methods. Criterion validity for the traditional technique was slightly, but not significantly, higher. Concurrent validity results indicated a limited degree of similarity between the two methods; however, the discriminant properties of both methods differed. With two exceptions, all discriminant indices for both scoring methods were not significant. Drawing placement and rotation were statistically significant under the traditional method of assessment; however, neither the computer nor the traditional scoring method clearly discriminated SEH from normal children. With BGT assessment based on only six indices, lack of successful discrimination was not surprising. Previous studies recommended that the BGT be used only in a test battery when assessing emotional handicaps. The current study supported those recommendations and suggested that computer scoring can be more reliable and equally as valid as the traditional scoring method for assessing emotional factors on the BGT protocol.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

Self-modeling (SM) involves an observer viewing oneself on an edited video showing desired behaviors (Dowrick, & Dove, 1990). The impact of a SM video on skill acquisition has been frequently explored (e.g., Clark & Ste-Marie, 2006), however, few researchers have investigated SM in competition (Ste-Marie, Rymal, Vertes, & Martini, 2009). Also of limited study has been the underlying self-regulatory mechanisms engaged in alongside a SM video (e.g., Rymal, Martini, & Ste-Marie, 2010). To date, research has not investigated the effects of SM on gymnasts competitive bar performance or how it is used to self-regulate, nor whether SM increases self-regulation. Thus, the purpose here was to investigate the effects of a SM video on gymnasts’ physical performance and self-regulation. Of further interest was to explore the combination of SM and psychological skills training (PST) on competitive performance. Eighteen gymnasts were divided into two groups; SM+PST (n = 10) and SM (n =8). The SM+PST group took part in workshops one month prior to the competitions wherein links between SM and psychological skills were made. The SM group did not do the workshops. Gymnasts competed at four competitions; two received the SM video and two did not. For the video competitions, participants viewed their video three times prior to warm-up and once before competing. After one video competition and one competition that gymnasts did not receive the video, interview sessions were conducted with ten gymnasts. The results of the physical performance data did not show any significant group or condition main effects (all F’s < 1). Imagery ability, however, was a moderating variable. Gymnasts low in visual imagery ability benefitted from the use of the self-modeling video later in the season F(1, 16) = 5.976, p = .026, η2 = .27, (1 – β) = .63, but not early in the season. Through the qualitative analysis of interview questions, it can be said that gymnasts used the SM video as a task analysis strategy before, during, and after their competitive event. Analysis of transcripts also suggested that the SM video encouraged the use of certain self-regulatory processes and beliefs related to the forethought (i.e., before) and self-reflection (i.e., after) phases above and beyond that typically used when competing.

Although considerable progress has been made in documenting the nature and gendered allocation of unpaid family work in Canada over the last several decades, relatively few epidemiological studies have addressed the potential consequences of household labour for womens mental health. Even fewer have focused on the consequences for men. The limited research which has examined the relationship between household work and well-being has produced conflicting findings. Conflicting findings may be due, in part, to the almost sole focus of researchers on time spent in family work as the key determinant of mental health outcomes, ignoring other conditions and characteristics of family work. The objective of the present study was to examine more nuanced relationships between the perceived division of household labour and psychological distress, taking into consideration other aspects of family work, including the nature of the household task and the perceived fairness of the division of family work. Of particular interest in the study was whether the nature of these relationships differs for men and women. The study involved secondary data analysis of a recently conducted telephone survey of employed, partnered parents with children. Data analyses involved a multi-stage process consisting of univariate, bivariate, and multivariable analyses. To address the key objectives of the study, a series of multiple linear regression models were estimated with psychological distress as the outcome, adjusting for key confounders. The results indicated that the perceived division of family work was important for womens psychological well-being and the perceived fairness of the division of family work for mens. That is, for women, perceiving spending more time than their partners in housework and child rearing was associated with greater psychological distress. For men, perceived unfairness to themselves in the division of housework and perceived unfairness to their partners in the division of child rearing were both associated with greater psychological distress. The results of this study, combined with previous research, suggest that the gendered nature of household work has implications for the psychological well-being of both women and men and that both paid and unpaid work needs to be considered when examining the social determinants of parents psychological well-being.

Self-modeling (SM) involves an observer viewing oneself on an edited video showing desired behaviors (Dowrick, & Dove, 1990). The impact of a SM video on skill acquisition has been frequently explored (e.g., Clark & Ste-Marie, 2006), however, few researchers have investigated SM in competition (Ste-Marie, Rymal, Vertes, & Martini, 2009). Also of limited study has been the underlying self-regulatory mechanisms engaged in alongside a SM video (e.g., Rymal, Martini, & Ste-Marie, 2010). To date, research has not investigated the effects of SM on gymnasts competitive bar performance or how it is used to self-regulate, nor whether SM increases self-regulation. Thus, the purpose here was to investigate the effects of a SM video on gymnasts’ physical performance and self-regulation. Of further interest was to explore the combination of SM and psychological skills training (PST) on competitive performance. Eighteen gymnasts were divided into two groups; SM+PST (n = 10) and SM (n =8). The SM+PST group took part in workshops one month prior to the competitions wherein links between SM and psychological skills were made. The SM group did not do the workshops. Gymnasts competed at four competitions; two received the SM video and two did not. For the video competitions, participants viewed their video three times prior to warm-up and once before competing. After one video competition and one competition that gymnasts did not receive the video, interview sessions were conducted with ten gymnasts. The results of the physical performance data did not show any significant group or condition main effects (all F’s < 1). Imagery ability, however, was a moderating variable. Gymnasts low in visual imagery ability benefitted from the use of the self-modeling video later in the season F(1, 16) = 5.976, p = .026, η2 = .27, (1 – β) = .63, but not early in the season. Through the qualitative analysis of interview questions, it can be said that gymnasts used the SM video as a task analysis strategy before, during, and after their competitive event. Analysis of transcripts also suggested that the SM video encouraged the use of certain self-regulatory processes and beliefs related to the forethought (i.e., before) and self-reflection (i.e., after) phases above and beyond that typically used when competing.

Past studies have suggested that individuals who adopt a psychologically immersed, as opposed to a psychologically distanced perspective when reflecting on negative emotional experiences, tend to experience greater negative affect and have more difficulty reappraising their experiences in an objective manner. Psychological distancing and immersion have not been studied systematically in socially anxious (SA) individuals, despite previous research showing that trait social anxiety is strongly associated with negatively biased appraisals of social experiences during self-reflection and post-event processing. The current study investigated the relationship between trait social anxiety, psychological immersion, and the cognitive and affective experiences of 76 participants while they engaged in a laboratory-based social task. Participants wrote about and reflected on a recent negative experience in which something they did or said in a social situation did not turn out the way they thought it should have. Thereafter, participants imagined an upcoming social interaction in which they believed they would be judged on their ability to impress a social partner. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions in which they were instructed to self-reflect on these experiences in a distanced or immersed manner. Participants completed self-report measures of affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule), subjective distress (SUDS), cognitions (Negative Self Portrayal Scale), and psychological immersion (Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire) at several time points during the study. Although there were no significant effects of condition in the primary analyses, secondary analyses demonstrated that psychological immersion was significantly correlated with higher negative and lower positive affect, and with greater self portrayal concerns (but only for the social anticipation task), accounting for unique and significant variance in these outcomes, over and above the variance accounted for by trait SA. Moreover, there was a significant interaction between psychological distancing and SA status during the social anticipation self-reflection task, such that high SA participants experienced significantly greater negative affect than their low SA counterparts, but only at high levels of self-immersion. At low levels of self-immersion, both high and low SA participants reported comparatively low levels of negative affect. These results suggest that individual differences in psychological immersion and distancing may help to explain the circumstances under which self-reflection could have detrimental affective and cognitive consequences. In particular, high levels of self-immersion during self-reflection appear to interact with high levels of trait SA to drive negative emotional responses and beliefs within social contexts. Implications of these preliminary findings, their limitations, and ideas for future research are discussed within the context of cognitive behavioural models of SA.

The current exploratory study examined the relationships between intimacy or mutuality and expression of violence among a sample of Spanish-speaking immigrant men (N = 70) mandated to a batterer intervention program in the Western United States. Correlations, hierarchical regressions, ANOVAs, and t-tests were used to explore the three-phase program’s effects on changes in men’s self-reports of mutuality, physical violence, and total emotional violence and its components - verbal emotional violence and controlling behavior. The study found that higher reports of mutuality were significantly related to lower reports of all three measures of emotional violence at intake. It was also found that reports of total emotional violence and verbal emotional violence, but not controlling behavior were reduced with participation in the program. Two distinct groups of participants emerged, with men measured in the second phase of intervention reporting higher initial verbal emotional violence and mutuality than those measured in the third phase. In addition, men measured in the second phase reported greater changes in both verbal-emotional violence and mutuality than those who reported in the third phase. The findings appear to show limitations of the measurement methods and instruments. They also seem to indicate that batterer intervention programs in general may need to examine other ways to address the more pernicious social and political roots of domestic violence.

Although considerable progress has been made in documenting the nature and gendered allocation of unpaid family work in Canada over the last several decades, relatively few epidemiological studies have addressed the potential consequences of household labour for womens mental health. Even fewer have focused on the consequences for men. The limited research which has examined the relationship between household work and well-being has produced conflicting findings. Conflicting findings may be due, in part, to the almost sole focus of researchers on time spent in family work as the key determinant of mental health outcomes, ignoring other conditions and characteristics of family work. The objective of the present study was to examine more nuanced relationships between the perceived division of household labour and psychological distress, taking into consideration other aspects of family work, including the nature of the household task and the perceived fairness of the division of family work. Of particular interest in the study was whether the nature of these relationships differs for men and women. The study involved secondary data analysis of a recently conducted telephone survey of employed, partnered parents with children. Data analyses involved a multi-stage process consisting of univariate, bivariate, and multivariable analyses. To address the key objectives of the study, a series of multiple linear regression models were estimated with psychological distress as the outcome, adjusting for key confounders. The results indicated that the perceived division of family work was important for womens psychological well-being and the perceived fairness of the division of family work for mens. That is, for women, perceiving spending more time than their partners in housework and child rearing was associated with greater psychological distress. For men, perceived unfairness to themselves in the division of housework and perceived unfairness to their partners in the division of child rearing were both associated with greater psychological distress. The results of this study, combined with previous research, suggest that the gendered nature of household work has implications for the psychological well-being of both women and men and that both paid and unpaid work needs to be considered when examining the social determinants of parents psychological well-being.

No description available.

Literature has indicated that there are psychological characteristics in elite athletes of various sports that are significantly different than those of non-elite level athletes. The purpose of this study was to discover the different psychological characteristics associated with elite level gymnasts, and contrast the results with psychological characteristics of competitive gymnasts of other levels using the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28. Participants in this study were 195 gymnasts from gymnastics training centers throughout the United States. Results indicated that there was a significant difference in the Personal Resources Score (PCR) between the elite gymnast and all other levels. Furthermore, a significant difference was demonstrated among four of the seven sub-scales making up the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28. The study supports the hypothesis that the psychological make-up of "elite" level gymnasts is different than that of other competitive gymnastics levels.