Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1963. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-67).

Thesis--Wisconsin. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-126).

The purpose of this study was to assess the perceived stress feelings of school administrators toward practices and problems associated with their official educational responsibilities. The study was conducted in the Fort Wayne Community Schools, Fort Wayne, Indiana.The objectives of the study were to determine the following: (1) the extent to which school administrators reported experiencing thriteen symptoms of stress, (2) the extent to which school administrators felt that thirty three management practices were stress-producing, (3) the extent to which school administrators felt that twenty eight problems in education were stress-producing, and (4) the extent to which school administrators felt that ten recommendations would be most helpful in minimizing or eliminating stress.The null hypotheses tested in the study were the following: (1) there will be no significant differences in perceived stress between five age-groups, (2) there will be no significant differences in perceived stress between men, women, (3) there will be no significant differencesin perceived stress between three management levels, (4) there will be no significant differences in perceived stress between five time-period groups indicating the length of time a person has been with the system, and (5) there will be no significant difference in perceived stress between five time-period groups indicating the length of time a person has been in the current position.Each of these hypotheses was tested in relation to symptoms of stress, attitudes toward management practices, current problems in education, recommendations for minimizing stress and position complexity.The eighty-four item instrument, School Administrator Stress Survey, was submitted to 260 administrators. A total of 247 participants responded, representing a ninety-five per cent return. A one-way analysis of variance was used to treat the differential data statistically.As a result of the treatment, the null hypotheses for five variables were rejected at the .05 level. The hypotheses for twenty variables failed to be rejected at the .05 level.Based upon the differential data and the findings, the following conclusions were drawn:1. There was a significant difference in perceived stress between school administrators in five different age-groups in the relationship of age-group to position complexity. An indication of greater stress because of position complexity was found in the "31-40 years" age-group than for the other four age-groups.2. There was a significant difference in stress between men and women, in the relationship of sex and stress-reducing recommendations. An indication of greater stress among female than among male administrators was found as indicated by the recommendations made for reducing stress. An indication of greater stress among male than among female administrators because of position complexity was found.3. There was a significant difference in stress between three management levels, in the relationship between management level and position complexity. An indication of greater stress among "upper management level" administrators than for those at the "middle" or "lower" levels because of position complexity was found.4. There was no significant difference in perceived stress between five time-period groups indicating the length o f time a person has been with the system. None o f the five relationships tested indicated a significant difference at the .05 level, therefore this hypothesis failed to be rejected.5. There was a significant difference in perceived stress between five time-period groups indicating the length of time a person has been in the current position. An indication of greater stress because of management practices was found among administrators who had been in their current positions from "1-5 years."As a result of the descriptive data derived, the following conclusions were drawn. For this part of the study, a response level by one third or more (33 1/3 per cent) of those reporting perceived stress was considered critical (serious enough to warrant attention and action).1. Three symptoms of stress were reported above the critical level.2. Three stress-producing management practices were reported above the critical level.3. Twenty three stress-producing problems in education were identified above the critical level.4. Nine stress-reducing recommendations were identified above the critical level.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Fisk, Arthur D.; Committee Member: Corso, Gregory; Committee Member: Essa, Irfan A.; Committee Member: Roberts, James S.; Committee Member: Rogers, Wendy A.; Committee Member: Van Ittersum, Koert.. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

The purpose of this research was to examine significant change, if any, in instrumental and expressive traits during adulthood. The research was designed to test the assumption that chronological age and psychosocial stage are related to instrumentality and expressiveness.The present study utilized the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) and a personal information questionnaire. The research question was: Are there differences in traits of instrumentality and expressiveness at different stages of adult development?Three hundred sixty-three men and women between the ages of 20 and 70 participated in the study. The sample included 164 men and 197 warren. Participants were members of volunteer organizations. They were assigned to different groups based on age and psychosocial development.Four 3 x 3 Analyses of Variance procedures were performed. There were three levels of age: (1) 20-35, (2) 36-50, and (3) 51-70. Categorization of psychosocial stage included: (1) no children, (2) children from birth to graduation from high school, and (3) all children graduated from high school. Sex was not combined, rather separate analysis was performed on each sex. The dependent variables were expressiveness and instrumentality as defined by scores on the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. The following effects were studied:(1) Effects of age and psychosocial stage on traits of instrumentality in men.(2) Effects of age and psychosocial stage on traits of expressiveness in men.(3) Effects of age and psychosocial stage on traits of instrumentality in women.(4) Effect of age and psychosocial stage on traits of expressiveness in women.The results of the research indicated that traits of instrumentality and expressiveness in men and women do not change significantly during adulthood. No significant differences were found in men or women with regard to age and psychosocial development on traits of instrumentality and expressiveness.

The problem for this study may be stated in two questions: (1) What effect does chronological age have on achievement in reading and arithmetic for boys and girls in the seventh and eighth grades at the Needham School in Lodi, California?; (2) Are boys in the Grades VII and VIII able to do as well scholastically as girls of the same age working in the same grade? The purpose of this study is to compare the scholastic achievement of a group of children who are young for their grade placement, less than twelve and thirteen years of age in Grades VII and VIII, respectively, with children who are older, and to determine if there is a valid reason for requiring a child to take an extra year of elementary school work because he happens to be in the youngest quartile age group of his class.

Orientador: Mario Sérgio Vasconcelos / Banca: Leonardo Lemos de Souza / Banca: Alvaro Marcel Palomo Alves / Banca: Silvana Calvo Tuleski / Banca: Flávia Cristina Oliveira Murbach de Barros / Resumo: A presente pesquisa explora o tema da criatividade ao longo da trajetória intelectual de Piaget e Vigotski. Trata-se de um estudo teórico no qual foi utilizada a análise comparativa como procedimento metodológico. A evolução do problema da criatividade ao longo de suas obras e a síntese conceitual extraída das formulações permite a defesa de três argumentos fundamentais: a) a ocorrência de autocrítica que os levou a uma reformulação em suas teorias, com repercussão para o tema da criatividade; b) a concordância sobre a criação como um problema das idades psicológicas; e c) a discordância quanto ao papel da linguagem para a originalidade criativa. A reformulação teórica feita por Piaget se deu logo no início de sua carreira e consistiu no rebaixamento da importância da linguagem para a origem da atividade intelectual e criativa. Desde então, o acontecimento psicológico que explica a originalidade deixa de contar com a participação diretiva e decisiva de algo externo ao próprio mecanismo de adaptação da vida. Embora em seus últimos trabalhos reconheça as iniciativas engenhosas conquistadas pelo pensamento lógico-formal na idade da adolescência, Piaget entende que o processo funcional e biopsíquico de equilibração, alimentado pelas ações do sujeito, possui maior força explicativa para a compreensão da originalidade, que é a principal característica da criação. Já a autocrítica realizada por Vigotski o levou a explicar a criação, em seus últimos trabalhos, no interior da dinâmica... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This research explores the theme of creativity along the intellectual trajectory of Piaget and Vygotsky. It is a theoretical study in which the comparative analysis was used as a methodological procedure. The evolution of the problem of creativity throughout his works and the conceptual synthesis extracted from the formulations allows the defense of three fundamental arguments: a) the occurrence of self-criticism that led to a reformulation in his theories, with repercussion for the theme of creativity; b) concordance on creation as a problem of psychological ages and c) discordance on the role of language for creative originality. The theoretical reformulation made by Piaget occurred early in his career and consisted in lowering the importance of language to the origin of intellectual and creative activity. Since then, the psychological event that explains the originality no longer counts on the directive and decisive participation of something external to the own mechanism of adaptation of life. Although in his later works he acknowledges the ingenious initiatives achieved by formal-logical thinking in his teenage years, Piaget understands that the functional and biopsychic process of equilibration, fueled by the actions of the subject, has greater explanatory power for the understanding of originality, which is the main characteristic of creation. Vygotsky's self-criticism led him to explain the creation in his last works within the psychological dynamics of the ages, defe... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

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.

Research suggests that older adults have enhanced emotional outcomes and use different emotion regulation strategies (e.g., more distraction and positive reappraisal) relative to young adults. The present study investigated the mood and memory-related effects of these strategies in young and older adults. Participants watched a sad film clip while being instructed to use specific emotion regulation strategies (i.e., avoiding negativity, focusing on positivity, focusing on negativity, or no instructions). Young adults who were instructed to avoid focusing on negativity showed better mood outcomes and more positive memory for the film compared to non-instructed young adults. Instructions to down-regulate emotions did not affect older adults, possibly because they used such strategies spontaneously. Older adults increased dispositional tendency to focus on positive stimuli in their everyday lives partially explained older adults greater mood improvement. The results have implications for the effectiveness of particular emotion regulation strategies and for the generalizability of the positivity effect.

Future advances in technology may allow home-based robots to perform complex collaborative activities with individuals of different ages. Two studies were conducted to understand the expectations of and attitudes toward home-based robots by younger and older adults. One study involved questionnaires sent to 2500 younger adults (aged 18-28) and 2500 older adults (aged 65-86) in the Atlanta Metropolitan area. One hundred and eighty questionnaires were completed and returned by individuals in the targeted age groups. For the questionnaire, participants were asked to imagine a robot in their home and then to answer questions about how well characteristics matched their imagined robot. Participants' technology and robot experience, demographic information, and health information were also collected. In conjunction with the questionnaire study, twelve younger adults (aged 19-26) and twenty-four older adults in two sub-age groups (younger-older, aged 65-75, and older-older aged 77-85) were interviewed about their expectations of and attitudes toward a robot in their home. They were asked to imagine a robot in their home and answer numerous questions about the tasks their envisioned robot would perform, the appearance of the robot, and other general questions about their interaction with the robot. The results of the studies suggest that individuals have many different ideas about what a robot in the home would be like. Mostly, they want a robot to perform mundane or repetitive tasks, such as cleaning, and picture a robot as a time-saving device. However, individuals are willing to have a robot perform other types of tasks, if they see benefits of having the robot perform those tasks. The ability of the robot to perform tasks efficiently, with minimal effort on the part of the human, appears to be more important in determining acceptance of the robot than its social ability or appearance. Overall, individuals both younger and older seem to be very open to the idea of a robot in their home as long it is useful and not too difficult to use.