The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of a 25-item abbreviated version of the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (Richardson & Suinn, 1972). Convergent and discriminant properties of the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale -Abbreviated (Alexander, Cobb, & Martray, 1986), as well as its sensitivity to individual differences were examined. Convergent validity was examined by studying the correlation between the two math anxiety scales, the MARS -A and the Fennema-Sherman Math Anxiety scale (FSMA). Discriminant validity was examined by studying the correlations between: (a) the MARS-A and a test anxiety scale (TAI), and (b) between the MARS -A and a general trait anxiety scale (STAI). Stepwise multiple regression analysis and Pearson Product -Moment correlation coefficients were used to investigate sensitivity to individual differences. The MARS-A functioned as the criterion variable. The predictor variables were American College Test (ACT) math scores, math coursework grade (Grade), confidence towards learning mathematics as measured by the Fennema-Sherman Confidence Scale (FSC), race (Race), sex (Sex), and age (Age). Convergent validity was demonstrated by a relatively high correlation between scores yielded by the two measures of math anxiety, viz., the MARS-A and FSMA (r = -.61). Evidence of discriminant validity was demonstrated by positive but compared to the convergent validity coefficient, lower correlations between the MARS -A and TAI (r = .44), and yet still a lower correlation between the MARS -A and the STAI (r = .31). The positive correlations among these instruments indicated that instruments of general trait anxiety, test anxiety, and mathematics anxiety measure various aspects of anxiety; however, the order in which the correlations rank suggest that these instruments do not all measure the same trait. The degree of correlation among scores supports the idea that as the instrument becomes more item specific (from measuring general trait anxiety to test anxiety to math anxiety), the correlation between scores obtained on the instruments become stronger in magnitude. FSC was the only predictor variable to enter the stepwise multiple regression prediction equation. The relationship indicates that confidence towards learning mathematics is the single, best predictor of scores obtained on the MARS -A. The negative direction of the correlation between FSC and MARS-A scores suggests that the more positive one's confidence is towards learning math, the lower one's math anxiety level. Although the MARS -A correlated significantly with other predictor variables, viz., ACT, Grade, and Age the shared variance between FSC, ACT, and Grade, and between ACT and Age imply that once the contribution of FSC to MARS-A scores was accounted for, remaining variables made no unique contribution.

A review of the current literature on the motive to avoid success (Horner, 1972) reveals that no research has focused on now the motive to avoid success relates to masculinity and femininity when they are conceptualized in other than a bipolar dimension. me present study was designed to ascertain the extent to which the motive to avoid success relates to sex-role identifications. The hypotheses that a nigh motive to avoid success would occur with feminine sex -role identification and that masculine or androgynous sex -roles would be related to low or absent motive to avoid success scores were not supported. The presence and absence of the motive to avoid success were not related to masculinity and femininity either as orthogonal variables or as gender determined variables.

An attempt was made to investigate the extent to which individuals involved in people oriented activity were better decoders of facial emotions than individuals engaged in non people oriented activity. It was hypothesized that the recognition of emotions through facial expressions would be more accurate if the decodification process were made by individuals engaged in people oriented activity than if it were undertaken by individuals engaged in non people oriented activity. Subjects participating in this study were an equal number of adult male and an equal number of adult female individuals engaged in people oriented activity and non people oriented activity (Western Kentucky University, faculty and staff members, and F.M.C. Corporation employees, Crane and Excavatory Division, Bowling Green, Kentucky). Individual slides of sixty faces posed for surprise, sadness, happiness, and anger (standarized by Ekman, 1976) were presented to the subjects. Eight seconds were allocated for viewing each slide. Answer sheets were provided the subjects for scoring their judgements. Subjects also indicated their age and job category in order to assign them to an appropriate sample group. An index of decodification by group was calculated, and the data were analyzed by a 4x2x2 three factor mixed design, with repeated measures on one factor. The results indicated significant differences in the decodification process between jobs and sex and within emotions. There were no significant interaction effects. The data suggested the decoding process could be influenced by the type of activity in which one engages and probably by the training individuals who work with people have acquired in their past experience, since in these groups more than forty percent had been working in the same job more than three years. As indicated in previous studies, females were better decoders than males, and sadness was the emotion wrongly decoded more frequently by the four groups. Implications for further research include a better definition of job categories, age, working age, differences among activities and antecedents of decoding.

The relationship between the reflection-impulsivity dimension of cognitive style and susceptibility to the Mueller Lyer illusion was investigated in nine year old children. Forty-four subjects, classified as either impulsive or reflective on the Matching Familiar Figures Test, were presented the Mueller Lyer figure under two viewing conditions, unrestricted exposure time and restricted exposure time of .1 second. It was expected that reflective children would be less susceptible to this illusion under the unrestricted condition than the impulsive children. Less difference between reflective and impulsive children was expected when exposure time was restricted. Results confirmed earlier studies that restricted exposure time increased the magnitude of the illusion, but failed to confirm the relationship between cognitive reflection-impulsivity and susceptibility to the illusion.

For 10 days, seven female and five male albino rats were given a choice between barpressing for water or drinking it freely without having to perform. Prior to the choice sessions, the animals had to earn their total water intake for either 0, 5, 15, or 25 days. All 12 animals worked for a part of their total reinforcement intake during testing. However, an analysis of variance showed that work preference increased as the amount of time the animals spent earning their total water intake increased (p<.05). These results were discussed in terms of White's (1959) competency hypothesis.

Factors affecting the spatial distribution of the Portland cement industry are discussed and applied to Kentucky. Cement is found to be both raw material and market oriented and to be highly sensitive to transportation costs. Several areas in Kentucky are found to have the necessary raw materials for cement. However, only one of these sites, Louisville, has sufficient markets to support cement production; this area is served by two factories. There are no unused sites suitable for cement production in Kentucky. The Lexington area has the potential of being able to support cement production by the year 2020.

This study was conducted to examine the effects of self-knowledge of IQ on the academic self-concept of college students. More specifically, the effects of confirmation or disconfirmation of one's expectation of IQ score were investigated. After predicting what their IQ scores would be, 93 undergraduates from Introduction to Psychology classes at Western Kentucky University were administered the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (Form L-M). After the subjects were told their obtained IQ scores, they were given the Academic Choices Questionnaire (ACQ), an instrument specifically created for this study to measure academic self-concept. The experimental group was divided into four groups: 1) those who overestimated their obtained IQs, 2) those who underestimated, 3) those who were exact in their estimation, and 4) those who were given the ACQ before they found out their IQ scores. The control group consisted of 214 W.K.U. undergraduates on which the ACQ was normed. No significant differences on the ACQ were found between the experimental and control groups. Thus, self-knowledge of IQ had no immediate or discernible effect on the academic self-concept of college students.

A simplified surface analysis was developed to detect thunderstorm outflow boundaries that emanate from Mesoscale Convective Complexes (MCCs). The analysis consisted of the interpretation of visible and enhanced infrared satellite imagery, radar observations, and a limited number (10-12) of surface observations. Thirty MCCs were interpreted by the simplified analysis; nine produced identifiable outflow boundaries. Pre-boundary Cloud Cover (PCC) and radar echo intensities were analyzed to determine if a correlation existed between mean sky cover and thunderstorm intensity. Research established that no correlation exists between PCC and radar echo intensity. Recommendations were made for future research into outflow boundary identification by the simplified analysis. Specifically, it was recommended that continued work should be conducted on the effect that pre-convective cloud cover has on the intensity of thunderstorms that subsequently develop.

This study attempted to resolve the controversy in implicit leadership research concerning whether factor structures commonly found in leadership questionnaires are a function of the actual factor structures of leader behaviors, of the preconceived structures of leader behavior imposed by raters, or both. This study replicated and extended the Weiss and Adler (1981) study on implicit leadership theory. 250 subjects were asked to describe an imaginary supervisor using the Survey of Organizations and the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire Form XII leadership scales. The subjects also completed a measure of the differentiation aspect of cognitive complexity. High- and low-differentiation subgroups, formed by a median split, were then compared on perceptions of leader behavior covariation. The results were mixed. With the Survey of Organizations items, the high-differentiation subgroup had a lower mean inter-item correlation and a more differentiated factor structure than the low-differentiation subgroup. The correlation between differentiation scores and within-subject across-item variances also indicated that high-differentiation raters showed greater variability in scores for each ratee across dimensions than the low-differentiation raters using the Survey of Organizations items. However, the items from the LBDQ XII did not find any substantial differences between the differentiation subgroups. The analysis of a total of 44 items chosen from the two leadership questionnaires based on their high standard deviations also failed to find a substantial difference between the two subgroups. The controversy in implicity leadership research was therefore not resolved. Further investigation with alternative methods is warranted.

Theoretical advancement in sociology is contingent upon an understanding of the cognitive framework of these who hope to convey an explanation of social phenomena. Throughout much of the history of sociology, disagreement as to how one should approach social theory has existed; the most marked difference being that between adherents of positivism and Those who, following Max Veber, attempt to view social reality through the subjective orientations of the individual or group. Speaking of the complicated and detailed classifications of modern sociological theories, one inveterate critic of sociology says that "this multifariousness of classifications denotes a rather chaotic situation, but this is quite natural and not reprehensible at all." However in this thesis, the question of how and why these diverse approaches exist will be considered as a theoretical problem in itself.