The relationship between a preschool child's level of intelligence, as measured by the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test (Form L-M), and his ability to perform classification tasks is investigated. The child's ability to generalize or to spontaneously apply previously learned concepts to similar but not identical tasks is assessed. The sample is composed of 43 three and four year old children who range from average to superior intelligence. It was originally hypothesized that those children having superior I.Q. scores would spontaneously apply learned concepts to new situations with or without the aid of prompting. Those children having the lower I.Q. scores were expected to require prompting before learned concepts would be applied in novel situations. The results were not completely as predicted. While the four year old groups generally followed the predicted pattern, the three year old groups showed some variation from the pattern predicted. The higher I.Q. three-year-olds made strong gains when prompted, whereas the lower I.Q. level group exhibited only losses when prompted. With the four-year-olds, there was little difference between the prompted and the non-prompted higher I.Q. group, whereas the lower I.Q. group receiving prompting did as well as or better than the non-prompted group. In either instance, age was found to be a major limiting factor. While not allowing for a parsimonious interpretation the results do indicate the usefulness of two hypotheses, spontaneity and optimal use, in accounting for differences in the transfer abilities of the preschool children. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Coyne's interactional formulation of depression (Coyne, 1976) states that the demands for support of the depressed individual are initially met with understanding but that over time, depressed persons engender increasingly negative reactions from others. The rejection of the depressed person is said to be mediated by a depressed mood induction in the other person. Coyne's model is primarily concerned with interactions involving family and friends of the depressed person, but in the past it has consistently been tested in laboratory situations examining interactions between strangers. The present study attempted to examine subjects' reactions to interaction with a depressed person, within the context of simulated relationships between friends or between strangers. It distinguished between compliance and initiation as expressions of rejection, and investigated the controversial issue of whether or not rejection is mediated by a depressed mood induction. An exploratory aspect of the study involved an inquiry into the potential role of interpersonal needs in the response to depressed individuals. The study was twofold: in the first part, the stimulus consisted of a videotaped interaction between two trained actresses portraying a depressed woman and a non-depressed woman in the experimental condition, and two non-depressed women in the control condition. In the second part, the same interactions were described in written scenarios. Subjects were instructed to imagine themselves as the non-depressed person interacting with the target person, as either strangers or best friends. Thus, the study consisted of two parallel 2X2 designs. Subjects completed the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist, the Wessman-Ricks Depression-Elation Scale, and the Mehrabian-Russell Semantic Differential at pretest and posttest to measure mood induction. Need for nurturance and need for autonomy were measured at pretest with the Interpersonal Adjective Scale, the Jackson Personality Research Form and the Campbell Need Scale. Posttest acceptance-rejection measures included a modified version of the Opinion Scale and the Impact Message Inventory. Results indicated that interactions with depressed individuals elicit a diffuse negative mood, more so in the context of relationships between friends, in the case of the written scenarios method. Depressed targets were also more rejected than non-depressed targets, but contrary to predictions intimacy decreased the degree of rejection. Rejection was not differentiated into the two concepts of compliance and initiation; however, results pointed to two distinct aspects of rejection - a behavioral aspect and a perceptual one. Mood induction appeared to be related only to the perceptual aspect of rejection, and not to the more salient behavioral one. The contribution of interpersonal needs to rejection appears equivocal; if indeed needs play a role in the mediation of rejection, need for nurturance seems to be more involved than need for autonomy. Although no Method effects were predicted, levels of intimacy were apparently not successfully reproduced in the videotaped stimuli. The two methods at times yielded different results, and further research will clarify their respective external validity. In light of the results of the present study, Coyne's model was in part supported but appears to be in need of serious revisions concerning the mediation of rejection and the effect of intimacy on rejection. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which secondary students in the Arts and Sciences programme procrastinate on school work, the extent to which these students perceive procrastination as a problem which they would like to change and the extent to which procrastination affects academic achievement. The study also sought to discover differences in procrastination related to gender and grade. Furthermore, this study assessed cognitions related to procrastination. Positive and negative self-statements were examined to determine whether high and low procrastinators endorse particular types of cognitive themes. The Procrastination Self-Statement Inventory was administered to 204 Arts and Sciences students from two secondary schools in a suburban/rural community in British Columbia. Part A of the inventory asked students to respond to 41 positive and negative self-statements. Part B asked students to respond to 12 questions about study habits and was used to determine a Procrastination Score for each student. Demographic data pertaining to gender, grade, age, academic achievement and future plans were also collected. Data about the extent of procrastination among secondary students and the degree to which students see this as a problem which they would like to change were examined using descriptive statistics. Inferential statistics were used to test eight hypotheses. Analyses of variance determined the statistically significant differences between the means of specified groups on certain variables. The results of the study confirm that secondary students in the Arts and Sciences programme do procrastinate on academic tasks and do see this as a problem that they would like to change. Results also indicate that there are no significant differences in the extent of procrastination among males and females but that there are differences related to grade level. However, a trend in procrastination related to length of time spent in school was not evident. Furthermore, the results confirm that procrastination has a negative impact on academic achievement. Finally, the results of the study suggest that low procrastinators endorse positive self-statements more than do high procrastinators and that high procrastinators endorse negative self-statements more than do low procrastinators. The low procrast1nators in the sample endorsed the following subscales: Facilitative Planfulness, Work Facilitative Items and Perfectionism. High procrastinators endorsed these subscales: Negativistic Intolerance, Immobilizing Mood, Low Self-Competence, Unrealistic Planning, Low Self-Control, Risktaking and Low Self-Esteem. Significant gender effects were found on the Risktaking subscale while significant grade effects were found on the Perfectionism subscale. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Adolescence has been characterized as a formative time of stress, anxiety, and change. Any index of adolescent development confirms the fact that this is a difficult developmental period. Youths are dealing with demands from a myriad of directions and thus require guidance and skill to optimally grow through this stage. An affective, personal development program designed to address adolescent needs is investigated in this study. Although the literature supports the need for affective, developmental education, little empirical evidence exists to document the impact, value and validity of such educational programs. This study tested a hypothesis that an affective, personal development program would enhance the overall psychological well-being of adolescent participants. A secondary hypothesis was that this educational training would have a differential outcome for gender. Sixty nine subjects, aged fourteen to nineteen, completed the Personal Orientation Inventory: 37 females, 26 males, and 6 returnees. The POI is purported to measure positive mental health; the interviews and questionnaires were designed to reflect the participants' self-perceived gains. Statistical analyses indicated significant positive changes on all POI scales for the pooled male and female scores. Gender differences were found, favoring females, on the two POI major scales and six of the ten subscales. All findings, qualitative and quantitative, indicate that an affective personal development program does enhance personal and interpersonal growth, thus the overall psychological well-being of adolescents. This program, although beneficial to both males and females, appears to have a more favorable outcome for females. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

This study examined the psychosocial variables of assertiveness, intimate relationships, interpersonal distrust, and social self-esteem in eating disordered and non-eating disordered women. Assertiveness was examined between three eating disordered subgroups, namely, restricting anorexics, previously anorexic bulimics, and never anorexic bulimics, in an attempt to answer the question: Are there differences in assertiveness between these subgroups? Intimate relationships, interpersonal distrust, and social self-esteem were examined between the overall eating disordered group and the non-eating disordered group. It was expected that eating disordered women, as compared to non-eating disordered women would report more difficulty in establishing and maintaining intimate relationships, higher interpersonal distrust, and lower social self-esteem. The subjects were 82 females (41 eating disordered and 41 non-eating disordered), aged 19 to 40 years. Eating disordered subjects were recruited from a local support group for women with eating disorders. None of the eating disordered subjects were hospitalized at the time of testing. Eating disordered subjects were classified using the DSM-III (1980) criteria for anorexia nervosa and Russell's (1979) criteria for bulimia nervosa. Non-eating disordered subjects were nursing students at a local community college. Non-eating disordered subjects were screened using the Eating Attitudes Test in order to prevent the inclusion of women with mild eating disorders into the comparison group. All subjects completed a battery of tests including: The Eating Attitudes Test; The Assertion Inventory; The Adult Self-Perception Profile; The Eating Disorder Inventory; The Social Self-Esteem Inventory; arid a demographic information sheet. All subjects were weighed and their height measured. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance was computed for the assertiveness measures of discomfort and response probability, examining differences between the three eating disordered subgroups. No significant differences were found. Post hoc analysis between the overall eating disordered group and the non-eating disordered group revealed highly significant differences between the two groups on both assertiveness measures (ϱ<.001). An examination of the means revealed that the eating disordered group experiences more discomfort in situations requiring assertiveness, and are less likely to respond assertively in those situations. Intimate relationships, interpersonal distrust, and social self-esteem were tested using a one-way multivariate analysis of variance. Differences were tested between the eating disordered and non-eating disordered groups. Highly significant differences were found between the groups on all three measures (ϱ<.001). An examination of the means revealed that the eating disordered group have more difficulty in forming and maintaining intimate relationships, a greater degree of interpersonal distrust, and less social self-esteem. Implications of these results and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The phenomenon of becoming a more substantial self was investigated using the case study method. The co-researcher, Mary, was interviewed to elicit her experience of the phenomenon. Understanding was built up through collection of data from a variety of sources including early recollections, a diary, and interviews with friends and associates. The data were analyzed and Cochran's dramaturgical method was used to discover the coherent pattern of meaning. A rich, detailed description of the case was then written and summarized. It was found that, for Mary, substantiality involved childhood experiences of powerlessness, incompetence, and lack of social acceptability. In response to these experiences she had formulated the position that she must defend against those painful vulnerabilities by presenting herself as strong person. Implicit in this was the assumption that she was powerless, incompetent and unacceptable and, as a result, dependent on external support. At the age of 33, Mary reached a point where her life circumstances defeated the viability of this position. She felt humiliated and defeated and could see no solution. It was then that she had a supportive spiritual experience and, at the same time, an experience of gentle confrontation from a supportive authority figure. This was the beginning of a 7-8 year transition period which involved two central processes. One process involved a kind of letting go or opening up, the other involved a movement forward involving risk, effort and action. Through many and various experiences Mary experienced that if she let go of her social mask of invulnerability and accepted herself as she was, with painful feelings and imperfections, she arrived at an experience of harmony with herself, other people and the world in general. Profoundly interwoven with this was the process of risk, effort and action. In supportive contexts, Mary began to apply herself and to discover her capacities. She began to take larger and larger risks until she came to experience herself as a competent person capable of pursuing her goals. The emergence of the substantial self was marked by the experience of the self as a capable social being and a harmonious spiritual, physical, and emotional being. Mary's life is no longer oriented around protecting vulnerabilities but around using her full capacities to accomplish social goals while staying in touch with her spiritual self. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

In recent years researchers interested in family decision making have argued for the need to apply a conceptual framework to the study of parental decision making about child-rearing issues. This study is an attempt to construct a theory-based model of parental decision-making strategies. Two theoretical approaches were employed; a structural-developmental approach to provide an understanding of parental cognition, and an information processing approach to the study of decision-making strategies. Previous research has demonstrated that pressure of time and task complexity were important in influencing the selection and use of information. These two factors were manipulated by the researcher. A model of parental decision-making strategies was proposed and tested in a pilot study. The decision was made to reduce the number of variables to those which demonstrated the potential to make a significant contribution to an understanding of parental decision making. These variables were tested in the main study. Sixty mothers participated in the study. They represented a wide range of socio-economic and educational backgrounds as well as number of years of parenting experience and age. Participants completed Newberger’s Level of Parental Awareness Interview and four decision tasks about two childrearing issues. The decision tasks were presented on information boards. The model of parental decision-making strategies was tested using multivariate analysis of variance with repeated measures. Significant effects were obtained for level of parental awareness, pressure of time, task complexity and number of years of formal education. The reduced model explained much of the variance in parental decision-making strategies (71%). Specific hypotheses concerning level of parental awareness and information use were supported. The results inform theory and practice. Support was found for the theory-based model and for Liben’s view of a rapprochement between developmental theory and information-processing theory. Parents with more knowledge about parenting used less information and more variability in their decision making. Support was found for Newberger’s measure and construct. Practical implications for parent education were curricula described. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of the studies was to test 1) the effectiveness of experimenter-directed principle testing discussions in moving subjects from an ethical relativist position to a more universalist position on all cultural practices which are unethical 2) whether subjects at higher levels of moral development rejected ethical relativism to a significantly greater degree than subjects at lower levels of moral development 3) whether subjects at higher levels of moral development were more willing to accept non-ethical cultural practices than were subjects at lower levels of moral development-. These questions were generated from Bernard Gert's rationale for the existence and validity of universal moral principles and from Lawrence Kohlberg's claim that persons at higher levels of moral development are more likely to be universalists. The subjects for the first study were 44 grade eleven students drawn from two classes in a Vancouver-high school. The subjects for the second study were 32 fifth year university students in the Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia. In both cases, the main reason for selection was the cooperation of the teachers, The level of moral development for each subject was measured by using Rest's Defining Issues Test. Movement from an ethical relativist position to an ethical universalist position was measured by using Kehoe's Cultural-Ethical Relativism Scale. In study one, all subjects were pre-tested with the Defining Issues Test and then randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group. All subjects were post-tested with the Cultural-Ethical Relativism Scale. In study two, all subjects were pretested with the Defining Issues Test and Form A of the Cultural-Ethical Relativism Scale. All subjects were administered the treatment and then post-tested with Form B of the Cultural-Ethical Relativism Scale. The treatment in both studies attempted to determine if subjects would demonstrate a greater willingness to 1) accept non-ethical cultural practices 2) reject the ethical relativist position 3) accept the ethical universalist position. Analyses of the data in study one suggested that the treatment had no significant effect. Analyses of the data in study two suggested that the treatment did have a significant effect on the subjects' willingness to accept non-ethical cultural practices. The treatment, however, also had a significant effect on the subjects' willingness to accept unethical cultural practices. These results suggest that the treatment caused disequilibrium within the subjects' values system whereby they could not distinguish cultural practices with ethical implications from those without. In future studies, this distinct-ion must be clarified. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

The relationship between empathy and sex similarity of counsellors and clients was investigated in this study. Two objectives were advanced to determine: (a) if counsellors of moderate or low empathic ability were more empathic with clients of the opposite sex, and (b) if counsellors of high empathic ability could be equally empathic with clients of both sexes. The subjects were 96 Caucasian University of British Columbia students enrolled in education or counselling psychology, or volunteering at a campus crisis and information centre. They were tested on the Discrimination Empathy Test, a lU item, sexually unbiased revision of Carkhuff's (1969) Index of Discrimination. Their scores were ranked and the subjects designated as of high, medium, or low empathic ability. This designation and the sex of the subjects and the clients served as independent variables. The dependent variable was empathy, defined as the discrimination of client affect. It was measured by the Affective Sensitivity Scale, an empathy measuring instrument consisting of video-taped vignettes from real counselling sessions with clients of both sexes and a written scale on which the subjects recorded their empathic response. Seven null hypotheses were advanced and analysed by a three-way analysis of variance. Only two of the hypotheses were not rejected. Females were found to be more empathic than males, and subjects were more empathic with male than female video-taped clients. For the third main effect, it was found that the three designated levels of empathic ability were not significantly different when re-tested on the Affective Sensitivity Scale. Nonsignificant results were found in interaction analyses of the three independent variables. Speculation was offered to explain these results. The lack of significant differences between the levels of empathic ability was probably responsible for the nonsignificance of three of the four interactions. The fourth, the finding of no interaction between the sex of the subjects and the sex of the video-taped clients could have been produced whether or not similarity was an important factor. The findings of additional t tests between each subject/video-taped client match by sex did not clarify any further the role of similarity. The highest mean score for the matches was for female subjects/ male video-taped clients, followed, in order, by male subjects/male videotaped clients, female subjects/female video-taped clients, and male subjects/ female video-taped clients. The same sex matches were not significantly different. Further research was recommended, especially into the relation of similarity to empathy. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The optimal use of resources in a floodplain is important especially as marginal returns increase in value. Flood control measures which protect floodplain development need to be conservative to allow for future growth. This thesis presents a methodology whereby the likelihood of flooding of a river is determined from Monte Carlo simulations using a numerical river model. The river model is based on the hydrodynamic equations of motion and continuity while the stochastic parameters of the river are determined from recorded discharge data from the Nicomekl River, Surrey B.C., which is used as the test case of this study. Comparisons are made between simulated and recorded data with predictions of flood probabilities and conclusions as to the use of the methodology. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Civil Engineering, Department of / Graduate