The present study was concerned with investigating children's generalized locus of control of reinforcement and its possible relationship to the demographic variables of birth order and family size. The sample consisted of 93 school children in Grades 6, 7, and 8. The analysis of data was by a 2 x 3 factorial design. Results indicated no significant differences in the generalized locus of control orientations of first-born, intermediate-born, and youngest children. Results also indicated that children of these different birth order positions from small families and from large families did not differ significantly in their generalized locus of control orientation. A correlational study of the data showed that the children's locus of control orientations were unrelated to sex differences.

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is one of increasing the goal-striving and achievement behavior of externally controlled students. The present study was designed to test the efficacy of short-term persistence training. The purpose of the training was to alter temporarily the cue discrimination and paired-associate memory task outcomes of externally controlled students. It was found that persistence training had no significant effect on either the cue discrimination or paired associate memory task performance of the students. Surprisingly, internals failed to do better than externals, regardless of the type of persistence training or the task employed. Although the total internal IARQ scores of the students in this study were comparable to those of the standardized norm of the IARQ, the students did not perform as might have been expected from the review of the literature. Because persistence training failed to enhance the students' cue discrimination or paired-associate memory task performance, it was concluded that brief persistence training was ineffective. However, because externals performed comparably to internals it was also concluded that the locus of control dimension was not predictive of achievement on these tasks for these students. This finding was in opposition to most related literature. Further research was therefore recommended comparing the performance of bright, high achieving externals (like those in the present investigation) with that of more typical external students (e.g. public school externals).

Locus of control, age, and sex were examined to determine the relative amount of variance each contributed to three variables: Rational, Intuitive, and Dependent decision-making styles. Subjects (N=96) who had been identified as having a disability, who were receiving financial assistance through Vocational Rehabilitation Services, and who had volunteered to complete two scales and a demographic and personal data questionnaire, comprised the sample. One scale, the Adult Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Scale (ANSIES) was used to measure locus of control. The Assessment of Career Decision-Making (ACOM) was used to measure decision-making styles. The results of the study provided evidence that three independent variables (locus of control, age, and sex) contributed significantly to Rational, Intuitive, and Dependent decision-making styles. / Ph. D.

The purposes of this study were (a) to compare open plan housing to semi-open and closed-plan designs on perception of crowding and reactions to crowding and (b) formulate a theoretical basis for explaining housing and human behavior. The objectives were to determine (a) if the number of people who could occupy open-plan housing without feeling crowded would differ from the number who could occupy semi-open or closed plans and (b) if the crowding accommodation time and reactions to crowding would be influenced by floor plan design. Analysis of Variance statistical techniques were used. Forty-five women who worked outside the home and occupied households of four or more persons with at least two children under the age of 18 were were randomly assigned to one of the three floor plan groups. Three identical models constructed with varying degrees of openness to 1" = 1'-0" scale represented the public areas of a dwelling approximately 1,150 square feet in size. Figures and furniture were constructed to the same scale. Subjects independently placed figures in the models in four typical family activity scenarios until one more figure was perceived as one too many. The scenarios, which represented goal-directed and non-goal directed activities, varied in the level of social interaction that was anticipated. After figures were placed to simulate crowding, subjects were asked questions related to their attitudes and responses to crowding. At the .05 level of significance, subjects placed fewer figures in the open plan model than in the semi-open and closed plans when given a scenario in which low levels of social interaction (privacy) were desirable. Significant differences were also observed among the four different scenarios. When scenarios represented goal-directed behaviors, fewer figures were placed, accommodation time was less, and reaction to crowding was greater than when scenarios represented unstructured social activities. The results suggest that small dwellings constructed for families with children should have some division of space in the living, dining, and kitchen area to support low-social interaction and goal-directed behaviors. Further research is needed to determine if uncontrollable high social interaction within a dwelling reduces goal-directed behavior. / Ph. D.

As the number of elderly individuals in the population continues to increase, the demand for alternatives to group care settings will also increase. Homes for adults represent an example of the diversification of long term care options by providing care to elderly individuals in a setting that is more home-like and less institutionalized than traditional nursing homes. Since previous research is often limited to nursing home residents, the study of home for adult residents offers a fresh approach to sample selection, and provides reassurance that the needs of elderly residents are indeed being met not only in terms of custodial care but also in a therapeutic sense that enhances life satisfaction. In this study, the relationship of integrity/despair, locus of control, and life satisfaction was examined in a sample of elderly persons who reside in homes for adults. The participants were 17 males and 83 females, ranging in age from 60 to 95 and reporting fair to good health. It was hypothesized that elderly individuals who felt in control of their lives would also be more satisfied with life, Additionally, it was proposed that elderly individuals who looked back on their lives and were not satisfied would be afraid to die and would feel little or no control over their lives. Death anxiety, as measured by the Death Anxiety scale (Templer, 1970) was used to define integrity/despair. The indicator of locus of control was the Mastery Scale (Pearlin & Schooler, 1978), and life satisfaction was assessed with the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale (Lawton, 1975). Correlation analysis yielded the following results: (a) the more internal an individual’s locus of control score, the lower the death anxiety score, (b) the more internal the locus of control, the higher the life satisfaction score, and (c) the higher the life satisfaction, the lower the death anxiety score. These findings supported the hypotheses and indicate that elderly individuals who feel in control are also satisfied with their lives and are not afraid to die. / Master of Science

Argues that, without the publication of Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species," Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" and Oscar Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" would not have been written with their distinct style and themes, as evolution clashes with degeneration and female power (and the sexuality derived from that power) clashes with the new science. Stoker and Wilde combine the science of the late 19th century with the characters of their imaginations. Natural and sexual selection plays a part in these characters' core development. The mixture of sexuality, science and power in these two novels all combine to formulate what is known as Victorian sexology.

The demand for human services has grown exponentially in recent years. Self-help groups now fill the gap between consumer needs and the reach of traditional health care. This study examines the perception of the members of these groups toward the professional community. Four self-help groups, all based on principles of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and all primarily concerned with the control of excessive behavior were examined: (1) Parents Anonymous (PA), (2) Overeaters Anonymous (OA), (3) Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and (4) Narcotics Anonymous (NA). A 60 item questionnaire was designed to obtain the following information: (1) demographic, (2) membership participation, (3) professional contact, and (4) attitude expression regarding respondents' perception of their particular self-help group, perceptions of health care professionals and perceptions of society's beliefs regarding their behavior. Among the 110 respondents from the four groups responding to the questionnaire, (overall return rate of 52%), there was strong support of the methods and conduct of the self-help groups. Criticism of the self-help groups was negligible. Criticism of the health care community was consistently strong, although respondents indicated relatively high usage of health care providers. The respondents from all four groups appeared to support any individual member's decision to pursue whatever assistance that individual might deem necessary, but maintained firm delineation between the individual's freedom to choose alternative or adjunctive assistance and the group's decision to remain "forever nonprofessional". Despite a common theoretical background, the groups have developed in different directions. PA, which has included health care professionals as group sponsors since its inception, was more open to professional involvement in group affairs than the others and cited a higher rate of professional referral to the group. OA, with less mental health contact and with more medical involvement, expressed greater reluctance to involve professionals in any aspect of the group's activities. AA and NA tended to take more intermediate positions, however, both groups were firmly against professional involvement in group activities. Information of this nature may assist professionals and self-help groups in developing a collaborative and respectful working relationship.

Ninety-six undergraduates were given four tasks under either reward or punishment conditions. Each task consisted of 20 trials of pressing or not pressing a button to make a light come on. Monetary reinforcement was contingent on light onset for all tasks and on accuracy of judgment of control for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tasks. Cognitive processing was comprehensively assessed for each task by measuring expectancy, judgment of control, perception of environmental stimuli, evaluation of performance, attribution, and reinforcement value. Results showed that subjects were more accurate in moderate than in low control and in low than moderate frequency. Females were more accurate in perceiving environmental stimuli and had lower self-esteem, lower efficacy expectancies, and higher self-rated reinforcement values for monetary incentives than males. Low defensives were accurate in expectancy of control, judgment of control in punishment, and estimation of environmental stimuli. Subjects in reward were more accurate in perceiving reinforcing events and they gave themselves more credit for task performance than subjects in punishment gave themselves blame for comparable performance. Those in punishment had more stable and external attributions and were more anxious, depressed, and hostile. Depressives and nondepressives reacted differently to the monetary contingency on accuracy of judgment of control. Depressives showed overestimation of control immediately after initiation of this contingency, then gradually decreased their estimation until they were relatively accurate on the last task. Nondepressives showed more accurate judgment of control immediately after monetary contingency on accuracy, but returned to overestimation on subsequent tasks. These findings gave partial support to Alloy and Abramson (1979) in that mild depressives became increasingly accurate in judgment of control across tasks. Female depressives, compared to female nondepressives, were less accurate in perceiving environmental stimuli and gave themselves less credit in reward. Although depressives did not set a particularly high criterion for success as suggested by Beck and Seligman, all subjects set criteria for success higher than both estimated and actual maximal control (ps < .05).

This study investigated the possible differential effects of a series of soluble discrimination problems on internal versus external locus of control subjects. It was hypothesized that externals exposed to a series of discrimination problems would perform better on a test task than external controls, while internals exposed to the same problems would not perform better on the test task relative to their controls. As anticipated, the internals were not affected by the discrimination problems. However, contrary to expectations, the externals were not facilitated by exposure to the soluble problems. Since many external subjects failed to solve all of the soluble problems, a facilitative effect may depend upon the problems being solved.

Twenty-one special education children failing to persist after failure on arithmetic problems were given 15 days of treatment in three arithmetic training programs, equivalent in all respects except that success experiences occurred either 46.2%, 76.9%, or 100% of the time. Following training, children in both the 46.2% and 100% reinforcement, groups continued to show serious performance deterioration following failure, while children in the 76.9% group showed marked improvement. An inventory measuring attributions to failure before and after training indicated that the 76.9% reinforcement group showed significantly greater tendency to attribute failure to lack of effort than did either of the other two groups.