Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references.

The effect of the perception of fitness on the acquisition of several basic interviewing skills was explored. Furthermore, the relationship between perceived and actual fitness was investigated, as well as the relationship between actual fitness and basic interviewing skills. The interviewing skills were eye contact, talk time, verbal following (topic change) and focus of subject verbalization. / The study consists of two parts. The first part explored the viability of altering an individual's perception of personal physical fitness. Fifty-four subjects were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control condition. Experimental subjects received positive feedback related to their physical fitness during a bicycle ergometer test of actual fitness. Control subjects received only neutral feedback. Results indicated that positive feedback worked to successfully alter perception of fitness among experimental subjects. / The second part of the study explored the effect of fitness perception on interviewing skill acquisition. Results indicated that increasing an individual's perception of personal fitness did not enhance skill acquisition. There was also no significant difference in skill acquisition among subjects with higher and lower levels of perceived fitness. It was further determined that no significant relationship existed between actual fitness and the acquisition of basic interviewing skills used in the study. Additionally, it was determined that although a significant relationship between perceived and actual fitness was evident for female subjects in the study, this relationship did not hold true for male subjects.

Certification and licensure have been sources of debate and controversy for many years in the counseling profession. Counseling psychology, in contrast, has developed uniform standards for licensure across most of North America. Virtually no literature, though, has examined whether these phenomena have any impact on a client's perceptions of a counselor. This dissertation reports on a study designed to examine this issue. University student and university counseling center client perceptions of helper credential status and educational achievement were studied. Subjects reviewed written vignettes of a helper that included the person's credential status and level of educational achievement. Credential status was presented in one of three ways: not certified or licensed; certified but not licensed; certified and licensed. Educational achievement was presented in one of two ways: a master's degree in counseling or a doctoral degree in counseling psychology. Subjects then completed the Counselor Rating Form - Short (CRF-S) (Corrigan & Schmidt, 1983) and the 15 Personal Problems Inventory (15 PPI) (Cash, Begley, McCown, & Weise, 1975). Data from the CRF-S and the 15 PPI were analyzed using multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs). The data were analyzed in terms of three samples: a combined student-client sample (N = 127), a student sample (N = 96), and a client sample (N = 31). The results of the analysis of the CRF-S data showed a significant main effect for credential status in the combined and student samples (p < .01), but not in the client sample. A significant main effect was also found for educational achievement in the combined sample (p < .01) and student sample (p < .05), but not the client sample. Follow-up analyses showed that helpers with more credentials were generally rated better than helpers with fewer credentials, and that helpers with a master's degree were generally rated better than helpers with a doctoral degree. The results of the 15 PPI analyses also found a significant main effect for credential status in the combined student-client sample (p < .01) but no other significant main effects. The study's results are discussed in terms of their implications for the field of counseling psychology. / Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education

This dissertation applied the social psychological research on deception to a counseling situation. The social psychological literature on deception has demonstrated that judges are notextremely accurate in their evaluations of deception. The majority of investigators in this arena have reported that judges of deception have difficulty exceeding accuracy levels which could be obtained merely by chance. Furthermore, researchers have had difficulty identifying cues to deception which could benefit judges when making their assessments.It seems that the ability of counselors to detect deception would be an important facet of their repertoire--especially in situations where the counselor interacts with clients who may be more prone to lying (e.g.. substance abusers, perpetrators of family violence, criminals, and malingerers). If counselors are accurate in their determinations of client deception at levels of accuracy only slightly greater than chance (as the social psychological literature implies), then the entire assessment process might be undermined.This study was an examination of counselors' abilities to detect deception among their clients, the verbal and nonverbal cues to which counselors attend in making their assessments, and how client deception effects a counselor's psychological assessments. Four major findings were obtained. First, a factor analytic study revealed that counselors believe they attend to four general groups of verbal and nonverbal cues when suspecting a client of deception: (1) Stationary Cues of a Client's Face and Body, (2) Movements of a Client's Limbs, (3) the Quality/Style of a Client's Communications, and (4) the Content/Expression of a Client's Communications. Second, counselors in this study were accurate in their assessments of honest and deceptive clients at levels significantly greater than chance (85% overall accuracy). Third, this study was unable to identify cues which benefit counselors in making accurate assessments of client deception and/or honesty. Fourth, the accuracy of a counselor's psychological assessments were not affected by client deception. Results are discussed in relation to the social psychological literature on deception and implications for the profession of counseling psychology. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Attribution theory provides a rich foundation of literature addressing how individuals infer causes of behavior. While a great deal of marital therapists have utilized attribution theory to examine dysfunctional patterns of couples, no research to date has examined therapists' own attributions. The purpose of this study was to examine therapists' causal explanations, or attributions, for the difficulties of a marital dyad.One hundred thirty masters and doctoral level students completed the Causal Dimension Scale after viewing a videotape of a couple in an initial interview for therapy. Each subject was randomly assigned to one of three conditions when viewing the videotape: (1) Empathy induction for the wife; (2) empathy induction for the husband; or (3) a control group.Results indicated that empathy instructions did not significantly affect subjects' causal explanations for the couple's problems. Additionally, there was no relationship between empathy-induction and the subsequent prognosis for each spouse. While empathy instructions did not significantly affect therapist prognoses, there were gender differences among therapists and their prognoses. In general, female observers rated the prognosis for therapeutic gain for both the husband and wife higher than did male observers; however, the only significant difference between male and female observers was on the prognosis for therapeutic gain for the husband. Finally, another influential variable affecting therapist prognosis was the video scenario. The prognosis for therapeutic gain for both the husband and the wife was judged to be higher when he/she was the "pursuer" who was upset with the other spouse for spending too much time at work with an opposite-sex co-worker. Implications of this study for marital therapists were discussed. Additionally, limitations as well as suggestions for further research in this area were noted and discussed. Further investigation is needed to examine possible therapist biases in working with couples. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

An ongoing therapeutic concern has been effectiveness of treatment (success and satisfaction). Mahalik and Kivlighan (1988) suggested that by examining the fit between type of counseling environment and personality type, reasons for satisfaction or dissatisfaction can be better understood. Research in this area, however, is limited. The present study examined the congruence between an individual's personality and the counseling environment, using Holland's model of personenvironment interaction to examine this relationship. This study also explored the underutilization of and dissatisfaction with counseling by certain Holland personality types and the congruence of clientcounselor environment interaction as an explanation of male underutilization of counseling.Ninety four students from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, participated in this study. Participants observed a videotape illustrating a particular counseling environment and completed four questionnaires: 1) the Self-Directed Search; 2) the Expectations About Counseling-Brief Form; 3) the Attitudes Toward Counseling; and 4) the Perception of Counseling Environment. The following hypotheses were tested: (hypothesis 1) Scores on Holland's typology will predict group membership (male and female). a) Artistic and Social scores will relate positively to female group membership. b) Realistic, Investigative, and Enterprising scores will relate positively to male group membership. (hypothesis 2) Scores on Holland's typology and gender will predict attitudes toward counseling. a) Realistic, Investigative, and Conventional scores will relate negatively to more favorable attitudes toward counseling. b) Social and Artistic scores will relate positively to more favorable attitudes toward counseling. c) Female status will relate positively to more favorable attitudes toward counseling. (hypothesis 3) Scores on Holland's typology and gender will predict perception of counseling environment. a) Realistic, Investigative, and Conventional scores and male status will relate positively to a more favorable perception of the Self-Help (more structured, less personally interactive) type counseling environment. b) Social and Artistic scores and female status will relate positively to a more favorable perception of the Social/Interactive (more abstract, more personally interactive) type counseling environment. Analyses included stepwise discriminant analysis predicting group membership, stepwise multiple regression analyses predicting gender, certain Holland types, and perception of counseling environment, and a 2 x 2 analysis of variance to analyze the interaction between gender and type of counseling environment.As expected, scores on Holland's typology predicted group membership. Results of the multiple regression analyses generally predicted attitudes toward counseling and perception of counseling environment. The interaction between gender and type of counseling environment was significant with females rating the Social/Interactive type counseling environment more positively than the Self-Help type counseling environment and males rating the Self-Help type counseling environment more positively than the Social/Interactive type of counseling environment. Implications of these findings and limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Thesis (Psy. D.)--Wheaton College, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-70).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-98).

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

These (Ph.D.)--Capella University, 2008. / Title from PDF title page. Available through UMI ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-95). Also issued in print.