The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative effectiveness and efficiency of systematically designed materials using text alone, text augmented with normal speech (175 words per minute), and text augmented with compressed speech (262 words per minute). The study was designed to determine if systematically designed text augmented with compressed speech could increase the number of objectives achieved and reduce the actual amount of instructional time needed for mastery of the objectives. / The 78 subjects were from Florida vocational education programs located in five geographically dispersed schools. The materials were previously published as a part of a job skills training program. The research was conducted in individualized settings in the school media centers. The results indicated that the text augmented with compressed speech was equally effective and as efficient as text alone, and more efficient than text augmented with normal speech. A post-hoc analysis was conducted using instructional time as a variable. Systematically designed text augmented with compressed speech took significantly less time to complete than text augmented with normal speech. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-01, Section: A, page: 0143. / Major Professor: Walter W. Wager. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

The success of long term maintenance therapy for diabetes, as for persons with any chronic illness, depends largely on the extent to which they comply with their specific therapeutic regimen. Based on comprehensive reviews (Blackwell, 1976), no more than 50 percent of patients on long-term medication adhere to their prescribed regimen. For the diabetic this can result in severe complications or death. / In order to better understand the compliance process, researchers suggest that attention needs to be given to a variety of psychological factors. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the predictor variables of stress, health locus of control, social support, and health attitudes and beliefs and the criterion variable of compliance by Type I diabetics. / Eighty-seven Type I diabetics participated in this study. These subjects completed a series of self-report instruments to measure the predictor variables. The instruments used to measure these specific variables included the Hassles Scale (Kanner, Coyne, Schaefer, & Lazarus, 1981), the Schedule of Recent Events (Holmes & Rahe, 1967), the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (Wallston & Wallston, 1978), the Diabetes Family Behavior Checklist (Schafer, McCaul, & Glasgow, 1986), and the Diabetes Health Belief Scale (Harris, Linn, Skyler, & Sandifer, 1987). The Three Day Inventory (Brogdon, Peterson, & Gill, 1987) and the Diabetes Compliance Instrument (Schlenk & Hart, 1984) was used to assess the criterion variable of compliance. / Canonical correlations were conducted to test whether a multivariate relationship existed between the predictor variables (stress, health locus of control, family support, and health beliefs and attitudes) and the three criterion variables (compliance to diet, medication, and exercise). These analyses revealed significant relationships between all sets of predictor and criterion variables with the exception of the health locus of control variable. Post hoc multiple regression analyses were conducted for each hypothesis that was found to be statistically significant. The results of the multiple regression analyses indicated that the following predictor variables were most important in predicting compliance: (a) perceived benefits (health beliefs and attitudes), (b) stress (as measured by the Hassles Scale) and, (c) negative family support. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-01, Section: A, page: 0099. / Major Professor: Gary W. Peterson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

This study explored the relationship between learned helplessness, perceived family functioning and perceived family health among substance dependent and non-substance dependent adolescent males. A convenience sample of 51 substance dependent adolescents and 55 non-substance dependent adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 participated in this exploratory study. The three questionnaires and a demographic sheet were administered and collected during a one-time visit with each adolescent sample. The tests of the major hypotheses were found to be consistent with the intergenerational theories of family dysfunction. The findings indicated that among the substance dependent sample there was a significant relationship between the variables of learned helplessness, perceived family functioning and perceived family health. The findings further indicated that the substance dependent sample perceived themselves as more helpless, and perceived their families as less functional, as well as less healthy than the non-substance dependent sample. The results and their implications are discussed in the final chapter. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-10, Section: B, page: 4808. / Major Professor: Murray Krantz. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

One important implication of metacognition research and theory is that learners should be viewed as active participants who respond to instruction, and fully understand the strategies they induced to use. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of embedded think-ahead questions and differences in prior knowledge on learning and retention. It was hypothesized that there would be an interaction among think-ahead questions, type of learning, and prior knowledge. It was also hypothesized that students who received rationale for the questions will be better able to correctly answer more questions than students who did not. / A total of 156 tenth grade students from Godby High School participated in the study. Students were divided into two prior knowledge groups (high and low) and were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. The first group received a basic lesson on genetics. The second group received the same content plus embedded think-ahead questions. The third group received the same content plus think-ahead questions plus a rationale for the embedded questions. All students were given both immediate and delayed posttest. / The treatment effects for learning were analyzed using ANCOVA for repeated measures design, using reading ability as a covariate. The treatment means were also compared using Fisher's LSD pairwise comparison procedures. The results indicate that students who received think-ahead questions performed better on both facts and problem solving than students who did not receive questions. The results also show that students who received rationale for the embedded questions performed better on both immediate and delayed tests than those students who did not. This study suggests that think-ahead questions improve higher-order learning. It also suggests that providing a rationale for strategy use can improve learning. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-09, Section: A, page: 3096. / Major Professor: Michael Hannafin. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

This study intended to provide the information needed when deciding which reading processes to develop in order to improve the reading comprehension of seventh and eighth graders. / Of 49 possible variables, Inferences, Text Structure, Decoding, Prior Topical Knowledge, Vocabulary, and NewVocabulary were chosen to create a model for Main Idea performance which was embedded into a model for overall comprehension as measured by a Cloze exercise. The variables having the greatest total effects on comprehension were defined as the most indicated to be included in treatment studies. / Subjects were 102 seventh and eighth grade average readers from the Florida Developmental Research School. The materials used were a standardized vocabulary test, a reading passage, a list of decoding words, and a set of 56 questions which measured the included processes. / The hypothesized model, which was tested using LISREL 7, was not supported by the data. Improvement in fitness resulted from fixing effects falling on Main Idea and estimating effects falling on the Cloze. / In the new model, the included variables explained more Cloze, 62%, than Main Idea, 37% variance. Moreover, Main Idea performance was unrelated to overall comprehension as measured by the Cloze. Inferences, Prior Topical Knowledge, and Text Structure had large and statistically significant direct, indirect, and total effects on comprehension; Decoding affects comprehension only indirectly. Vocabulary and NewVocabulary were unrelated to comprehension. / Three conclusions stemmed from these findings. First, since Inferences affected both vocabulary measures and comprehension and since the vocabulary measures did not affect comprehension it was suggested that the positive correlation between vocabulary and comprehension is due to an intervening variable, Inferences. Second, the evidence for defining Inferences and Text Structure as having the potential for being causally related to comprehension became stronger. Lastly, if performance on a cloze exercise is the outcome variable from a study with average seventh and eighth grade readers possessing adequate prior knowledge, then it is hypothesized that Decoding, Prior Topical Knowledge, Inferencing ability, and Text Structure are the variables most indicated to be included in treatment studies since they had the largest total effects on comprehension. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-07, Section: A, page: 2475. / Major Professor: F. J. King. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential of computer assisted instruction for teaching problem solving skills. It was conducted in three phases. During the first phase, two pieces of problem solving software, The King's Rule and Safari Search, were identified and analyzed in light of the research and theoretical literature in the fields of problem solving and computer assisted instruction. During the second phase, two groups of six fourth grade students were each observed using one piece of software for seven 30-minute sessions. Think-aloud protocols were collected at the beginning and end of the observational period. Pretests and posttests were administered to assess problem solving ability and transfer. In the third phase, these data were first analyzed separately by software, then the results were compared. While the students used limited versions of the strategies the software claimed to teach, students were also found to have developed several strategies that allowed them to succeed in the program without using the desired strategies. No transfer of the problem solving strategies was observed. This study provides specific examples of how problem solving software affects the acquisition of problem solving strategies, student learning behaviors, and transfer. Fifteen factors that should affect the acquisition of problem solving ability with computers are also provided. This study has provided a detailed picture of how students interact with problem solving software and how the nature of that interaction may vary from what was intended. This type of research will provide valuable clues for the design of effective problem solving software. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-12, Section: A, page: 3925. / Major Professor: Robert Allan Reiser. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

The Repeated Reading method of reading instruction is a supplemental practice technique designed to increase word identification and reading skills in general. Two variations of the Repeated Reading technique were employed in a study with 28 learning disabled subjects. The study was designed to assess the effects of 16 sessions of Repeated Reading training on the students' reading speed, accuracy and comprehension. In addition, the differential effectiveness of each variation of the technique was assessed. One variation of the technique included a comprehension variable as well as fluency training while the other focused only on increasing speed and accuracy. Data was collected on each of the variables in pre and post testing, and in each of the 16 training sessions. Results demonstrated significant increases in speed and accuracy from pre to post testing for both groups. No differential effects between groups were found. Across session analyses indicated a significant increase in accuracy, but not in speed for both groups. Again, no group differences were found. The comprehension manipulation was found to have had a small but positive effect on the comprehension focus group. Results lend credence to the use of Repeated Reading as a viable supplemental reading technique. Further longitudinal research is needed to tease out the important components of this encouraging method of reading instruction. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-02, Section: A, page: 0467. / Major Professor: Joseph Torgesen. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of different levels of textual display and of timed versus untimed practice, using passages containing inserted adjunct questions, upon student performance on intentional and incidental learning. In this study, selected features of textual display were, based on previous research, expected to improve learner performance. On the other hand, variations in study time have also accounted for a sizeable amount of differences between groups of students. The second purpose of this study was to examine student motivation in relation to studying the instructional materials. / Subjects were 99 students assigned to four treatment groups. Learning materials presented to these treatment groups were under one of two levels of textual display (conventional textual display and enhanced textual display) and, in either of two time modes (time control and time free). / Student performance on the repeated and unrelated questions were measured by the posttest materials which consisted of two types of multiple-choice questions: 10 repeated questions and 10 unrelated questions. Student motivational reaction to instructional materials was measured by items from the Instructional Materials Motivation Scale (IMMS). / Data were analyzed using analysis of variance. Results indicated that there was no interaction between time and textual display on performance for both repeated and unrelated questions, and preference. However, time free treatment produced significantly higher scores for both repeated and unrelated questions. Results of the test for preference showed no strong choice by students for the materials exhibiting enhanced textual display. / These results reveal that time free treatment improves learners' performance. In contrast to earlier studies, the text display variations used in this study did not have any effect on their performance. Additional studies can help clarify the text display features that do and do not affect learner motivation and performance. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: A, page: 4098. / Major Professor: John M. Keller. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of analogies and graphic organizers on the acquisition of verbal information. These schema activators were tested in relation to the learner's pre-existing knowledge or schemata about a science-related topic. Schema Theory is the theoretical foundation upon which this research was undertaken. Its conceptual framework corresponds to Kulhavy, Schwartz, and Peterson's (1986) model of encoding and retention. / Subjects were 162 eleventh and twelfth graders from the Florida State University Developmental Research School. A 3 x 2 factorial design with schema activators (three levels: analogy, graphic organizer, control) and prior knowledge (two levels: high and low) as independent variables was used. Processing activities, as measured by Reading Comprehension scores, were considered as a covariate. Effects of schema activators for different levels of prior knowledge were tested as well as the Kulhavy, Schwartz, and Peterson's model. / An analogy, a graphic organizer, and stimulus material were developed and formatively evaluated before application. / Data analyses included the use of Analysis of Covariance and Multiple Regression Analysis. Results indicate that schema activator groups performed significantly better than the control group on a posttest of verbal information learning. Prior knowledge was significantly related to students' performance, accounting for the greatest amount of variance. The interaction between the two factors was not significant. / The Kulhavy, Schwartz, and Peterson's model of encoding and retention, accounted for a significant but small amount of variance. The model, however, seems to be susceptible to increasing its explanation of variance by the addition of new variables and redefinition of some of the variables originally used in the model. Prior knowledge was the most important variable included in the model. / Results are analyzed in accordance with what theory suggests and what empirical studies have shown. The implication of the findings and future research areas are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-04, Section: A, page: 1101. / Major Professor: Robert M. Morgan. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of physical activity on personal control beliefs and psychological stress in the older adult. Subjects were 29 females and 10 males between the ages of 68 and 89 years (mean = 79.8) who were residents of a large retirement center in South Florida. Subjects participated in either a 10-week moderate intensity walking program (N = 20) or in a 10-week backgammon program (N = 19). Six measures were obtained at pretest, midtreatment, and posttest including frequency of stress, intensity of stress, internal health locus of control, powerful others health locus of control, chance health locus of control, and physical symptom reporting. / Aptitude by treatment interaction (ATI) regression models were used to examine treatment effects across different levels of the pretest scores. Results showed that: (a) walking was a more reliable stress frequency reducer than backgammon for subjects who reported a large number of pretest hassles, (b) walking was a more reliable stress intensity reducer than backgammon for subjects who reported both a large number of pretest distressing physical symptoms and a low pretest level of stress intensity, (c) walking was a more reliable reducer of powerful others health locus of control than backgammon for subjects who reported strong pretest beliefs in powerful others, (d) walking was a more reliable reducer of chance health locus of control than backgammon for subjects who reported low pretest activity scores, and (e) walking was a more reliable reducer of distressing physical symptoms than backgammon for subjects who reported a large number of pretest distressing physical symptoms. / Since psychological stress was found to decrease and personal control was found to increase for a majority of the walking subjects in this study, it appears that personal control as a psychological mechanism responsible for the stress reducing effects of physical activity in the older adult deserves further study. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-12, Section: A, page: 3887. / Major Professor: David Pargman. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.