The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a tree diagram of coordinate definitions upon a defined concept learning task. Two levels of treatment method were used: a text that arranged the definitions and examples of seven coordinate concepts in a tree-like diagram, and a text that arranged these same definitions and examples in a standard textbook format. In addition, this study examined a method of creating concept examples that required different levels of discrimination and generalization. This method was called a rational set generator. Forty-six junior and senior high school physics students were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. One group received a self-instructional text of definitions of seven physics concepts arranged in a tree diagram, while the control group received the same concepts in a standard textbook format. All students were given an immediate retention test and a similar delayed measure 8 days later. Both tests were composed of test examples created by the rational set generator method. / A regression analysis of test results indicated significant interaction between the text method used and the reading ability of the subjects used, with the lower ability students using the diagram method scoring higher than the textbook subjects of the same ability. A regression analysis of the delayed retention test indicated no significant interactions or differences between groups. The test item error patterns of all subjects were examined for the percentage of low versus high generalization items missed, and the number of items missed due to obvious versus fine discrimination mistakes. A t-test of immediate and delayed retention tests indicated significant differences in both tests, with the high generalization items missed more frequently than the low generalization items, and the number of fine discrimination errors greater than the obvious discrimination errors. These results confirmed the hypothesis that a rational set generator creates item examples that individually require different levels of generalization and discrimination. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-11, Section: A, page: 3366. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This study sought to determine the feasibility of using cloze test data to improve the effectiveness of instructional lessons as a part of the formative evaluation process. Two groups of instructional designers were used to revise a science lesson, with three designers in each group. One group, the cloze group, received both cloze test data and performance test data. The other group, the non-cloze group, received only performance test data. / The six revised lessons were randomly given to a group of 251 sixth grade students. Performance test scores were collected to measure the effectiveness of the lessons in teaching the objectives of the lesson and cloze test scores were collected to measure the comprehensibility of the lessons. / First, t-tests were used to compare the cloze lessons and the non-cloze lessons. There were no significant differences between the two groups on either the cloze test scores or the performance test scores. / Next, the six revised lessons were compared using an ANOVA procedure. The six lessons differed significantly on the cloze test scores but not on the performance test scores. / The six revised lessons all had cloze test scores higher than the original lesson but none of the lessons had cloze scores high enough to meet the suggested criterion for instructional level. The performance test scores did not differ very much from the original lesson. These findings suggest that the revisions were more comprehensible but no more effective in teaching the objectives of the lesson. / The study suggests possible reasons for the findings as well as suggestions for further research. While this study did not result in findings to justify the use of cloze tests in formative evaluation, cloze appears to be a valid and reliable test of comprehensibility of text and thus deserves further consideration as part of the formative evaluation of instructional materials. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-12, Section: A, page: 3547. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

The first part of this paper presents the background information necessary for determining the direction of the study. The general forms of univariate and multivariate ARIMA models are presented, and time series and econometric models are compared and contrasted. Past work in both univariate and multivariate time series approaches to macroeconomic forecasting are reviewed. The definition of Granger causality is presented, along with Pierce's approach to measuring causality. / The second part of the study chooses a set of thirteen variables which describe the workings of the Florida economy. Using an analysis of causal flows among the variables, the variables are divided into clusters for purposes of estimating multivariate ARIMA models. The models are then estimated, described statistically and economically, and are compared to equations contained in an econometric model of the state's economy. Forecasts are derived from both types of models, and are compared using graphical analysis and four- and eight-quarter ahead root mean squared errors. / Multivariate ARIMA modeling is found to be successful when applied to a regional macroeconomy. The forecasts outperform those of the econometric model in eight of thirteen cases according to the four-quarter ahead root mean squared error and in nine of thirteen cases according to the eight-quarter ahead root mean squared error. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-08, Section: A, page: 2595. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.

The purpose of this study was to determine if postsecondary vocational teachers who reviewed a chapter taken from a traditional, commercial textbook and revised using instructional design criteria had significantly different attitudes toward adopting the chapter from teachers who reviewed the original, unrevised version. This study also assessed whether the revisions had a positive effect on student performance. / Nine instructional designers followed Gagne's events of instruction to prescribe revisions of the chapter to make it more effective in teaching specified objectives. The Instructional Materials Acceptance Questionnaire was developed to measure teachers' expression of acceptance/rejection behaviors toward using the material. A criterion-referenced achievement test was developed to measure student performance on the chapter's objectives. Information was collected on the effects of reading ability on student performance on both versions of the instructional material, on the time spent by learners to complete the chapter and the test, and on learners' attitudes. / There was no evidence to show that teachers who reviewed the modified chapter were more or less willing to use it than teachers who reviewed the original version. Teachers expressed slightly favorable attitudes toward using both versions of the instructional material. However, the instructional design revisions did significantly improve student performance on a criterion-referenced achivement test. Students who read the modified chapter took 28% more time to complete it than students who read the original chapter. There was no difference in the amount of time students in the two groups took to complete the test. Teachers and learners paid more attention to content than to instructional features when forming attitudes toward using either version of the instructional material. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-10, Section: A, page: 3299. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The cell surface localization and structural diversity of neuronal glycoproteins has resulted in the proposal that these molecules are important in cell recognition processes related to axon growth. Accordingly, alterations in cell surface glycoproteins, particularly those binding the mannose-specific lectin Concanavalin A, have been documented in developing neurons. However, a paucity of information has been provided concerning the molecular nature of these lectin receptors. This study investigated the properties, including lectin affinity, of axonally transported glycoproteins and their carbohydrate chains in regenerating garfish olfactory nerve. / Results of this study show that regeneration-related axon growth is accompanied by a two-fold increase in the proportion of low molecular weight (MW) carbohydrate chains associated with glycoproteins. When Con A affinity of the total glycopeptide fraction is assessed, the greatest proportional increase in Con A binding occurs in the low MW fraction. An analysis of the composition of these low MW Con A-binding molecules reveals a typical mannose-rich structure. This study also indicates that the proportion of radioactivity in low MW Con A-binding glycopeptides exhibits increases over intact nerve at all post-operative times analyzed, but to a significantly greater extent at earlier regeneration times. This result may indicate a participation by these molecules in axon-environmental interactions during axon growth. Consistent with this view, these mannose-rich glycopeptides are enriched 15-fold during axon growth in an axonal subcellular fraction that may resemble the cell surface coat or glycocalyx. / The analysis of intact glycoprotein molecules in garfish olfactory nerve reveals regeneration-dependent increases in the transport of glycoproteins with MWs of 180-200k, 105-115k and 80-90k daltons and a diminution in the transport of a 150-160k component. Con A fractionation of intact glycoproteins shows that in regenerating nerve an augmented proportion of glycoprotein radioactivity binds the lectin, with the largest growth-correlated increases occurring in molecules with MWs of 180-200k and 80-115k daltons. It can also be assumed that these Con A-binding glycoproteins probably contain a significant fraction of the mannose-rich carbohydrate chains described above. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-07, Section: B, page: 2084. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The effect of reducing the interval between a patient's call for an appointment and the appointment itself was examined. Patients calling in to a Family Planning unit of a public health department were assigned appointments within one week of their call or to an appointment three weeks from the call date. Data on patient "shows" and "no-shows" were recorded weekly for six weeks. Show rates across all six weeks for those in the one-week appointment group were significantly higher than those from the three-week group. Reducing the interval between the call and the appointment resulted in an average show rate of 75% for the one-week group compared with 57% for the group with a three-week call-appointment interval. / In Experiment II patients were randomly assigned to appointment dates either the next operating clinic day (next-day group) or two-weeks from the call date (two-week group). Patients refusing the appointment first offered were assigned to the rejected-appointments group. Show rates for those in the next-day group were significantly better than show-rates for patients in the two-week group. Mean show rates across all 8 weeks for the next-day, two-week and rejected-appointments group were 72%, 52% and 54% respectively. Measures of clinic productivity and time spent with clients were compared to pre-intervention data. A measure of consumer satisfaction was also used. Differences between the next-day and one-week group and between the two-week and three-week groups were not significant. Implications for appointment scheduling were discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-07, Section: B, page: 2313. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

As part of a major funded research project, Measurement of EMT Performance, methodologies were developed to describe and assess Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) performance. Preliminary findings based on a sample of 1470 emergency episodes in a large Southeastern city indicated the possibility of serious deficiencies in the performance of EMTs. The principal aims of the present study were to extend this previous research by examining the nature of EMT performance, generating hypotheses about the determinants of EMT performance based on the emergency medicine and skilled performance literatures, and testing these hypotheses using the data collected on the sample of 1470 emergency episodes. Independent variables pertaining to EMT skill, EMT effort, and situational constraints on EMT performance were hypothesized to be important predictors of two dimensions of EMT performance: appropriate treatment selection and treatment performance proficiency. Through a variety of linear regression procedures, the effectiveness of the independent variables in predicting the two performance dimensions were examined. For appropriate treatment selection, results suggested that the performance of suggested treatments (deemed helpful though not required) were more predictable than mandated treatments (deemed required for minimal prudent care). Consistent findings in the prediction of appropriate treatment selection were: complexity of the case was negatively associated with suggested treatment performance, and general practice and positive attitudes toward emergency care work and the people served were positively associated with suggested treatment performance. For the prediction of treatment performance proficiency, consistent findings were: severity and complexity of the case were negatively associated with proficient performance, and general practice was positively / associated with proficient performance. Limitations of the study including the failure to assess adequately some potentially important predictor variables and weaknesses in the measurement of the performance and predictor variables were also discussed. Finally, some promising policy leads tentatively suggested by the present results were discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-07, Section: B, page: 2318. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The term humanism has been employed by numerous writers and critics throughout the twentieth-century. Seldom, however, has usage been unambiguous or consistent. In reality, America has given birth to a number of distinctive forms of humanism, some of which have religious connotations. This study offers a definitional prolegomenon of humanism, develops an original typology for religious humanism, and explains how humanism (including secular humanism) can be treated as a bona fide religion. Further chapters explore the impact of religious humanism on American culture and show the many ways in which it has been appropriated and transformed by a host of eminent thinkers. Among the most notable exponents of religious humanism treated in the study are: John Dewey, Walter Lippman, Bertrand Russell, Walter Kaufman, and Joseph Wood Krutch. Separate chapters treat humanism's historical roots and the criticisms leveled at the movement by both conservative Christian and secular writers. / The author maintains that religious humanism may best be explained as a complex phenomena with two identities: the doctrinal and the practical. Doctrinal religious humanism has sectarian features and its principles reflect statements found in the Humanist Manifestos. Practical humanism is an un-selfconscious, unstructured worldview which shares certain features in common with Doctrinal humanism but lacks its confessional quality. / Failing to recognize important differences between the several types of humanism, the religious right charges that all humanists--even those whose sole purpose is to support the "humanities--are dangerous and subversive. This study demonstrates that humanism is a multi-facted, individualistic aspect of American culture which poses little threat to anyone. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-09, Section: A, page: 3021. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

This study examined the relationship between (1) attitudes toward an innovative conceptual model and the linear combination of individuals' Level of Knowledge, Self-Esteem; Type of Thinking, and the opportunity to acquire information about the innovation, and (2) Level of Knowledge about this conceptual model and the linear combination of individuals' Self Esteem, Type of Thinking, and the opportunity to acquire information about the innovation, for a sample of 54 public-school guidance counselors. / All subjects completed pre-treatment instruments including an Attitude survey, a Level of Knowledge survey, and the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI--Shostrom, 1974). Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI--Myers, 1962) classifications were already available for each subject. / After the pre-treatment instruments were completed, twenty-nine counselors read Kaufman's Identifying and solving problems: a system approach (3rd ed.--1982) and then completed the Attitude and Level of Knowledge instruments again. The remaining twenty-five counselors completed the Attitude and Level of Knowledge instruments without reading the treatment materials. / The data were analyzed using Multiple Regression Analysis. / The results of the study indicated that posttest Perception Scores (PS--the cognitive measure of the attitude instrument) of subjects who had the opportunity to acquire information about the innovation were higher than posttest Perception Scores of subjects who did not have that opportunity, given the same score on the pretest Perception Scale. Level of Knowledge, Self-Esteem and Type of Thinking, however, did not contribute significantly to the variance in attitude scores. / Both Type of Thinking and the opportunity to acquire information about the innovation contributed significantly to the variance in posttest Level of Knowledge scores. Moreover, a joint and positive significant relationship of Self-Esteem scores and the opportunity to acquire information, with Level of Knowledge, was found. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: A, page: 1977. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

Let M('n+k) be an open PL manifold of dimension n + k (GREATERTHEQ) 6, let X be a finite polyhedron, and suppose f:M('n+k )(--->)(' )X(' )x R('k) is a bounded homotopy equivalence. If k (GREATERTHEQ) 1, we use radial engulfing and Siebenmann's twist-gluing (twist = id.) to construct a manifold M(,1) with infinite cyclic cover M and a bounded homotopy equivalence f(,1):M(,1) (--->) X x S('1) x R('k-1). By iterating this construction we obtain a manifold M(,k-1) and a bounded homotopy equivalence f(,k-1):M(,k-1) (--->) X x S('1) x ... x S('1) x R. We show that the Siebenmann obstruction in (')K(,0)(Z(pi)(,1)M(,k-1)) to factoring M(,k-1) = N(,k-1) x R is an element of (')K(,-k+1)(Z(pi)(,1)X). Thus we get a sequence of obstructions (sigma)(,i) (ELEM) K(,-i+1)(Z(pi)(,1)X) , j (LESSTHEQ) i (LESSTHEQ) k, such that M = Y x R('k-j+1), for some PL manifold Y, if and only if each (sigma)(,i) is 0. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-06, Section: B, page: 1858. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.