This study was designed to investigate the age level by which children may be expected to distinguish reality from fantasy, when considering the variables of Sex and Socioeconomic Status. Research in this area has been sparse and contradictory even though a number of counseling approaches contain assumptions, whether clearly stated or not, concerning children's abilities to distinguish reality from fantasy. Furthermore, wide disagreement exists between numerous theoreticians, both in the fields of childhood development and counseling concerning the age by which children may be expected to relate to the real world. / Taylor's Reality/Fantasy Orientation Test (1971) was used to measure whether children, between the ages of four and eight years old could distinguish reality from fantasy. In order to measure SES, the Occupational Status Scores Scale (Nam, et. al., 1975) was employed. One hundred children in each age category were divided by sex and two socioeconomic levels (Total N = 300), thus yielding a 3 x 2 x 2 factorial design. All of the participants in this study were from the Pendleton, Umatilla County area. / In order to measure the internal consistency of Taylor's measure, the Kuder - Richardson 20 statistical test of item analysis was performed, yielding an overall realiability score of .91. An analysis of variance was also performed on data in order to test for main and interactional effects. The results indicate that the main effect of age is significant at the .001 level, SES data yielded interesting patterns but did not quite reach significance when setting alpha at .05 and sex was not significant as a variable. / The data was interpreted as indicating that the ability to distinguish reality from fantasy continues to improve with age and becomes solidified between age six and eight, and that SES should not be discounted as a possible strong mitigating factor, slowing down or speeding up children's understanding of the real world. / The results of the study indicate that children's perceptions of the real world improve significantly from year to year to age eight and closely coincide with Piaget's formulations concerning cognitive development stages. The results also imply a strong parallel between language acquisition abilities and the ability to relate to the real world. Since the data clearly indicate that it is between ages six and eight that this ability becomes solidified, the use of rational, reality-oriented approaches with children before age eight (particularly for lower SES children) may well be inappropriate. Taking the results of this study into account, it would seem necessary and beneficial to re-evaluate the theoretical and practical appropriateness of such techniques with children under age eight. / The results strongly support the viewpoints of developmental theorists (Blocher, Dinkmeyer and Eriksen) concerning child development and counseling practices. Their concerns that pressures brought by significant adults for children to move from the fantasy world to the real world at an early age, resulting in the experience of failure and feelings of inferiority and selfworthlessness have additional support. In light of the results of this study therefore, it is recommended that some form of play therapy, incorporating concepts about the real world be employed as the technique of choice with children under age eight. / The results also imply that Taylor's Reality/Fantasy Orientation Test may become a useful tool for the early identification of children experiencing significant emotional and psychological illness. In particular, it is hoped that with further research and development of this test, the early diagnosis of childhood schizophrenia, using objective criteria may become a possibility. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: A, page: 2512. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-10, Section: A, page: 5322. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the perceived level of need fulfillment and satisfaction which faculty members experience from their roles as academic advisors to undergraduate students at Florida State University. A secondary purpose was to determine the significant differences which exist between the faculty advisors in the different colleges of the university. / A random sample consisting of 225 faculty advisors within 11 colleges and academic units of the Florida State University was selected. Respondents represented the Division of Basic Studies, the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Communication, Education, Social Sciences, Home Economics, and the Schools of Music, Library Science, Social Work, and Visual Arts. / After distributing a three-section survey instrument, a response rate of 81 percent was achieved. Section one of the instrument sought demographic data from faculty advisors. Section two asked advisors to respond on a 7-point scale to 13 three-part items determining their perceived fulfillment, satisfaction, and importance of their roles in advisement programs. The 13 need items were a modification of Lyman W. Porter's Need Satisfaction Survey. Section three consisted of an open-ended item which offered advisors the opportunity to comment on their most satisfying and/or dissatisfying experiences in their advisement program. / The major findings of this study were: (1) Advisorls revealed most fulfillment with security needs and least fulfillment with esteem needs. (2) Advisors were most fulfilled with being able to use their own unique capabilities, and realizing their potentialities in the advisement programs. (3) Advisors were least fulfilled with the recognition they received from their role as an advisor inside the university. (4) Advisors appeared satisfied with security needs and least satisfied with social needs. (5) Advisors were dissatisfied with their opportunity to develop interpersonal relationships with advisees. (6) Advisors assigned greatest importance to social needs and least importance to esteem needs. / For the open-ended item of the survey, the satisfying categories consisted of the advisor's expressed concern for the student, concern for the student's career goals, and concern for interpersonal relationships with advisees. The dissatisfying categories included lack of students conferring with advisors, concern for the administrative policies of the university related to advising, concern for work load of advisors, and lack of recognition and rewards for their roles as advisors. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-07, Section: A, page: 2945. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

This study provided a synthesis of the historical, theoretical, empirical and practical foundations of poetry therapy. A poetry therapy model combining the use of preexisting poems (reading poems) and collaborative poems (group creative writing) was developed. Empirical investigation was supplemented with narrative reports by leaders and observers. / The effect of the poetry therapy model on group climate and interpersonal relations in group counseling was investigated. The subjects were 32 undergraduate (juniors and seniors) students from an intact Communication and Human Relations class. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of four counseling groups. There were two treatment (poetry) and two comparison (nonpoetry) groups. Pretest measures of equivalence were administered to both subjects and leaders. / The poetry and nonpoetry groups met for six consecutive weeks for one and one-half hour sessions. The null hypothesis of no significant difference (p < .05) between poetry and nonpoetry groups was utilized. The dependent measures were the scales and subscales of the FIRO-B and Moos GES. A two factor (poetry treatment and nonpoetry treatment) analysis of covariance was performed. / The results indicated that there were no significant differences (p < .05) on the FIRO-B scales between poetry and nonpoetry groups. On the Moos GES there were significant (p < .05) differences in favor of the poetry group on the cohesion and self-discovery subscales but no significant differences (p < .05) on the other subscales. In comparing the adjusted posttest mean scores of the Moos GES between poetry and nonpoetry groups there was, however, a trend favoring the poetry group on the Relationship and Personal Development dimensions. / It was concluded that the poetry therapy model did not effect interpersonal behavior change. The poetry therapy model can, however, be an effective ancillary technique for counselors interested in advancing group cohesion and self-discovery in group modalities. In considering the trends on the Moos GES it is further suggested that the poetry therapy model has the potential to help establish the conditions for developmental growth and facilitate group process. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: A, page: 2505. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 35-11, Section: A, page: 7063. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1974.

The purpose of this study was to examine the conditions under which adolescents appreciate career development literature. / It was hypothesized that the appreciation of career literature is directly related to reading ability, reasoning ability, and need for career information. These variables were operationalized in the following ways: (1) the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) measured reading ability (1973); (2) Lawson Test of Formal Reasoning measured abstract thinking (1978); and (3) the Career Decision Scale Factor 1, need for structure, measured need for career information (Osipow, et. al., 1976). Appreciation was measured by the Reading Appreciation Form (RAF) (Billups and Peterson, 1988) and the Poetic Evaluation Rating Scale (PERS) (Pederson and Rees, 1965). / The subjects were 80 junior and senior students selected at random from the Florida State University Developmental Research School. Using partial correlations, the findings were: (1) the ability to appreciate short stories is related to reading ability; (2) the ability to appreciate certain types of short stories is related to abstract thinking; and (3) the ability to appreciate career development literature is not related to career development needs (lack of structure). Implications of the findings for career education programs in schools are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-05, Section: A, page: 1215. / Major Professor: Gary Peterson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

The study focused on the relationship between client characteristics, drawn primarily from John Holland's theory of vocational choice, and the effective use of computer-assisted career guidance systems. The client characteristics included: gender, personality type (based on subjects' scores on the Vocational Preference Inventory), level of vocational identity and career decidedness, and degree of interest definition. The subjects were 102 individuals who sought assistance at a university-based career center. After an initial interview, subjects completed the pre-forms and scheduled an appointment to use the SIGI PLUS computer system. Following their use of the system, subjects completed the post-forms and were debriefed by the researcher. / A regression analysis was conducted using client characteristics as the independent variables and ratings on a computer-assisted career guidance evaluation form as the dependent variable. Significant results were found for the personality type variable, with Social and Enterprising types rating the system lower on its ability to help them acquire self and occupational knowledge. Although not significant at the.05 level, a similar relationship was found for persons with higher Vocational Identity scores. Further analysis of post-measures using t-tests revealed significant changes in subjects' vocational identity, need for occupational information and level of career decidedness after using SIGI PLUS. / These results provide further support for the positive impact of CACG systems on clients' career decision-making needs, but also suggest that some attention to client personality characteristics and vocational identity level may be warranted prior to their use of a computer-based career guidance system. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-04, Section: A, page: 1120. / Major Professor: Robert C. Reardon. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of internal vs. external goal setting on the performance and satisfaction of communication skills training participants. / The subjects consisted of 41 male and 33 female undergraduate students enrolled in Introduction to Management and Introduction to Marketing courses at St. Peter's College. Following the completion and scoring of the Discriminating Helping Skills Pretest, which measures subjects ability to discriminate between effective and non-effective helping responses, subjects were either assigned training goals (external goal setting condition), selected their own goals (internal goal setting condition), or did not participate in a formal goal setting procedure (control). Subjects then viewed a 20 minute videotape which is designed to help students learn to discriminate effective vs. non-effective responses (Carkhuff, 1981). After completion of the video, subjects were given the Discriminating Helping Skills Postest to measure performance and a Semantic Differential Scale to determine satisfaction with the video. / Results obtained in this study indicated that the satisfaction and performance of subjects were not significantly different at the.05 level with respect to the goal setting procedures in which they participated. Post-hoc analyses attempted to explain the findings of non-significance. These post-hoc results suggested that a possible lack of interest due to demographic characteristics, specifically race and major, may have contributed to the obtained findings. Given that methodological limitations may have contributed to the non-significant results obtained in this study, it is recommended that future research attempt to study these hypotheses with appropriate modifications in the research design. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-12, Section: A, page: 3627. / Major Professor: James P. Sampson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

This study investigated the impact of the Florida improved career decision making workshops (ICDMs) in enhancing the delivery of career guidance services. The primary purpose of the ICDM workshops was to enhance practitioner skills and knowledge for providing career information to clients. / This study was qualitative in nature and conducted through a series of three focus group discussions. Focus groups were used to identify which products and processes were used by the practitioners as they provided labor market information (LMI) to individuals or groups in search of career guidance. It also attempted to ascertain what conditions helped or hindered the practitioners as they utilized the ICDM training. / The analysis of the data resulted in findings generally supportive of the ICDM workshops. The focus group participants rated both the products and presentations as being useful. Their concerns did imply that they believed some modifications would enhance the results. / During the discussion of concerns the participants indicated they valued the ICDM workshops and wanted them to be continued. They also believed that career planning was becoming a widely accepted process. They did suggest that more staffing was needed to improve the effectiveness of their efforts. They further suggested that the ICDM trainers should attempt to broaden their target groups to include administrators or decision-makers who could provide increased support for these efforts. Consequently, it was recommended that future workshops should continue to focus upon the existing primary purpose, but the participants' list should be expanded to include advocates as well as practitioners. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-02, Section: A, page: 0430. / Major Professor: Harman D. Burck. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-06, Section: A, page: 3123. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.