The present investigation sought to evaluate the degree of inter-rater reliability on a measure of competency to stand trial which has been adapted into state law. Twelve psychologists working in a state forensic setting were assigned to random dyads to conduct co-joint, yet independent, competency assessments using the Legal Process Participation Interview (LPPI). / Twenty paired-ratings were evaluated and the LPPI exhibited an agreement rate of 90% on final opinions regarding competency. Individual item agreement ranged from 55% to 90%. Factors were discussed which might lead to an improvement in the reliability figures. These factors included a formalization of training procedures, development of a manual to clarify each item area, and broadening the evaluators' theoretical and legal knowledge of the concept of competency to stand trial. / The second part of the investigation examined variables which may influence a judge's final legal determination of competency to stand trial after a patient has returned from the forensic hospital. Of 559 patients returned to the courts, 69 were found incompetent despite hospital recommendations. Demographic data were collected through the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services to assess the influence of patient characteristics on judicial decisions. Discriminant analyses indicated that the race of the patient, severity of charges, and interaction of race with charges all tended to influence the judges' decisions. It was also noted that the individual judge might exhibit some bias in handling cases involving a question of competency. Further research is needed to clarify these findings due to the presence of several unknown variables, such as psychiatric diagnosis and personal histories. / The patient data indicates the LPPI recommendations agreed with final judicial determinations in 87% of the cases. Thus the measure does exhibit relative strength in terms of it's inter-rater reliability and predictive validity. Additional research assessing the effectiveness of the LPPI over previous methods is planned to fully evaluate the benefit of the measure. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: B, page: 2537. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-09, Section: B, page: 4472. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.

The purpose of the present investigation was to test a theoretical model of adjustment to the uncertainties of epilepsy, particularly early symptom interpretation and the unpredictability of future seizure occurrences following diagnosis. A sample of 27 epileptic subjects, 14 females and 13 males, who developed seizures during adolescence, completed an extensive interview, comprised of rating scale questions, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and open-ended questions. / Seven hypotheses derived from the theoretical framework were tested in this study: (1) the ambiguity of the subjects' initial seizures was positively associated, r (24) = .41, p = .04, with the extent of delay in seeking medical attention following onset; (2) the amount of information subjects had about epilepsy was positively correlated with their level of involvement in managing the seizure disorder, r (25) = .51, p = .007, and their perceptions of control over the condition, r (25) = .35, p = .07), during early adjustment (i.e., one year following diagnosis); (3) seizure frequency was negatively correlated with the subjects' perceptions of control over epilepsy during early, r (23) = -.41, p = .01, and current (i.e., 6 months prior to the interview) adjustment, r (22) = -.67, p = .001; (4) the participants' involvement in self-treatment was predicted to be negatively associated with seizure frequency during early and current adjustment. Contrary to expectations, a positive relationship was found between these variables, r (23) = .24, p = .24 and r (22) = .35, p = .10, respectively; (5) the subjects' perceptions of control over the condition were positively correlated with involvement in self treatment during early adjustment, r (25) = .34, p = .08, but not during current adjustment, r (24) = -.15, p = .45; (6) the subjects' perceptions of control over future seizures was negatively associated with their level of depressive affect, r (23) = -.36, p = .08; (7) subjects who attributed their initial seizures to lifestyle problems tended to perform actions to resolve these difficulties (p < .10). / Finally, the findings of the present study were interpreted with respect to the theoretical framework, emphasizing the health-related actions and strategies taken by epileptic persons to reduce the uncertainties associated with the condition. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: B, page: 2527. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

This study examined competing hypotheses predicted by state and trait views of the social skill deficits of depressed persons. Depressed and nondepressed subjects were pretreated with the Velten mood-induction and neutral-control procedures resulting in five groups of target persons--depressed-neutral treatment, depressed-elation induction treatment, nondepressed-neutral treatment, nondepressed-elation induction treatment, and nondepressed-depression induction treatment. Following the mood induction procedure, target persons conversed with conversation partners during fifteen minute dyadic interactions. Conversation partners responded to post-conversation questionnaires assessing their reactions to and perceptions of the target persons. Initial analyses showed no effects of naturally occurring depression or induced mood states on target persons' social skills as measured by conversation partners' responses. However, a post mood-induction manipulation check indicated that the elation induction procedure was not successful in elevating the mood level of several of the depressed target persons. When target persons who were unable or unwilling to respond to instructions to "talk themselves into the mood suggest" were eliminated from the analyses, the results suggested that induced elation improved the social impact of depressives but adversely affected nondepressed target persons' social skills relative to their respective control groups. Induced depression did not affect the social skills of nondepressed target persons. The results provide tentative support for the state view of social skill deficits of depressives and suggest that the social skill deficits noted by previous researchers represent a consequence of depression rather than an antecedent or causal factor. Limitations on the generalizability of results due to statistical weakness and partial ineffectiveness of the mood induction procedures are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: B, page: 2541. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Cognitive-mediational models of behavior suggest that cognitive content and internal dialogue have the functional capability of influencing arousal, appraisal, adaptation to stress, and problem-solving behavior. This study examined the relationship between the divorce-related cognitive content reported by school-age children of divorce and the severity of their observed postdivorce adjustment difficulty. / Sixty-four 8- to 11-year-old children of divorce were identified within public and private schools, and the behavioral adjustment of each subject was evaluated via independent parent Louisville Behavior Checklist and teacher School Behavior Checklist ratings. On the basis of these behavioral judgements, the following subject classifications were formed: 16 males and 16 females with high adjustment difficulty (HAD), and 16 males and 16 females with low adjustment difficulty (LAD). / All subjects completed the following measures of divorce-specific cognitive content: (1) the Divorce Inventory of Self-Statements for Children (DISSC), which revealed the frequency, valence, and content of reported inner speech; and (2) the Children's Attitudes toward Parental Separation Inventory (CAPSI), assessing the frequency and content of reported problematical attitudes. / Multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA's) with the factors of adjustment difficulty and gender were performed using the DISSC and CAPSI scores as dependent measures. The MANOVA's revealed that the HAD and LAD groups could not be differentiated on the basis of their DISSC positive and negative self-statement scores. All the groups reported greater frequencies of positive or adaptive self-statements regarding divorce than negative or maladaptive self-statements. / An adjustment difficulty by gender interaction was uncovered for the CAPSI problem attitude measure. The male HAD children admitted having more frequent attitudinal problems regarding separation and divorce than the remaining HAD and LAD groups, while the HAD females failed to show this elevation. / Secondary analyses of the DISSC and CAPSI content areas culminated in generally nonsignificant findings. Methodological issues which may have precluded the demonstration of a significant relationship between adjustment difficulty and divorce-specific cognitive content were discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: B, page: 2547. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

The effectiveness of a brief workshop tutorial was evaluated by comparing four Family Practice residents who received the intervention with four non-tutored control residents. The content of the tutorial reflected previous research implicating a relationship between interactional behaviors of physicians towards their patients and patient compliance. Didactic, videotape modeling and role play procedures were included in the four-hour tutorial. Assessments were made of both physician and patient interaction behavior, patient compliance, and patient satisfaction. / Results suggest that the tutorial workshop was effective in increasing relevant physician interaction behaviors. These behaviors remained stable throughout a six-month period of assessment. However, relationships between these physician behaviors and patient compliance, patient interaction behavior, and patient satisfaction were not supported by the present results. It is cautioned that inadequacies in the fine grain sensitivity of some assessment measures and the inability to account for potential sources of confounding variance may have impeded the elucidation of existing physician-patient relationships. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-03, Section: B, page: 1128. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

A number of studies, employing a variety of standard verbal learning tasks, have addressed the problem of deficits in schizophrenic recall processes. Recent research has suggested that, due to the simplistic nature of their experimental tasks, prior investigators were unable to evaluate the full range of complexity of their subjects' semantic processing systems. It remained for the development of a method for describing the complex relationships contained within prose materials, before more revealing semantic memory research could be performed. The results of several studies (Dunn, Mathews & Bieger, 1979; Dunn, Singer & Gould, cited in Dunn, in press; Meyer, Brandt & Bluth, 1978; Meyer & Freedle, 1976; Meyer, Freedle & Walker, 1978) suggest that the Meyer (1975) technique for prose analysis has great potential as a means of studying individual differences in the recall of semantic information from text. / This dissertation investigated the differences in prose recall of three groups, each composed of 32 male volunteer subjects: hospitalized medicated schizophrenics; hospitalized nonschizophrenics; and nonschizophrenic college undergraduate matched on age, intelligence, and education. After completion of an initial 30-minute interview, during which the subjects answered specific questions and were administered the WAIS Vocabulary Subtest, they read two short passages, followed immediately by written free-recall protocols. Based on Meyer's (1975) test analysis procedure, the top-level logical semantic structure (Covariance versus Attribution) was manipulated systematically for each of two topical passages ("Loss of Body Water" versus "Use of Chemical Pesticides"), which also were manipulated. / Each subject received both topics and both top-level semantic structures. To prevent transfer effects, each subject received only one top-level structure for each topic, thus yielding a nested design under topic and top-level structure--3 x (2) x (2) x 5 ((Groups) X (topic) X (top level structure) X (levels in the content structure)) hierarchical mixed design. / Analysis of variance on the proportional recall scores (proportion of idea units recalled at each level in the content structures) showed a significant top level structure X groups X levels interaction (p < .04), which suggests that the schizophrenic subjects were performing in a qualitatively different manner. Other interactions and main effects were found to be significant, but the three-way interaction proved to be of primary importance. Analyses of covariance on both the proportional recall and the total recall data, using age, education, reading times, and Davis Reading test scores as covariates, revealed no noticeable changes in either the probability levels or the adjusted means. / The results were interpreted to indicate different semantic information processing styles among the three subject groups. The schizophrenic subjects, as evidenced by their proportional recall scores and other supporting data, did not seem to benefit from the implicit rhetorical relationships (primarily Collections) embedded within the lower levels of the passage content structures. These findings were discussed and a number of suggestions for future research were offered. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-03, Section: B, page: 1110. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

Fifty-one graduate business students at Florida State University played a computer game in which they functioned as employers interviewing applicants for three different jobs. After seeing job descriptions and resumes they asked three of the five applicants for each job six questions from a list of ten. If they asked the question "Have you ever missed three or more days of work for reasons other than routine illnesses?" they were answered in one of four ways. The "applicant" either stated "no," preferred not to answer, stated that they were in a hospital for three days after a family member died, or stated that they had spent two months in a state hospital. Answers to this question were randomly distributed independent of all other conditions of the interview. Subjects then ranked their top three choices for each job. / Only about half of the subjects asked the question about non-routine absences. The overall (chi)('2) for psychiatric history was significant (p < .05). Applicants who revealed a long term psychiatric history were significantly less likely to be hired than applicants who denied any psychiatric history (p < .05). These "long term" applicants were also significantly less likely to be hired than applicants who revealed a brief hospital stay after a family member died. Applicants who were evasive may have been somewhat less likely to be ranked first than applicants who denied psychiatric history, but this comparison was not significant. These evasive applicants were significantly less likely to be ranked first than applicants who revealed a brief hospital stay after a family member died (p < .05). / The data suggest that many employers who hold recent M.B.A. degrees will not be interested in an applicant's history of absences from work. If they do ask for this information, however, they use it. They tend not to hire applicants who report being in a state hospital for two months, or those who do not answer the question. Applicants reporting a brief hospitalization after a family death are still hired. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: B, page: 2529. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

This study was designed to assess the influence of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977) and locus of control (Rotter, 1966) expectancies as they relate to decision making in mock juries. No evidence was found to suggest a relationship among these variables as assessed with a questionnaire format. These findings were discussed in light of previous findings (Phares & Wilson, 1972; Sosis, 1974). However, subjects verdicts, attributions of responsibility, sentencing of the defendant, and their verbal statements during deliberations were quite internally consistent in the mock jury situation. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: B, page: 2540. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Anecdotal evidence has suggested that hypnotic procedures enhance recall performance in actual crime cases, but experimental data in applied settings has been lacking. This study examined the comparative effectivness of hypnosis and goal-directed recall strategies as supplementary tools for memory refreshment in actual major crimes. / The experimental design was a two-by-two factorial: hypnotic induction vs. no hypnotic induction, and visual recall instructions vs. non-visual recall instructions. Forty-four witnesses and victims were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions after standard interrogations had been completed, and referrals had been made for additional interviewing with the Los Angeles Police Department's (LAPD) hypnosis team. Ten skilled LAPD hypno-investigators were randomly assigned to cells and conducted the interview sessions. / The yield and accuracy of new and confirmatory data were measured with several instruments designed or adapted for the study. Sixteen identified eyewitness and interviewing factors were also analyzed for their moderating effect on recall performance: age, alcohol consumption, crime seriousness, cross-racial identification, drug consumption, education, emotional arousal, exposure time, latency period of recall, lighting conditions, physical proximity, prior hypnosis experience, race, styles of questioning, throughness of questioning, and violence. / The results of the present study fail to support the notion that hypnosis, with or without visual imagery cues, enhances eyewitness or victim recall performance. No significant differences were found on either the production or correctness of new or confirmatory crime-related information. / The effect of selective eyewitness and interviewing moderator factors is less clear. Although group equivalence on each of the moderator variables was obtained, the author did not conduct a multivariate analysis on the combined effects of these factors. / Additional refinements of the design paradigm and a larger subject pool are indicated to further explicate the potential values and hazards of these procedures in criminal proceedings. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: B, page: 2551. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.