The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of auditory background interference on test performance on a group of schizophrenics as well as with a normal group and to ascertain if subgroups of each type could be differentiated on neuopsychological measures from the WMS-R particularly sensitive to left-hemispheric functions.There were 60 subjects, 30 normals and 30 schizophrenics, who volunteered to participate in the study. The schizophrenics, all hospitalized at Logansport State Hospital, had a diagnosis of chronic undifferentiated schizophrenia. The normals were students at Logansport High School enrolled in a senior psychology class. The research utilized a counterbalanced design in which subjects were administered items from the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised in both a normal administration condition and in the presence of auditory background information provided by a prerecorded tape.The relationship between auditory background interference and diagnosis was examined using an analysis of variance (MANOVA) of the difference between means. The overall mean for groups did not differ significantly, F (1,58) = .087. No test was identified as being able to differentiate left-hemispheric functions for either group in either testing condition, F (4, 55) = 1.09, p .37. There also was no statistically significant difference between the test performance of males and females in the presence of auditory background interference.The results indicate that neither group evidenced much change in perfromance in the presence of auditory background information. This would suggest that the testing conditionn had little influence on test results. It also suggests that internal differences, as opposed to the external environment, contributed much more to the differences in test performance. The lack of significant differences on the subtests that are considered measures of left-hemispheric functioning may have been due to the significant cognitive impairments of the schizophrenics. The normals may have been more able to increase their attentional and concentration skills in the presence of auditory background interference so that no decreases in performance resulted. / School of Physical Education

The purpose of this study was to determine, under experimental conditions, which of two treatments (overt or covert rehearsal in conjunction with instruction, live modeling and reinforcement) would help chronic schizophrenic undifferentiated type inpatients learn new assertive behaviors (volume of speech and gaze) and transfer them to unfamiliar situations in the laboratory.The research was conducted at Dayton Mental Health Center, Dayton, Ohio. The sample population consisted of 30 subjects who were randomly divided into three groups of 10 subjects each. The groups were Treatment I (overt rehearsal), Treatment II (covert rehearsal) and No-Treatment (control). All subjects volunteered for the study. They were screened with the Wolpe-Lazarus Assertiveness Training Questionnaire; however, the results were discarded because many scored lower than the desired range. Subjects were videotaped at the end of the study.The two treatment groups were conducted twice weekly for a total of eight sessions in one month. Each session lasted about 45 minutes. Positive reinforcers such as cookies and cigarettes were provided to encourage attendance. The group leaders were two pairs of male and female psychology assistants and trainees. All were qualified for their randomly selected tasks. The treatment consisted of eight behavior situations designed by the writer based on the Behavior Assertiveness Test - Revised (BAT-R). Attendance was imperfect during the sessions as some subjects occasionally resisted groups. Following completion of the treatment, only 27 subjects accepted to be videotaped for testing; three refused to be taped.A posttest-only design was used in this study. Posttesting consisted of videotaped responses to a confederate who presented four trained and four untrained situations. Two qualified psychologists collected data by rating the subjects' behaviors on the video tape. The specific behaviors, volume of speech and gaze, were rated on the Qualitative Rating Scale for both the trained and untrained situations across all three groups. The effects of treatment were analyzed through several statistical steps:1. Three t-tests on pairs were used to analyze means between trained and untrained situations for both treatment groups and the No-Treatment group.2. Two separate one-way analyses of variance were computed on volume of speech and on gaze across all three groups. Scores of trained and untrained situations were summed for each variable.3. Four separate one-way analyses of variance were computed for volume of speech and gaze in each of the trained and untrained situations across all three groups.The results were not statistically significant at the .05 level. Thus, there were no differences between the treatment groups and the No-Treatment group with respect to untrained situations. Also, there were no differences between treatment groups and the No-Treatment group in the learning of new behaviors. These findings did not lend efficacy to the treatments or instruments used in this study. It is possible that those treatments may not succeed with lower functioning subjects such as those used in this sample.Recommendations for future research were to include longer treatment conditions and to use more sensitive training and testing instruments. Other suggestions included familiarization of subjects with videotaping prior to posttesting, inclusion of more variables and the use of pre-post measures as well as follow up measures.

Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of English, General Literature and Rhetoric, 2005.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. A. in Psychology)--Vanderbilt University, Aug. 2008. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-126).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 1998. / Title from document title page. "November 16, 1998." Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 84 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-78).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1990.

Thesis--Indiana University. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Indiana University. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.