by Mak Ping See, Diana. / Bibliography: leaves 134-136 / Thesis (M.A.Ed.) -- Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1981

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Human Ecology-Personal Financial Planning / Stuart Heckman / Maurice M. MacDonald / There were 19.8 million college students in the U.S. in the fall of 2017 (NCES, 2017). These students face many challenges and opportunities including new social networks, enhanced academic pressures, new living arrangement and new financial responsibilities. Many of these students have had positive role models who have socialized them through discussion and example (Shim, Barber, Card, Xiao, & Serido, 2010). These role models may have instilled positive self-efficacy in these students as well helping to prepare the students for the many challenges and opportunities in college. Some students have not had those role models. This research seeks to understand the impact of positive socialization and self-efficacy on students’ feelings of financial stress and then on their choices of how to cope with that stress. The financial challenges of paying for college are well publicized with 44.2 million Americans currently owing over $1.48 trillion in student loan debt (NCES, 2017). In this study, the impact of these financial challenges is viewed through the lens of the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping Theory which proposes that stress is an individual perception influenced by that individual’s sense of threat, vulnerability, and ability to cope (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). There are two sets of empirical models; the first examines the influences in the appraisal process on perceptions of financial stress using OLS regression with the second empirical model examining the influences on their coping choices using logistic regression. Both models control for influences on stress and coping choices including demographic, socio-economic and academic factors. The results inform how financial self-efficacy and financial socialization influence financial stress as they suggest the importance of enabling financial self-efficacy by parents, educators and other leaders of children.

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of sixteen structured group sessions on black high school girls' attitudes toward the rights and sex roles of women, cognitions about the "ideal" woman, and expressed interests in careers in science and engineering.;The literature indicates that individuals select and enter career fields based partly upon their perceptions that certain career areas are more appropriate for one sex than for another. The resulting phenomenon is known as "occupational sex-typing" or segregation of the sexes by occupation.;The research design for this study was a pretest-posttest control group design. The samples consisted of black girls in grades 10, 11, and 12 whose mathematics and/or science SRA Achievement scores were between the 50th and 94th percentile. Twenty subjects were assigned randomly to the experimental group and twenty to the control group.;The independent variable consisted of sixteen one-hour, weekly structured group sessions adapted from the BORN FREE training material. The dependent measures were attitudes toward the rights and roles of women, cognitions about the "ideal" woman, and expressed interests in nontraditional careers in science and engineering. Three self-report instruments, the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, the Adjective Check List, and the California Occupational Preference System were used to assess changes in the dependent variables. Behavioral changes were measured by unobtrusive observations of registration for advanced courses in mathematics and science for the 1983-1984 school year.;The results of the research revealed that the intervention had a significant impact on the following scales: ATWS, three (ACH, END, and AGG) of the seven primary scales of the ACL, and three (SIPR, SISK, and TEPR) of the four scales of the COPS. No significant impact was measured on the remaining four (SCFD, PERADJ, DOM, and AUT) scales of the ACL, on the TESK scale of the COPS, nor on the ACL scales analyzed for additional information. No behavioral change was revealed by the number of mathematics and science courses selected by the experimental group.

Alcohol abuse is a significant and formidable problem which affects the lives of an estimated 10 to 13 million people. of course, this figure does not adequately reflect the secondary effects of alcohol abuse on the millions of people who have a significant relationship with an alcohol abuser. It is not hard to understand then, the enormous amount of time, money, and energy spent on trying to prevent, treat, and recover from this problem.;This study focused on the treatment and recovery phases of alcohol abuse and was conducted in an attempt to determine whether or not two adjunct behavioral skills (covert modeling and progressive relaxation) could be effective when learned and practiced in conjunction with the more traditional tenets of the disease--medical model of alcohol abuse.;Chaney (1976), Marlatt (cited in Nathan et al., 1978) and Sobell and Sobell (1973) among others have advocated the need to teach alcoholics behavioral self-control skills and to practice new behaviors in order to strengthen the recovery process. In this study, a locus of control scale was used to measure this hypothesized change in perceived self-control and a 3-month follow-up of drinking behavior was used to evaluate effects on the recovery process.;In a review of the literature, it was found that alcoholics can and do change their Internal-External (I-E) scores toward internality (self control) as a function of participating in treatment (Oziel & Obitz, 1951; O'Leary, Donovan, Hague, & Shea, 1975; Kennedy, Gilbert, & Thoreson, 1978; Hettinger, 1976) and that other nonalcohol-abusing populations can also alter their control orientation as a function of therapeutic intervention (Dua, 1970; Gillis & Jessor, 1970; Pierce, Schauble, & Farkas, 1970).;Covert modeling procedures have been found to be effective in reducing snake avoidance (Kazdin, 1973, 1974a; Lowe, 1978) in increasing assertive behavior (Kazdin, 1974b. 1965a); and in reducing fear of laboratory rats (Cautela, 1974). Additionally, Hay et al. (1977) used covert modeling to successfully treat a case of chronic alcohol abuse and a case of obsessive-compulsive behavior.;The subjects for this study were 50 inpatients receiving treatment for alcohol abuse at Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, Virginia. They were randomly assigned to five groups following a pretest administration of the Adult Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Scale. The groups were as follows: (1) 10 subjects received a combination of covert modeling and progressive relaxation for four 30-minute sessions; (2) 10 subjects received only covert modeling for four 30-minute sessions; (3) 10 subjects received only progressive relaxation for four 30-minute sessions; (4) 10 subjects were assigned to the placebo-control group and engaged in four 30-minute discussion sessions; (5) 10 subjects were assigned to the no-treatment control group and received no adjunct behavioral treatment.;The results were as follows: (1) Subjects assigned to Group 1 were not significantly different from subjects in Groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 on a measure of locus of control change. They were, however, significantly different on a measure of follow-up drinking behavior. (2) Subjects assigned to Group 2 were not significantly different from subjects in Groups 3, 4, and 5 on either a measure of locus of control change or follow-up drinking behavior. (3) Subjects assigned to Group 3 were not significantly different from subjects in Groups 4 and 5 on either dependent measure. (4) Subjects assigned to Groups 1, 2 and 3 were not significantly different from subjects in Groups 4 and 5 on either dependent measure.;Recommendations were made for further research in this area.

The purpose of this study was to assess differences in moral development, multicultural competency, and type of supervision received between professional school counselors and school counseling interns. as cited in the literature, professional school counselors rarely receive clinical supervision, yet they are charged with the training and development of school counseling interns. Due to differences in moral development, this procedure may lead to negative learning experiences for school counseling interns. It was hypothesized that there would be statistically significant differences in moral development and self-reported multicultural counseling competencies between professional school counselors and school counseling interns. Additionally, it was hypothesized that certain variables, including supervision and moral development scores would be significant predictors of self-reported multicultural counseling competency. Thirty school counseling interns and 61 professional school counselors responded to the request for volunteers to participate in the study. The Defining Issues Test-2 (DIT-2), the Multicultural Counseling Competence and Training Survey-Revised (MCCTS-R), and a general demographic page were used to assess differences. Significant differences were found in moral development between the two groups. The type of supervision received was also found to be significantly related to moral development scores. No significant differences were found between the two groups in multicultural counseling competency. Additionally, the type of supervision received and moral development scores were not significant predictors of multicultural competency above and beyond other demographic variables. Further research is needed to determine the extent that supervision impacts moral development and multicultural counseling competencies and to explore the link between moral development and multicultural competence in professional school counselors.

The purpose of this study was to seek the answer to the following question: Using small group interaction, which of three types of strategies best influences positive academic achievement and academic attitudinal change in seventh and eighth grade low achievers?;Thirty-six students who had failed one or more academic subjects (English, Math, Social Studies or Science) were randomly placed in one of four groups of nine students each. The first group was based on the theory and techniques of Rational-Emotive Therapy. It attacked the "blame factor" so common to transescents and attempted to build a strong and positive attitude in the students.;Practical study skill instruction was an adjunct to the rational-emotive approach. The second group was that of Structural-Study Skills. This group concentrated on procedures and techniques in practical skill building areas such as organization, note and test taking, homework preparation and other such didactic procedures. The third group was that of Affective Education. its premise was that by attending to the underlying dynamics associated with academic failure the student, through a cathartic group experience, is better able to cope with personal and social problems and thus becomes able to deal with academic ones. Little emphasis was placed on study skills as such but rather on the emotional needs of the student. The fourth group was a control group which received no treatment.;The groups each met nine times for a period of forty-five minutes per session. The activities included open discussion, film strip viewing, paper and pencil activities and didactic instruction in various study skill areas.;Dependent variables were obtained pre and post treatment for all subjects. These included grade point averages, results of the Survey of Study Habits and Attitude questionnaire and results of the Teacher Observation Tally.;From the data analysis, the following conclusions were drawn on within group means: (1) The RET group showed significant improvement in Study Habits, Study Attitudes, Study Orientation and Teacher Observation Tally scores. It did not show improvement in GPA. (2) The Structured-Study Skill group showed significant improvement in Study Habits, Study Orientation and Teacher Observation scores but not in GPA or Study Attitudes. (3) The Affective group showed improvement in Study Habits and Teacher Observation Tally but not GPA, Study Attitudes or Study Orientation. The Control group showed improvement only in the Teacher Observation Tally but in no other variables. (4) Between groups, no one group showed statistically significant improvement over any other.

Therapist-offered empathy has been shown to be an important ingredient in the counseling relationship. Many operational definitions of empathy and tools for measurement of this elusive quality exist. Most empathy measures have been criticized on methodological grounds and their construct validity is suspect. Yet there is little argument with the trend which emerges from the data; the overall relationship between empathy, or those dimensions tapped by empathy measures and effective therapy appears positive. The nature of empathy however remains enigmatic and it is evident that all of the variables which account for the empathic process have not been explicated.;This study defined and investigated the validity and effect on counseling of a new dimension of empathy. From their linguistic analysis of effective therapy Bandler and Grinder have formulated the construct of representational systems or internal maps used by individuals to organize reality. Such maps are visual, auditory or kinesthetic and are reflected in natural language. Do you see what I mean? Empathy, then, is operationally defined as the counselor's matching language with the representational system used by the client.;It was hypothesized that counselors who use representational system matching would: (1) be perceived by subjects as more empathic than counselors who do not (accepted, p = .0045); (2) be perceived by judges as more empathic than counselors who do not (accepted, p = .0165); (3) elicit a greater willingness to self-disclose than counselors who do not (rejected) and (4) be preferred by clients over counselors who do not use representational matching (accepted p < .05).;Subjects (N = 20) were undergraduates at The College of William and Mary who met with each of two counselors, in counterbalanced order, for an analogue of a beginning counseling interview. One counselor used representational system matching; the other counselor took a more generic, human relations, approach to empathy. After each interview subjects completed Barrett-Lennard's Relationship Inventory (RI) and Jourard's Willingness-to-Disclose Questionnaire (WDQ). Following their second interview subjects indicated their preferred counselor. Covariates were: (1) Carkhuff's Empathic Understanding Scale (EU) which also served as a dependent measure; (2) The Counseling Readiness Scale (Crs) of Gough and Heilbrun's Adjective Check List and (3) Rotter's I-E scale. The Latin-square design produced data analyzed by: repeated measures analysis of covariance (Hypotheses 1-3); stepwise regression (Hypotheses 1 & 2) and Chi square (Hypothesis 4).;Results indicate that both subjects and judges perceived the representational system matching counselor as more empathic than the generic empathy counselor. While EU accounted for 11.76% of the variance on RI-empathy scale scores, representational system matching accounted for 11.94% of the variance beyond that accounted for by EU. Clients preferred the representational system matching counselor by a ratio of 3 to 1.;It was concluded that representational system matching is an important dimension of empathy and the recommendation was made that beginning courses in counseling techniques and human relations training include a section on identifying and responding to client's representational systems. Recommendations were made for further study.