A sample of 14 low anxious (LA) male and 18 LA female subjects was drawn from introductory psychology classes. The effect of increased state anxiety, using differing instruction procedures, upon serial recall learning was studied. The Multiple Affect Adjective Check List was used as a measure of anxiety, and a Hull memory drum with nonsense syllables was used as the learning task. Results indicated that there was a significant (p < .05) increase in learning for females but no significant increase in learning for males. This study is in agreement with the majority of studies which found differences due to sex. The female subjects gave results more consistent with drive theory in relationship to increased state anxiety and learning than male subjects. A hypothesis to explain why males do not yield as consistent results as females in relation to increased anxiety and learning is stated. Implication for further research is also discussed.

Fieldwork was undertaken in the state of Wisconsin to document and interpret privately owned and displayed collections. Collections were comprised of various types of objects, most commonly artworks created and/or collected by the collection owners. These collections often take on an environmental scope, occupying private spheres such as collection owners' homes or outbuildings. An examination of environmental type collections that are housed in bars was also undertaken. Collections of this specific type are culturally and locally significant. The objects in the collections and the collection owners address and provide important information on such local or regional subjects as history, local storytelling practices, and local aesthetics. These collections also serve as natural repositories for the objects of various folkgroups relevant to the region. In this thesis that region is defined as the state of Wisconsin, and those folkgroups examined include occupational, recreational, and ethnic communities. Personal museums are one way that members of these communities preserve, display, interpret, and reaffirm their personal involvements in those groups. Collectors preserve and display tangible evidence of the significance of these communities and their affiliations with those groups. In this thesis I advocate a closer examination of personal museums by teachers, anthropologists, folklorists, and others interested in artifacts of culture.

lbeories in both the fields of ognstsvc aging and human neuropbychology have suggested that an impairment in the ability of an individual to inhibit irrelevant or distracting information either present in the environment or generated within the individual can ha‘ e detrimental effects on performance on a wide variety of cognitive tasks including text processing, inference formation, planning, and selective attention A number of researchers have attributed this increased distractibility in both clinical populations and health\ older individuals to a decline in or impairment of the functioning of the frontal lobes The present study extends findings suggesting a decline in frontal lobe function and increased susceptibility to distraction in healthy older individuals In addition, the possible relationship between these two phenomena is explored in a systematic fashion, an analysis absent in previous literature. Individuals ranging in age from 20 to 80 years completed a battery of tests designed to appraise frontal lobe function (WCST, FAS Word Fluency Test, Cognitive Estimation Test, and Stroop Color/Word Test) and to determine the effects of distractors on task performance (Useful Field of View, Negative Priming Task). To equate for general verbal intelligence and short term memory span, individuals also completed the Ammons Quick IQ Test and the Digit Span Forward subtest of the WAIS-R. Consistent with previous research, older individuals generally showed a decline in frontal lobe function as well as increased susceptibility to distraction when compared to the young individuals. The decline in frontal lobe function can be seen by increased repetitions and elaborations on the FAS, increased perseverative errors on the WCST, greater degrees of Stroop distraction and a decreased number of categories being obtained on the WCST, with age. Increased susceptibility to distraction is suggested by the impairment of many older individuals on UFOV task 3 and the distraction measure of the negative priming task. There was also a decline in negative priming with increasing age for some older individuals. However contrary to past research, several of the older individuals demonstrated negative priming effects equal to those found in the younger subjects. The expected relationship between frontal lobe function and susceptibility to distraction was found to be significant. UFOV task 3 shared approximately 1/3 of its variance with the frontal lobe composite measure. The present study extends previous work suggesting that one function of the trontal lobes is to modulate the effects of irrelevant or distracting information on efficient cognition It also suggests that declines in inhibitory mechanisms, as assessed with the negative priming paradigm, can vary widely between older individuals.

A group of mothers and their infants enrolled in a rural child development center served as the subjects for this study. This investigation was designed to study the relationships between maternal locus of control, maternal IQ and their effects upon an infant's rate of mental and motor development. Locus of control was measured by a newly developed I-E scale designed for use with populations of low reading levels and low intelligence levels. The mother's IQ was measured with the PPVT, an instrument that yields passive, verbal intelligence scores. An infant's level of development was assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. The Bayley Scales results are expressed in terms of mental and motor development indices. These indices are not synonymous with IQ; they are measures of development at a given point in time in comparison with other infants of the same age. No significant relationship between locus of control and intelligence was found for the mothers in this population. The infants' mental levels of development were significantly related to the maternal passive, verbal IQ, although the infants' motor development levels were not significantly related to maternal verbal IQ. Both mental and motor developmental rates were significantly related to maternal locus of control orientation.

The focus of this study was on motor learning, or the human learning of movement. It is well documented that physical or mental practice of a motor skill followed by an adequate rest period can enhance subsequent performance of that skill. The literature shows that transfer of skill acquisition occurs as a function of the similarity of physical practice trials and the criterion task. In this study mental practice trials wele substituted for physical practice trials. It was hypothesized that the transfer of skill acquisition would also occur as a function of the similarity of mental practice trials and the criterion task. A crucial element in the transfer of skill acquisition is the existence of an adequate rest period. Without that rest period, work decrement will not dissipate and subsequent performance will be depressed. It was the author's contention that task similarity not only affects the transfer of skill acquisition, but also the transfer of work decrement. Thus, a second hypothesis was that the intertask transfer of work decrement would occur as a function of the similarity of the mental practice trials and the criterion task. These hypotheses were examined via the use of a rotory pursuit task. College students practiced this rotary pursuit task at either 30. 45, or 60 revolutions per minute (rpm). Then all subjects performed the criterion task at 45 rpm. Half of the subjects practicing at each speed received a rest period between practice and criterion trials, and half of the subjects did not. On the average, these experimental groups performed the criterion task much more successfully than control groups, who received no practice at all. This finding reaffirmed the utility of mental practice in the enhancement of physical performance. Of the groups that received rest periods, the greatest degree of skill acquisition was demonstrated when the subjects practiced and performed at 45 rpm. Less transfer of skill was demonstrated in the other two rest groups. This supports the first hypothesis of intertask transfer of skill acquisition as a function of task similarity between the mental practice trials and physical performance trials. Of the groups that received no rest periods, the maximum amount of work decrement was obtained when subjects practiced at 30 rpm. The other two no-rest groups demonstrated equal levels of performance. Thus, the second hypothesis of intertask transfer of work decrement as a function of task similarity between mental practice trials and physical performance trials was not supported. This unexpected finding was discussed as a joint function of (a) a miscalculation of the relative amounts of skill acquisition transfer and work decrement transfer and (b) varying degrees of task difficulty.

This study examined, in an experimental setting, the effects of density, group size, sex, length of time, and locus of control on crowding stress. Subjects of the same sex were placed in either small or big groups of either high or low density, observed for two (early & late) 32 minute periods, and then requested to complete a questionnaire containing several dependent measures. Although the seven dependent measures of crowding stress (facial regard, fidgeting, feelings of comfort and well-being, interpersonal attraction, temporal estimation, spatial estimation, & altruism) were found to be relatively independent of each other, all were effected by one or more of the independent variables, with the exception that locus of control was not found to predict reactions to or symptoms of stress. Big group size, high density, and late time period (alone or in combination) were found to be stressful as indicated by one or more of the dependent measures. Group size appeared to be the most important variable, accounting for a relatively substantial proportion of variance in most instances. In contrast, density accounted for considerably less variance, though it did have some impact. Length of time effected both observational variables either as a main effect or when interacting with other variables. Differences between male and female reactions to crowding stress are complex and are discussed. Minimally investigated in the past, the effects of group size and length of time upon crowding stress both merit further exploration.

Is there a relationship between the grades students expect to receive in a course and the ratings they assign their course instructor? If a relationship does exist, do the students' grade expectations cause the ratings subsequently given the instructor? Data were collected at the beginning and end of a semester, and a cross -lagged panel correlational analysis was applied to two pairs of variables. The first pair of variables, a single -item assessment of instructor effectiveness and a single-item record of each student's expected grade, indicated a statistically significant relationship between expected grades and the measure of instructor performance. This relationship was stronger at the end of the semester than it was at the beginning, and cross - lagged correlations indicated that students' expected grades are causal contributors to the single-item overall instructor ratings. The second variable pair included the same measure of expected grade and a factor score measure of instructor performance. The cross -lagged data from this variable pair also showed a stronger grade -rating relationship at the end of the semester than at the beginning. However, the hypothesis that expected grades cause factor -score instructor ratings was not confirmed.

The theoretical and empirical relationships of moral behavior and moral judgment to personality were reviewed. Kohlberg's moral development theory and Fromm's character development theory provided the integrating organization for the review of nineteen personality variables examined with six moral judgment instruments. The Moral Judgment Scale, the Sexual Moral Judgment Scale, the Objective Moral Judgment Scale, and the Measure of Moral Values were administered to eighty adult students. Four problems were tested: (1) psychometric comparisons of the four moral reasoning instruments, (2) a test of a trait theory of moral character, (3) a test of increased self-actualization with moral development, and (4) a test of a structural model of moral reasoning and character. Comparison of the MJS and SMJS essentially replicated the findings reported by Gilligan, et al (1971). Analysis of the OMJS revealed that its reliability was inadequate for research purposes and failed to parallel the MJS scores. The MMV possessed substantial reliability and its scores paralleled MJS scores. The MMV scores failed to statistically distinguish the moral stage classifications. The test of a trait theory of moral character involved analyzing the POI and 16 PF subscale scores for the moral stage groups on the MJS. This analysis failed to reveal either a substantial number or consistent set of significant findings. The trait theory was rejected as being inadequate to explain moral development. Analyses of POI scores by moral stage groups indicated that self-actualization did not significantly increase with moral development. MJS stages 3 and 5 individuals possessed the most consistent set of high POI scores. Moral development as a concomitant construct of an increase in the self-actualization construct under examination was rejected. A factor analysis of the POI and 16 PF scores was further examined by a discriminant analysis with the MJS moral stages as the a priori groups. This analysis revealed two significant dimensions which distinguish the moral stage groups: ego strength - superego strength, and conventionality. Stage 2 subjects showed the lowest superego strength scores, the highest ego strength scores and the highest conventionality scores. Stage 3 individuals had scores on all three dimensions between those of the stage 4 and 5 subjects. Stage 4 individuals had the highest superego strength scores and the lowest ego strength scores. Stage 5 subjects possessed a balanced proportion of ego strength and superego strength with the least amount of conventionality. This model of character predicted over 86% of all subjects correctly into Kohlberg's three primary levels of moral reasoning: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. The prediction rate of the model remained significantly higher than chance when five stages of moral judgment were used. This evidence supported the conclusion that there is a significant characterlogical component in the development of adult moral reasoning.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between father-absence and anxiety levels in male cohere students (N=59). A questionnaire was utilized to identify father-absence and four variables associated with father-absence: type or reason for father's absence, length of absence, age of onset, and availability of a father surrogate. Levels of anxiety were defined by scores on the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (AS). A t test comparison of the MAS means of the father-absent students and the MAS means of a father-present control group was not significant. Chi square analyses of M1-3 scores in the father-absence group failed to find significant differences in anxiety according to type, length, age of onset, and availability of a father surrogate. These results are discussed in comparison with other recent studies on this topic and possible explanations of discrepancies are offered.

A set of six student psychological variables-- internal locus of control for positive and negative events as assessed by the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire; self esteem as assessed by the Self Esteem Inventory; and level of regard, empathetic understanding, unconditionality of regard and congruence as assessed by the Relationship Inventory--were correlated with a set of four student perception of teacher variables--interactional competence, rapport, unreasonable negativity and fosterance of self esteem as assessed by the Student Evaluation of Teacher II--to determine the relationship between the student psychological variables and the manner in which students evaluate their teachers. The subjects, sixth graders from ten classrooms in South Central Kentucky, were administered the instruments in two days of testing, all of which occurred in April, 1976. Using canonical correlation, it was found that three student psychological variables-- level of regard, self esteem and empathetic understanding-- contributed highly to the prediction of student perception of teachers, level of regard and empathetic understanding being highly related. Three student perception of teacher variables--fosterance of self esteem, rapport and unreasonable negativity--contributed highly to the prediction of student psychological variable scores. It was concluded that sixth grade students of varying academic ability exhibited the same pattern of evaluating their teachers and that their own self esteem, perception of their teachers' level of regard and empathetic understanding strongly influence their perception of their teachers. It was further suggested that student perception of teachers may really be a reflection of student perception of the Institution of Education and student perception of self in relation to that Institution.