An association between antisocial and histrionic personality disorders has been examined in familial and intrapersonal research. This association was explored within the framework of Gorenstein and Newman's (1980) model of disinhibitory psychopathology. Two studies were proposed to examine the association of these personality disorder features, with the second study contingent on the results of the first experiment. The first study investigated whether the response perseveration phenomenon would generalize to college students identified with antisocial personality features using a card playing task developed by Newman, Patterson, and Kosson (1987). Results indicated that the response perseveration phenomenon did not generalize, however, college females identified with antisocial features performed in a similar fashion on the card playing task as Newman et al.'s psychopathic subjects. The evidence gathered from this study suggest that whether the response perseveration phenomenon generalizes to antisocial feature college women requires further investigation. / Department of Psychological Science

Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2008. / Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 73 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Detroit, 1949. / "June 1949." Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-54).

Previous research indicates a link between shyness and the ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion, particularly among children. The current study examined college students’ facial recognition as a potential influence on their levels of self-reported shyness. Three factors related to facial expression recognition were examined: the participants’ ability to accurately identify facial expressions, their ratings of the intensity of the faces, and their tendency to make positive or negative interpretation errors. Demographic variables, introversion, self esteem, and mood were also examined for their ability to predict shyness. The results indicated a weak relationship between facial expression recognition and shyness. Possible limitations and future directions for research are addressed in light of these new findings. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Psychological Science

The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences in college aptitude test scores, academic achievement, personality test scores, extra-curricular activities, age and class in school of (1) a group of men students who are undecided about their vocational choice or who have made as many as two changes while in college and (2) another group of men students who have made no changes in vocational choice since high school or who have made no more than one change in college. / Typescript. / "August, 1950." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts under Plan II." / Advisor: Stewart Murray, Major Professor. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 42).

College is recognized by many researchers to be an exceptionally stressful period of development. Despite considerable theoretical and empirical attention, many questions still remain regarding the experience of stress among college students. There is a dearth of multivariate investigations in this area and, to date, no clear consensus exists among researchers as to which coping strategies best attenuate negative affect, and whether male and female students cope with stress in different ways. As such, the purpose of this study was two-fold: (a) to examine the goodness of fit of a model depicting multivariate relations among self-report measures of appraised stress (Cohen, Kamarch, & Mermelstein, 1983), dispositional coping strategies (Carver, 1997), and negative affect (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1997); and (b) to identify, whether the model relations varied by gender. The model, based on previous research with college students (e.g., Dunkley et al., 2000; Soderstrom et al., 2000), specified that students' appraised stress would predict their negative affect, and that coping would partially account for the relation between these variables. Results derived from a large sample (N=1088) of college students (females, n=562; males, n=526) indicated that the model fit the data well, with no observed gender differences. The model pulled together common observations in the stress literature, and a more comprehensive and parsimonious understanding of college student stress has emerged. Overall, the model is a useful heuristic device (a) to understand, assess, and diagnose college student stress, as well as (b) to identify and target specific areas for intervention to promote well-being among college students. / Graduation date: 2004

Little empirical research has been conducted on self-gifts as a phenomenon of consumer behavior. A review of literature demonstrated that the phenomenon of self-gifts has been studied from the conceptual aspect, such as self-gift functions. Yet, our knowledge of self-gifts still remains limited because many of the determinants of self-gifts have not been explored (occasions and motivations, self-gifts relation to self-concept, and cultural influences on self-gift behavior). The purpose of this study was to identify occasions that prompt female college students to purchase clothing as a self-gift and some of their motivations for purchasing clothing as gifts for themselves. The data from the respondents was collected through audio-recorded interviews and were transcribed and analyzed by the researcher. A purposive, non-probability sample of 19 female college students was used. The instrument used to measure the occasions and motivations for purchasing self-gifts was the Self-Gift Thematic Apperception Test (SGTAT) developed by Mick, DeMoss, and Faber (1992). This instrument is a specially adapted Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) based on Murstein's (1963) criteria which was derived from the original TAT developed by Murray (1938). The respondents were shown four SGTAT stimulus pictures of drawings of a young woman standing by a counter purchasing a clothing item, with a salesperson nearby. The titles above the drawings suggested common self-gift contexts based on prior research (Mick et al., 1992; Mick & DeMoss, 1990a). The four self-gift contexts were referred to as reward, therapeutic, birthday, and nice-to-self. Content and interpretive analysis were performed by coding the occasions and motivations in the stories that were reported by the respondents. Seventy-two usable Self-Gift Thematic Apperception Test stories were produced (18 respondents by 4 self-gift contexts). Results of the study indicated that personal situations, which were related to significant life-transitions, work-related matters, school-related matters, and interpersonal relationship conflicts were strong occasions that prompted the purchase of self-gifts. In addition, the results of this study indicated that reward, therapeutic, and nice-to-self are common motivations for purchasing gifts for the self. These findings indicated that specific occasions and motivations for purchasing self-gifts can be identified. / Graduation date: 1995

This study was conducted to determine the effects of participation in a series of five structured group experiences in a modification of the LORS Experiential Technique (Hollis, 1975) on the levels of ego-strength and prejudice of college students. The study was conducted during the Winter Quarter of 1978 at Ball State University in 'Muncie, Indiana. A pool of 96 volunteer subjects were administered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The complete battery of three testings was completed by 55 of the original 96 subjects. Subjects were male and female undergraduate students residing in university residence halls, including both coeducational and female residence halls. Most of the subjects were freshmen women.A modification of the quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design (Campbell & Stanley, 1963) was employed. The control group was administered the independent variable following the presentation of the treatment to the experimental group. Specifically, three comparisons were made: 1) between experimental and control groups after the treatment condition was presented to the experimental group, 2) between experimental and control groups after both groups experienced treatment, and 3) between the experimental-group data collected immediately following presentation of the treatment and data collected two weeks later.Two hypotheses, each subdivided into three parts, were tested using a t-test for the differences between proportions (Walpole, 1968). The alpha level was set at .05 for statistical significance. The major operational hypotheses predicted that ego-strength would increase and prejudice would decrease following subject exposure to the experimental treatment. Statistical analysis did not support these hypotheses.In addition to the data gathered from the Ego-strength and Prejudice Scales, subjects completed questionnaires at the beginning of each meeting designed to assess certain effects of the previous meeting. An additional questionnaire was administered three months after the experiment to assess subjects' perceptions of the LORS experience after a lapse of time. Generally, subjects reported that the LORS technique helped increase their (1) awareness of their own and others' values, (2) awareness of "group interactions," and (3) self confidence.The experimental treatment consisted of a series of five situations constructed by the researcher with the editorial assistance of the author of LORS. Each situation was designed to focus on an issue of relevance to college students college student held in the residence halls of the subjects over a two-week Issues were based on theory and research on personality development.Group sessions lasted one hour and a half and were period. Advanced graduate students in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services at Ball State University served as group facilitators.

published_or_final_version / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

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