No description available.

Effects of paralanguage cues of expectancy, experimenter expectancy, subject set, subject sex, and task ambiguity on subjects' reaction time to a list of words were studied in a factorial 3 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 repeated measurement analysis of variance design. Subjects were 144 undergraduate psychology students, half males and half females, receiving extra class credit for participation. Experimenters were four paid graduate teaching assistants, two males and two females. The study had several purposes. One purpose was to study the relative impact of the paralanguage cues of expectancy in the instruction reading versus all other cues of expectancy on subjects' behavior. A second purpose was to determine the nature of the interaction between task ambiguity and expectancy cues. A third purpose was to study sex differences in susceptibility to expectancy cues. Studying the effect of subject set instructions which provide a hint as to the experimental hypothesis and a request to comply with it on subjects' responses was a fourth purpose. Finally, a fifth purpose was to study further subjects' awareness of the stimuli that affect their behavior. Paralanguage expectancy cues were manipulated by a drama professor tape recording the task instructions so as to induce quick, neutral or slow responses. Task ambiguity was manipulated by having simple (nonambiguous) and homonym (ambiguous) words in the list. Experimenter expectancy and subjects' set were manipulated by written instructions. A significant main effect for paralanguage cues of expectancy (p < .001) and a significant interaction among paralanguage expectancy cues, experimenter expectancy, and subject set (p < .01) were sound as well as unhypothesized significant main effect for ambiguity (p < .05). Subjects were found to be unaware of the paralanguage cues that affected their behavior even with subject set instructions (independence model, x² = 4.85 4 df p < .3). The main effect for experimenter expectancy mediated by all other nonverbal cues except those in the instructions reading, and the interaction between word ambiguity and expectancy cues, and that between subject sex and expectancy cues were not significant. The present results support previous findings concerning the effect of manipulated paralanguage expectancy cues and the relative importance of these cues over all other nonverbal cues of expectancy, and extend these previous findings by including subjects of both sexes in a nonevaluation apprehension situation. The present findings also support previous studies which found that subjects comply with expectancy information given to them irrespective of its social desirability and that they are unaware of the expectancy cues affecting their behavior. The present findings do not support previous findings on the interaction between subject sex and experimenter expectancy. Due to subjects' general unawareness of the paralanguage cues of expectancy affecting their behavior, an adequate test of the dominant subject role in this study was not possible.

This study attempts to show that there is no significant difference in performance between volunteers and non-volunteers in terms of cooperation in a psychological experiment.

This study was an examination of the Hawthorne Effect in a verbal learning situation in an educational setting. The Hawthorne Effect was defined as the facilitating effect(s) produced in experimental situations when the subjects of the experiment expect that they are the objects of special attention. The purpose of the study was to determine if contamination by the Hawthorne Effect existed in an educational setting. Comparisons were made between "experimentally inexperienced" subjects and "experimentally experienced" subjects at both undergraduate and graduate levels. The task was to learn a list of paired associate terms, and to show learning retention by immediate replication of those terms. The focus of the study was upon the expected differences in performance of the control and experimental groups produced as a result of an effort to persuade experimental subjects that they had "unique" characteristics which would cause them to be exceptionally proficient. The control groups were given the task by the course instructor in a usual classroom setting,as an example of a curriculum objective. Recommendations for further research were as follows: (1) the personality variables of the researcher and those of the subjects being tested should be thoroughly delineated; (2) sex differences in performance should be scrutinized further, since there were indications that females did react differently from males in the experimental situation; (3) other academic disciplines should be examined with respect to susceptibility to the Hawthorne Effect; and (4) other social settings should be examined with respect to the Hawthorne Effect contamination.

The present study investigates the problems of conducting psychological research from the experiential perspective of the Native subject and the Native consumer of research. / The Cree of Northern Quebec, who have a long history of independence and a strong central government, have ejected several psychologists from their lands. From the analysis of the psychological research conducted among the Cree it was concluded that ejections generally followed incidents of perceived disrespect for local authority systems. This analysis seemed to show that flexibility and a personal approach were considered by the Native subjects as important assets for a researcher. Other positive attributes included relevance of the research, Native origin of the researcher, and the use of information sessions after the research was concluded. Negative attributes included ethnocentrism of the researcher, the free expression of anger, demands for self-disclosure, question-asking, overpublication of results, over-identification with the host group, and ignorance of Cree history and culture. The situation for counsellors was found to have many similarities to the situation for researchers. / To investigate the problem directly, a quasi-experiment was conducted with a group of James Bay Cree subjects, and their reaction to the research experience was polled after the experiment. It was found that the subjects often enjoyed the research. Personality tests were accepted in varying degrees, and certain Native values were affected in varying degrees. / Subjects in a positive-feedback treatment group rated the experiment poorer in social responsibility and honesty than did subjects in a mixed positive-and-negative feedback group. The vast majority of subjects felt the study would have been better if it had been conducted by a Cree, and three subjects stated that the study should not have been conducted at all. / From both the literature and the experimental study, the following sources of reactivity were recognized: inflexible protocol, ethnocentrism, expression of anger, requests for self-disclosure, excessive amounts of testing, question-asking, over-publishing of results, the use of deception, over-identification with the hosts, ignorance of Native history, differential treatment, and lack of redeeming social value. Aspects of psychological research considered positive by the Native subjects included: a personal approach, relevance, Native origin of the research, affiliation with a local person, advanced age of researcher, use of intrinsically valuable or at least entertaining instruments, ability of the researcher to read subtle messages, and use of information-sharing sessions. The key to conducting non-reactive research is to respect local authority. Respect can be shown by obtaining permission to enter the area, to access a subject pool, to conduct the research, and to publish the results. If permission is refused, that decision must be respected.

No description available.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Animal Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2023 / Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of citric acid inclusion level in the diet on growth performance, carcass weight, tibia bone breaking strength and ash content of male Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 35 days. The first experiment determined the effect of citric acid inclusion level in the diet on growth performance traits of male Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. The experiment commenced with 200 male day-old Ross 308 broiler chickens with an initial average live weight of 40±1.6g per chick. The chicks were assigned to five treatment groups in a completely randomized design, each replicated five times, and each replicate having ten chicks. The citric acid inclusion levels were at 0, 12.5, 25 or 50g per kg DM of feed. The second experiment determined the effect of citric acid inclusion level in the diet on growth performance, carcass weight, tibia bone breaking strength and ash content traits of male Ross 308 broiler chickens aged 22 to 35 days. The experiment commenced with 180 male Ross 308 broiler chickens aged 22 days. The chickens were assigned to four treatment groups, each having three replicate pens of eight chickens per replicate in a completely randomized design. Data was analysed using the General Linear model (GLM) procedures of the Statistical Analysis of System, version 9.3.1 software program. Where there were significant differences (P<0.05) between the treatment means, Tukey Multiple Comparison Test was used for mean separation. Citric acid inclusion in the starter diets improved (P<0.05) live weight and growth rate of male Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. Citric acid inclusion in the starter diets did not affect (P>0.05) daily feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio of male Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. The inclusion of citric acid did affect (P<0.05) live weight, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio and growth rate of chickens aged 22 to 35 days. Citric acid inclusion levels used in the present study influenced (P<0.05) DM and CP digestibility, ME intake and N-retention of male broiler chickens aged 22 to 35 days. The results of the current study showed that citric acid inclusion in a diet improved (P<0.05) chicken bone morphology. Thus, positive relationships were observed between citric acid inclusion level and right tibia bone weight, diameter, calcium, phosphorous and Magnesium contents of chicken bones aged 35 days. There were positive relationships between citric acid inclusion level and breast weight of male Ross 308 broiler chickens aged 35 days. Further studies are recommended to ascertain these findings. / National Research Foundation (NRF)