Purpose of the study was to ascertain and compare perceptions of selected professionals over the United States in the field of giftedness, mainstream teachers of the gifted, and parents of gifted children from Okaloosa School District, Florida, concerning underachievement. / Population was surveyed for interest and a pilot test was conducted for formative evaluation. Professionals' response rate was 95%; teachers' rate was 81.6%; parents' rate was 40.9%. / Questionnaires contained 34 items of four categories derived from the literature: Curriculum, Educational Environment, Learning Styles, and Involvement of Parents. Ratings on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranged from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The Analysis of Variance technique tested the 34 hypotheses at the .05 level of significance at a 95% confidence level. Duncan's Multiple Range Test showed where the difference lies. Each category was ranked by the professionals, with number one as the highest. Teachers' and parents' ratings were compared to those of the professionals. Results were analyzed through averaging the mean and comparing them. / Findings were that professionals rated items higher than teachers or parents. Fourteen null hypotheses were rejected indicating a significant difference among perceptions. Four top priority items as ranked by professionals were: Curriculum--The attitude of a gifted underachiever affects the amount and significance of his/her learning; Educational Environment--Self-concept development is important if an underachieving gifted child is to become an achiever; Learning Styles--The learning styles preferences of underachieving gifted children are being ignored; Involvement of Parents--Establishing a climate for parents and their underachieving gifted children to learn from each other makes the likelihood of success greater for the child. / Baseline data on giftedness and underachievement are now available from the results of this study and are worthy topics of concern for all segments--professionals, mainstream teachers, parents, administrators, and teachers of the gifted. Strategies for the amelioration of underachievement among the gifted may have application for other components of education. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-10, Section: A, page: 4418. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a systematic parent training component on residential treatment staff (teaching-parents), parents and their children. Two teaching-parent couples, 15 parents and 10 youths comprised the group of interest. The training program, developed on-site at the Family Teaching Project, University of South Florida, was based on the Teaching Family Model and parent identified needs. Development, implementation and outcomes of the program were investigated within an evaluative framework. Where applicable, data were analyzed via a one way repeated measures analysis of variance design. / The results of this study support the viability of a parent training component within the Teaching Family Model. Teaching-parents were able to implement the program as was intended; however, scheduling of the training sessions presented a myriad of problems. Parents were able to increase their knowledge of program concepts and to learn the use of certain skill components. No change was indicated in their attitudes regarding parenting or in their in-home behavior. The youths scored more internally on the Nowicki-Strickland Personal Reaction Survey after their parents had completed the training program. No change was noted on youth in-home behaviors. The instruments used to measure in-home behavior of parents and youths were developed specifically for this study. There remains some question as to the validity of these instruments. / Further research is necessary on this training program before any conclusions can be made regarding the influence of the training program on the in-home behavior of the youths and their parents. Suggestions for improvements in the training program and areas for further inquiry are proposed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-03, Section: A, page: 0594. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of aggressive, assertive, and submissive female confederates upon the behavior of dominant women in a dyadic decision-making exercise. The three primary dependent variables were communication, decision-making, and leadership behavior. Subjects were 60 undergraduate female volunteers who were selected on the basis of their dominance (Do) and dependency (Dy) scores on the MMPI. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: a decision-making task with an aggressive, assertive, or submissive female confederate. Audiotapes of the discussion were analyzed using a modified version of the Allred Interaction Analysis (AIA) to classify communication into one of three categories: Horizontal (level), Vertical I (aggressive), and Vertical II (deferent or evasive). / A 1 x 3 block design was used in the analysis of the data. Collected data included a 15-minute audiotape of each dyadic decision-making interaction, a final joint list of five decisions for each dyad, and a coded notation by confederates of subjects' initiation or noninitiation of the discussion within the first 5 seconds. / Results from analyses of the communication variable indicated that subjects paired with a submissive female confederate used a significantly (p < .03) higher percentage of Horizontal statements than subjects paired with an aggressive female confederate. Subjects paired with an aggressive female confederate used a significantly (p < .03) higher percentage of Vertical II statements than subjects paired with a submissive female confederate. / Results from analyses of the decision-making variable indicated significant (p < .01) differences among groups in the frequency of subject versus confederate choice points for the two nonchallenged choices (first and third ranked ideas) and two of the three challenged choices (second and fourth ranked ideas). / There were no significant differences among groups with regard to the leadership variable. All 60 dominant female subjects initiated the discussion within the first 5 seconds. / Implications for further research in the area of dyadic interpersonal communication and decision-making were discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-02, Section: B, page: 0507. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The purpose of this study was to apply the full three-dimensional Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) developed by Hall (1973) in an area of Vocational Education in which the model had not been previously tested in order to determine if the relationships between the model dimensions were consistent with the model. In conducting this study a determination of whether and to what extent the Florida Competency-Based Automotive Mechanics Curriculum Project (AMCP) was actually in use, how it was used and what present user and non-user concerns exist was made. / The Concerns Based Adoption Model describes change from the viewpoint of the user as an individual. This model describes user behavior with reference to the change or innovation-adoption in terms of stages of concern, levels of use of the innovation, and innovation configurations of the user. The conceptualization and measurement of implementation of curriculum innovations have long plagued those administrators responsible for planning and evaluating change efforts. / This study was guided by six research questions centering around the three CBAM model dimensions. These questions posed inquiry into the stages of concern of the users/non-users of the AMCP, levels of use of the AMCP, innovation configurations with reference to the AMCP and the association of selected personal characteristic variables to stages of concern and levels of use of the AMCP. / The sample of Florida's community/junior college automotive instructor population comprising this study consisted of 17 participants. / The data analyses indicated support for all three dimensions of Hall's model. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-03, Section: A, page: 0772. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

Identifying who are the poor in Leon County may help to explain why poverty persists; and, of course, knowing why people are poor is a prerequisite for designing effective policies to eradicate the problem. / As the econometric models in this paper demonstrate, poverty has many causes--causes which appear to be mainly linked to economic traits. Among these economic traits that cause impoverishment are the lack of education, experience, and good health. Results of this study also suggest that intergenerational factors for certain groups--father's and mother's educations, father's and mother's occupations, and number of children of parents during one's youth--are probable causal factors. Finally, analysis of the possible causes of poverty imply that altering economic traits alone may be insufficient; market imperfections in the form of discrimination (race and sex) will have to be properly addressed. Poverty in Leon County amid such obvious affluence is a definite reality, and any meaningful and effective strategy designed to eradicate it must be long-term and multi-faceted and consists of programs that will address economic and social factors that create it. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-03, Section: A, page: 0868. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Factors influencing the compensation of electric utility executives are analyzed theoretically and empirically. A major conclusion of the study is that firm size (which is better measured by revenues, rather than KWH) explains over 80% of the variation in compensation. The growth rate, profit rate, and cost level of the firm have little or no relationship with compensation. Subsidiary and gas dummy variables were found to be statistically significant, as was the size of the city where the firm is located. Regulatory climate and region also proved to be insignificant. Cost of living differences were not found to have a significant influence on compensation, perhaps due to the relative immobility of electric utility executives, or deficiencies in the cost of living index. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-04, Section: A, page: 1227. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

A segment of DNA from the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) was recently cloned into a bacterial plasmid and subsequently microinjected into unfertilized eggs of X. laevis by Watanabe and Taylor (1980). The recombinant plasmid was found to replicate with increased efficiency in unfertilized eggs than the vector itself. To further investigate the possible role of this segment of DNA ('Xori') in replication, I subcloned fragments of Xori into the bacterial plasmid pBR322. The recombinant plasmids obtained were microinjected into X. laevis eggs and their replication in vivo was studied. Comparison of the efficiencies of replication of the different recombinants and the vector confirmed that specific DNA sequences are required for the initiation of DNA replication in eukaryotes. Furthermore, Xori was found to have a sequence structure similar to that of the Alu family of mammalian repetitive sequences, some of which have been shown to be transcribed in vitro. The plasmids containing fragments of Xori were then microinjected into oocyte nuclei of X. laevis to determine if they could be transcribed. Preliminary results indicated that the recombinant plasmids were more efficiently transcribed than the vector, thus suggesting the possibility of the Alu type sequences functioning as eukaryotic origins of DNA replication. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-04, Section: B, page: 0947. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

Four experiments were conducted to investigate the relationship between notetaking and performance and to determine how students should take notes and review. Correlational findings from Experiment 1 revealed that four indices of note quantity were generally interrelated, but unrelated to immediate recall, delayed recall, or actual class achievement. Sex and scholastic ability were more highly associated with performance than was notetaking. Correlational results from Experiment 2 confirmed that notetaking was quantitatively consistent from lecture to lecture and that the number of critical points recorded in notes was significantly correlated with actual course performance. In Experiment 3, instructions and test mode expectancies encouraged students to process information and record notes on a concrete, abstract, abstract integrative, or typical level of abstraction. Results indicated that the instructions did not differentially affect either notetaking or achievement. Subsequent correlational analyses revealed that independent indices of note quality could be established and that both note quality and quantity were related to varieties of learning outcomes. Experiment 4 investigated the effects of reviewing notes at a deeper level of abstraction, by means of reorganization. No differences in immediate recognition performance were found for subjects who reorganized notes into an instructor generated matrix versus subjects who reviewed in their typical manner. An interaction between method of review and type of delayed test was unpredicted by the theory of encoding specificity but was explained in regard to the theory of episode matching. / The following conclusions were drawn. Instructionally, notetaking is related to performance especially in real classroom situations, and notes should be complete and should emphasize main ideas. Review strategies which initiate reorganization are also valuable for recalling information in most situations. Theoretically, research guided by information processing may reveal the optimal level of abstraction for notetaking and review. Empirically, researchers must manipulate the level of notetaking and review and verify the intended qualitative differences. Additionally, criterion measures must be sensitive to varieties of learning outcomes which qualitative differences in notetaking may produce. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-06, Section: A, page: 1947. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The primary purposes of this study were to examine the effects of three types of sequence and relationship of rules and positive and negative examples (simultaneous-high diversity, simultaneous-low diversity, successive) and three types of analytic explanation of examples (positive and negative, negative, none) on learning a set of rules. Subjects were 102 college students who worked through self-instructional print materials on writing performance objectives. Two constructed response posttests (immediate, delayed of one week) yielding three scores each were used to collect performance data. Other data collected were immediate and delayed posttest time, and instructional time. A two-way (3 x 3) ANOVA on each of the nine dependent variables revealed no significant differences on performance and time measures except for an unpredicted main effect for one immediate posttest score. This unexpected finding indicated that in learning two sets of rules, a successive sequence for the second set interferes with performance related to the first set. It was also concluded that the sequence and relationship of positive and negative examples and rules may not be an important consideration in designing instruction; and analytic explanation of positive and negative examples may not facilitate learning rules. Student control of learning strategies while studying the materials was believed to account for the lack of differences in performance. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-09, Section: A, page: 2973. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The optimism of Arthur Lewis's development model permeated other models appearing in its trail. Lewis pictured a steady process of expansion of the industrial sector on the basis of agricultural surplus available as wage goods and 'surplus labor' drawn from the agricultural sector, enabling both sectors to reap benefits of development. Ranis-Fei, too, identified agricultural suplus as key to growth, but revealed more awareness of snags like 'premature' migration from the rural sector to the urban sector, the 'terms of trade' between the sectors, etc. They minimized these by postulating the 'dualistic landlord' ensuring proper allocation of surplus between the two sectors for balanced growth. / Development experience belied these expectations. Benefits of development failed to reach subsistence agriculture in appreciable measure. Lewis' model was amiss in assuming a competitive industrial sector and a homogeneous agricultural sector. In India, the industrial sector is oligopolistic and the agricultural sector a multi-tiered hierarchy of big farmers, tenants, agricultural labor and small family-farmers, leading to sub-optimal allocation of resources, retardation of labor-absorption and premature, pre-emptive capital-intensity in production in a labor-rich, capital-poor economy, perpetuation of poverty, inequality and restricted home-market--the missing link of development. Hence the quest for policy to avoid these consequences. / In development experience Taiwan (starting with agrarian reforms) is an exception, combining high growth rate with benefits going more to bottom than top, contradicting the inverted U hypothesis (implied in Lewis' model) of prolonged accentuation of inequality preceding decline in it and raising the question whether equity can form the basis of growth elsewhere. In this study answer has been sought to this question, by cross-section analysis of district-level agricultural data and Gini indices of inequality of land-ownership in the first phase of 'green revolution' in India, in terms of how the size of agricultural surplus might have been affected by adequate agrarian reforms. The answer found is favorable to equity-based, decentralized growth and hence to feasibility of balanced growth with benefits to subsistence agriculture through higher labor-absorption, larger home-market for mass-consumption goods, etc. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-12, Section: A, page: 3974. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.