Test Anxiety affects many college students. It is viewed theoretically as a construct consisting of several components which impair academic performance and general health of students. One theory views the anxiety as being composed of worry, task-generated interference, and self-perceived autonomic arousal that interfere with information processing. Another views it as a result of deficits in study and test-taking skills. Results of treatment outcome studies are equivocal on areas to target for optimal treatment. This study addresses these inconclusive results. / Students enrolled in introductory psychology classes at Florida State University were screened for test anxiety. Those meeting inclusion criteria were asked to volunteer for the study, resulting in 110 subjects who were randomly assigned to either a Stress Inoculation Training treatment (SIT), a study skills training treatment (SST), a combined treatment consisting of SIT and SST, and a delayed treatment control group. Anxiety and study skills measures, along with examination scores, were obtained after two classroom examinations, given at 4-week intervals. A 4-week follow-up after a third examination, assessing strength of treatment, was made. Also, pre- and post-semester noncumulative grade point averages were compared. After the first examination, treatment subjects were provided a 3-week self-directed treatment (appropriate to the experimental condition) that was explained by the experimenter to subjects in small groups. / It was hypothesized that test anxiety is the result of both interference and skills deficits and treatment should target both. Thus, the combined treatment group was expected to demonstrate significant anxiety reduction increased performance following treatment. Results did not support the hypothesis. A significant reduction in anxiety was reported on several measures for both the combined and SIT treatment groups, as compared with the SST and Control groups; however, exam scores and GPA did not significantly improve for any group. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-12, Section: B, page: 6469. / Major Professor: Charles H. Madsen. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

The present study was designed to develop a causal model of variables important in predicting various outcomes with chronic, psychiatric patients who were hospitalized. Four pre-hospital and nine in-hospital variables were included in the model predicting three different outcomes. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationships among the variables. / Although each model was statistically related to each outcome, the proportions of variance explained were smaller than expected. Several variables related consistently to outcomes. Pre-hospital variables were found to be more related to outcome than in-hospital variables, contrary to predictions. All significant effects were direct rather than indirect effects, also contrary to predictions. The best-explained outcome was an index developed to reflect independence of the setting to which a patient was discharged. This finding suggested that historical variables (i.e., pre-hospital variables) and functioning at the time of discharge (i.e., in-hospital variables) were more related to discharge type than to the two other outcomes traditionally used to index success of discharge. / The present study suggested that the proposed model was either not complete enough or not specified correctly. Suggestions were made regarding possible revisions to consider in future studies. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-07, Section: B, page: 3767. / Major Professor: Mark H. Licht. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The present study surveyed a panel of 29 family therapy experts and AAMFT-approved supervisors knowledgeable of the therapist system and the family therapist's use of self. The goal of the study was to derive a consensual definition of the term use of self, to a level consistent with theory building, for the purpose of contributing to therapeutic alliance theory. The preferred term for the concept, Therapeutic Use of Self, was selected by 65% of the panelists. / The methodology utilized three qualitative approaches. First, the Delphi technique was chosen to explore group opinion and decision formation. Second, computer-aided content analysis provided methodological rigor. Last, interviews complemented the Delphi process. / Panelists' assertions were rated on a 7 point scale. Medians were utilized as parameters to determine inclusion/exclusion in the final definition of use of self. Fifty-one percent of panelists' 328 assertions met the criteria for inclusion. Eighty-eight percent of the investigator's composite statements also met the criteria for inclusion. Further, the composites were broken into constituent elements and rated, with 69% of the elements meeting the criteria for inclusion in the final profile. Only 4% of panelists' assertions met the definition of greatest disagreement or division. None of the constituent elements met the criteria of greatest division or disagreement. / With regard to theory building, the essential elements of a real definition of therapeutic use of self were delineated. Parameters were established for a sensitizing concept and groundwork was laid to operationalize the term. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-07, Section: B, page: 3797. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The role of hyperventilation in producing symptoms in a non-clinical population as well as its relation to anxiety were investigated. A group of likely hyperventilators (n = 18) and unlikely hyperventilators (n = 16), balanced with regard to sex, were selected from a student population (N = 385) using a screening questionnaire of hyperventilation-related symptoms. Along with the screening questionnaire, all subjects were administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Speilberger, Gorsuch, and Lushene, 1970). The experimental groups were given an overbreathing test using room air and a control overbreathing test using carbon dioxide enriched air, which was expected to produce fewer symptoms. In addition, subjects' normal breathing rate and volume were measured and they were given two clinical questionnaires: the Symptom Checklist (Derogatis, 1977) and a subscale of face valid hyperventilation-related items from the MMPI. / Likely hyperventilators were found to report more symptoms than unlikely hyperventilators after overbreathing room air but not after overbreathing carbon dioxide enriched air. In addition, the symptoms reported by the likely hyperventilators after overbreathing moderately matched those originally reported on the screening questionnaire. Further, the likely hyperventilators' normal breathing showed higher volume and rate than the unlikely hyperventilators. Likely hyperventilators also scored higher on all the scales of the Symptom Checklist as well as the face-valid scale of hyperventilation-related items from the MMPI. Finally, a correlation of .42 was found between the original screening questionnaire of hyperventilation symptoms and the trait half of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The results supported a relation between chronic hyperventilation and symptom experience in a non-clinical population, and between hyperventilation and anxiety. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-07, Section: B, page: 2339. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

Forty-four pairs of college roommates were studied across their first academic quarter. In 22 pairs, one person was depressed at the outset (Beck Depression Inventory (GREATERTHEQ) 10). They completed written measures of depression and their perceptions of themselves and their roommates three times (Interpersonal Checklist, Impact Message Inventory) and attended two laboratory sessions in which they engaged in a Prisoner's Dilemma Game procedure and were interviewed. In addition to major analyses (primarily repeated measures anovas), subjects who remained depressed were compared with those who did not; and regression analyses addressed which factors predicted the depressive's view of the relationship and satisfaction with it. / Depressed subjects described themselves as consistently more dependent and self-effacing and their relationships as ultimately involving fewer egalitarian solutions to conflicts. In terms of perceptions and communications, depressed pairs showed patterns over time that did not occur in the nondepressed pairs; Depressives were initially viewed as more nurturant; their roommates, in contrast, as increasingly sociable. Similarly, the depressives' roommates communicated a high depress of ingratiation initially but less so over time, whereas the depressives increasingly communicated ingratiation. These group-by-time interactions suggest a pattern wherein the roommates exchange roles, with the depressive initially adopting a more positive and dominant style than previously reported. Depressed pairs also interacted in a more ingratiating and less exploitive manner and remained unchanged whereas the other pairs became more cooperative and less exploitive. Subjects who stayed depressed differed from those whose depression remitted, both initially and in changes over time. Regressions indicated that the nature of the depressives' relationships could be predicted by initial elements of the relationship and the lifting of depression. / Results are discussed as partially supporting the interactional sequences proposed by Coyne (1976a) and Hokanson (Note 1). The most notable finding, that depressives were initially more dominant and appear to exchange roles with their partners is discussed as a pattern that may only occur in relationships of ongoing importance to the depressive. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-09, Section: B, page: 3031. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of Open Focus Training (a perceptual style training augmented with specialized EEG biofeedback) upon selected psychomotor task performances. Synchronized, high amplitude, multichannel brainwave activity at 10 cycles per second was monitored during extended baseline data collection for four subjects (three males and one female). Following baseline stabilization for each subject, feedback was provided for brainwave activity and subjects were given Open Focus Training for the following 20 days. Subjects were given training tapes and asked to practice Open Focus at home, twice daily, during the 20 days. Notes were kept both by the subjects and investigator regarding subjects' subjective experiences, particularly in regard to alleviation of stress syndromes. Prior to baseline data collection, all subjects were pretested on the following psychomotor tasks: Rod and Frame (7 trials), reaction time (100 trials), and pursuit rotor (108 practice trials followed by 4 "test trials"). Two subjects were again pretested for these measures at the conclusion of their baseline data collection period and results were not different from those of the pretest. All subjects were posttested at the conclusion of the 20 day training regimen. Results indicate that all subjects learned to control the criterion EEG activity as demonstrated by increasing and decreasing mean EEG activity across training sessions upon command. All but one subject showed improvement in Rod and Frame performance scores. Open Focus Training appears to have had no bearing upon reaction time: one subject's score improved, one worsened, and two subjects' scores showed no change. All subjects showed marked improvement on pursuit rotor ability. Each subject reported much reduction in stress symptoms. It was concluded that this specialized EEG / biofeedback combined with Open Focus Training improves selected psychomotor task performances. Further study of this treatment and its effect upon psychomotor performance is recommended. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-03, Section: B, page: 0910. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This study is a test of the traditional psychoanalytic approach to explaining aggression management in depression. The experimental procedure included two means of measuring depressive behaviors: responses in a modified Prisoner's Dilemma procedure and verbal messages on a Communications Checklist. Half of the subjects received a negative description from an "aggressive" partner in a dyadic interaction. Depressed subjects were compared to normal subjects of both sexes as to their reactions to the "aggressive" partner. The results indicated that depressed males seem to inhibit competitive and extrapunitive behaviors when interacting with the aggressive partner, and concurrently display an increase in ingratiating, self-detrimental responses. A similar pattern was not found with depressed female subjects. These results are discussed in terms of psychoanalytic theory and interpersonal conceptualizations of depression. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: B, page: 2255. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

Ten handicapped subjects participated in a short-term behavioral training program to increase their verbal employment interview behaviors. Treatment consisted of a two hour training session using instruction, modeling, role-playing, behavioral rehearsal with performance feedback and social reinforcement. Verbal employment interview skills were behaviorally defined as: specific work statements, general work statements, personal statements, questioning statements and incomplete statements. Treatment was assessed by behavioral measurement of each subject's pre-, post- and follow-up performance during simulated unstructured interviews. Subjects' performance was compared with a reference group of college students. Also, assessment involved social validation ratings of subjects' performance by employers. / The results indicated increased appropriate and work-related statements during post-training and follow-up interviews. The rate of statements increased to a level comparable with the higher level of reference group subjects. Employers' ratings indicated the effectiveness of treatment by showing increased ratings of subjects during post-training interviews. / Subjects rated their level of anxiety after each interview and this data revealed no change in their anxiety levels during pre-, post-, and follow-up interviews. Satisfaction measures showed subjects' positive ratings of the training program helping them learn interview skills. / This study revealed that a short term behavioral training program enabled handicapped persons to improve their verbal interview behaviors to a level consistent with non-handicapped persons. Further, the study indicated verbal behaviors can be quantified by using direct observation procedures. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: B, page: 2236. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This study hypothesized that observer-judges may require familiarity with a communicator's nonverbal behavior while truthful in order to accurately recognize when this person is lying. Such an assumption is consistent with polygraph research and field applications where measures of physiological arousal during suspected deceit are compared to a baseline for that person. Untrained, inexperienced observers saw videotaped samples (without sound) of interviewees' truthful behavior ("familiarity sample") before deciding whether a subsequent sample (judgment sample") of these same communicators showed truthful or deceptive messages. These videotaped interviewees had been pre-instructed to be totally truthful or to lie to a portion of the interviewer's questions. / Three judgment conditions were arranged, each differing from the other according in the degree of accuracy or completeness of the baseline information which the judges received accompanying the familiarity samples. Group 1 was instructed that the familiarity might be truthful or deceptive and to view it simply to become familiar with the interviewee's repertoire of behaviors. Group 2 was accurately told the sample depicted truthful responding. Group 3 was deceptively told that the (truthful) familiarity sample showed the speaker lying. The study's major hypothesis predicted that group 2 would outperform group 1, whereas an exploratory hypothesis predicted that group 1 would be more accurate than group 3. / Although the performance of each judgement group was in the expected direction, the differences were not statistically significant. However, additional analysis indicated that group 2 were the only judges whose accuracy level exceeded the dictates of chance, and they outperformed the misinformed judges (group 3) at a statistically significant level. It was speculated that inexperienced judges may hold invalid assumptions about what constitutes relevant nonverbal clues and, together with their unhoned observational skills, may be unable to employ available baseline information in an advantageous way. It was proposed that there are still compelling reasons to believe that appropriate baseline information has the potential to enhance judgment accuracy although it may not be a necessary and sufficient condition for accurate detection. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: B, page: 2254. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.

This study explored the effects of therapist fear of negative evaluation in supervision (FNE-S) and supervisory focus on therapist and client anxiety states and client satisfaction. Thirty clinical psychology graduate student therapists were divided into high and low FNE-S groups, and half of each group was randomly assigned to one of two Ph.D. clinical psychologist supervisors. The procedure encompassed three therapy sessions and two intervening 30 minute individual supervision sessions, during which supervisors maintained the focus on either the therapist or their client. Dependent measures for therapists were the A-state anxiety scale, developed by Spielberger and his colleagues, and Walk's Fear Thermometer (FT). Client dependent measures included the FT, the Counseling Evaluation Inventory of Linden, Stone and Shertzer and the author developed Retrospective Outcome Measure (ROM), completed for a given session just before the subsequent session, thereby allowing more time to process the session. Anxiety measures were completed post and, using a method described by Howard, retrospective-pre. Supervisors also completed a therapist Evaluation Form and a Receptivity to Supervisory Input (RSI) scale, and therapists completed a Supervision Evaluation Questionnaire. / The results showed that compared to low FNE-S therapists, high FNE-S therapists were more anxious before supervision, were more receptive to therapist-focused supervision, and had clients who were more anxious before therapy and less satisfied with therapy. While main effects for focus were not found, several interactions, involving FNE-S and supervisors and affecting client anxiety, therapist receptivity and supervisors' evaluations of trainees, were seen. Other results provided validation for the RSI scale and showed that more receptive trainees were less anxious after supervision than less receptive trainees. / Overall, results suggest that identifying high FNE-S therapists and low RSI therapists may be useful in research and training settings. They also clearly point out that supervisor-therapist interactions are highly complex and dependent on numerous factors. Hence generalization is risky and group studies on supervision may not always be appropriate. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-07, Section: B, page: 2236. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.