The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of rational desensitization therapy on the reduction of the test anxiety of college students. The feasibility of this approach to test anxiety reduction was examined by comparing the reduction of anxiety of four experimental groups of subjects with the anxiety reduction of subjects in a control group. Students indicating that they had test anxiety were randomly assigned to groups based on the limitations of their schedules. Students assigned to the control group did not participate in the treatment phase of the study. Students comprising the sample were enrolled in Human Growth and Development (Educational Psychology 250) classes during the Spring Quarter of 1971. No exclusions from the study were made on the basis of age, sex, marital status, education, color or creed.The basic design of the study included the selection of test anxious college students. These students attended an orientation and pre treatment testing session. Thirty-two students comprised the original treatment group and twenty-eight were chosen as the control group. Four experimental groups met twice a week for five weeks with an experimentor. The control group of students took the pre and post treatment tests but did not attend group treatment sessions.An analysis of covariance was used to test for significance between the means of the experimental and control groups. In instances where heterogeneity of the regression line was found, a factorial design was used to analyze the level by treatment level interaction of the experimental and control groups on the pre and post tests. Fifteen null hypothesis were tested with the .05 level of confidence necessary for rejection.No significant differences were obtained in the reduction of test anxiety between the means of the composite four rational desensitization groups and the control group as shown by the Suinn Test Anxiety Behavior Scale and the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale. However, the changes were larger for the Suinn and Taylor Scales than for the Digit Symbol sub-test of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale.An analysis of the results on the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, the Suinn Test Anxiety Behavioral Scale and the Digit Symbol sub-test of the WAIS revealed F values of 3.81. 3.55 and 1.53 respectively. An F value of 4.03 was needed for significance at the .05 confidence level.Subjective data, such as comments from experimenters and verbal feedback from subjects who participated in the experimental groups, offer support to warrant continued investigation of rational desensitization therapy as a viable approach to the reduction of test anxiety and to the possibility of its applicability to other types of behavior disorders.

Testing plays an important role in the wireless protocol stack development. In order to free the testers out of the shielded chamber, allow both the developers and the testers to use the test systems remotely and maximize the expensive test system usage. An automated test framework is highly demanded. In this thesis, the design of the automated test framework is introduced. There are four main components in the test framework. They are the front end, scheduler, test engine and data storage. The architecture and the protocol among these components are described. Further, the evaluation of the scheduler is conducted based on the queueing theory. Based on the simulation result, a good scheduling algorithm is proposed. Compared with the original scheduling algorithm, the new algorithm improves the performance of the low priority users significantly when the test systems are limited. Moreover, the detail design of the test engine is presented. With the control of the intelligent test engine, the automated test framework has the capability to launch the test cases automatically, catch the commands sent by the test system and manipulate the SUT (System Under Test) without human’s interrupt. It fulfills the objective of automation. The automated test framework has been deployed and is working well.

This study investigated whether or not receiving cognitive modification counseling would lead to reduced debilitating test anxiety, as measured by the Achievement Anxiety Test (AAT), and improved standardized test performance, as measured by the School and College Abilities Test (SCAT). The subjects were test anxious college students of high, middle, and low ability levels. It was predicted that test anxious students who received cognitive modification counseling would experience greater reductions in test anxiety than would test anxious students who did not receive such counseling. It was further predicted that concomitant with test anxiety reduction, students of middle ability would demonstrate greater improvement on a standardized aptitude test than would students of high or low ability who had received counseling or students of high, middle, or low aptitude who had not received counseling.SCAT and AAT pre-tests were administered to 776 college undergraduates, the majority of whom were freshmen. Students were designated as being of high, middle, or low ability level on the basis of their SCAT standard scores. Those students who scored within the highest 27% on the AAT were invited to participate in counseling and volunteers were randomly assigned to experimental and wait-list control groups. A total of 68 volunteer subjects' participated in the study.Experimental subjects were randomly assigned, within the limitations of their time schedules, to three counseling groups of 9-14 subjects per group. The author acted as counselor for all groups, which each met for five sessions over a period of three weeks. Meichenbaum's (1972) cognitive modification procedures were followed in all sessions.Experimental and wait-list control groups were post-tested with the AAT and an. alternate form of the SCAT. A two factor multivariate analysis of covariance design was used to analyze the data. The independent variable was counseling and no-counseling. AAT and SCAT post-test scores were the dependent variables measured, with SCAT pre-test scores serving as the covariate.Analysis of the data revealed that debilitating test anxiety was significantly (p.< .01) reduced for subjects who received cognitive modification counseling. Performance scores on the SCAT post-test, however, were the same for both counseled and wait-list control subjects. Analysis of the interaction between treatement and ability level also revealed no significant differences. Standardized test scores were essentially the same, within ability levels, for counseled and wait-list control subjects.The findings of this study support the effectiveness of cognitive modification counseling as a technique for reducing test anxiety among college students. They do not, however, support the contention that test anxiety has a detrimental effect on standardized test performance or the differential effects, reported in previous studies, of test anxiety on learning and test performance among students of high, average, and low ability. Methodological limitations encountered in the study, however, make hazardous the arrival at conclusions regarding the effect of test anxiety on test performance.The results of this study indicate that counselors may need to consider combining instruction in study techniques with cognitive modification counseling when attempting to bring about improved test performance among test anxious college students. The results also suggest that school psychologists may accept with confidence the group standardized test scores of students who report themselves to be test anxious.Recommendations for further research concerning the interactive effects of test anxiety and ability level on standardized test performance include: the use of an actual standardized test situation, i.e., a regularly scheduled administration of the Scholastic Aptitude Test; and comparison between group and individual standardized test scores of test anxious students.

This thesis investigates the events leading up to and following the first North Korean nuclear test, which took place in 2006, in order to examine first, whether the test helped the North Korean regime survive, and second, how this unilateral action acted as a balance to the United States’ policy of oppression. The thesis will also attempt to shed some light on the validity of the Western International Relations (IR) theories by ascertaining the balance of threat and applying the notion of “two-level games” to the nuclear conundrum. Through the lens of these IR theories, the research described in the thesis addresses three smaller questions: (1) how did the nuclear test stabilize Pyongyang’s integrity as a balance to the threat of a potential American military attack?; (2) how was the test used as a bargaining mechanism to urge the Bush administration to shift away from its hostile stance and towards a policy of engagement?; and (3) how did the test influence the security environment of the Northeast Asian region? Finally, the thesis considers various reasons why the nuclear deadlock in which we currently find ourselves will not be resolved in the foreseeable future, and it suggests that resolution of the nuclear stalemate can only occur once comprehensive deal-making incentives between Washington and Pyongyang are adopted. / Graduate / 0615 / lomulos@yahoo.co.kr

Design and implementation of e-voting represent a particular responsibility in regards to the voting principles. Due to the sensitivity of the application, e-voting can only be used after extensive tests and feedback from practical application. The election test described in this working paper describes such a test conducted in parallel to the Federal Presidential Election in 2004. (author's abstract) / Series: Working Papers on Information Systems, Information Business and Operations

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1974. / Bibliography: leaf 11.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Tulsa, 1969. / Bibliography: leaves 66-68.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-74). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (M.Eng.Sc.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Civil Engineering, 1981. / Typescript (photocopy).

Thesis (B.A. (Hons.))--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychology, 1976.