No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The aim of the work in this thesis was to develop an NDT technique capable of measuring velocity changes caused by an applied stress.

The problem of the study was to determine the effect of a progressive muscle relaxation program on secretaries' self-reported job stress. It was hypothesized that there would be no difference in post-test scores of the control group and the experimental group on the Personal Strain subscale of the OSI-R questionnaire. It was also hypothesized that there would be no difference between the groups in post-test scores on the Occupational Stress subscale of the OSI-R questionnaire.The population of prospective subjects for the study consisted of Ball State University secretaries who were randomly selected and then randomly assigned to one of two groups. The experimental group received a multi-activity intervention which included: 1) a progressive muscle relaxation training session; 2) reminder sheets with the steps on how to do progressive muscle relaxation in case they forgot; 3) e-mail messages to remind them to do progressive muscle relaxation; and 4) the keeping of logs of their progressive muscle relaxation activities. The design of the study was a post-test only control group design. All subjects were asked to complete the OSI-Rquestionnaire at the end of the three-week intervention period. Descriptive statistics and two-tailed paired t-tests were used to analyze the data.The results indicated that there were no significant differences between the two groups on both the Personal Strain subscale and the Occupational Stress subscale of the OSI-R questionnaire. Based upon the results of this study, it was concluded that 15 minutes of progressive muscle relaxation did not make a difference in job stress levels of the subjects. Also, a three-week intervention period may not have been a sufficient amount of time to see results from the stress management technique used.Some of the recommendations for future study include using a larger sample size and using logs as a covariate for data analysis. Using a larger sample size could help create more variance in subjects and their responses. Having a covariate could help account for those individuals not complying with the intervention requirements. / Department of Physiology and Health Science

Integrity tests are used as a pre-employment screening technique by companies and organizations, and the fakability of such tests remain a concern. The present study used two separate designs to analyze the fakability of the Personnel Reaction Blank (PRB), a covert integrity test, and the personality constructs predictive of honest and fake scores. This study shows that the PRB can be successfully faked. The personality constructs conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism are significantly correlated with honest integrity test scores while conscientiousness and neuroticism are predictors of faking behavior. Finally, the type of design used to examine the fakability of the PRB affects the magnitude of faking found. I conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical uses of the results and directions for future research. / Department of Psychological Science

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Educational Psychology

The purpose of this study was to establish and describe the validity and reliability of an instrument based on a model of teaching behaviors conceived as magnetic lines of force.Content validity was established by reviewing the literature and identifying possible teaching behaviors which researchers felt contributed to increased pupil learning. These behaviors were presented to a panel of judges from faculty in the Teachers College, Ball State University, to ascertain behaviors which they felt increase the likelihood pupils would increase comprehension in reading. After the panel had made their suggestions, the list of behaviors was revised and used with two middle school classes at the Burris Laboratory School. Pupils were asked to identify the behaviors which they felt were associated with their increased learning. A final list of twenty items became the revised instrument for use in the study.A group of practicing teachers critiqued the list of twenty behaviors. This group was directed to identify how strongly they agreed with the placement of each of the behaviors under one of the four scales postulated. Construct validity was established by discussing the research supporting each of the scales, subscales and behaviors listed in the instrument.Each of the twenty items was judged as valid by a minimum of 70 percent of the selected panel members and two classes of selected middle school pupils. Each of the twenty items included was recognized as a valid example of the constructs identified with the exception of those items assumed to reflect firmness.I t was possible to relate each of the twenty items in the instrument to research studies accepted by editors and authors in the field despite inherent weaknesses in definitions, experimental designs, and theoretical orientation. In this sense, the instrument has acceptable construct validity.The instrument was then used to gather data on a group of teacher trainees assigned to a laboratory school at Ball State University. After each teacher trainee had taught a short unit, the pupils taught filled out the instrument which had been devised. Reliability measures consisted of computing coefficient alpha for various major scales and subscales of the instrument. Computations were run by the Ball State University Center using the reliability program from the SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences DEC system -10.The coefficient alpha reliability indexes of .90 for the total scale, .86 for the cognitive scale, and .78 for the affective scale were judged acceptable for use in additional research studies in the field. The coefficient alpha reliability index of .82 for the clarity subscale, .81 for the flexibility subscale, and .78 for the warmth subscale were also judged acceptable for use in additional research studies in the area. The coefficient alpha reliability index of .68 for the firmness subscale suggests questionable reliability for all but the most general research purposes.Recommendations were formulated to encourage further development of the model and refinement of the instrument (particularly the "firmness" subscale).