Because of the recent upsurge in the investigation of physiological measures as indicators of emotional states, this project was performed on the basis of Eckhard Hess' and Michel Janisse's differing ideas concerning pupil diameter as an emotional indicator. Auditory humor, 3 pre-rated levels of jokes, was recorded and presented to 10 male and 10 female subjects while respiration, skin conductance and pupil diameter were recorded. The data were subjected to various analyses of variance. Only the main effect of time samples was found to be significant. Although this effect does not support either Hess' or Janisse's hypotheses, it does show that there was some reaction and possibly could mean that the auditory stimuli utilized were not diverse enough to produce a significant pupil reaction. The investigation did show that although physiological arousal does not reveal itself, the subjects still subjectively judged the jokes to be significantly different.

The Early Prevention of School Failure program purports to identify children ages 4 to 6 who are at risk for school failure and to remediate problem areas before the failure becomes apparent. Though the program enjoys widespread use and popular acclaim, its effectiveness has not been adequately demonstrated. Unlike many other preschool screening measures, EPSF has not been subjected to rigorous experimental scrutiny. This study was designed to (1) examine then assess the efficacy of the EPSF intervention component.Subjects were 116 kindergarten students in an Indiana public school district. Students were pretested on the PPVT-R, VMI, PLS, and MAS. Based on their test performance, students were classified at risk or not at predictive validity of the screening battery and risk in five skill areas: auditory perception, visual perception, language, fine motor, and gross motor. Experimental subjects received daily remedial instruction in each deficit area. Comparison subjects participated only in the regular kindergarten program. At the end of the year subjects were posttested on the EPSF battery. The Metropolitan Readiness Tests were administered as a measure of kindergarten success. In addition, teachers rated each student's overall achievement.Canonical analysis was performed to assess the predictive validity of the EPSF screening battery. Results indicated that 39% of the variability in kindergarten achievement could be explained by the synthetic predictor variable. The PPVT-R, PLS, and VMI were approximately equally weighted as predictors, with MAS scores adding little to the prediction equation.Analysis of covariance was applied to test the significance of the treatment effect after controlling for initial student differences. There was no difference at the .05 level between adjusted mean scores for experimental and comparison subjects. Children in regular kindergarten classes performed as well at the end of the year as those who received special remedial instruction in addition to the kindergarten curriculum.It was concluded that EPSF is as effective as many other kindergarten screening programs in predicting learning difficulty. Claims made regarding the program's prevention of such difficulty were not supported by the data.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

<p> Much research has been done on the correlations between SAT and ACT scores and student performance in college. However, research into independent school practices reveals little has been done at this level. The test many independent schools use is the ISEE (Independent School Entrance Exam). To date, no local or national research has been done on the correlation of ISEE scores and student performance. The purpose of this study was to analyze the school's historical entrance test scores and conduct research to determine how well they correlate with students' success at the school, specifically with freshmen end of year weighted GPA. </p><p> Data were gathered for all current, graduated, withdrawn, and expelled students from 2005-2012. For each student, the data included the ISEE scores in verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, reading comprehension, and mathematics achievement. Also gathered was each student's 9^th grade weighted cumulative GPA. Seven extracts were performed to identify students who were new freshmen to the high school beginning with 2005. </p><p> The study concluded that the test scores are not the best predictor of student success, but they are a factor to be taken into consideration. Regression analysis revealed a weak positive relationship among the four ISEE sub scores and end of year freshman weighted GPA. Combined, the four showed that 30% of the variability of GPA can be attributed to the testing results. </p><p> Not easily measured, admission decisions are a delicate balance of qualitative and quantitative measures. </p><p> The school will use the research as a guideline for admission decisions and use caution in proceeding in the overuse of test scores as a large mitigating factor. It is known that there is a relationship but decision-makers must take a holistic approach.</p>

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