Master's Theses

Document Type

Thesis - campus only access

Date of Award

Fall 1977

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Advisor

James Ryabik

Abstract

Recent literature suggests that task difficulty is an important factor when measuring activity rates in children (Turnure, 1970a; Turnure, 1970b; Sen & Clarke, 1968). As a result, this study was undertaken to deter mine if activity levels of first grade boys of above average intelligence would increase if a task beyond their capabilities was presented to them. The Key Math Diagnostic Test was given to each child prior to the experiment to determine the difficulty of arithmetic problems. The apparatus used to measure activity was the Ryabik-Farrall Activity Chair (1976). Each child was asked to sit in the chair and participated in one of four treatment conditions each day of the experiment. Two of the four treatment conditions included arithmetic problems that were simple for the child to perform. The other two treatment conditions included arithmetic problems which were difficult. A baseline was taken each day before the treatment sessions were conducted. The treatment conditions were randomized to control for order effects. No statistical differences in activity rates were determined by the experiment.

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Rights

© 1977 Dennis Michael Hargis

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