Date of Award:

5-1980

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Psychology

Committee Chair(s)

Sebastian Striefel

Committee

Sebastian Striefel

Committee

Frank Ascione

Committee

Glendon Casto

Committee

Glenn Latham

Committee

J. Grayson Osborne

Abstract

A multiple baseline design across subjects was employed to study the effects of taped relaxation training on frontalis EMG, EEG alpha and theta activity, finger skin temperature, and classroom and home behavior (Experiment I) of three male elementary school children identified as hyperactive by their classroom teachers and parents on behavior rating scales for hyperactivity. The three subjects ranged in age from 5 years 10 months to 7 years 9 months, with a mean age of 6 years 8 months. Four physiological variables of the subjects were monitored during daily sessions from Monday to Friday in a laboratory setting. After participating in a minimum number of baseline sessions (4, 8, 12) and meeting a stability criterion for frontalis EMG, the subjects were provided taped relaxation training. Subjects participated in a minimum of eight taped relaxation training sessions and were required to meet a termination frontalis EMG stability criterion before relaxation training was discontinued. Subject 1 participated in eleven sessions of taped relaxation training and both Subjects 2 and 3 participated in ten sessions of taped relaxation training. Classroom and home observational data were obtained throughout the experiment for each of the three subjects. No overall effects were found for the reduction of physiological tension as a result of relaxation training for these three subjects, nor were decreases observed in hyperactivity in the classroom and home settings. Three male elementary children identified as hyperactive by their classroom teachers and parents on behavioral rating scales for hyperactivity participated in Experiment II. This experiment employed the same multiple baseline design used in Experiment I. The subjects in Experiment II ranged in age from 7 years 6 months to 10 years 5 months, with a mean age of 8 years 5 months. Experiment II was conducted to determine the effects of a backwards tape presentation of the relaxation training tape used in Experiment I on frontalis EMG, EEG alpha and theta activity, finger skin temperature, and classroom and home hyperactive behavior. Subjects attended daily sessions from Monday to Friday in a laboratory setting where they were monitored on the physiological variables. After participating in a minimum number of baseline sessions (4, 8, 12) and meeting a stability criterion for frontalis EMG, the subjects participated in eight sessions of the backwards tape presentation. Subjects were then provided with the taped relaxation training used in Experiment I, for a minimum of eight sessions, or until reaching a stability criterion on frontalis EMG for termination; all three subjects participated in nine taped relaxation training sessions. Throughout the study, classroom and home behavioral observations were conducted for these three subjects. No systematic effects were found for the reduction of physiological tension or for decreased hyperactivity in the home or classroom settings as a result of either the backwards tape presentations or the taped relaxation training.

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