Date of Award

8-1985

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Occupational Therapy

First Advisor

Dr. David L. Nelson

Second Advisor

Dr. Claire Callan

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

The ability to identify therapeutic components of an activity is an important skill of occupational therapists trained in activity analysis. This study examined potentially significant factors in activity analysis: the use of humor and group structure. Four groups (two with a parallel structure and two with a project structure) participated in a hat making activity designed to elicit humor. Four groups (two with a parallel structure and two with a project structure) participated in a bookmark making activity. Subjects' affective responses were measured by Osgood's short-form semantic differential, and the cohesion among group members was assessed by the Group Environmental Scale (GES). Results indicated that subjects who participated in groups which included humor rated their activity significantly higher on two factors of affective meaning (evaluation and action) and significantly higher in terms of cohesion. There was significant interaction between the two activities and the group structure in terms of the action factor and in terms of cohesion. In both cases the parallel groups making bookmarks, received particularly low scores. The findings have implications for occupational therapy groups and activities.

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