Aggressiveness,maladjustment, body experience and the protective function of personal space

Considering the view that personal space may serve to protect individuals from unpleasant feelings, preference for personal space was related in this study to psychological maladjustment, aggressiveness, and body experience (N = 100). The results indicated that individuals who tend to be maladjusted and individuals who tend to be aggressive preferred more personal space in face-to-face encounters in which the S was approached by a stranger. With regard to measures of body boundary experience, high Barrier scores were found to be related to preference for more personal space in face-to-face encounters in which the S approached a stranger. With regard to people's perception of the spatial dimensions of their bodies, the more individuals tended to underestimate the size of their bodies, the more personal space they tended to prefer. Results were regarded as generally congruent with the protection theory of the use of personal space.     

CONSISTENCY OF PERFORMANCE CHANGE AND AUTONOMIC RESPONSE AS A FUNCTION OF EXPRESSED ATTITUDE TOWARD A SPECIFIC STRESS SITUATION

A persistent problem in stress research has been that some individuals may show impairment, while others show improvement or no change in performance under stress. Attempts to relate this variance in performance to general anxiety or other personality variables have generally not been too successful. Based upon responses to a fear of shock item in an attitude questionnaire, Ss were classified as “high fear of shock” or “low fear of shock” types. Half of the Ss in each group were assigned a perceptual-motor task; the others were assigned a cognitive-interference task. After training, all Ss were informed that they would be required to maintain their training performance levels in a situation in which they would be shocked if performance declined. Performance and heart rate measures taken during training were compared with the same measures taken under the threat-of-shock conditions. Results indicate significant differences between groups in both performance and physiological activity with “high fear of shock”Ss exhibiting relatively greater performance impairment and increased heart rate.     

Anxiety and Feedback as Factors in Operant Heart Rate Control

Thirty-three Ss were chosen on the basis of their Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale scores. Eleven Ss were assigned to each of three groups, low anxiety (LA), medium anxiety (MA), and high anxiety (HA). The study was then carried out to determine the relationships between manifest anxiety, amount of feedback, and heart rate (HR) control. Each S attempted to synchronize his HR with a series of clicks so that each heartbeat (R wave) would occur within .2 sec after a click. Each S was tested alternately with non-augmented biofeedback (NAF), and with visually augmented feedback (AF) during several test periods. Overall, Ss were found to be able to produce a significantly higher than chance percentage of heartbeats in the .2 sec interval in spite of the fact that HA Ss had a negative mean HR control score. MA Ss' mean score was significantly higher than that of the HA Ss. Different physiological characteristics were found to be significantly correlated with successful HR control depending upon which anxiety group S was in. No significant difference was found between NAF and AF conditions.     

THE EFFECTS OF CHANGES IN AROUSAL LEVEL ON CRITICAL FLICKER FUSION FREQUENCY AND FIGURAL REVERSAL TASKS

The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between intra-and inter-individual differences in arousal level and performance on both critical flicker fusion frequency and figural reversal tasks. Forty male undergraduate Ss were used. Electrical skin conductance was used as the indicant of arousal level. For the intra-individual comparisons white noise was used to increase the Ss’arousal levels. Significant inverted U-shaped relationships were found between both flicker fusion thresholds and rates of figural reversal and skin conductance between individuals. A significant curvilinear relationship was found between rates of figural reversal and level of conductance within individuals. No significant curvilinear relationship was found between flicker fusion thresholds and level of conductance within individuals.     

Schizophrenic performance during interpersonal competitive conditions

Two equivalent forms of four standardized tests were administered to 41 schizophrenics, 36 patients with personality disorder diagnoses, and 36 employees at the Wyoming State Hospital. Each diagnostic group was divided into experimental and control groups; the experimental Ss from each diagnostic group took the second form of each test under paired, competitive conditions. The competitive conditions did not affect the experimental Ss' performance on any of the four tests to an acceptably significant level, although the experimental Ss from each diagnostic group performed better on a visual-motor task at a borderline level of significance. The results of the research are interpreted as supporting previous competition research that showed competitive conditions to be highly task-specific. The results do not support the numerous theories and some research studies that suggest that competitive conditions impair schizophrenic functioning.     

Body disclosure and self-disclosure-relating two modes of interpersonal encounter

This study investigated the relationship between body-disclosure and self-disclosure. The author drew upon current research in self-disclosure and body image and hypothesized that self-disclosure and body-disclosure would be directly related. Ss who volunteered for the experiment were matched for sex, past disclosure, and willingness to disclose to someone of the opposite sex. A social nudity experience was provided for one group, an outing day was provided for the second group, and a third group received no treatment. Testing included a tape recorded self-disclosure dialogue and ratings of self-and body attitudes. Finally the Ss were asked to write their subjective „experience of the experiment.”︁ Ss who had undergone a body-disclosure experience disclosed more to each other than did Ss in the other groups. Ss also tended to like themselves better after the social nudity experience. Furthermore, they described the body-disclosing day as a peak experience.     

Subjective and Response-Related Determinants of CNV Amplitude

The effect on contingent negative variation (CNV) of varying the difficulty of obtaining reaction time (RT) feedback and the relationship of CNV and RT were studied. Subjects (Ss) were run in a reaction-time-foreperiod experiment with 4 conditions of varying RT feedback duration. Subjective reactions to the experiment were recorded by Ss on a questionnaire and were divided by the experimenters into two highly significant sets of mean CNVs based on the most “positive’ and most “negative’ responses to the conditions. CNVs and their associated RTs were analyzed, and a significant rank order correlation over all Ss showed there was a trend for individuals with faster RTs to have larger CNVs. Individual correlations were low and highly variable. Only the very slowest RTs were associated with small CNVs. The failure of explicit RT feedback to have any effect upon CNV amplitude is in agreement with previous studies, and the significant association of CNV amplitude with written reactions of Ss might prove a useful tool for further CNV analysis. The RT data indicated that CNVs and RTs reflect relatively independent functions and that very slow RTs may reflect qualitative changes in S's psychological state which affect both RT and CNV; and such trials might appropriately be eliminated from CNV data analysis.     

THE TRANSCEPHALIC DC POTENTIAL AND REACTION TIME PERFORMANCE

The relationship between transcephalic DC potential changes and simple serial reaction time performance was investigated with the hypothesis that Ss exhibiting more positive TCDC shift would be slower in RT performance than Ss with less positive (or negative) shift. In two experiments, measurements of shift in DC from an initial pre-performance reading to points just before, during, and following RT performance were made. Equal division into groups based on those Ss with most shift in a positive direction versus those with least positive (or negative) shift provided two groups of 12 male Ss in Experiment I, which used constant intertrial interval, and two groups of 11 Ss each in Experiment II, which used random intertrial intervals. The differences in performance between the groups were consistently in the direction expected by the hypothesis. In Experiment I, analysis of variance revealed significant interactions between groups and RT performance blocks over time. Significant differences between groups as well as significant interaction effects were found in Experiment II.     

Social avoidance and distress as a predictor of perceived locus of control and level of self-esteem

Proposed the degree of social discomfort to be indicative of an individual's perceived locus of control and level of self-esteem. Introductory psychology students (N = 143) at the University of Alaska completed questionnaires for Social Avoidance and Distress (SAD), Rotter's Internal versus External Control of Reinforcement Scale, and Janis-Field Personality Inventory. There were significant differences in locus of control and level of self-esteem among those Ss rated as high SAD, moderate SAD, and low SAD. High SAD Ss were found to have significantly greater external locus of control and lower self-esteem than either the moderate or low SAD Ss. Individuals who experience social anxiety, as opposed to those who are comfortable in social situations, are likely to feel that they have less control over the rewards in life and experience less positive self-regard.     

AVOIDANCE CONDITIONING OF HEART RATE IN HUMANS

An avoidance conditioning technique was employed to obtain external control over heart rate. A contingency was set up between heart-rate maintenance and punishment avoidance. During periods of time signified by a visual stimulus, punishments were dispensed when the total number of beats per minute decreased from the previous minute's total. Subjects (Ss) performed an instrument-panel-monitoring task without awareness of the biological avoidance contingency, but they were correctly informed that shocks were available only when the visual stimulus was present. After punishments had been dispensed on the basis of the contingency for several periods, punishment was discontinued and the visual stimulus was used alone as a conditioned aversive stimulus, in order to shape predetermined response patterns. Results included: clear evidence of heart-rate control over all Ss after training periods; maintenance of heart-rate control over continuous 40-min periods through continuous presentation of the visual stimulus; and shaping and replication of three prespecified response patterns. These findings demonstrate that punishment avoidance contingencies can be used to impose effective control over cardiovascular functioning.     

CORTICAL RESPONSE TO A TACTILE STIMULUS DURING ATTENTION, MENTAL ARITHMETIC AND FREE ASSOCIATIONS

Attention to a stimulus appears to be associated with amplitude fluctuations in 100-msec or later components of the cortical compound evoked potential (CEP). In this study, changes in amplitude and latency of the CEP to the same tactile stimulus were investigated under three conditions: attention, free associations, and mental arithmetic. In the attention condition Ss were asked to estimate varying time intervals between stimuli on a 2- to 6-sec scale. Ss were 12 pairs of twins. It was found that the amplitudes of two negative electrocortical potentials were greater when Ss were estimating lengths of time intervals between stimuli than during free association or mental arithmetic. Peak latency of the second negative potential was greater in attention than in the other two conditions. Free association CEPs were distinguished by the incidence of a bursts. The results support the hypothesis that attention is associated with certain parameters of the electrocortical response and suggest which aspects of the electrocortical response are most likely to be related to attention.     

Awareness of Heart Activity and Self-Control of Heart Rate

Ss, high and low in awareness of heart functioning as determined by scores on the heart functioning items of the Autonomic Perception Questionnaire (APQ), were given 10 trials each on which they were to raise or lower their heart rate (HR) using continuous proportional visual feedback. Low aware Ss successfully raised and lowered their HRs on command whereas high aware Ss were not able to make significant alterations in their HRs.     

Indexing disease progression at study entry with individuals at‐risk for Huntington disease

The identification of clinical and biological markers of disease in persons at risk for Huntington disease (HD) has increased in efforts to better quantify and characterize the epoch of prodrome prior to clinical diagnosis. Such efforts are critical in the design and implementation of clinical trials for HD so that interventions can occur at a time most likely to increase neuronal survival and maximize daily functioning. A prime consideration in the examination of prodromal individuals is their proximity to diagnosis. It is necessary to quantify proximity so that individual differences in key marker variables can be properly interpreted. We take a data‐driven approach to develop an index that can be viewed as a proxy for time to HD diagnosis known as the CAG‐Age Product Scaled or CAP_S. CAP_S is an observed utility variable computed for all genetically at‐risk individuals based on age at study entry and CAG repeat length. Results of a longitudinal receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that CAP_S had a relatively strong ability to predict individuals who became diagnosed, especially in the first 2 years. Bootstrap validation provided evidence that CAP_S computed on a new sample from the same population could have similar discriminatory power. Cutoffs for the empirical CAP_S distribution can be used to create a classification for mutation‐positive individuals (Low–Med–High), which is, useful for comparison with the naturally occurring mutation‐negative Control group. The classification is an improvement over the one currently in use as it is based on observed data rather than model‐based estimated values. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

A Direct Comparison of the Effects of the Quiet Room and Water Immersion Isolation Techniques

The present study compares in the same subjects (Ss) the effects of two isolation environments, the quiet room and the water-immersion procedure. Total endurance time in the respective environments, heart rate, and subjective time estimates were the dependent variables. Data on 5 male and 5 female young adult Ss are presented. With voluntary termination possible at any time, Ss spent an average of over 5 1/4 hrs in the room and 4 1/2 hrs in the tank. These Ss underestimate the time spent in the room but overestimate the time spent under water. The average heart rate in the room is about 67 bpm while that in the tank is about 81 bpm. All of these differences are statistically reliable. These results support the position that the water-immersion technique of isolation is a more stressful procedure than the more generally used room technique. The S appears to be more aroused or alerted in the tank than he is in the room.     

Reliability of Sleep Measures

The reliability of sleep measures was calculated over two nights (and within the nights) for 20 young adult males. Percent time in stages 1, 2, 3, and 4, percent movement time, number of movements, and number of stage changes were significantly correlated between Ss over nights. The percent REM time and REM cycle duration were not significantly correlated over nights. Within Ss, the length of the REM period had a significant negative correlation with the length of the preceding NREM period but not with the following NREM period. These data raise questions as to the use of the standard sleep measures as reliable human traits in young male adults.     

A DEVICE FOR ESTIMATING STABILITY OF STANCE IN HUMAN SUBJECTS

An apparatus for quantifying the stability of stance of human subjects under several conditions is described. The duration and degree of angular deviation of the S's center of gravity above his standing center of support on a platform are sensed by electro-mechanical means over a selected period of time and the product is converted to arbitrary numerical units. A technique is provided for vibrating the platform upon which the S stands so that kinesthetic or proprioceptive cues from the feet and lower legs are “diluted” by the irrelevant vibratory stimuli. Normal Ss were tested for stability of stance for periods of 20 sec with 1) eyes open, 2) eyes closed, 3) eyes open, vibrator on, and 4) eyes closed, vibrator on. In general, instability increased in the order of test 1, 2, 3, and 4 with most Ss, but in some, closing the eyes alone had little effect in reducing stability of stance. The apparatus was designed for use in testing drugs that may affect static balance when each S is used as his own control.     

THE EFFECTS OF INSTRUCTIONAL SET AND AUTONOMIC PERCEPTION ON CARDIAC CONTROL

Fifty-four Ss were divided into three instructional groups. One group was instructed to increase their heart rate (HR) every time a signal was presented; a second group was told to decrease their HR; and a control group was not instructed to change their HR in any direction. Results indicate that Ss can increase or decrease their HR in the absence of externalized feedback. These HR changes do not appear to be mediated by respiration or skin resistance variations. In addition, Ss were divided into groups on the basis of their APQ scores. The group with middle APQ scores displayed more HR control in both directions than Ss with high or low APQ scores. The study was replicated with 42 Ss and results support the HR increase but not the HR decrease findings.     

Race Differences and Experimenter Race Effect in Galvanic Skin Response

The present study was designed to ascertain whether racial differences exist in the several components of the skin resistance response and to assess the importance of the role of the experimenter's race in determining the subject's responsiveness. Basal measures, GSR magnitude, and spontaneous GSR activity of 12 Negro and 12 Caucasian Ss were recorded by 2 Negro and 2 Caucasian experimental assistants matched for age, physical stature, and dress. Following a 15 min resting phase, all Ss received 14 1-sec bursts of 75 dB white noise. Variable stimulus intervals were employed. Significant subject-race effects, but no experimenter-race effects, were found for base level measures. Negro Ss evidenced significantly higher basal resistance levels. Conversely, experimenter-race effects, but no subject-race effects, were apparent in the GSR magnitude data. White Ss showed a significantly slower rate of response magnitude decrease over trials when paired with black Es. A significant decrease in spontaneous activity over time was observed for all Ss.     

‘Poor me’ versus ‘Bad me’ paranoia: The association between self‐beliefs and the instability of persecutory ideation

Objectives. To investigate whether different self‐attributes would be associated with different degrees of deservedness of persecution in a clinical paranoid sample. Background. Some studies have shown differences between the self‐esteem (SE) of individuals with ‘Poor Me’ (PM) and ‘Bad Me’ (BM) paranoia ( Bentall et al., 2009 ; Chadwick, Trower, Juusti‐Butler, & Maguire, 2005 ). Most studies investigating this relationship have employed a cross‐sectional design, precluding the investigation of changes over time. Methods. In the cross‐sectional part of the study, 45 clinical participants and 25 controls were assessed in terms of paranoia, deservedness of persecution, SE, self‐discrepancies, daily events, and coping strategies. In the longitudinal part of the study, the clinical group was re‐assessed over a period of another 2 days, in order to study changes in these variables. Results. At baseline, there were no differences between the SE of the two paranoia presentations, which was significantly lower than the controls’. However, the paired‐samples repeated analysis found the SE of individuals when in a PM presentation was higher than when they were BM. Only BM paranoia was found to be associated with higher self‐ideal:self‐actual self‐discrepancies than the other groups. The longitudinal analysis indicated that, having been PM and having low SE at the previous assessment day made it more likely that individuals would be in BM subsequently. No differences in causal attributions made for ecological events were found between the groups. Higher SE was found to be more likely when individuals coped with adversities by using social support. Conclusions. Both deservedness of persecution and self‐views appear to be unstable in individuals with paranoia and to change consistently over time, a finding which is in keeping with Bentall et al.'s (2001) dynamic model of paranoia.     

Predicting quality of life and self‐management from dyadic support and overprotection after myocardial infarction

Objectives. Using a self‐regulatory framework, this study aims to identify how couples perceive a partner's support style after myocardial infarction (MI), and whether this predicts the patient's health‐related quality of life (HR‐QoL) and self‐management (S‐M) 9 months later. Method. This longitudinal dyadic study includes 73 couples (86% of patients were men), recruited from two cardiac rehabilitation programmes in the Netherlands. Mean age of patients was 54.8 (SD = 9.6) and of partners 52.5 (SD = 9.8). Participants were interviewed and completed questionnaires at baseline (T1). Repeat questionnaires were returned by 69 and 67 couples after 3 (T2) and 9 months (T3), respectively. Results Support by partners is conceptualized in this study as ‘active engagement’ (AE), which involves the extent to which a partner engages the patient in conversations which focus on emotional support and problem solving. Levels of AE do not change over time, nor do they differ between members of the dyad. Levels of overprotection (OP) diminish with time, whilst patients consistently perceive more OP than partners report providing. Patients' experience of goal hindrance (at T3) due to the MI is associated with a decreased HR‐QoL at T3 (controlling for baseline measures). The perception of having a supportive (AE) partner at T1 contributes to enhanced patient HR‐QoL at each subsequent time point, although not to physical functioning. Perceiving a partner as overprotective (at T1) predicts worsened physical functioning in patients (at T3). Improvements in S‐M at T3 (controlling for baseline measures) are reported by patients whose partner displays active engagement at T1. Conclusions Cardiac rehabilitation should aim to redress the experience of goal disturbance and advise partners on how to provide support.