Skin conductance as a function of alcohol during motor approach towards a noxious goal

During hand movement towards a goal involving electric shock, increased SCR amplitudes were observed for increased threat. In the presence as well as in the absence of alcohol, shock probabilities of 0.50 and 1.00 induced stronger SCRs than no-shock control conditions. The outcome was related to behavioural measures of hesitation where an alcohol dose of 0.9 g/kg reduced hesitation significantly. It was concluded that the cognitive appraisal of threat remained unaffected by alcohol, whereas fear as reflected by hesitation was reduced. A highly significant decrease in SCR latency was observed under alcohol conditions ( p <0.001). Twelve volunteer S s served as their own controls in the alcohol/placebo X shock probabilities X replicates design.     

Skin conductance as an indicator of anticipated concealed knowledge

The present study investigated the effects of anticipation on skin conductance while participants were answering a set of questions which included one of concealed knowledge. Two experiments were conducted. In Exp. 1, 26 participants completed one experimental session. Each participant was asked to choose one two-digit number from 10 to 99 and was presented 19 other randomly generated two-digit numbers. The list of numbers was then presented to the participant on a computer screen, with a 60-sec. interval occurring every two questions. The participant-selected number was defined as the target question which was randomly placed within the 4th to 17th item of 20 questions stated as follows: "Is your selected number?" The participant was asked to answer "No" to all questions. The skin-conductance response to each question was measured. In Exp. 2, the experimental procedure was the same as that in Exp. 1 except each participant first answered 10 nontarget questions, then answered a target question with the participant's selected number, and then answered another 10 nontarget questions. There were a total of 21 questions. Analysis indicated participants in both experiments generated the highest mean skin conductance while answering the target questions, followed by lower amplitudes to questions prior to and after the target question. The skin-conductance response pattern can be used to identify the psychological process of anticipation of concealed information.     

Memory performance and beliefs as a function of goal setting and aging

This research examined the impact of goals on memory and memory beliefs. Older and younger adults completed memory beliefs questionnaires and list recall at baseline. After additional recall trials, the questionnaires were repeated. In Experiment 1, participants were assigned to low challenge or high challenge goals. In Experiment 2, moderate challenge goals were compared to control. In both studies, participants were given a specific goal based on their own performance and received positive feedback for memory gains. Both older and younger adults responded to the goals, showing improved performance across trials, with little change in the control condition. Memory beliefs changed in the moderate and low challenge goal conditions, showing more striking changes for the older groups. These results confirmed that self-regulatory processes related to goal setting can have considerable impact on memory across the adult life span.     

Influence tactics as a function of gender,insult, and goal

A laboratory procedure evaluated three theoretical frameworks commonly used to explain gender differences in influence behaviors: the intrapersonal, which predicted main effects for gender; social context, which predicted main effects for situational variables; and sex stratification, an extension of expectation states theory, which predicted gender by situation interactions. Results supported the latter theory, indicating that goals (self-interest or altruism) and target behavior (insulting or not insulting) differentially affected women's and men's behavior. The relative use of reward, coercion, and request influence strategies was examined. Males and females increased their use of each strategy type differentially across trial blocks. Females used request and males used reward increasingly across trial blocks. Only males who were insulted showed an increase in coercion. Contrary to stereotypes, results suggest that males and females may hold similar preferences for strategies they use most to least often, but may switch their choices at different rates.The assistance of the UNCG Research Council and Statistical Consulting Center is acknowledged. Appreciation is expressed to Jacqueline Goodchilds and Barbara Wallston for comments on an earlier draft. This article is dedicated to the memory of Barbara Wallston, who believed in the importance of research on power and gender.     

Skin conductance responses as predictor of emotional responses to stressful life events

Preferential preattentive processing towards threat has been proposed to play a casual role in the development of anxiety, mainly because it reliably predicts emotional responding to stressful events. However, in the investigation of the predictive value of preferential preattentive processing towards threat, the emotional Stroop task has exclusively being used. This study was designed to prospectively investigate the predictive value of skin conductance reactivity in response to masked (i.e., preattentively perceived) threatening pictures on emotional responding following stressful life events. To collect skin conductance data, the picture perception task was administered to 136 police recruits due to enroll into active duty within 2-4 months. To assess psychological distress following emotionally stressful life events, the impact of event scale were administered approximately 24 months later. Controlling for trait anxiety, analyses indicated that enhanced skin conductance reactivity in response to masked threatening pictures (relative to neutrals) was a strong predictor of emotional responding to stressful life events. This finding support preferential preattentive processing towards threat as a relatively independent factor predictive of emotional responding.     

Seven principles of goal activation: a systematic approach to distinguishing goal priming from priming of non-goal constructs.

Countless studies have recently purported to demonstrate effects of goal priming; however, it is difficult to muster unambiguous support for the claims of these studies because of the lack of clear criteria for determining whether goals, as opposed to alternative varieties of mental representations, have indeed been activated. Therefore, the authors offer theoretical guidelines that may help distinguish between semantic, procedural, and goal priming. Seven principles that are hallmarks of self-regulatory processes are proposed: Goal-priming effects (a) involve value, (b) involve postattainment decrements in motivation, (c) involve gradients as a function of distance to the goal, (d) are proportional to the product of expectancy and value, (e) involve inhibition of conflicting goals, (f) involve self-control, and (g) are moderated by equifinality and multifinality. How these principles might help distinguish between automatic activation of goals and priming effects that do not involve goals is discussed.     

Casting weight goal as a function of weight status among a representative population-based sample of adolescents

This paper pursues two objectives: (1) to estimate proportions of adolescents with a weight goal that matched and mismatched weight status, and (2) to identify correlates of a mismatched weight goal. Data were from a representative population-based sample of adolescents (n = 2346, 51% female; 91.5% complete data). Results showed that 69% of adolescents had a weight goal that matched weight status whereas 31% had a weight goal that mismatched weight status. Body dissatisfaction was a significant predictor of having a mismatched weight goal for both sexes while elevated psychological distress was a predictor among girls. Being body dissatisfied mediated the association between psychological distress and having a mismatched weight goal among girls. Casting weight goal as a function of weight status may allow for a better understanding of overall weight management strategies.     

Precision of imitation as a function of preschoolers' understanding of the goal of the demonstration

The authors argue that imitation is a flexible and adaptive learning mechanism in that children do not always reproduce all of the details they can from a demonstration. Instead, they vary their replications depending on their interpretation of the situation. Specifically, the authors propose that when children do not understand the overall reason for a model's behavior, they will be more likely to imitate precisely. By copying conservatively in these situations, children may have a good chance of reproducing the action of the model correctly. In contrast, when the reason for an action is clear, children will be more likely to deviate from the manners and flourishes of the model and use their own means to complete the action.