Helping as a function of empathic responses and sociopathy

The present study reports two experiments which investigated helping as a function of empathic anxiety (anxiety in response to modeled distress) and individual differences in sociopathic tendencies. The first experiment concerned the effects of empathic anxiety, sociopathy, and perceived similarity/dissimilarity to a distressed person on helping. As predicted, subjects who experienced high levels of empathic anxiety helped more than subjects who experienced low levels of empathic anxiety. High sociopathic subjects experienced lower levels of empathic anxiety and helped less than did low sociopathic subjects. However, a path analysis disclosed that sociopathy's relationship to helping was not due to (or mediated by) empathic anxiety. The similarity manipulation did not influence empathic anxiety or helping. In the second experiment, subjects were classified as primary or secondary sociopaths (based on their levels of trait anxiety). As in the first experiment, empathic anxiety and sociopathy were significantly related to helping. Primary sociopaths displayed less empathic anxiety than secondary sociopaths, but the two groups did not differ in their willingness to help. Thus, in neither study could the sociopath's behavior be explained by empathic anxiety. The discussion concerned empathy as a mediational variable in helping and the role of personality variables in helping. A post hoc explanation of the sociopath's behavior, based on Schwartz' theory of the characteristics of helpers, was proposed.     

Classical conditioning of autonomic fear responses is independent of contingency awareness

The role of contingency awareness in classical conditioning experiments using human subjects is currently under debate. This study took a novel approach to manipulating contingency awareness in a differential Pavlovian conditioning paradigm. Complex sine wave gratings were used as visual conditional stimuli (CS). By manipulating the fundamental spatial frequency of the displays, we were able to construct pairs of stimuli that varied in discriminability. One group of subjects was given an "easy" discrimination, and another was exposed to a "difficult" CS+ and CS-. A 3rd group was exposed to a stimulus that was paired with the unconditional stimulus (UCS) 50% of the time and served as a control. Skin conductance response (SCR) and continuous UCS expectancy data were measured concurrently throughout the experiment. Differential UCS expectancy was found only in the easy discrimination group. Differential SCRs were found in the easy discrimination group as well as in the difficult discrimination group, but not in the 50% contingency control. The difficult discrimination group did not exhibit differential UCS expectancy but did show clear differential SCR. These observations support a dual process interpretation of classical conditioning whereby conditioning on an implicit level can occur without explicit knowledge about the contingencies. The role of contingency awareness in classical conditioning experiments using human subjects is currently under debate. This study took a novel approach to manipulating contingency awareness in a differential Pavlovian conditioning paradigm. Complex sine wave gratings were used as visual conditional stimuli (CS). By manipulating the fundamental spatial frequency of the displays, we were able to construct pairs of stimuli that varied in discriminability. One group of subjects was given an "easy" discrimination, and another was exposed to a "difficult" CS+ and CS-. A 3rd group was exposed to a stimulus that was paired with the unconditional stimulus (UCS) 50% of the time and served as a control. Skin conductance response (SCR) and continuous UCS expectancy data were measured concurrently throughout the experiment. Differential UCS expectancy was found only in the easy discrimination group. Differential SCRs were found in the easy discrimination group as well as in the difficult discrimination group, but not in the 50% contingency control. The difficult discrimination group did not exhibit differential UCS expectancy but did show clear differential SCR. These observations support a dual process interpretation of classical conditioning whereby conditioning on an implicit level can occur without explicit knowledge about the contingencies.     

Behavior and personality assessment in men labeled adaptive sociopaths

Few efforts have been made to understand antisocial-prone individuals who maintain adaptive functioning. This study identified a sample of potentially deviant but adaptively functioning persons to determine whether they differed significantly from their more conforming peers. A small sample of men was selected by Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)-defined criteria for sociopathy and compared with MMPI-defined normals of similar ages, backgrounds, and intelligence. Response variables were those cited in the literature as characteristic of sociopathic psychopathology and included measures of abilities to plan ahead and inhibit impulsiveness, sensation seeking, interpersonal performance and style, and behavior conformity. Men labeled adaptive sociopaths showed greater impulsiveness and needs for experience seeking, earned lower scores on measures of socialization and self-control, and admitted greater adolescent behavior deviance. They were not shown to be less empathetic or less able to relate interpersonally in interview. The potential role of socially constructive self-determined goals and tangible vocational rewards as mediators of adaptive behavior are discussed in terms of overcoming antisocial tendencies and attenuation of behavior disinhibition.     

Modifying children's orienting reactions instrumentally

Normal Ss' GSRs to visual stimuli habituated more slowly than retarded Ss' GSRs and were larger. During conditioning, normal Ss' GSRs increased in magnitude under nonresponse-contingent reinforcement but not under response-contingent reinforcement. Retarded children's GSRs increased in magnitude slightly under response-contingent reinforcement but not under nonresponse-contingent reinforcement. More Ss who received response-contingent reinforcement improved in their performance on the Seguin form board than got poorer; Ss who received reinforcement contingent on nonresponding did not show this differential tendency. The retarded Ss showed this effect substantially more than normals. Children who were merely tested twice but received no conditioning showed no differential tendency toward improved form board performance. It was concluded that normal and retarded children differ in their initial orienting reaction (OR) tendencies, particularly in the persistence of OR under repeated stimulation, and that instrumental conditioning of ORs mediates improved performance on complex tasks requiring attention to relevant stimulus dimensions.     

Transswitching and contextual conditioning

An empirical evaluation of temporal aspects of contextual conditioning was conducted in relation to Asratyan’s (1965) theory of transswitching and to an alternative explanation that was partly stimulated by the Rescorla-Wagner model (Rescorla and Wagner 1972). On the basis of a human electrodermal conditioning preparation suggested by Kimmel and Ray (1978), five groups with 12 subjects each were run. The results indicated that the basic phenomena of transswitching are robust and therefore could be replicated; but the Asratyan theory was rejected. All the results supported an alternative explanation: in contextual conditioning, duration of contextual stimuli is less important than order. Phasic switching is due to simultaneous occurrence of stimuli (differential compound conditioning) and is therefore compatible with the Rescorla-Wagner model. Tonic switching is due to signals that occur before a marked sequence of conditioning trials, in part a challenge to the Rescorla-Wagner model. Long delays between critical events can perhaps be compensated for by mediating memory processes.     

RWMODEL: A program in Turbo Pascal for simulating predictions based on the Rescorla-Wagner model of classical conditioning

A Turbo Pascal computer program is described that simulates the Rescorla-Wagner model of classical conditioning. The menu-driven program makes it possible to compute associative strengths for differential conditioning, conditioned inhibition, compound and contextual conditionings, trans-switching, and other designs.     

Cognitive factors in the concurrent differential conditioning of eyelid and skin conductance responses

The objectives of the study were to (1) determine if differential conditioning of eyelid responses ocurs only among subjects who accurately report knowledge of the CS-UCS relations, (2) assess whether differentially conditioned eyelid responding occurs only after the initial accurate interrial report, and (3) explore characteristics of differentially conditioned skin conductance responses (SCRs) obtained in an eyelid conditioning paradigm, with special attention to whether eyelid and SCR conditioning are similarly related to the subjects’ knowledge of the stimulus relations. Fifty-one male subjects were administered 80 differential eyelid conditioning trials, the CSs consisting of the 1,200-msec illumination of slides containing either grammatically correct or grammatically incorrect phrases. Significant differential SCR and eyelid conditioning was obtained for both V- and C-form eyelid responders, but only for subjects who accurately reported the CS-UCS relations. The initial appearance of SCR and eyelid differentiation was related within the trial sequence to subjects’ recognition of the stimulus relations. Eyelid and SCR conditioning were related similarly to knowledge of the stimulus relations, the exception being that subjects who recognized the stimulus relations late in the trial sequence did not develop reliable eyelid differentiation.     

Orienting responses to pleasant stimuli when expecting pleasant or unpleasant events

The aim was to investigate further the effect of more vigorous orienting to stimuli denoting common fears than to neutral stimuli in subjects threatened with shock. In two experiments, orienting responses (ORs) to pleasant and to neutral words were compared. In Experiment I, the subjects were expecting shock and, in Experiment II, pleasant music. In neither experiment were there differences either in the magnitudes or in the habituation rates of the electrodermal ORs. For clarification, there should be control both of the subjective salience of the stimuli and also of the level of expectation.     

Schilder and Pavlov’s theory of higher nervous activity

In the late 1920s, the Viennese psychoanalyst Paul Schilder, after performing a conditioning experiment with human subjects, criticized I. P. Pavlov’s concept of “experimental neurosis.” Schilder maintained that subjective reports by conditioned human subjects were more informative than the objectively observed behavior of conditioned dogs. In 1932, Pavlov published a rejoinder to Schilder’s critique in theJournal of the American Medical Association. Pavlov maintained that Schilder misunderstood the value and implications of the scientific, objective method in the study of experimental neurosis. In 1934, Schilder subjected Pavlov’s theory of higher nervous activity to an incisive critique in a 1935 article inImago. Schilder objected to Pavlov’s narrow, reductionist conceptualization of the conditional reflex. Schilder reiterated his view that the psychological, subjective explanation of the conditional reflex is preferable to the physiological, objective explanation, and that the inference of cortical phenomena from experimental findings might be improper. Neither Pavlov nor any of his disciples replied to Schilder. The author provides an apology for the Pavlovian position, suggesting that Schilder was unfamiliar with early and late writings of Pavlov.     

Simultaneous classical conditioning of two effector systems

The experiment reported here was an attempt to develop an experimental procedure for independent classical conditioning of two different response systems, the skin conductance response (SCR) and the eyelid response. In a differential conditioning design with human subjects (N = 50) two different unconditioned stimuli were used, a white noise (US1) and airpuff (US2). Two conditioned stimuli (CS11 and CS12) were paired with US1, and two other CSs (CS21 and CS22) were paired with US2. A special trial architecture was used to accomplish measurement of both anticipatory SCR and eyelid responses during each trial. Significant eyelid differentiation as well as significant SCR (especially second interval responses) differentiation developed.     

Construction and implementation of a low-cost electronic experiment control interface

Low-cost electronic experiment control boards (ECBs), developed by Walter and Palya (1984), were constructed and implemented for use at the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory. Each ECB was wired to control experiments using animals as subjects. The ECBs have been connected to IBM-compatible microcomputers and serve essentially as intelligent interfaces between the subject and the microcomputer. Relative advantages and disadvantages of the control board, including construction and programming techniques, as well as cost, are discussed.     

Cardiac arrhythmias in the monkey during classically conditioned fear and excitement

Rhesus monkeys(Macaca mulatto) were tested in classic aversive and appetitive conditioning paradigms following complete coronary artery occlusion (CO) to test the hypothesis that “emotional stress” induces ventricular arrhythmias. Findings were based upon conditioning trials conducted for one or more weeks after occlusion in 13 animals. When all data from each animal for the week following CO were considered, there was no demonstrable tendency for arrhythmias to increase during “fear” conditioned to unavoidable electric shock or during “excitement” in anticipation of food. However, selected trials from six monkeys did reveal instances when changes in the frequency of occurrence of arrhythmias were coupled with behavioral conditioning. While analysis of these trials did not reveal any simple relationship between emotional stress and the development of ventricular arrhythmias after myocardial infarction, certain of the behavioral situations may be more potentially arrhythmogenic than others. For these selected trials, with respect to control, the number of arrhythmias may have increased or decreased upon presentation of the conditional stimulus; the exact response appears to depend upon the immediate physiologic status of the animal as well as on the behavioral condition. “More stressful” situations, such as aversive conditioning, are not necessarily associated with greater numbers of arrhythmias than were “less stressful” situations, such as appetitive conditioning. Arrhythmias appear to occur more frequently when an animal’s heart rate is within a given range; this may reflect underlying cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve activity.     

Trauma exposure is associated with increased context-dependent adjustments of cognitive control in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder and healthy controls

Recent evidence has suggested that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with alterations in prefrontal-cortex-dependent cognitive processes (e.g., working memory, cognitive control). However, it remains unclear whether these cognitive dysfunctions are related to PTSD symptomatology or trauma exposure. Furthermore, regarding cognitive control, research has only focused on the integrity of selected control functions, but not their dynamic regulation in response to changing environmental demands. Therefore, the present study investigated dynamic variations in interference control, in addition to overall interference susceptibility and working memory (WM) performance in matched groups of 24 PTSD patients and 26 traumatized and 30 nontraumatized healthy controls. The Simon task was used to measure overall interference susceptibility and the flexible adjustment of cognitive control, on the basis of the occurrence of response conflicts (conflict adaptation effect). WM performance was assessed with the forward and backward digit span tasks. Since we have previously shown that trauma exposure per se is associated with reduced hair cortisol concentrations (HCC), we further explored whether PTSD/trauma-related cognitive alterations are related to HCC in proximal 3-cm hair segments. The results revealed that PTSD patients and traumatized controls showed significantly more pronounced conflict adaptation effects than nontraumatized controls. Moreover, the conflict adaptation effect was positively related to the number of lifetime traumatic events and the frequency of traumatization. The groups did not differ in overall interference susceptibility or WM performance. Exploratory analyses revealed no association between HCC and the observed cognitive differences. These results suggest that context-driven control adjustments constitute a sensitive correlate of trauma exposure, irrespective of PTSD.     

The relative accessibility of phonemes and syllables

Previous research comparing detection times for syllables and for phonemes has consistently found that syllables are responded to faster than phonemes. This finding poses theoretical problems for strictly hierarchical models of speech recognition, in which smaller units should be able to be identified faster than larger units. However, inspection of the characteristics of previous experiments’ stimuli reveals that subjects have been able to respond to syllables on the basis of only a partial analysis of the stimulus. In the present experiment, five groups of subjects listened to identical stimulus material. Phoneme and syllable monitoring under standard conditions was compared with monitoring under conditions in which near matches of target and stimulus occurred on no-response trials. In the latter case, when subjects were forced to analyze each stimulus fully, phonemes were detected faster than syllables.     

An attempt to condition components of urine formation in dogs

Previous research on the renal conditional reflex (CR) has resulted in contradictory data. The work of Bykov with dogs and of Hoferet al. with humans indicated that a renal CR is possible, but the experiments of Corsonet al. and Watt and Gantt with dogs having normal or transplanted cervical kidneys showed no clear-cut renal CR’s. The present work supports the latter finding. Three female mongrel dogs were used. One dog (normal) had an externalized ureter; the other two (experimental) had denervated cervical kidneys (autografts). In 155 days of experiments, the investigators found diuresis to occur only on unconditional stimulus,i.e., only when a dog drank diluted milk (one part milk to four parts water)ad lib.; the dogs drank an average of between 500 and 1,100 ml. No diuresis occurred when 30 ml. of the mixture were given (conditional stimulus). Urinalysis indicated a lack of renal conditioning with respect to the excretion rates and the concentrations of creatinine and electrolytes, except for the sodium concentration in the normal dog’s urine, which decreased on bothad lib and test (30 ml) days; the volume was not affected. Conclusion: Drinking a small quantity of diluted milk as a conditional stimulus did not produce a conditional diuretic response either in the normal dog or in the two dogs with transplanted kidneys.     

Fragmentation of monocular afterimages in individuals with and without normal binocular vision

Monocular afterimages of a vertical line were generated in each eye of binocularly normal individuals and of those lacking binocular single vision or stereopsis as a consequence of childhood strabismus. Fragmentations and disappearances of the afterimages occurred less frequently in the strabismic than in the normal subjects; they were also less frequent in the dominant (nonamblyopic) eyes of the strabismics than in their amblyopic eyes. The afterimages remained visible for longer when presented to the dominant eyes of the strabismic subjects, and a similar effect was found between the sighting dominant and nondominant eyes of normal subjects.     

A functional analysis of social reinforcement in vicarious verbal conditioning

This article reports the results of 629 subjects in three experiments designed to replicate and extend the phenomenon of vicarious verbal conditioning. Experiment I replicated the finding that subjects who responded most to vicarious verbal conditioning were aware of the contingency involved. Experiment II attempted to examine the effects of prior history with the verbal reinforcer on vicarious verbal conditioning by providing seven groups of subjects with varying classic conditioning histories prior to vicarious verbal conditioning. The null results associated with this experiment were hypothesized to be due to the fact that the vicarious verbal conditioning took place in a language laboratory where the subjects could hear but not see the model. Experiment III replicated Experiment II in a live group context as was done in Experiment I. The results showed a) that vicarious verbal conditioning was again found to take place, b) that associating the verbal reinforcer with a tone or tone plus money via forward classic conditioning potentiated the effects of the verbal reinforcer, c) that backward classic conditioning did not potentiate the reinforcer, d) nor did either of two sensitization procedures potentiate the effects of the verbal reinforcer. Both aware and unaware subjects evidenced vicarious verbal conditioning.