STRESS AND PERFORMANCE: EFFECTS OF SUBJECTIVE WORK LOAD AND TIME URGENCY1

Subjective work load, time urgency, and other stress/motivation variables were measured for management personnel taking a demanding problem-solving exam at the end of a two-week training course. Comparing measures of precourse ability and final exam performance, the primary findings were that the corrected performance scores had strong negative linear (not inverted-U) relations with both subjective work load and time urgency. General state anxiety and task involvement did not substantially relate to performance. The results are discussed in terms of the nature of this particular task and the predictions of various stress/performance theories. In problem solving or other tasks requiring novel responses, these data suggest that increases in psychological stresses like subjectively high work load and time urgency uniformly impair performance across the whole range of these variables.     

HYPNOSIS AS SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE

Å s , A. & O sstvold , S. Hypnosis as subjective experience. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1968, 9, 33–38.—Fifty female students were interviewed about their subjective experiences during experimental hypnosis. A majority of the experiences correlated positively with measured depth of hypnosis. A factor analysis suggested three experiential factors, differently correlated with hypnotic depth.     

OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE PERFORMANCE AS INFLUENCED BY DRUG-INDUCED VARIATIONS IN ACTIVATION LEVEL

Performance was measured by seven sensorimotor and perceptual tests given to 30 students in six successive trials, spread over five hours, before and after the intake of either 15 mg dexamphetamine, zoo mg Pentobarbitone, or a placebo. Subjective performance, level of aspiration, wakefulness, and mood were measured by a scaling method. A close agreement was found between the amount of objective and subjective improvement following dexamphetamine, whereas the objective impairment induced by Pentobarbitone was not reflected in the subjective measures. These results were examined in relation to the other indices of activation.     

CATECHOLAMINE EXCRETION, PERFORMANCE, AND SUBJECTIVE STRESS

Psycho-endocrine relations were explored in 52 students exposed to moderately stressful psychological tests demanding selective attention. Subjects with high excretion rates of adrenaline performed better during the entire stress session than did subjects with low adrenaline excretion. The level of subjective stress increased consistently throughout the session in subjects with low excretion rates of adrenaline, while it remained relatively constant in subjects with high adrenaline excretion. No consistent relationship could be demonstrated between noradrenaline excretion and the psychological variables. Possible effects on the catecholamine-excretion patterns of factors such as severity and duration of the stress are discussed.     

TIME RELATIONS OF OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE REACTIONS TO D-AMPHETAMINE AND PENTOBARBITONE

Successive measurements of pulse rate, blood pressure, objective and subjective reaction speed, and six mood variables were made on 12 healthy subjects during 135 min. periods following the intake of either 15 mg d-amphetamine, 200 mg Pentobarbitone, or a placebo. It was shown that (1) the two drugs had essentially opposite effects on all objective and most subjective variables; (2) after d-amphetamine subjective effects appeared earlier and reached their maximum more rapidly than objective effects; (3) both types of reaction were less pronounced after Pentobarbitone than after d-amphetamine under the present dose conditions; and that (4) after Pentobarbitone maximum objective effects were attained at an earlier point in time.     

THE TIME-ORDER ERROR IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SUBJECTIVE TIME SCALE

(1) A method to obtain a scale of subjective time unbiased by the time-order error is suggested. (2) The method gives as by-product some preliminary results on the memory process which gives rise to the time-order error. (3) The method is applied in an experimental study. Two methods, the adjustment method and the reproduction method were used to construct a subjective time scale within the range 1–7 seconds. The former method gave an almost linear R-S curve while the latter resulted in a positively accelerated curve. (4) The time-order error seems to be a very rapid process. The memory curve reaches very near its asymptotic value within a few tenths of a second.     

SUBJECTIVE INTOXICATION INDUCED BY NITROUS OXIDE IN VARIOUS CONCENTRATIONS

F rankenhaeuser , M. & J arpe , G. Subjective intoxication induced by nitrous oxide in various concentrations. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1962, 3 , 171–176.—Subjective intoxication at various dose-levels of nitrous oxide was investigated by the method of magnitude estimation. Estimates of intoxication were obtained from the intoxicated subjects themselves and from a group of observers. Both these sets of subjective scale values showed a pronounced and regular increase with increasing dose-levels of the drug. Objective performance changes followed the same general pattern, but were much less pronounced. It was concluded that subjective scaling methods are well suited for measurements of drug-induced changes in subjective variables.     

中学生人格特质、主观应激与应对风格之间的关系

旨在构建中学生的人格特质、主观应激与应对风格之间的关系模型。采用问卷的方法,被试来自成都的四所中学,共607人。探索性因素分析和路径分析结果表明：中学生的应对风格可以分为主动应对和被动应对;不同类型的主观应激之间可能存在潜在关系;主动的应对风格只受到人格特质（外向/内向性、责任心）直接作用;被动的应对风格除了受人格特质的直接和间接作用外,还受到主观应激的影响。     

AFFECTED BY NATURE: A HERMENEUTICAL TRANSFORMATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS

The value‐action gap poses a considerable challenge to normative environmental ethics. Because of the wide array of empirical research results that have become available in the fields of environmental psychology, education, and anthropology, ethicists are at present able to take into account insights on what effectively motivates proenvironmental behavior. The emotional aspect apparently forms a key element within a transformational process that leads to an internalization of nature within one's identity structure. We compare these findings with studies on environmental activists, which appear to a significantly lesser degree hampered by the value‐action gap, thereby attempting to understand what provides them with the drive to act more consistently on their moral attitudes. Hermeneutics is found to play a crucial role in the processes that lead to lasting and consistent motivation toward proenvironmental behavior. An empirically informed hermeneutical approach could therefore provide a promising impetus for contemporary environmental ethics.     

TIME AS A FACTOR IN A SPATIAL TASK*

Subjects drawn from a variety of populations were required to build simple models of geometric figures, pictures of which they were shown. The time taken to build each model was measured and its correctness assessed. It was found that it was probably erroneous to disregard time on the grounds that in certain cultures time has a relatively low social value when assessing subjects' performance. The best index of performance, the results tentatively suggest, is probably the ratio of the total time used by a subject to the number of correct responses. This offers a superior measure of the perceptual difficulties than either of the primary measures taken on its own.     

个体早期情绪唤起与自我决定及主观活力的关系

以量表测量法初步探索早期情绪唤起与成年后自我决定水平及主观活力之间的关系,试图寻找情绪对人格组织的核心作用的证据。研究发现：①个体在早期父母行为调控中的某些基本情绪的唤起可以有效预测其成年后的自我决定和主观活力水平。②个体早期抵触情绪唤起对其成年后的自我决定和主观活力具有消极作用,而非负性情绪唤起则具有积极作用。研究结果支持基本情绪理论关于情绪处于人格结构的核心地位的观点。     

学前儿童对时距的估计及其策略

该研究旨在探查学前儿童对时距的认识过程及其认识策略。使用2秒、4秒、6秒、8秒四种不同的时间间隔作为刺激物,在每次呈现之后要求儿童按键再现时距。5岁和6岁的学前儿童参加这一实验。主要结果表明:5、6岁儿童已能区分只有几秒钟差异的单一时距;在无声音参照条件下,他们对4秒钟的估计较为准确,而在有声音参照条件下,5岁儿童则对6秒钟的估计更趋准确。研究材料还证实了,儿童从5岁起初步能够使用时间标尺,开始把时间看成是可以计数的维量。     

PERCEIVED INTENSITY OF ODOR AS A FUNCTION OF TIME OF ADAPTATION

The perceived intensity of odor under conditions of constant stimulation with hydrogen sulphide was investigated in two experiments. A two-step scaling method, involving cross-modality matching and numerical scaling of the matching continuum, was used for measuring intensity of odor. Perceptual intensity was found to decrease exponentially with increase of time of stimulation. Preliminary data concerning the subsequent recovery phase were also obtained.     

THE STRANGER AND THE SPOUSE AS TARGET PERSONS FOR COMPLIANCE-GAINING STRATEGIES: A SUBJECTIVE EXPECTED UTILITY MODEL1

This study examines the use of compliance-gaining message strategies in “interpersonal” versus “noninterpersonal” relationships. Subjects were asked how likely they would be to use persuasive strategies in a hypothetical situation involving either a spouse (interpersonal situation) or new neighbors (noninterpersonal situation). A subjective expected utility model is proposed to account for subjects' choice of strategies. According to the SEU model, subjects weigh the expected advantages and disadvantages of strategies both in terms of their persuasiveness and their effects on the relationship with the persuadee. Regression analysis supported the use of the SEU model to predict subjects' choice of strategies. Situational comparisons of SEU indicated that most strategies are rated more persuasive, less likely to damage the personal relationship, and more likely to be used in the spouse situation than in the neighbor situation.     

电击信号应激对大鼠体液免疫及内分泌功能的影响

研究了足电击及以电击装置为信号刺激所诱发的情绪应激对大鼠原发性体液免疫反应及内分泌的影响。 结果表明每天１０分钟,共６天的足电击对大鼠抗特异性抗原ＯＶＡ的原发性体液免疫反应无明显作用,而此电击作 用结合每天１０分钟,共８天的情绪应激则可显著降低大鼠体液免疫反应及脾脏指数。同时该应激可显著提高大鼠 血儿茶酚胶和皮质酮水平。该研究证明了情绪应激对大鼠体液免疫功能的调节作用,并对交感神经系统和下丘脑－ 垂体－肾上腺（ＨＰＡ）轴在其中所起的作用进行了初步探讨。     

ASSESSMENT OF MOTION AS INFLUENCED BY STRUCTURE OF BACKGROUND

G ottsdanker , R. Assessment of motion as influenced by structure of background. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1962, 3 , 122–128.—Detection of target acceleration was improved by having a near landmark in addition to the surrounding frame. Adding landmarks, even within the course of motion, brought no further gain. Evidently, rate is not assessed by estimating time taken to cover known distances. Best performance was found when fine background marks were near enough together to form a texture, but not if it was perfectly uniform. It is suggested that the advantage provided both by the near point and the texture is the indirect one of stabilizing space. This effect is conceived of as graded, reaching its ultimate value in a textured surface.