Body asymmetry affects conjugate lateral eye movement

A. H. Baker (1989) and A. H. Baker and A. I. Ledner (1990) reported that asymmetrical visual stimulation affects conjugate lateral eye movement (CLEM). In the present article, the authors explored whether asymmetrical body position similarly affects CLEM. The authors assessed CLEMs twice in a counterbalanced design. In the control (symmetric) condition, each participant sat in a completely symmetrical position facing a wall devoid of any asymmetrical features. In the experimental (asymmetrical) condition, half the participants rotated their heads 68 degrees clockwise relative to their bodies to face the experimenter, and the other half rotated their heads 68 degrees counterclockwise, also to face the experimenter. CLEM was predominantly toward the body's position in the asymmetrical condition rather than toward the body's position in the symmetrical condition.     

Arousal transfer: The influence of fear arousal on subsequent sexual arousal for subjects with high and low sex guilt

Male subjects (N = 128) with high or low sex guilt either were or were not threatened with shock (fear arousal manipulation) and then viewed either an erotic or a neutral film (sex arousal manipulation). Then all subjects viewed and rated slides of attractive women and slides of landscapes (neutral control slides). If fear arousal was specifically transferred to sexual arousal as is often predicted rather than simply causing a general increase in arousal, then it would be expected that subjects who had been exposed to the threat would show high arousal in response to the slides of women and low arousal to the slides of landscapes, whereas subjects who had not been threatened would show low arousal to both the slides of women and landscapes. Physiological (pulse rate, skin resistance), self-report, and word association measures consistently indicated that (a) both of the arousal manipulations were effective, (b) the slides of women were arousing, (c) sex guilt influenced responses as would be expected from previous research, but (d) did not indicate support for arousal transference. These findings (a) provide information concerning the influence of guilt on drives, (b) raise questions about the transfer of arousal that was noted in less controlled investigations, and (c) highlight the need for additional controls in research of this type.     

The effects of stressful arousal on conjugate lateral eye movement

This study investigated the relationship between stressful arousal and conjugate lateral eye movement tendencies in right-handed males. Sixty subjects were asked both neutral and mildly emotional questions after watching either a stressful industrial accident movie or a bland control film. Subjects had been previously classified as either right-movers, left-movers, or bidirectionals on the basis of their responses in a prefilm interview. A statistically significant interaction between dominant direction and film condition was found on right eye movement. Subjects classified as right-movers displayed increased right eye movement preferences under the stress film, compared to the neutral film condition. This effect was seen with neutral, but not mildly emotional, questions. Results were interpreted within an elaborated brain asymmetry model of conjugate lateral eye movement, in which stressful arousal is assumed to increase subjects' reliance on characteristic, neurologically based ways of dealing with stimuli. Implications for theory and research on brain-behavior relationships in ego-defensive styles are discussed.     

The effects of attentional focus and partner arousal on sexual responding in functional and dysfunctional men

The effects of attentional-focus instructions (self vs partner focus) and level of partner arousal (high, low and ambiguous) on sexual responding, both objectively and subjectively measured, were examined with sexually-functional (N = 8) and sexually-dysfunctional (N = 8) men. These instructional sets were delivered just before the subjects viewed an erotic film depicting a heterosexual couple in which they identified with the male. When both groups were focusing on themselves rather than their partner, higher tumescence was observed when their partner was displaying low arousal. When the partner's level of arousal was ambiguous, highest tumescence was achieved during partner attentional focus. When the partner was displaying high sexual arousal, functional subjects reached highest levels of tumescence during partner focus, while dysfunctional subjects reached highest levels of tumescence during self focus. In fact, high partner arousal seemed to inhibit dysfunctional subjects' tumescence under partner focus. Examination of self-report of arousal data as measured by a subjective lever revealed interesting group differences. Results are discussed in light of possible maintaining factors in sexual dysfunction and their treatment implications.     

Some Personality Correlates of the Conjugate Lateral Eye-Movement Phenomenon

One can observe, in many Ss, relatively consistent, unidirectional, conjugate lateral eye movements (CLEM) occuring in relation to reflective thought. Some studies have suggested an affinity between CLEM catagories (Right Lookers, Left Lookers) and catagories in other personality typologies (e.g., William James). An attempt was made to test this notion and determine cognitive and perceptual correlates of CLEM, employing the Rorschach. Hypotheses predicted a diffuse, “tender-minded” cognition for Left Lookers and a focused “tough-mindedness” for Right Lookers. Results were marginal for all instruments with the exception that sample extremes differed in Form-level and organization.     

Agrammatic aphasic subjects' comprehension of subject and object extracted Wh questions

This study attempted to replicate the unusual wh question comprehension pattern of Hickok and Avrutin's (1996) subjects who showed an expected subject/object extraction asymmetry for which NP questions, but not for who questions. We also examined comprehension of what and which one questions, which are similar to who and which NP questions, respectively, and we examined passivized wh questions in order to test predictions of Grodzinsky's (1995) restrictive theory of trace deletion, the Trace-Based Account (TBA). Results, using both a figurine manipulation task and a picture pointing task, showed that only one of four agrammatic (Broca's) aphasic subjects showed the pattern reported by Hickok and Avrutin and that this pattern extended to comprehension of what and which one questions. One of the subjects showed subject/object asymmetry for all wh questions tested, as would be predicted by the original trace deletion hypothesis (Grodzinsky, 1984), and two subjects showed neither pattern. None of our subjects demonstrated ability to comprehend passivized wh questions as predicted by the TBA. We discuss our findings in terms of the lack of homogeneity of wh question comprehension among individuals with agrammatic aphasia and we explore alternatives to the syntactic explanation for differences between who and which NP question comprehension advanced by Hickok and Avrutin.     

The effects of distance between interactants and subject anxiety on conjugate lateral eye movements

Ehrlichman and Weinberger (1978, Psychological Bulletin 85, 1080-1101) have suggested that the distance between participants during face-to-face interviewing may be a significant determinant of directional patterns of conjugate lateral eye movements (CLEMS). As predicted, at the longer, social distance CLEMS were dependent on the verbal or spatial nature of questions; when interactants were at a closer, personal distance CLEMS became more consistent in direction, regardless of problem type. Distance manipulation also differentially altered CLEM patterns for the two sexes.     

Relationship between conjugate lateral eye movements, brain organization, and cognitive style

The relationship between individual differences in conjugate lateral eye movements (CLEMs) and inferential reasoning was investigated in two experiments. Subjects were given inference tasks in sentence and pictorial form and were later tested for recognition of correct inferences as well as literal recognition of the acquisition items. In Experiment 2, for example, subjects were given logical syllogisms during acquisition. Theoretically, right-eye movement/left-hemispheric (REM/LH) subjects should have excelled at this highly logical task but no significant differences between eye-movement groups were found. However, support for previous research showing the moderating effects of gender on hemispheric activation (measured by CLEMs) and hemispheric competence came from the memory data of Experiment 2. These data indicated that male REM/LH subjects recognized more acquisition sentences than the other eye movement/gender groups. It was suggested CLEMs and other measures of hemispheric activation and competence, coupled with data collected using complex cognitive tasks, can eventually lead to explanatory brain models of cognitive processing.     

An investigation of bilateral asymmetries in electrodermal activity

Research in cerebral laterality supports the idea that functional differences between the left and right hemispheres exist with respect to cognitive style and perceptual ability. Related research, which has examined autonomic nervous system (ANS) correlates of cerebral laterality, suggests that a component of the ANS, electrodermal activity (EDA), is also lateralized. Some findings in the literature report the occurrence of bilateral asymmetries in phasic and tonic EDA as a function of a left or right hemisphere preference for information processing. This experiment used normal male subjects who were either left or right movers in a test of Conjugate Lateral Eye Movement (CLEM). This selection procedure served to maximize a subject’s preference for either a right or left hemisphere mode of information processing. Bilateral EDA was recorded continuously while subjects performed a visual recognition task using word (left hemisphere) and shape (right hemisphere) stimuli. The data do not support the contention that performance on a procedure chosen to selectively activate a given hemisphere elicits asymmetric tonic and/or phasic EDA. The results show no significant difference in the frequency of elicited skin conductance responses under either of the experimental conditions. Bilateral tonic EDA rose continuously over time and did not vary in either hand as a function of task. The present results fail to offer support for either of the hypotheses which argue for I) increased contralateralexcitation with selective hemispheric activation, or 2) increased contralateralinhibition of the EDR with hemispheric arousal.     

The effect of an increased awareness of erectile cues on sexual arousal

The present investigation addressed two major issues. The first issue is the effect on sexual arousal of increasing a S's self-directed genital focus during different intensities of erotic stimulation. It was found that increasing one's focus on genital cues during low-arousing stimuli decreased physiological arousal, but actually facilitated genital arousal at high-intensity stimulation. This finding brings into question the previous assumption that increased focus on erectile responding or ‘spectatoring’ has universally negative consequences. The second issue concerns the extent of response-system concordance for the physiological and subjective measures of sexual arousal. Two methods of measuring such agreement are proposed. These methods allow for the assessment of response-system concordance for both intensity and direction. These two parameters of concordance were then examined under different levels of arousal and under the two attentiona! focus conditions to ascertain if situational factors would affect response-system agreement. The results indicate that the two measures of concordance are differentially affected by such manipulations. Implications for the measurement of sexual arousal are discussed.     

Effects of stroking horses on both humans' and horses' heart rate responses1

Abstract: The present study examined both human and horse heart rates (HRs) when humans stroked horses for 90 seconds; the subjective arousal levels of the humans were measured by the Tohoku Activation Deactivation Adjective Check List before and after stroking horses. Six male subjects with a positive attitude toward companion animals and 6 male subjects with a negative attitude were selected by their scores on the Pet Attitude Scale, and these two groups, together with a third group, of 6 subjects who were male members of the Doshisha University horse-riding club, participated in this experiment. The HRs of the human subjects during the first 10 seconds immediately after the stroking began were significantly higher than those obtained after that period, but these higher levels gradually returned to baseline levels. This tendency appears more clearly in the negative attitude group. The HRs of the horses increased during the first 20 seconds immediately after the human subjects of the NA group started stroking them, but gradually reduced as the stroking continued. The results of subjective arousal levels suggest a decrease in tension by stroking horses. These results suggest that a certain affectional interaction may exist between humans and companion animals.     

Hemispheric alpha asymmetries of words with positive, negative, and neutral arousal values preceding tasks of recall and recognition: Electrophysiological and behavioral results from stuttering males and nonstuttering males and females

Hemispheric alpha asymmetries were obtained for stuttering males and nonstuttering males and females for words of positive, negative, and neutral arousal values. Electroencephalographic data were gathered during the presentations of stimulus words and during the actual nonoral recall and recognition of the stimulus items. Stuttering males demonstrated right-hemispheric alpha suppression across stimulus words and tasks as contrasted with left-hemispheric alpha suppression for the nonstuttering males and females. Stuttering males were also shown to recall and recognize fewer words than the nonstuttering subjects across arousal categories. Subjects were also administered a modified version of A. Paivio's (1971, In B. Randhawa & W. Coffman, Eds., Visual thinking, learning, and communication, New York: Academic Press) Individual Differences Questionnaire (IDQ). Results showed our stuttering males to have obtained lower scores on the verbal and imagery questions of the IDQ as compared to the nonstuttering groups. Hemispheric alpha asymmetry results and memory performance from the stuttering males are discussed relative to nonsegmental, right-hemispheric processing strategies.     

A comparison of hemispheric asymmetries in speech-related brain potentials of autistic and dysphasic children

In a previous study (G. Dawson, C. Finley, S. Phillips, & L. Galpert, 1986, Child Development, 57, 1440-1453) it was found that measures of hemispheric asymmetry during speech processing were predictive of level of language ability in autistic children. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether a similar relationship between pattern of hemispheric asymmetry and language ability exists for language-impaired children without autism. Ten autistic children (8-13 years), 10 dysphasic children (6-15 years), and 10 normal children (8-13 years) were compared in terms of their patterns of hemispheric asymmetry in the averaged cortical evoked response to a simple speech stimulus, and the relationship between pattern of hemispheric asymmetry and language ability was assessed for each clinical group. It was found that, for both the autistic and dysphasic groups, the majority of subjects showed a reversed direction of hemispheric asymmetry from that characteristic of the normal group. A strong relationship between pattern of asymmetry and level of language ability was found for autistic subjects; autistic subjects with more severe language impairments were more likely to show reversed asymmetry than subjects with less severe language impairments. In contrast, no relationship between language ability and direction of hemispheric asymmetry in the evoked response was found for dysphasic subjects. Separate analyses of right and left hemisphere evoked responses indicated that language ability was related to right hemisphere activity for autistic subjects, and to left hemisphere activity for dysphasic subjects.     

Prediction of Task-Related Arousal Under Conditions of Environmental Distraction1

The Arousability Predisposition Scale (APS) was used to assess individual differences in arousal that occur when a task is performed under conditions of environmental distraction. The APS is a brief (12-item) scale, that purportedly measures arousability as a trait or predisposition. To manipulate arousal experimentally, subjects performed a speeded search task under conditions of visual and auditory distraction. Pre- and postdistraction task measures of arousal were taken using Thayer's Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List. The distraction task caused a general increase in arousal as compared to a control group who did not perform the task. Although there were no differences in pretest measures, subjects judged highly arousable on the APS showed a greater change in task-related arousal than subjects judged low on arousability, validating the usefulness of the APS as a measure of arousability under conditions of environmental stress.     

Can we neurologise about spiral after effect duration?

Spiral After Effect (SAE) durations and measures of judgmental delay on an audio shift task were taken from 26 subjects. The importance of a general dispositional factor relative to specific neurological factors in determining SAE duration was investigated.A significant correlation was found between the two test measures (r = 0.79, P < 0.001). The validity of the SAE as a measure of ‘arousal modulation’ (Claridge, 1967; Blowers, 1979) is brought into question, and an alternative account of the reported duration of after-effect is given in terms of a general disposition for decision making under conditions of uncertainty, determined by social conditioning factors.     

The hardy personality: cognitive and physiological responses to evaluative threat

Hardy persons are hypothesized to be resistant to stress-induced illness, because of their adaptive cognitive style and a subsequently reduced level of physiological arousal. We assessed the cognitive and physiological responses of high and low hardy male undergraduates to a challenging task under high and low evaluative threat. As predicted, hardy subjects endorsed more positive self-statements than did low hardy subjects in the high threat condition. High hardy subjects also reported fewer negative self-statements overall, but this was attributable to the overlap of measures of hardiness and neuroticism. Hardy subjects displayed marginally lower arousal while waiting for the task to begin, but this finding did not approach significance when neuroticism was controlled. Hardy subjects also had higher levels of systolic blood pressure, perhaps because of their active coping efforts. Results support the hypothesized hardy cognitive style but raise questions about the type and timing of organismic strain linking hardiness and health.     

Attribution of apparent arousal and proficiency of recovery from sympathetic activation affecting excitation transfer to aggressive behavior

In a pretest, subjects' proficiency to recover from sympathetic arousal induced by strenuous exercise was assessed. The results were used to determine conditions of high, intermediate, and low recovery proficiency (fitness). After an assessment of subjects' unprovoked aggressiveness, subjects were aggressively provoked. Within proficiency blocks, they were then given one of two treatments, (a) sitting followed by exercising (no decay) or (b) exercising followed by sitting (partial decay), and were there-after provided with an opportunity to retaliate against their tormentor. Under conditions of no decay, in which the high levels of arousal experienced were attributable to exertion, the provocation treatment failed to increase aggressiveness significantly, and there were no differences in aggressiveness in the various proficiency conditions in spite of differentiations in the magnitude of prevailing excitatory residues. Under partial decay, in the absence of cues linking arousal to exertion, the magnitude of residual arousal did affect aggressive behavior: In the conditions of intermediate and low recovery proficiency, aggressiveness increased significantly with provocation and was more pronounced than in the condition of high proficiency (best fitness); in the condition of low proficiency (least fitness) aggressiveness was higher than in the condition of intermediate proficiency, but not reliably so.     

Effects of subject-to-experimenter distance and instructions on lateral eye movement

Lateral eye movements and heart rate were recorded as 32 right-handed men answered verbal and spatial questions. Experimenter-to-subject distance (.8 and 1.5 m) and attention demand of instructions were manipulated in a 2 X 2 design. A significant main effect for distance and an interaction of distance by instructions appeared on the direction of eye movements independent of type of question. The greatest number of leftward eye movements occurred at the short distance with instructions demanding higher attention. These findings are consistent with evidence that emotional arousal produces greater right- than left-hemisphere activation.     

Changes in immediate memory strategy under induced muscle tension and with time of day

It is suggested that the influence of arousal on immediate memory may, at least in part, be mediated by changes in strategy, such that subjects are less likely to rely on cumulative subvocal rehearsal of the items under high arousal. Experiment I found a detrimental effect of induced muscle tension on immediate memory, but only when subjects were free to engage in such rehearsal, and not under either enforced vocalisation or articulatory suppression. Experiment II manipulated strategy by instruction, and compared immediate memory at 10.30 (low arousal) with that at 19.30 (high arousal). A 10.30 superiority in immediate memory was found when no specific instructions as to how to either encode/store, or recall, the items were given. This superiority disappeared under four of the five alternative types of instruction where subjects were told to group and rehearse the items during presentation, or to recall the items in a specific order, or both. It is concluded that manipulations commonly held to affect arousal level may indeed influence the type of strategy that subjects spontaneously adopt. This may be responsible for some of the inconsistencies in the arousal and memory literature.