Social discounting of pain

Impatience can be formalized as a delay discount rate, describing how the subjective value of reward decreases as it is delayed. By analogy, selfishness can be formalized as a social discount rate, representing how the subjective value of rewarding another person decreases with increasing social distance. Delay and social discount rates for reward are correlated across individuals. However no previous work has examined whether this relationship also holds for aversive outcomes. Neither has previous work described a functional form for social discounting of pain in humans. This is a pertinent question, since preferences over aversive outcomes formally diverge from those for reward. We addressed this issue in an experiment in which healthy adult participants (N = 67) chose the timing and intensity of hypothetical pain for themselves and others. In keeping with previous studies, participants showed a strong preference for immediate over delayed pain. Participants showed greater concern for pain in close others than for their own pain, though this hyperaltruism was steeply discounted with increasing social distance. Impatience for pain and social discounting of pain were weakly correlated across individuals. Our results extend a link between impatience and selfishness to the aversive domain.     

Social transmission of disinhibition in young children

The present study examined whether young children's behaviors in the Dimensional Change Card Sorting task can be influenced by their observation of another person performing the task. Experiment 1 showed that after children watched an adult sorting cards according to one rule, although the children were instructed to sort the cards according to a new rule, most 3-year-olds made perseverative errors and used the observed, old rule to sort the cards instead of the new rule. However, only some 4-year-olds and few 5-year-olds made the same mistake. Experiments 2, 3 and 4 showed that the younger children took into consideration social pragmatic information displayed by the adult model when deciding to use the old rule or the new rule. When the model appeared to know that she sorted the cards incorrectly (Experiments 2 and 3), or was uncertain whether she sorted cards correctly (Experiment 4), most 3-year-olds no longer committed perseverative errors. When the adult model was confident about her sorting or oblivious to her sorting errors, most 3-year-olds made perseverative errors. These results taken together suggest that social observation can lead to disinhibitions. In other words, disinhibition can be transmitted socially from one person to another.     

The interactional perspective of pain behaviour in marriage

An attempt has been made in this paper to broaden the theoretical base of behavioural perspective of pain behaviour by incorporating the interactional dimension. A behavioural-interactional approach explains the functions of pain with greater clarity in the context of a marital dyad than does the behavioural approach. A distinction is made between learned pain behaviour and investment in maintaining pain behaviour. It is argued that when the patient and the spouse demonstrate an investment in maintaining pain behaviours, marital therapy is untenable. Case illustrations demonstrate the effects of learned and invested pain behaviours, on assessment and treatment.     

Social categorization and intergroup behaviour

The aim of the studies was to assess the effefcs of social categorization on intergroup behaviour when, in the intergroup situation, neither calculations of individual interest nor previously existing attitudes of hostility could have been said to have determined discriminative behaviour against an outgroup. These conditions were satisfied in the experimental design. In the first series of experiments, it was found that the subjects favoured their own group in the distribution of real rewards and penalities in a situation in which nothing but the variable of fairly irrelevant classification distinguished between the ingroup and the outgroup. In the second series of experiments it was found that: 1) maximum joint profit independent of group membership did not affect significantly the manner in which the subjects divided real pecuniary rewards; 2) maximum profit for own group did affect the distribution of rewards; 3) the clearest effect on the distribution of rewards was due to the subjects' attempt to achieve a maximum difference between the ingroup and the outgroup even at the price of sacrificing other ‘objective’ advantages. The design and the results of the study are theoretically discussed within the framework of social norms and expectations and particularly in relation to a ‘generic’ norm of outgroup behaviour prevalent in some societies.     

Social categorization and similarity in intergroup behaviour

The present study is one of a series exploring the role of social categorization in intergroup behaviour. It has been found in our previous studies that in ?minimal' situations, in which the subjects were categorized into groups on the basis of visual judgments they had made or of their esthetic preferences, they clearly discriminated against members of an outgroup although this gave them no personal advantage. However, in these previous studies division into groups was still made on the basis of certain criteria of ?real' similarity between subjects who were assigned to the same category. Therefore, the present study established social categories on an explicitly random basis without any reference to any such real similarity. It was found that, as soon as the notion of ?group' was introduced into the situation, the subjects still discriminated against those assigned to another random category. This discrimination was considerably more marked than the one based on a division of subjects in terms of interindividual similarities in which the notion of ?group' was never explicitly introduced. In addition, it was found that fairness was also a determinant of the subjects' decisions. The results are discussed from the point of view of their relevance to a social-cognitive theory of intergroup behaviour.     

Desynchrony following the treatment of pain behaviour

Preliminary evidence is presented concerning the relationship of measures of subjective pain experience, negative mood state and activity levels of 12 patients severely disabled with chronic pain behaviour. Prior to treatment there was a high positive correlation between pain intensity and negative mood state, and a negative correlation between pain intensity and levels of activity. Following a standardized behavioural treatment programme both these correlations were reduced, suggesting that some elements of the treatment induced desynchrony. The correlation of activity and negative mood state showed little change. The clinical and theoretical implications arc considered.     

Investigating the relationship between variations in students' perceptions of their academic environment and variations in study behaviour in distance education

Background. Recent research on student learning in higher education has identified clear associations between variations in students' perceptions of their academic environment and variations in their study behaviour. Aims. This research investigated a general theoretical model linking students' demographic characteristics, perceptions and study behaviour with measures of outcome and in particular compared four accounts of the casual relationship between perceptions and study behaviour. Samples. Study 1 employed data from 1,123 students taking six courses by distance learning; Study 2 employed data from 2,049 students taking seven courses by distance learning. Methods. Path analysis was used to assess the causal relationships among the students' age, gender and prior qualifications, their scores on the Course Experience Questionnaire, their scores on a short version of the Approaches to Studying Inventory or the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory, their overall marks and their ratings of general satisfaction. Results. Both studies yielded evidence for the causal efficacy of all the paths identified in the general theoretical model. Conclusions. There exists a bi‐directional causal relationship between variations in students' perceptions of their academic environment and variations in their study behaviour.     

Assessing pain behaviour of low-back pain patients in real time: concurrent validity and examiner sensitivity

Several systems for measuring pain behaviour have been developed for clinical settings. The present study reports on a real-time system for coding five categories of pain behaviour for low-back pain patients: guarding, touching, sounds, words, and facial expression. Unique features of the system are the use of refined measures of facial expression and integration of the measurements with a standardized physical examination. 176 sub-acute and chronic low-back pain patients underwent a physical examination while their pain behaviour was coded. Concurrent measures of subjective pain, medically-incongruent signs, and independent global ratings of pain behaviour were taken. Analyses indicated that the pain behaviours, particularly guarding and facial expression, varied systematically with the alternative measures, supporting the concurrent validity of the behaviour observation system. While pain behaviours, especially use of words and facial expressions, were significantly associated with the examiners' independent ratings, the strength of the associations suggested that, in the absence of direct training, examiners' performance was relatively poor. Implications for training of clinicians in detecting pain behaviour are discussed.     

Social cognition and the development of rule-guided behaviour

The weak to modest relationship between cognitive measures of judgement and reasoning and children's behaviour has led to a search for more satisfactory predictors of behaviour. One proposal is to integrate cognitive-developmental theory with children's perceptions of the self and others. In this regard, cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence indicates that children's “identification” as expressed by self-reports of parents' attractiveness and similarity to the self is correlated with their rule-guided behaviour. These relationships reflect the effects of sex-typing. In a study of behaviour in a naturalistic setting, Grade 1 girls' identification with the mother was correlated with a resistance to others' ruleviolations in Grade 2. Boys' self-initiated violations in Grade 2 were correlated with father identification in Grade 3. Given that behaviour can be mediated by perceptions of parents in relation to the self, and that effective socialization may reflect perceptions of control and a willingness to obey, a study of children's evaluations of maternal discipline techniques is reported. Findings were that children of all ages prefer an authoritative parent who displays firmness and flexibility in dealing with the situation at hand. The implications for theories of social development are discussed. Bidirectional influences in parent-child relations are considered as well as age-related changes in the connection between behaviour and sources of perceived control. Processes by which perceptions of control form a basis for autonomy and responsibility are examined.     

Social phobia in disabled workers with chronic musculoskeletal pain

The present study assessed the prevalence and impact of social phobia and other anxiety disorders in disabled workers with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Potential participants were 200 disabled workers consecutively referred to an interdisciplinary tertiary care centre. A two stage screening process was used in which: (a) a self-report battery was given during a pre-admission visit, and (b) preplanned selection criteria were applied to the self-report instruments to select patients for a structured diagnostic interview. Fifty-four of the 146 patients who provided complete responses on the self-report battery met criteria for interview. Twenty-six patients (17.8%) met DSM-IV criteria for a current anxiety disorder and, of these, 16 (11.0%) were diagnosed with social phobia. Subjects with social phobia rated themselves as having less social support than subjects with no psychiatric disorder, but the groups did not differ in pain-related life interference, personal control, or health care utilization. The results suggest that social phobia is over-represented in disabled workers with chronic musculoskeletal pain and should be noted as a comorbid condition that may compound both suffering and disability.     

Validating a new technique for the assessment of pain behaviour

The validity of a laboratory technique involving the calibration and tolerance of an auditory stimulus, as a measure of avoidance behaviour in headache sufferers was examined. The sample consisted of 174 Ss including headache clinic, psychiatric and normal headache sufferers and psychiatric and normal controls. There were no significant differences in the sensitivity and tolerance of the clinic, psychiatric and normal headache sufferers. Sensitivity to and tolerance of the auditory stimulus allowed differentiation of headache sufferers and controls. However, the difference between ‘in-pain’ and ‘pain-free’ headache sufferers from the psychiatric and clinic samples did not reach significance. But, higher pre-sessional pain levels were associated with higher sensitivity and reduced tolerance of the stimulus. Also greater sensitivity to the stimulus was associated with decreased tolerance, i.e. quicker avoidance of it. Calibration of the stimulus and exposure to it resulted in significant increments in self-reported pain/discomfort. For the clinic headache sufferers, the relationship of tolerance of the auditory stimulus to checklist-derived measures of avoidance and complaint behaviours was also examined. The results are discussed in terms of objectives and problems in the assessment of pain-related behaviours.     

The role of pain behaviour and family caregiver responses in the link between pain catastrophising and pain intensity: A moderated mediation model

Objectives: This study investigated the mediating role of pain behaviours in the association between pain catastrophising and pain intensity and explored the moderating role of family caregivers’ responses to pain in the link between pain behaviours and pain intensity.

Methods: The sample consisted of 154 chronic pain patients and their family caregivers. Patients completed questionnaires regarding pain intensity, pain catastrophising, pain behaviours and their caregivers’ responses to their pain. Family caregivers reported their responses to the patients’ pain.

Results: Pain catastrophising was associated with pain intensity (r = 0.37) and pain behaviours partly mediated this association. The positive association between pain behaviours and pain intensity was significant only if patients reported that their family caregivers showed high levels of solicitous (effect = .49) and distracting responses (effect = .58), and if caregivers reported to show high levels of solicitous responses (effect = .51). No support was found for negative responses as a moderator neither based on patients’ perception of negative responses nor based on caregivers’ perception of negative responses.

Conclusions: The findings are in line with the idea that family caregivers’ solicitous and distracting responses convey to patients that their condition is serious, which may reinforce patients’ pain and pain behaviours, especially in those who catastrophise.     

Social mimetic behaviour and social anticipation in dogs: preliminary results

Learning contributes to the development of mutual mimicry in group mates. The aim of our study was to investigate whether dogs would initiate walking a detour if they were repeatedly exposed to the detouring behaviour of their owner. Eight dog owners were asked to modify their usual way of approaching their home at the end of their daily walks, namely, to make a short detour before the entrance. Owners performed the detour at least 180 times, over a period of 3–6 months. During the first 30 detours (trials 1–30) all dogs followed the owner on the new route. Between trials 151 and 180, four dogs started to walk the detour before the owner displayed any intention to walk in that direction in 50–93% of the cases. Further observations that were carried out on one dog showed that the initialisation of the detours manifested sooner if a second familiar person started to walk the detours. Interestingly, the dog persisted in initialising detours long after the owners stopped detouring. We describe the observed phenomenon in the framework of social anticipation that manifests when an animal learns the proper sequence of an act performed by another animal, so that it can (1) predict the action in this sequence, and (2) as a result start either a similar or a complementary action as a response. These observations suggest that the dogs' social anticipation ability contributes to behavioural synchronisation and cooperative processes between dog and owner. Electronic Publication     

Social transmission of Pavlovian fear: fear-conditioning by-proxy in related female rats

Pairing a previously neutral conditioned stimulus (CS; e.g., a tone) to an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US; e.g., a foot-shock) leads to associative learning such that the tone alone will elicit a conditioned response (e.g., freezing). Individuals can also acquire fear from a social context, such as through observing the fear expression of a conspecific. In the current study, we examined the influence of kinship/familiarity on social transmission of fear in female rats. Rats were housed in triads with either sisters or non-related females. One rat from each cage was fear conditioned to a tone CS+ shock US. On day two, the conditioned rat was returned to the chamber accompanied by one of her cage mates. Both rats were allowed to behave freely, while the tone was played in the absence of the foot-shock. The previously untrained rat is referred to as the fear-conditioned by-proxy (FCbP) animal, as she would freeze based on observations of her cage-mate’s response rather than due to direct personal experience with the foot-shock. The third rat served as a cage-mate control. The third day, long-term memory tests to the CS were performed. Consistent with our previous application of this paradigm in male rats (Bruchey et al. in Behav Brain Res 214(1):80–84, 2010), our results revealed that social interactions between the fear conditioned and FCbP rats on day two contribute to freezing displayed by the FCbP rats on day three. In this experiment, prosocial behavior occurring at the termination of the cue on day two was significantly greater between sisters than their non-sister counterparts, and this behavior resulted in increased freezing on day three. Our results suggest that familiarity and/or kinship influences the social transmission of fear in female rats.     

Social influences on behaviour and neuroendocrine responsiveness of talapoin monkeys

The social organisation of a group of primates and in particular its aggressive interactions have profound but predictable effects on sexual behaviour. Dominant individuals have prerogative over sexual interactions, but since moving into a social group itself entails changes in endocrine state, one cannot ignore the fact that these endocrine changes may in some way reinforce the nature of the social hierarchy. In paticular, this paper considers how a monkeys endocrine profile may vary according to its social status and how endocrine profiles change in different rank. Most important is the finding that behavioural experiences in the social group may have repercussions for an animals ability to cope with changing circumstances, depending upon whether that individual was of high or low social status. Recent studies using the opiate receptor blocker, naltrexone, suggest that the endogenous opiates may provide a common neural link between the behavioural consequences of social subordination and some of the endocrine changes which accompany this.