Individual differences in melancholy gender among women: does ambivalence matter?

This research offers an empirical investigation inspired by Butler's theory of melancholy gender (1995) and a revision of this theory (Jay 2007a). Psychoanalytic feminist theory is drawn on to suggest that melancholy and gender are more likely to be associated in female development than in male development, and Freud's theory of melancholy (1917) is taken to suggest that ambivalence predicts individual differences in melancholy gender among women. In a longitudinal study of women's adult development, an examination of femininity, depressive symptoms, and ambivalence in attachment was conducted in order to evaluate these claims. Findings show that depressive symptoms and femininity are significantly correlated within the sample, but that individual differences in melancholy gender exist. To understand these differences, an analysis was conducted to determine whether ambivalence in attachment accounts for the relation between depressive symptoms and femininity; complementary analyses examined whether low ambivalence in attachment attenuates, or lessens, the relation between femininity and depressive symptoms. Results from these analyses support the notion that it is not the loss and internalization of the same-sex object choice per se that results in melancholy gender in women, as Butler argues; rather, it is the internalization of a lost, ambivalent same-sex attachment that forges the link between melancholy and gender. Narrative material is presented to personify melancholy and unmelancholy gender.     

An analysis of procedures that affect response variability

Response variability is sensitive to antecedent and consequent manipulations. Researchers have investigated inducement, direct production through reinforcement, and stimulus control of response variability. Recently, researchers have shown that lag reinforcement schedules reliably increase variability but may also produce higher‐order stereotypy. There has been limited investigation of appropriate variability levels and alternation between repetition and variation. In a three‐part study, we evaluated levels of variability across a group of children, the effects of various procedures on producing response variability and novelty, and the use of schedule‐correlated stimuli for producing rapid alternation between repetition and variation. In Study 1, there was a nearly bimodal distribution of children emitting either low or high variability. In Study 2, for most children, fixed lag 4 and variable lag 4 schedules produced the highest levels of variability and novelty. In Study 3, responding was brought under control of schedule‐correlated stimuli, allowing for rapid alternation between repetition and variation.     

The placebo response complex

Placebo effects contribute to beneficial therapeutic responses and are common in anxiety and depressive disorders. It is posited that placebo effects are yielded by autonomous feeling-toned complexes capable of re-establishing background self-states of well-being. The relationship between the placebo response complex and modern neurobiological models of self is explored. The psychological roots of the placebo response complex in implicit memories of organized attachment between child and early caretakers and in Sandler's conception of the benign superego are examined. The relationships between the negative placebo (nocebo) response complex, Freud's negative therapeutic reaction, and Fordham's defence of the self are explored. Finally, it is suggested that approaches fundamental to the analytic encounter, e.g., mirroring, affectual exchanges, attunement, and containment are likely to optimize the salutary effects of both psychological and somatic therapeutic interventions.     

Ambivalence and Response Amplification Toward Native Peoples1

This study determined whether ambivalence toward Native peoples would result in amplified, or polarized, responses to members of the group, as assessed in terms of both general attitudes and social policy endorsements. In addition, it examined whether priming would mediate these effects, based on the notion that ambivalent attitudes contain both positive and negative dimensions that may be activated at different times. Induction of different mood states was used as an indirect priming manipulation. One hundred thirty-eight Canadian participants completed measures of ambivalence toward Native peoples and Canadians. One week later, these participants underwent a positive, neutral, or negative mood induction procedure. They then indicated their attitudes toward Native peoples and Canadians, and responded to social policy questions involving both groups. Participants who were highly ambivalent or not ambivalent toward Native peoples were retained for analysis; participants generally displayed low ambivalence toward Canadians. It was predicted and the results confirmed that only participants who were ambivalent toward Native peoples would display a relative response amplification effect: a greater difference between positive and negative mood states in their responses to Native peoples than in their responses to Canadians.     

Sex-role orientation and attachment styles of sex offenders

Given the increase of individuals who have a history of sexual offenses, there has been an increase in research on the etiology of sex-offending behavior. The present purpose was to evaluate the relationship between sex-role orientation and attachment styles of males who were sex offenders. Analysis yielded statistically significant differences between comparison (n = 22) and clinical groups (n = 21) in gender roles, with little sign of the androgynous gender type for sex offenders. The offender group showed significantly lower frequency of androgyny scores and significantly higher scores on feminine and undifferentiated orientations, supporting the theoretical view of sex offenders as being "cross-sex-typed." In addition, the sex offender group had a significantly higher mean score on anxious-avoidant relationship attachment. Based on the present findings, there appears to be a need to help sex offenders explore how their gender roles may relate to their sex-offending behavior and assist sex offenders in the development of adaptive relationships with reduced anxiety and ambivalence.     

Attachment change processes in the early years of marriage.

The authors examined 4 models of attachment change: a contextual model, a social-cognitive model, an individual-difference model, and a diathesis-stress model. Models were examined in a sample of newlyweds over the first 2 years of marriage, using growth curve analyses. Reciprocal processes, whereby attachment representations and interpersonal life circumstances affect one another over time, also were studied. On average, newlyweds became more secure over time. However, there was significant within-subject variability on attachment change that was predicted by intra- and interpersonal factors. Attachment representations changed in response to contextual, social-cognitive, and individual-difference factors. Reciprocal processes between attachment representations and marital variables emerged, suggesting that these factors influence one another in an ongoing way.     

The operant conditioning of response variability: Free-operant versus discrete-response procedures

The operant conditioning of response variability under free-operant and discrete-response procedures was investigated. Two pigeons received food only if their pattern of four pecks on two response keys differed from the patterns emitted on the two immediately preceding trials. Under the free-operant procedure, the keys remained illuminated and operative throughout each trial. There was little variability in the response patterns that resulted, and the pigeons received fewer than one third of the available reinforcers. Under the discrete-response procedure, a brief timeout period followed each response. Variability increased under this procedure, and the pigeons obtained three fourths of the available reinforcers. Previous successes and failures to produce response variability may have been due to the use or failure to use, respectively, a discrete-response procedure. Respondent effects inherent in the free-operant procedure may encourage the development of response stereotypy and, in turn, prevent the development of response variability.     

恋爱受挫对自我—他人工作模型的影响

摘 要 该研究使用内隐联想测验（IAT）考察了成人依恋的主要表现形式恋爱关系中,恋爱受挫对被试自我—他人工作模型的影响。结果表明：（1）虽然实验组与控制组在依恋焦虑、依恋回避得分上均无显著差异,但IAT结果发现,组别、依恋类型在IAT效应（自我积极—他人消极模型指标）上的主效应显著,其交互作用也显著。除了回避型被试,安全型和焦虑型实验组的IAT效应显著高于控制组。（2）控制组中,焦虑型被试相容部分反应时显著大于不相容部分,回避型被试则相容部分反应时显著小于不相容部分,安全型被试无显著差异。     

Self-ambivalence and resistance to subtle self-change attempts

Recent research has demonstrated the malleability of self-views to subtle situational influence but has not uncovered features of the self-concept representation that make it susceptible to such change. Using research on attitude ambivalence as a foundation, the current article predicted that the self would be most likely to respond to a subtle change induction when the targeted self-beliefs were objectively ambivalent (e.g., possessed both positive and negative features). Using self-esteem conditioning (Experiment 1) and outgroup stereotype priming (Experiment 2), it was found that people were more susceptible to subtle change inductions as objective self-ambivalence increased. Notably, the consistency between dominant self-views (positive or negative) and the change induction did not influence these results. These effects held for objective ambivalence, but not subjective ambivalence, and only when the objective ambivalence measure was relevant to the change induction. Mechanisms of the observed moderation and the implications of self-ambivalence for understanding self-change are discussed.     

Adult attachment and the transition to parenthood

This study examined how a major life stressor--the transition to parenthood--affects marital satisfaction and functioning among persons with different attachment orientations. As hypothesized, the interaction between women's degree of attachment ambivalence and their perceptions of spousal support (assessed 6 weeks prior to childbirth) predicted systematic changes in men's and women's marital satisfaction and related factors over time (6 months postpartum). Specifically, if highly ambivalent (preoccupied) women entered parenthood perceiving lower levels of support from their husbands, they experienced declines in marital satisfaction. Women's ambivalence also predicted their own as well as their husbands' marital satisfaction and functioning concurrently. The degree of attachment avoidance did not significantly predict marital changes, although women's avoidance did correlate with some of the concurrent marital measures. These findings are discussed in terms of attachment theory.     

An Information Processing Theory of Ambivalence

This paper analyzes the sources of ambivalence toward political parties and candidates. We propose and test an information-processing theory of ambivalence in which systematic processing is hypothesized to heighten partisan and candidate ambivalence. We show that ambivalence is linked to several dispositional sources of systematic processing, including individuals' information, motivation, and cognitive style. Specifically, we find that ambivalence tends to be greater among the well informed and those who are high in need for cognition while it tends to be lower among those motivated by directional goals. Collectively, our results suggest that levels of partisan and candidate ambivalence are greatest among those most likely to engage in effortful processing of information and that these effects are independent of value conflict. The results further suggest that the effects of effortful processing on ambivalence are moderated by attitude commitment.     

Effects of D-amphetamine and ethanol on variable and repetitive key-peck sequences in pigeons

This experiment assessed the effects of d-amphetamine and ethanol on reinforced variable and repetitive key-peck sequences in pigeons. Pigeons responded on two keys under a multiple schedule of Repeat and Vary components. In the Repeat component, completion of a target sequence of right, right, left, left resulted in food. In the Vary component, 4-peck sequences differing from the previous 10 produced food. d-Amphetamine (0.1-3.0 mg/kg, i.m.) was administered in two separate phases, separated by ethanol administration (1.0-2.0 g/kg, i.g.). Under control conditions, measures of variability were high in the Vary component, and lower in the Repeat component. Following administration of the highest dose of d-amphetamine, but not ethanol, response rates decreased in both components. d-Amphetamine and ethanol tended to increase overall sequence variability in the Repeat component, and had less of an effect in the Vary component. Performance in the Repeat component during Phase 2 of d-amphetamine administration was more disrupted than during Phase 1. Measures of variability and repetition based on shifts in the relative frequency distributions of the 16 possible keypeck sequences differed from those based on the overall measure of variability, highlighting the importance of considering both molar and molecular measures when assessing the effects of drugs on reinforced variability and repetition. In addition, the shifts in the relative frequency distribution of response sequences suggest that d-amphetamine produced decrements in repeat performance by decreasing discriminative control within response sequences, whereas ethanol decreased repeat performance by decreasing discriminability between components as well as discriminative control within response sequences.     

ADHD儿童的选择性抑制

采用较传统停止信号任务更为精确的选择性停止信号任务,探索ADHD的选择性抑制缺陷的机制。结果发现,ADHD儿童在选择性停止信号任务上,抑制失败的比率明显高于正常儿童,但是其执行加工速度和抑制加工速度与正常儿童没有差异,另外,ADHD儿童表现出了更大的反应变异性。研究认为,ADHD在选择性停止信号任务上的抑制缺陷并非由于抑制加工速度过慢所导致,而是由于其不能很好地维持最佳的激活状态所导致,状态调节理论更能反映ADHD的本质。     

Aging holocaust survivors' well-being and adjustment: associations with ambivalence over emotional expression

A sample of 90 older respondents (age range: 78-83 years) composed of 2 Holocaust groups (camp inmates and other survivors) and a comparison group completed questionnaires measuring ambivalence over emotional expression, positive and negative affect, and psychosocial adjustment. The Holocaust groups rated higher than the comparison group on negative affect and ambivalence over emotional expression and lower on psychosocial adjustment. Ambivalence over emotional expression mediated the effects of the Holocaust on negative affect. These data suggest that the effects of the Holocaust are evident 60 years later, highlighting the role of ambivalence over emotional expression in the well-being of Holocaust survivors.     

An investigation into the relationship between perceived control,attitude variability and the consumption of two common foods

The study reported here takes its lead from the literatures which emphasize the importance of attitude variability and the role of perceived control over action. Within-person variability and perceptions of control are investigated in the context of people's attitudes towards the consumption of two common foods. The role of attitude ambivalence is also examined. The findings indicate that higher attitude variability is associated with weaker relationships between the components of the theory of reasoned action and that attitude variability is negatively related to perceived control. Moreover, perceived control is shown to be related to different sorts of control problem for different behaviours. It is advocated that a more in-depth assessment of attitude variability and the perceived control construct is merited and that recent calls for more serious examination of attitude ambivalence are well-founded.     

Minority influence: the role of ambivalence toward the source

According to literature on social influence, a minority source may indirectly influence group members by fostering ambivalent reactions. Two studies were carried out in order to provide empirical support for this theoretical assumption. In Study 1 participants (n = 133), were exposed to a counter‐attitudinal minority message and ambivalence was manipulated by facilitating the accessibility of either ambivalent (positive and negative) or univalent (positive or negative) thoughts toward the source. We predicted and found more indirect influence in ambivalent condition than in univalent conditions. No effect of ambivalence on direct influence was found. In Study 2 (n = 127), ambivalence was measured and two possible antecedents of ambivalence, consistency of the minority and personal relevance of the topic for participants, were taken into account. Findings suggest that ambivalence mediates the effects of the two factors on indirect influence. In sum, these studies provide evidence of the importance of ambivalence in minority influence context, an early assumption that was still lacking in strong empirical support. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conflict in object affordance revealed by grip force

Viewing objects can result in automatic, partial activation of motor plans associated with them—“object affordance”. Here, we recorded grip force simultaneously from both hands in an object affordance task to investigate the effects of conflict between coactivated responses. Participants classified pictures of objects by squeezing force transducers with their left or right hand. Responses were faster on trials where the object afforded an action with the same hand that was required to make the response (congruent trials) compared to the opposite hand (incongruent trials). In addition, conflict between coactivated responses was reduced if it was experienced on the preceding trial, just like Gratton adaptation effects reported in “conflict” tasks (e.g., Eriksen flanker). This finding suggests that object affordance demonstrates conflict effects similar to those shown in other stimulus–response mapping tasks and thus could be integrated into the wider conceptual framework on overlearnt stimulus–response associations. Corrected erroneous responses occurred more frequently when there was conflict between the afforded response and the response required by the task, providing direct evidence that viewing an object activates motor plans appropriate for interacting with that object. Recording continuous grip force, as here, provides a sensitive way to measure coactivated responses in affordance tasks.     

Making life easier with effort: Basic findings and applied research on response effort

Early basic research showed that increases in required response effort (or force) produced effects that resembled those produced by punishment. A recent study by Alling and Poling determined some subtle differences between the two behavior-change strategies, but also confirmed that increasing required effort is an effective response-reduction procedure with enduring effects. In this paper we summarize basic research on response effort and explore the role of effort in diverse applied areas including deceleration of aberrant behavior, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oral habits, health care appointment keeping, littering, indexes of functional disability, and problem solving. We conclude that renewed interest in response effort as an independent variable is justified because of its potent effects and because the political constraints imposed on punishment- and reinforcement-based procedures have yet to be imposed on procedures that entail manipulations of response effort.     

Ingroup ambivalence and experienced affect: the moderating role of social identification

No previous work in the field of group‐related attitudes and emotions has investigated the possible affective consequences of ingroup ambivalence—that is, the consequences of having attitudes towards an ingroup that are simultaneously both positive and negative. The current study was designed to explore this issue. Ambivalent attitudes have been argued to be more psychologically salient to the individual than univalent ones. A linear increase in participants' experienced affect was therefore predicted as a function of their ambivalence toward the ingroup. However, consistent with the predictions of social identity theory, previous findings have shown that higher ingroup identifiers are more likely to be involved with the ingroup than lower identifiers. Accordingly, we predicted and found effects of ingroup ambivalence on affect for high but not low ingroup identifiers. Combining the findings of two distinct literatures, the initial evidence provided by this study exploratively traces the sources of the affective processes that are set in motion by the evaluation of one's own group in an intergroup context. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Représentations des pratiques éducatives parentales et estime de soi chez des enfants placés en fratrie versus séparément

Despite abuse, children placed in childcare homes have parental representations which are marked by ambivalence. This ambivalence is characterized by the coexistence of negative and positive representation towards their biological parents. However, the fact that positive representations towards neglecting parents persist can possibly harm self-esteem. Placement aims not only to protect the child, but also to offer him the possibility of reconstructing his self-image with more secure attachment figures. When a placement is decided, the children are entrusted to Child Welfare and are placed either with their siblings or separately. This study aims to examine the parental representations and the self-esteem of 33 children that are placed with siblings and 25 children that are placed alone; all children were between the ages of 10 and 18. Then, the relation between parental representations and self-esteem was examined in each group. Those two dimensions have been respectively measured with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale and the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). The results show that participants placed with their siblings were less depressed and had a better self-esteem than participants placed separately. Moreover, although the two groups had neglecting parents, the participants placed with their siblings had significantly better parental care representations. This study also put into light that the links between parental representations and self-esteem are significantly different whether the participant is placed with his siblings or not. Among children placed with siblings, the more positive the images of the father and the mother, the lower the self-esteem level. These results confirm the hypothesis according to which a positive parental care representation could reinforce the negative image those children have of themselves. The results also question the effects (positive or negative) of the defensive exclusion process on the evolution of self-representations among placed children. Finally, from a therapeutic point of view, they stress the importance of working on self-esteem with placed children.