Carbon dioxide as a reinforcer in escape conditioning

The effects of varying CO₂ concentration, and intervals between CO₂ presentations, were determined from the performance by five pigeons of a learned motor act which eliminates CO₂ from the inspired air. The length of time from the onset of an externally-produced increase in inspired CO₂ to the performance of the learned motor response terminating the CO₂ presentation was inversely related to the CO₂ concentration presented (3 per cent and 5 per cent) and directly related to the inter-trial interval (3 minutes and 1.5 minutes). Chemoreceptors on the ventrolateral surfaces of the medulla are postulated to be the initial site of stimulation in the chain of events leading to the behavioral bioregulation of inspired CO₂ concentration.     

Social perception and signal detectability theory: Group influence on discrimination and usage of scale

Summary The influence of social motivation on perception was operationalized as group pressure on the usage of a 4-point scale by which subjects discriminated two stimulus situations in a procedure analogous to signal detection experiments. After a pretest, only those subjects were taken who preferred the left end of the scale. During each main session three confederates influenced one selected subject by the opposite scale preference after each of his judgments had been given. The preformance level of the confederates was equalized to that of the naive subject in the pretest. Both the possibility of an ex post check and the resulting conflict generated motives leading to an increased performance in the experimental group but to a decrease in the control group (without influence). No subject resisted to influence. The theoretical relevance for social perception is discussed.

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Zusammenfassung Der Einfluß sozialer Motivation auf die Wahrnehmung wurde als Gruppendruck auf den Gebrauch einer 4-Punkte-Skala operationalisiert, auf der Versuchspersonen (Vpn) zwei Reizsituationen wie in Signal-Detection-Experimenten unterschieden. Nach einem Vorversuch wurden nur solche Personen genommen, die das linke Ende der Skala bevorzugten. In allen Hauptversuchen beeinflußten 3 Mitwisser des Versuchsleiters eine ausgewählte Vp durch eine gegensätzliche Bevorzugung der Skala nach jeder Antwort der Vp. Das Leistungsniveau der Mitwisser entsprach dem Niveau der naiven Vp im Vorversuch. Die Möglichkeit der nachträglichen Überprüfung und der resultierende Konflikt erzeugten Motive, die zu einer erhöhten Leistung in der experimentellen Gruppe, in der Kontrollgruppe (ohne Einfluß) jedoch zu einer Abnahme führten. Keine Vp widerstand dem Einfluß. Die theoretische Bedeutung für die soziale Wahrnehmung wird diskutiert.

     

Self-consciousness,self-report of aggressiveness,and aggression

Private self-consciousness consists of attending to one's thoughts, feelings, and motives. Public self-consciousness consists of attending to oneself as a social object. The effect of dispositional self-consciousness on the accuracy of self-reports was studied in research on aggression. High- and low-private self-conscious subjects rated their own aggressiveness. Several weeks later their aggressive behavior was objectively measured. The correlation between self-report of aggressiveness and aggressive behavior was significantly higher for high-than for low-private self-conscious subjects. The correlation between self-report and behavior was unaffected by public self-consciousness. The implications of these findings for self-consciousness theory and personality dispositions are discussed.     

Family Processes and Treatment Outcome in the MTA: Negative/Ineffective Parenting Practices in Relation to Multimodal Treatment

To elucidate processes underlying therapeutic change in a large-scale randomized clinical trial, we examined whether alterations in self-reported parenting practices were associated with the effects of behavioral, medication, or combination treatments on teacher-reported outcomes (disruptive behavior, social skills, internalizing symptoms) in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants were 579 children with Combined-type ADHD, aged 7–9.9 years, in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA). We uncovered 2 second-order factors of parenting practices, entitled Positive Involvement and Negative/Ineffective Discipline. Although Positive Involvement was not associated with amelioration of the school-based outcome measures, reductions in Negative/Ineffective Discipline mediated improvement in children's social skills at school. For families showing the greatest reductions in Negative/Ineffective Discipline, effects of combined medication plus behavioral treatment were pronounced in relation to regular community care. Furthermore, only in combination treatment (and not in behavioral treatment alone) was decreased Negative/Ineffective Discipline associated with reduction in children's disruptive behavior at school. Here, children in families receiving combination treatment who showed the greatest reductions in Negative/Ineffective Discipline had teacher-reported disruptive behavior that was essentially normalized. Overall, the success of combination treatment for important school-related outcomes appears related to reductions in negative and ineffective parenting practices at home; we discuss problems in interpreting the temporal sequencing of such process-outcome linkages and the means by which multimodal treatment may be mediated by psychosocial processes related to parenting.     

Coping with the exposure to torture

This paper describes approaches taken at the International Rehabilitation and Research Centre in Copenhagen to helping torture victims and their families cope with the exposure to and aftermath of torture.