The aggression-inhibiting influence of nonhostile humor

Forty undergraduate students participated in an experiment designed to investigate the hypothesis that prior exposure to nonhostile humor would markedly reduce the level of aggression directed by angry individuals against the person who had previously provoked them. In order to examine this suggestion, subjects were first angered or not angered by a confederate of the experimenter, then exposed to either humorous cartoons or nonhumorous pictures, and finally provided with an opportunity to aggress against this individual by means of electric shock. Results indicated that exposure to the nonhostile cartoons significantly reduced the duration of the shocks delivered to the confederate by subjects in the angry condition, but failed to influence the level of aggression demonstrated by subjects in the nonangry group. These findings were discussed in terms of the elicitation, by the cartoons, of responses and emotional states incompatible with anger or overt aggression. Possible implications of the aggression-inhibiting influence of humor for the prevention and control of human violence were also considered.     

Reinforcement magnitude and pausing on progressive-ratio schedules

Rats responded under progressive-ratio schedules for sweetened milk reinforcers; each session ended when responding ceased for 10 min. Experiment 1 varied the concentration of milk and the duration of postreinforcement timeouts. Postreinforcement pausing increased as a positively accelerated function of the size of the ratio, and the rate of increase was reduced as a function of concentration and by timeouts of 10 s or longer. Experiment 2 varied reinforcement magnitude within sessions (number of dipper operations per reinforcer) in conjunction with stimuli correlated with the upcoming magnitude. In the absence of discriminative stimuli, pausing was longer following a large reinforcer than following a small one. Pauses were reduced by a stimulus signaling a large upcoming reinforcer, particularly at the highest ratios, and the animals tended to quit responding when the past reinforcer was large and the stimulus signaled that the next one would be small. Results of both experiments revealed parallels between responding under progressive-ratio schedules and other schedules containing ratio contingencies. Relationships between pausing and magnitude suggest that ratio pausing is under the joint control of inhibitory properties of the past reinforcer and excitatory properties of stimuli correlated with the upcoming reinforcer, rather than under the exclusive control of either factor alone.     

Effects of indoor lighting (illuminance and spectral distribution) on the performance of cognitive tasks and interpersonal behaviors: The potential mediating role of positive affect

Three studies examined the effects of key aspects of indoor lighting (illuminance, spectral distribution) on the performance of tasks that did not primarily involve visual processing. It was hypothesized that lighting conditions which generated positive affect among subjects would influence behavior and cognition in ways consistent with the findings of previous research on the influence of such affect. Results of all three studies offered partial support for this hypothesis. In Study 1, male and female subjects exposed to relatively low levels of illuminance (150 lux) assigned higher performance appraisals to a fictitious employee and included a broader range of words in specific word categories than subjects exposed to relatively high levels of illuminance (1500 lux). In Study 2, subjects exposed to warm white light reported stronger preferences for resolving interpersonal conflicts through collaboration and weaker preferences for resolving conflicts through avoidance than subjects exposed to cool-white light. Additionally, illuminance and spectral distribution (color) interacted to influence subjects' self-set goals on a clerical coding task. In Study 3, receipt of a small, unexpected gift and exposure to warm-white light both increased the amount of time subjects were willing to donate as unpaid volunteers. In addition, in the absence of a gift, subjects volunteered more time under low than under high illuminance.This research was supported by funds from the Niagaru Mohawk Energy-Efficient Seed Research program and from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Study 1 was conducted by Susan G. Daniels in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Master of Science degree. The authors wish to express their sincere appreciation to Marna Bronfen and Jill Thomley for their aid in collection of the data for Studies 2 and 3 and in statistical analyses. Thanks are also due to Sylvania, Inc., for supplying lamps, and to Bob Davis and Peter Boyce for their invaluable assistance in several respects.     

Fear,attachment and affiliation: The interaction of functional systems in 8- and 12-month-old infants

In this research fear of strangers has been analysed as it interacts with attachment and affiliation, and in relation to developmental level, in conditions most similar to the natural situations where encounters with unfamiliar persons take place. A total of 30 infants and their mothers participated. The children were divided into two groups (8-9 and 11-12 months). Each infant was approached by two females, who, in turn, produced either of two natural sequences. Our results allowed us to confirm the universality of fear and its coexistence and interaction with attachment and affiliation. As far as the role that developmental level plays, it was noted that in the 12-month-old infants fear reactions were more intense than in the younger ones. Furthermore, the attachment system was more activated in the older group in the intrusive episodes, but when the threatening nature of the situation decreased, attachment was activated less in the 12-month-old group. Another difference was related to control resources. While in the younger infants we observed a tendency to control their own emotional state, the 12-month-old infants tried to gain control over the stranger. These results were interpreted by considering the adaptative value of an increase with age of the capacity to evaluate a situation's threat value, of attachment security, and of behavioural resources permitting some control over the stranger's behaviour.     

The informativeness and frequency of presentation of a social stimulus as determinants of its efficacy as a reinforcer

It was demonstrated that variations in the informativeness of a social stimulus place important limitations on the generality of the proposition that deprivation heightens, while satiation lowers, responsiveness to a social stimulus. Using 60 children 5 to 6 years of age as subjects, a social stimulus (“good”) was presented at either a high or a low frequency in one of three information-value contexts (high, medium, or low). Immediately following the exposure treatment the same social stimulus was employed as a reinforcer of nonpreferred responses in a two-choice discrimination learning task. The findings indicated that the heightened efficacy of deprivation relative to satiation only held for low information value; when initial information value was high the subsequent efficacy of a social stimulus was enhanced by its initial recurrent usage. Trend analyses revealed that the effects of variations in information value were strongest within the high-frequency-of-praise treatment. Possible mechanisms underlying the significant Information Value × Frequency interaction were discussed.     

Distraction and social comparison as mediators of social facilitation effects

Sanders and Baron (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, 32, 956–963) suggested that increases in drive produced by the presence of others (social facilitation) are due to the tendency for others to distract task performers as they worked on a task. This Distraction-Conflict theory proposes that socially mediated drive induction will occur whenever there is some reason to shift attention from the task to the social stimuli. In the case of humans, one such reason may be the opportunity to obtain social comparison information from an audience or coactors. The present research demonstrated that social facilitation effects (improved simple task performance and impaired complex task performance produced by the presence of others) occurred only when subjects were motivated to obtain comparison information (Experiment I) and when comparison information was available (Experiment II). The availability of comparison information also led to increased accuracy in estimating the coactor's performance. This indicated that in conditions manifesting social facilitation, subjects were spending some time monitoring the coactor's work, which is an inherently distracting activity. Several supplementary measures of distraction were generally consistent in indicating greater distraction under conditions manifesting social facilitation. The present results offer no support for the explanations of social facilitation suggested by Zajonc and by Cottrell.     

Ambient temperature and the occurrence of collective violence: the "long, hot summer" revisited

Archival data pertaining to 102 instances of serious collective violence were examined in order to study the relationship between ambient temperature and the occurrence of such events. Results indicated that the frequency of collective violence and ambient temperature were curvilinearly related. Specifically, ambient temperature was directly associated with the frequency of collective violence through the mid-80s (degrees Fahrenheit). Beyond this point, however, further increments in temperature were associated with a decreasing incidence of such events. Additional findings indicated that ambient temperature increased significantly during the 7 days preceding the outbreak of collective violence, remained stable during its occurrence, but then decreased significantly in the 3 days following its termination. Possible implications of these findings, as well as their relationship to the results of previous laboratory studies, are discussed.