Hostility and facial affect recognition: effects of a cold pressor stressor on accuracy and cardiovascular reactivity

The effects of hostility and a cold pressor stressor on the accuracy of facial affect perception were examined in the present experiment. A mechanism whereby physiological arousal level is mediated by systems which also mediate accuracy of an individual’s interpretation of affective cues is described. Right-handed participants were classified as high hostile (N=28) or low hostile (N=28) using the Cook Medley Hostility Scale. The high-hostile group met joint selection criteria. Only high-hostile participants who showed cardiovascular reactivity to the cold pressor, with systolic BP change exceeding the group mean were included. Groups were further subdivided into cold pressor and non-cold pressor test conditions. It was predicted that high-hostile men, relative to low-hostile men, would show decreased perceptual accuracy when presented with happy, angry, and neutral facial configurations within the left visual field (LVF). Results indicated that high-hostile men were less accurate than low-hostile men in the LVF. Further, pre-stress accuracy scores in the high-hostile men were similar to the post-stress accuracy scores of the low-hostile men. The lateralization of affective function and the role of physiological arousal in affective facial perception are discussed.     

Diagnosticity and prototypicality in category learning: a comparison of inference learning and classification learning

Category knowledge allows for both the determination of category membership and an understanding of what the members of a category are like. Diagnostic information is used to determine category membership; prototypical information reflects the most likely features given category membership. Two experiments examined 2 means of category learning, classification and inference learning, in terms of sensitivity to diagnostic and prototypical information. Classification learners were highly sensitive to diagnostic features but not sensitive to nondiagnostic, but prototypical, features. Inference learners were less sensitive to the diagnostic features than were classification learners and were also sensitive to the nondiagnostic, prototypical, features. Discussion focuses on aspects of the 2 learning tasks that might lead to this differential sensitivity and the implications for learning real-world categories.     

A new breed of computer users: Rats control a cursor via joystick manipulation

Many exciting findings have been reported in the 15 years since monkeys were first demonstrated to have the capacity to perform computerized tasks. The present data indicate that albino rats can also learn to respond to computer-generated stimuli by manipulating a joystick. Although the rat’s control of the cursor is not as skillful as has been reported for primate species, it is clearly better than chance and suggests the great potential for comparative investigation afforded by use of the computer test system.     

Developing a treatment manual for attention management in chronic pain

This article reports the development of a protocol for the therapeutic application of "attention control" for chronic pain. Attention control is the limitation of the impact of pain by switching or retunning attention. An expert systems approach was used to develop the protocol. In the first stage an extensive literature search retrieved published and unpublished accounts of attention control strategies and a draft treatment manual was prepared. In the second stage 6 experts were recruited and they independently read and reviewed the draft manual. They were interviewed using a semi-structured protocol to elicit their views on the draft manual. The manual was then revised to accommodate the information and expertise. In addition to providing expert opinion on the manual the experts also raised issues about the process of change in psychological treatment for chronic pain. These issues were organized into a process model of change in chronic pain.     

Alcohol-related motivational tendencies in hazardous drinkers: assessing implicit response tendencies using the modified-IAT

This study examined the utility of an implicit measure of cognitive associations, the Implicit Association Test (IAT; ), to assess alcohol-related approach dispositions. Forty-seven hazardous drinkers completed a modified IAT procedure that assessed the relation between alcohol and behavioral categories (i.e., approach and avoid). Participants completed a series of individual difference measures before an alcohol cue exposure task in which they anticipated alcohol consumption. Results indicate that the modified IAT is associated with binge drinking episodes, perceived difficulty controlling alcohol use, and appetitive responses to alcohol cues. Findings are discussed in terms of the potential value of this measure to assess alcohol-related memory associations among those whose alcohol use puts them at risk for harm.     

Context-processing deficits in schizophrenia: diagnostic specificity, 4-week course,and relationships to clinical symptoms

Previous research on schizophrenia suggests that context-processing disturbances are one of the core cognitive deficits present in schizophia. However, it is not clear whether such deficits are specific to schizophrenia as compared with other psychotic disorders. To address this question, the authors administered a version of the AX Continuous Performance Test designed to assess context processing in a sample of healthy controls, patients with schizophrenia, and patients with other psychotic disorders. Participants were tested at index (when medication naive and experiencing their first contact with psychiatric services) and 4 weeks later, following medication treatment. At index, patients with schizophrenia and the psychotic comparison group demonstrated similar impairments in context processing. However, context-processing deficits improved in the psychotic comparison group at 4 weeks but did not improve in patients with schizophrenia.     

Do age of onset and course of illness define biologically distinct groups within atypical depression?

Illness course separates patients with atypical depression into tricyclic responders and nonresponders as does perceptual asymmetry. The authors therefore investigated whether the course-of-illness parameters would define groups within atypical depression differing in brain laterality. Patients with atypical depression were assessed for illness course and brain laterality. Two patient groups were defined, 1 with onset prior to age 20 plus a very chronic course, and a 2nd group having later onset or less chronic illness. Patients reporting early onset of very chronic dysphoria showed significantly less right-ear (left-hemisphere) accuracy and also differed in characteristic perceptual asymmetry when compared to patients with later onset or less chronicity. Course of illness may usefully define more homogeneous depressive subgroups within atypical depression.     

The effects of extinction,noncontingent reinforcement and differential reinforcement of other behavior as control procedures

Several techniques have been used in applied research as controls for the introduction of a reinforcement contingency, including extinction, noncontingent reinforcement (NCR), and differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO). Little research, however, has examined the relative strengths and limitations of these "reversal" controls. We compared the effects of extinction with those of NCR and DRO in both multi-element and reversal designs, with respect to (a) rate and amount of response decrement, (b) rate of response recovery following reintroduction of reinforcement, and (c) any positive or negative side effects associated with transitions. Results indicated that extinction generally produced the most consistent and rapid reversal effects, with few observed negative side effects.     

Analysis of precurrent skills in solving mathematics story problems

We conducted an analysis of precurrent skills (responses that increase the effectiveness of a subsequent or "current" behavior in obtaining a reinforcer) to facilitate the solution of arithmetic word (story) problems. Two students with developmental disabilities were taught four precurrent responses (identifying the initial value, change value, operation, and resulting value) in a sequential manner. Results of a multiple baseline design across behaviors showed that the teaching procedures were effective in increasing correct performance of each of the precurrent behaviors with untaught problems during probes and that once the precurrent behaviors were established, the number of correct problem solutions increased.