Effect of preconditioning unconditioned stimulus experience on learned taste aversions.

One taste-aversion study using male Long-Evans rats in which ethanol was the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and six studies in which lithium chloride (LiCl) was the UCS demonstrate that (a) exposure to the UCS prior to conditioning retards subsequent acquisition of learned taste aversions; (b) a single preconditioning UCS exposure is sufficient to attenuate conditioning; (c) the preconditioning UCS exposure must occur within a limited period prior to conditioning to attenuate learning; (d) repeated conditioning trials will override the effect of prior exposure to the UCS; (e) tolerance to the UCS is not a necessary condition for the attenuation effect to occur; (f) pairing the preconditioning UCS with a novel flavor other than the CS does not remove the preexposure effect, although it may reduce its magnitude; and (g) the degree of disruption is a positive function of preconditioning UCS dosage and an inverse function of conditioning UCS dosage.     

Sex differences in attraction to infants: When do they occur?

Harlow (1971) observed that all-female college audiences responded to a pictured infant rhesus monkey with an “ecstasy response,” while males were “completely unresponsive,” and females in coeducational audiences “inhibited the ecstasy response,” explaining these differences in terms of innate sex differences. The present study compared college students' self-reported attraction to pictures of 15 infant and adult nonhuman primates under several conditions. Infant pictures were of two types: infants which were engaged in typical infant behaviors (Infant Behavior), and those which were not (Infant). Subjects made judgments in same- or mixed-sex groups and reported degree of attraction publicly or privately. Ratio scores were used to represent each subject's attraction to infant or infant-behavior pictures compared with his or her attraction to pictures of adults. There were no significant sex differences in attraction to infant or infant-behavior pictures, and sex did not interact with any other variable. However, situational variables significantly affected the response. Males as well as females reported greater attraction to infant and infant-behavior pictures when they viewed the pictures in same-sex compared with mixed-sex groups. Both sexes reported greater attraction to infant and infant-behavior pictures privately than publicly.     

Gilbert's first night anxiety.

W. S. Gilbert, librettist of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, suffered from such extreme anxiety at the opening night performance of his plays that he was unable to remain in the theater. This paper explores the dynamics behind Gilbert's first night anxiety, utilizing his literary works as well as biographical and autobiographical sources.     

Improving the validity and reliability of medical-legal certifications of suicide

On a very basic level, those who study suicide are either explicitly or implicitly concerned with the certification of suicide deaths by coroners and medical examiners. Although many authors have questioned the reliability and validity of officially reported rates, these statistics continue to be quoted as fact--a potentially problematic practice for researchers who seek accurate and true causative factors for suicidal behavior. In relation to this topic, this article provides an overview of the existing vital statistics registry system and describes and proposes innovations that could ultimately improve the quality of officially reported suicide statistics.     

Decision making and the P300 component of the cortical evoked response

The amplitude of P300, and of other components of the evoked potentials, was examined during a task which required Ss to make a response appropriate to the conjoint properties of two rapidly successive visual patterns. In one set of conditions, the task was structured such that both stimuli were needed for the choice judgment. In another set of conditions, the task was changed from choice to simple RT by presenting the patterns in a predictable order. It was observed that P300 was enhanced during the choice RT conditions and that this enhancement was present only for the P300 following the stimulus permitting the choice and not the other, relevant but not decisive, stimulus appearing in close temporal proximity. An appreciable degree of independence between P300 and other components was indicated by the appearance of P300 under conditions in which other evoked potential components were entirely refractory. The data support an account for P300 in terms of poststimulus processes, such as decision making, and not in terms of preparatory adjustments.     

The kidnapping of W. S. Gilbert

Gilbert's probable screen memory of having been kidnapped, along with his persistent preoccupations with babyhood, remembering and forgetting, stress the intensity of his struggle against remembering the painful experiences from his childhood. His creative efforts function as an obsessional defense; they divert his attention from the experiences themselves to a fascination with the process of remembering and forgetting, while the painful affects are reversed into playful, good-natured humor. The results are some of his most treasured anecdotes. Watson (1918) quotes Gilbert's story of the amateur burglar who badly bungled an attempted robbery and ended up being arrested and jailed under the most humiliating circumstances. For years afterward, every time he though of the incident, he felt wretchedly uncomfortable, and he tried vainly to drive the occurrence from his mind. The story concludes with a statement which, remarks Watson, only Gilbert could have written: "Gradually one detail after another slipped from my recollection, and one lovely morning last May I found to my intense delight that I had absolutely forgotten all about it" (p. 94).