Individual difference in anticipatory physiological responses to signaled stress: role of locus of control and autonomic balance.

Anticipatory cardiac activity to a signaled stressful event was hypothesized to be related to individual differences in locus of control and to autonomic balance. Subjects experienced 5 trials of a 105-db burst of white noise that was signaled by a milder tone. Significant increases in electrodermal as well as heart-rate responses occurred after the stress tone. While anticipating stress, the 10 subjects designated as having high levels of coherence between heart-rate and respiratory activity (high parasympathetic balance) showed reduced heart-rate and respiratory activity (high parasympathetic balance) showed reduced heart-rate variability over the 10 subjects with low coherence. Locus of control was not related to anticipatory activity. Anticipatory cardiac activity is discussed in light of two current psychophysiological models of attention.     

Loss of Financial Capacity in Alzheimer's Disease: The Role of Working Memory

Recent research has demonstrated that loss of financial capacity is a common consequence of Alzheimer's disease (AD). While progressive cognitive decline is a defining feature of AD, the relationship between such decline and loss of financial capacity in AD remains unclear. Working memory may be strongly associated with financial abilities, as many financial tasks require temporary storage and manipulation of numerical and other data. The present study examined the relationship between financial capacity and working memory in AD patients. Participants included 20 AD patients and 23 cognitively intact older controls. Working memory was conceptualized using Baddeley and colleagues' model, which posits that the three components of the working memory system are the visuospatial sketchpad, phonological loop, and central executive system. The present study examined only the latter two components of working memory. Each participant was administered the Financial Capacity Instrument (FCI), an instrument that directly assesses eight domains of financial activity, and the WAIS-III Working Memory subtests (Digit Span, Arithmetic, Letter–Number Sequencing). AD patients as a group performed significantly below controls on the FCI Total Score and on each of the eight FCI domains and working memory subtests. Within the AD group, measures of the central executive component of working memory (WAIS-III Digits Backward, Arithmetic, and Letter-Number Sequencing tests) showed strong correlations with the FCI domains of basic monetary skills, checkbook management, bank statement management, and bill payment and FCI total score, while a measure of the phonological loop component of working memory (WAIS-III Digits Forward) was not significantly correlated with any FCI domains or with the FCI total score. The results suggest that the multiple domains of financial capacity are primarily correlated with the central executive component of working memory.     

Phenomenology of film music

This is a revised version of a paper written for Professor David Raksin's class in film music, Fall 1976, at the University of Southern California.     

Validation of an automated 16PF administration procedure

Examined the effects of a computer-based administration procedure on reliability and validity of a personality questionnaire. Utilizing a counterbalanced repeated-measures design, Form A of the 16PF was administered to 80 undergraduates who had been randomly assigned to either computer-computer, computer-booklet, booklet-computer, or booklet-booklet administration conditions. Subjects also completed a self-report anxiety measure before and after each administration of the 16PF. Multivariate analyses revealed no significant differences in score reliability, validity, or self-reported anxiety among the four administration conditions. Small yet significant differences were noted with respect to ratings of the assessment experience. Subjects in the two groups which were exposed to both administration formats rated the computer procedure as more positive in comparison to the booklet format. Due to the student sample, replication of these findings with treatment-seeking clients is needed.     

Mutual problem-solving skills training for premarital couples: A six-month follow-up

The purpose of the present study was to undertake a six-month follow-up of the communication and problem-solving skill level of those premarital couples trained in the Ridley, Avery, Harrell, Leslie, and Dent (in press) study. Fifty-nine percent of the original sample (14 experimental couples and 18 control couples) were given a behavioral assessment of communication and problem-solving ability six months after training. Results indicated that the experimental group, relative to the control group, had significantly higher pretest to follow-up scores on communication skills and the problem-solving steps. Discussions centered on the implications of skill maintenance over time and possible directions of future research.     

The effects of interpersonal skills training on sex-role identity of premarital dating partners

The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of a problem-solving skills training program on sex-role identity. It was hypothesized that individuals in a problem-solving skills training program would show greater movement toward androgyny relative to a control group. Twenty-six premarital couples were assigned to a problem-solving skills training program and 29 couples served as a contact control group. An analysis of covariance was performed on the Bem Scale masculine and feminine scores to test the effects of group and sex. Results indicated that the experimental group, as compared to the control group, was significantly higher on femininity following treatment. Discussion centered on the implications of being able to change sex-role identity as well as the need to further explore means of facilitating the development of androgyny in adults.     

The Development and Validation of the Multicomponent AIDS Phobia Scale

The development, reliability, and validity of a new instrument, the Multicomponent AIDS Phobia Scale (MAPS), is described. Based on a sample of 181 university students, the results indicate that the MAPS has strong internal consistency and moderate test-retest reliability. In addition, an assessment of concurrent and discriminant validity indicates statistically significant correlations with other self-report measures of anxiety, hypochondriasis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and fear of AIDS. The results of a factor analysis indicate that the scale consists of two factors: Fear of Infection and Fear of Others/Avoidance. Although further research with the MAPS in a clinical population is warranted to investigate the generalizability of this study's results, the instrument appears to be a reliable and valid measure of AIDS Phobia and may prove useful for improving clinical assessment and documenting treatment outcome.     

Empathic joy and the empathy-altruism hypothesis

Three experiments tested whether empathy evokes egoistic motivation to share vicariously in the victim's joy at improvement (the empathic-joy hypothesis) instead of altruistic motivation to increase the victim's welfare (the empathy-altruism hypothesis). In Experiment 1, Ss induced to feel either low or high empathy for a young woman in need were given a chance to help her. Some believed that if they helped they would receive feedback about her improvement; others did not. In Experiments 2 and 3, Ss induced to feel either low or high empathy were given a choice of getting update information about a needy person's condition. Before choosing, they were told the likelihood of the person's condition having improved--and of their experiencing empathic joy--was 20%, was 50%, or was 80%. Results of none of the experiments patterned as predicted by the empathic-joy hypothesis; instead, results of each were consistent with the empathy-altruism hypothesis.