An investigation of bilateral asymmetries in electrodermal activity

Research in cerebral laterality supports the idea that functional differences between the left and right hemispheres exist with respect to cognitive style and perceptual ability. Related research, which has examined autonomic nervous system (ANS) correlates of cerebral laterality, suggests that a component of the ANS, electrodermal activity (EDA), is also lateralized. Some findings in the literature report the occurrence of bilateral asymmetries in phasic and tonic EDA as a function of a left or right hemisphere preference for information processing. This experiment used normal male subjects who were either left or right movers in a test of Conjugate Lateral Eye Movement (CLEM). This selection procedure served to maximize a subject’s preference for either a right or left hemisphere mode of information processing. Bilateral EDA was recorded continuously while subjects performed a visual recognition task using word (left hemisphere) and shape (right hemisphere) stimuli. The data do not support the contention that performance on a procedure chosen to selectively activate a given hemisphere elicits asymmetric tonic and/or phasic EDA. The results show no significant difference in the frequency of elicited skin conductance responses under either of the experimental conditions. Bilateral tonic EDA rose continuously over time and did not vary in either hand as a function of task. The present results fail to offer support for either of the hypotheses which argue for I) increased contralateralexcitation with selective hemispheric activation, or 2) increased contralateralinhibition of the EDR with hemispheric arousal.     

Factors contributing to the effectiveness of social and nonsocial reinforcers in the discrimination learning of children from two socioeconomic groups

Middle- and lower-class children who had been treated by E in a warm or aloof manner were given a discrimination learning task under one of six conditions forming a 3 × 2 design: three reinforcement types (Verbalintoned, Verbal-nonintoned, or Symbolic) and reinforcement for correct or incorrect responses. In accordance with Zigler's valence theory of social reinforcement, lower-class girls and middle-class children of both sexes tended to perform better when they had previously received warm treatment. No significant differences among the three types of reinforcers occurred in either SE group, thus failing to support the implications of several theories about the relative effectiveness of social and nonsocial reinforcers and tonality factors related to SES.     

An experimental demonstration of discriminated (nongeneralized) imitation

In a number of experiments, nonreinforced imitation has been found to persist at high rates despite the variety of procedures which have been employed to eliminate such responses. In the present experiment, powerful stimulus control was established over imitation by providing an alternative response which was reinforcible. Four children participated in a multiple-schedule experiment in which imitation was reinforced in the presence of one light and bar pressing in the presence of a second light; throughout the experiment, responses were modeled on each trial: hand-arm responses in the presence of the red light and leg responses in the presence of the yellow light. Initially, imitation was reinforced in the presence of the red light and button pressing in the presence of the yellow light. In a within-subjects design, stimulus control was demonstrated by reversing the association of lights and contingencies, then reinstating the original contingencies. The children imitated when reinforced for imitation and pressed the button when button pressing was reinforced. The results demonstrate stimulus control over imitation which is more powerful than in previous investigations and indicate that the prevailing reinforcement contingencies determine whether or not a child will imitate on a particular occasion.This research was supported by a Faculty Summer Research Grant from The American University. The authors wish to express their appreciation to the School for Contemporary Education, McLean, Virginia, and to Dr. Sally Sibley, Mr. David Williams, and Mrs. Linda Trout for their cooperation in providing subjects and research space.     

Once More Unto the Breach: Type B Physicalism,Phenomenal Concepts,and the Epistemic Gap

Type B, or a posteriori, physicalism is the view that phenomenal-physical identity statements can be necessarily true, even though they cannot be known a priori—and that the key to understanding their status is to understand the special features of our phenomenal concepts, those concepts of our experiential states acquired through introspection. This view was once regarded as a promising response to anti-physicalist arguments that maintain that an epistemic gap between phenomenal and physical concepts entails that phenomenal and physical properties are distinct. More recently, however, many physicalists have lost confidence in the view, and have proposed less promising defences of physicalism—or have become outright sceptical about its prospects. I argue here that these physicalists have underestimated the resources of Type B physicalism and are thereby retreating too quickly—or fighting battles that have already been won.     

The Married Professional Woman: An Examination of Her Role Conflicts and Coping Strategies

A group of 232 married women doctors, lawyers and professors were surveyed about their attitudes toward their roles and how they cope with role conflicts. Close to half of the women reported that it was impossible to rank the relative importance of their family and career roles, and a majority of women stated that they often experienced strains between these roles. Coping strategies such as having family members help with chores, having family members help resolve role conflicts, reducing standards within certain roles, considering personal interests important, and scheduling and organizing activities carefully were found to be significantly related to satisfaction. It is suggested that married professional women who develop effective coping strategies will find the challenge of combining a profession and a family a rewarding one.     

Job Satisfaction and Nonwork Satisfaction as Components of Life Satisfaction1

The relationship between job satisfaction and life satisfaction is examined, using regression analyses which control the effects of satisfaction with domains other than the job and conditions associated with the workplace and with life away from work. Results from data analyses of two independent sets of survey data are used to elaborate and refine a multivariate framework for relating overall life satisfaction and job satisfaction.     

PARENTAL INFLUENCES ON CHILDREN'S EATING BEHAVIOR AND RELATIVE WEIGHT

We investigated the relationship between selected parent behaviors, child mealtime behavior, and infant relative weight. Subjects were 7 male and 7 female children varying in age from 12 to 30 months (mean = 23.9 months). Each subject and parents were observed during the dinnertime meal on two occasions using the BATMAN (Bob and Tom's Method of Assessing Nutrition). The children spent 58% of the mealtime eating. They spent very little time making active decisions about what and how much they ate (food requests = 2% of the time; food refusals = 1% of the time). We found significant correlations between child relative weight and (a) parental prompts to eat (r = .81, p < .001), (b) parental food offers (r = .51, p < .05), and (c) parental encouragement to eat (r = .82, p < .001). Thus, the present study suggests a relationship between certain parental variables and the relative weight of their children.     

SCIENCE,RELIGION, AND ETHICS: A RESPONSE TO MICHAEL J. REISS

The respondent agrees with Michael Reiss's general diagnosis of the rudderless state of ethics in our modern society, but not with all of his account of its causes or possible solutions. Scripture has always been limited in terms of direct moral commands, and secular ethics has, since Aristotle at least, been influential in directing Christian understanding of the “good life.” Ethics must be based in biology, but evolutionary biology can tell us more readily what is, than guide us into “what ought” to be. Christian teaching classically emphasized moral formation, grounded in the understanding that we are creatures of a good Creator. We have our being as gift, and human life flourishes when oriented to the Good.     

Sentence context modulates visual word recognition and translation in bilinguals

The influence of sentence context constraint on subsequent processing of concrete and abstract cognates and noncognates was tested in three experiments. Target words were preceded by a predictive, high constraint sentence context, by a congruent, low constraint sentence context, or were presented in isolation. Dutch-English bilinguals performed lexical decision in their second language (L2), or translated target words in forward (from L1 to L2) or in backward (from L2 to L1) direction. After reading a high constraint sentence context, cognate and concreteness effects disappeared in lexical decision and strongly decreased in both translation tasks. In contrast, low constraint sentences did not influence cognate and concreteness effects. These results suggest that semantically rich sentences modulate cross-language interaction during word recognition and word translation.