The influence of metacontrast masking on detection and spatial-choice judgments: an apparent distinction between automatic and attentive response mechanisms

Several studies of metacontrast masking in the 1960s apparently showed that the latency of simple detection responses was uninfluenced by the phenomenal dimming of the target induced by the mask. More recent studies using more suitable methodologies have clearly shown that such is not the case for situations in which the masking is a monotonically decreasing function of stimulus onset asynchrony. Experiment 1 investigated this issue for the situation in which masking is a U-shaped function of stimulus onset asynchrony. Contrary to the results obtained in monotonic masking situations, simple detection responses were not slowed by the masking. Experiment 2 demonstrated that although detection responses are not slowed in the U-shaped masking situation, spatial-choice judgments are. Experiments 3 and 4 indicated that this masking effect on spatial-choice reaction time is lost relatively rapidly with practice. However, changing the stimulus-response assignments reinstates the effect. The experiments suggest that for the situation in which U-shaped masking functions are obtained, responses that require attention (spatial-choice judgments early in practice or after stimulus-response relationships have been switched) are influenced by the metacontrast-induced phenomenal dimming, whereas responses that are automatic (i.e., detection responses; practiced spatial-choice judgments with consistent stimulus-response mappings) are not.     

Flavor-illness aversions: potentiation of odor by taste is disrupted by application of novocaine into amygdala

Taste and odor have different properties in toxiphobic conditioning. When each is used alone, taste becomes aversive when followed by immediate or delayed poison, while odor becomes aversive only if followed by immediate poison. However, if odor and taste are presented as a compound and followed by delayed poison, then odor does become aversive when tested alone. It is as if taste has potentiated the odor signal. Several experiments assessed the role of the amygdala in this potentiation effect by anesthetizing the amygdala with 10% novocaine. Novocaine applied 30 min before presentation (Pre-CS) of an odor-taste compound disrupted the potentiated odor aversion but not the taste aversion. In contrast, novocaine applied 1 min after the compound odor-taste or 1 min prior to LiCl poison did not dissociate odor and taste aversions; both odor and taste aversions were facilitated. Novocaine applied 30 min before an odor alone also disrupted an odor aversion induced by immediate LiCl. But identical treatment did not disrupt odor avoidance conditioned by immediate foot-shock, suggesting that amygdala anesthesia does not simply produce anosmia. Pre-CS novocaine treatment also disrupted flavor neophobia prior to conditioning. The results suggest that novocaine applied to the amygdala disrupts the integration of odor with taste and illness during toxiphobic conditioning.     

Cognitive motivation and drug use: a 9-year longitudinal study.

The predictive precedence of expectancy constructs, operationally defined as cognitive motivations, and drug use was investigated over a 9-year period from adolescence to adulthood. Alternative predictions from three different classes of theories of expectancy-behavior relations, including expectancy theory, a Skinnerian approach, and a reciprocal determinism perspective, were evaluated. The results are most consistent with the notion based in expectancy theory that cognitive motivations are nonspurious and possibly functionally autonomous influences on the use and abuse of drugs. More limited support is found for the view that drug use leads to cognitive motivations, as postulated in other theoretical perspectives. Other findings reveal the presence of expectancy generalization processes consistent with Rotter's (1954) expectancy theory, as well as the unique status of cognitive motivations for alcohol as an independent predictor of problem drug use.     

Psychometric detection of schizotypy: perceptual aberration and physical anhedonia in relatives of schizophrenics.

We administered scales of Perceptual Aberration (PERAB) and Physical Anhedonia (PHYSAN), traits that may be related to risk for schizophrenia, to 54 schizophrenics, 146 of their first-degree relatives (evaluated for schizophrenia-related disorders), and 178 normal subjects (screened for psychotic disorders in them or their relatives). For both scales, there was a significant effect of group membership. For the PERAB scale, the schizophrenics had higher scores than the normal subjects, who had higher scores than the relatives. For the PHYSAN scale, schizophrenics had higher scores than their relatives, who had higher scores than the normal subjects. Patterns of familial correlations also suggested that physical anhedonia, but not perceptual aberration, may be familial among schizophrenics and their relatives. The PHYSAN scale, but not the PERAB one, may be a useful indicator of liability for schizophrenia among the relatives of affected probands.     

Prospective study of postpartum depression: 4 1/2-year follow-up of women and children

The consequences of maternal postpartum depression for mothers and children were investigated in a 4 1/2-year follow-up study, which included 70 of 99 women who had participated in an earlier study of postpartum depression. Information about maternal adjustment and depression during the follow-up period and child adjustment at age 4 1/2 years was obtained. Women who had experienced a postpartum depression were predicted to be at increased risk for subsequent depression and poor adjustment of their child. Postpartum depression was directly related to subsequent depression but not child problems. Later depression was related to child problems at 4 1/2 years. We concluded that postpartum depression may increase risk for later maternal depression and in turn increases risk for child behavior problems. Intervening with women who have experienced a postpartum depression may reduce likelihood of future depressions and child behavior problems.     

Emergent themes and roles in short-term loss groups

Clinical observations regarding themes and roles that are characteristic of short-term, psychoanalytically oriented therapy groups for loss patients are presented. They reflect aspects of both the therapy and the patients. Themes refer to the content of a recurrent conflict in the group. They include trust, survivor guilt, mortality, and termination. Roles refer to a set of patient behaviors that represent a shared conflict. They include the apparition, monk, professor, professional nurturer, emotional conductor, and cruise director. Challenges that the themes and roles present to the therapist and clinical guidelines for addressing them are offered. Awareness of characteristic themes and roles and possible therapist responses are regarded as important parts of the preparation and training of therapists who plan to conduct short-term loss groups.     

Rethinking levels of abstraction in family systems theories.

This article is an attempt to improve the way we conceptualize "levels" in family systems. The first section reframes thinking about levels by identifying an array of different ways of thinking about levels. The next section suggests a parsimonious frame-work for thinking about levels of abstraction in systemic processes. The proposed framework integrates several earlier ways of conceptualizing levels, and helps eliminate some of the confusion, inconsistencies, fragmentation, and limitations of some earlier models. The new framework has three categories that are called Levels I, II, and III. The most abstract level (III) includes phenomena such as family paradigms and values. The intermediate level includes processes such as second-order change, regime, and "meta" processes such as metacommunication and meta-rules. The least abstract level refers to specific processes such as transformation processes and rules. The article concludes with an attempt to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed framework by showing how it can be used to eliminate a number of conceptual problems in earlier models, improve conceptual clarity, help generate new theoretical insights, and help deal with several controversies in the field.     

Sleep physiology and psychological aspects of the fibrositis (fibromyalgia) syndrome

Fibrositis (fibromyalgia) patients were compared with normal controls in terms of electrophysiology (EEG), self-report indicants of awakening, quality of sleep, behaviourally signalled awakenings, and Symptom Check List 90R (SCL-90R) scores. The results differentiated fibrositis patients from normal controls in terms of SCL-90R scores, with fibrositis patients showing significantly more psychopathology. Fibrositis patients had more alpha EEG sleep and less REM and Stage 1 sleep. They were better able to recall their behaviourally signalled awakenings the following morning and reported qualitatively less satisfying sleep than the normal controls. The alpha EEG sleep anomaly may reflect a vigilant arousal state during nocturnal sleep and result in the daytime experience of unrefreshing sleep, psychologic distress, that re-enforces the perpetuation of the sleep-related symptoms.     

Social influence processes affecting adolescent substance use

Social influence is central to models of adolescent substance use. Nonetheless, researchers fail to delineate the various forms of social influence. A framework that distinguishes between active (explicit drug offers) and passive (social modeling and overestimation of friends' use) social pressure was tested. The effect of these processes on alcohol and cigarette use was examined with 526 seventh graders taking part in an alcohol prevention program. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that pretest measures of alcohol use, offers, modeling, and overestimation each accounted for unique variance in posttest alcohol use. Similar results were obtained for cigarette smoking. The general model was not significantly different for boys and girls, or for prior users and prior nonusers, supporting the generalizability of the framework. Implications for intervention programs are discussed.