Transients in “constant-current” generators

Some shock-generator circuits may deliver large transient surges at onset and termination. The sources of these surges are derivable from electromagnetic analysis of the circuits employed. Virtual elimination of the surges may be accomplished by a simple rearrangement of the switching portion of the circuit.     

A multi-purpose logic module for behavioral experiments

A notational system has been developed that can be used to describe most reinforcement schedules or other sequential procedures by appropriately interconnecting the basic notational units. The notational language has been applied in the past to develop a user-oriented computer program for behavioral experiments. The present paper describes a digital logic module designed to be isomorphic with the basic unit of the notational language, thus permitting rapid programming of new experiments directly from the notational system. The major advantage of the new module is that it requires no electronic sophistication on the part of the user, since the one module serves as the basic unit of all experiments.     

A Theory of Self-regulation: Action versus State Orientation, Self-discrimination, and Some Applications

Cet article résume les théories et les recherches relatives aux activités mentales qui se dissocient du choix conscient. Contrairement à d'autres processus incontrôlables (automatiques), ces activitiés font de lourds prélèvement sur des ressources limitées. Les prédispositions aux dissociations incontrôlables, variables selon les individus, sont appréhendées à partir du trait de personnalité“orientation vers l‘état mental ou vers l'action”. On présente trois théories solidaires qui prétendent introduire à une compréhension plus profonde des cognitions intentionnellement incontrôlables. Le champ des effets comportementaux des cognitions non intentionnelles est sensiblement élargi par l'intégration de la théorie de l'orientation dans une autre théorie, plus vaste, de l'autorégulation. Les antécédents proches et éloignés des cognitions incontrôlables peuvent être mieux compris grâce à une théorie de l'autodiscrimination qui explique les dissociations orientées vers l’état mental à partir d'une intériorisation erronée des attentes, des désirs et des croyances des autres. On discute enfin des applications de ces théories à la clinique, à l‘éducation et aux organisations. This article summarises theory and research concerning mental activities that are dissociated from an individual's current self-chosen intention. Unlike other uncontrollable (“automatic”) processes, these activities place heavy demands on limited-capacity resources. Individual differences in the disposition to have uncontrollable dissociations are discussed in terms of the personality construct action vs. state orientation. Three nested theories are described that purport to provide a deeper understanding of intentionally uncontrollable mental cognitions. The scope of behavioural effects of unintended cognitions is substantially enlarged by integrating the theory of state orientation in a comprehensive theory of self-regulation. Proximal and distal antecedents of uncontrollable cognitions can be better understood on the basis of a theory of self-discrimination that explains state-oriented dissociations on the basis of false internalisation of others' beliefs, wishes, and expectations. Educational, clinical, and organisational applications of the theory are discussed.     

Personality integration and social schemata1

This study was designed to determine whether persons of differing levels of personality integration utilize different response sets to govern their personal space boundaries in relationships with parents and peers. These response sets or “social schemata” were operationally defined by Kuethe's (1962a) free placement felt figures technique and by tape recorded interviews with 30 female and 30 male undergraduates. Findings indicate that personality integration is significantly related to equality with parents and peers, to women's perceived closeness to parents, to the variability of personal space boundaries, and to “communicative richness” when individuals are asked to describe their interpersonal relationships verbally.     

Guidance and Educational Opportunity: The German Perspective

This article is based on information about the status of guidance and counseling in German education acquired by the author during his 1977 summer Fulbright Fellowship to the Federal Republic of Germany. Menacker identifies some points of comparison regarding the roles of guidance and counseling in the American and German education systems. The less developed German educational-guidance system is used to shed light on the nature of guidance contributions made by the American system.     

Dissociation of reward and effort sensitivity in methcathinone‐induced Parkinsonism

Methcathinone‐induced Parkinsonism is a recently described extrapyramidal syndrome characterized by globus pallidus and substantia nigra lesions, which provides a unique model of basal ganglia dysfunction. We assessed motivated behaviour in this condition using a novel cost‐benefit decision‐making task, in which participants decided whether it was worth investing effort for reward. Patients showed a dissociation between reward and effort sensitivity, such that pallidonigral complex dysfunction caused them to become less sensitive to rewards, while normal sensitivity to effort costs was maintained.     

A critical appraisal of heterosexism in Zambia

On 24 February 2012, then United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Zambia for three days. His call to respect human rights and give protection to all people regardless of sexual orientation was received mostly with hostility by the Zambian public. The media was inundated with opposing press statements from both government and civil society persons and entities. Politicians, church leaders, and the public widely condemned Ban's advocacy for “gay rights”. Although the debate on homosexuality is not new in Zambia, there is a dearth of research on the subject. This paper seeks, modestly, to re-examine popular rationale for heterosexism to contribute to the resolution of one of the perennial problems colouring African political, social, and cultural discourse. By deconstructing the popular views and systematising the debate, the paper aims at providing a baseline and guideline for addressing the problem of heterosexism in Zambia. Without suggesting that Africa is homogenous, what happened in Zambia following Ban's visit could have predictably happened in many African countries, notably Uganda and Nigeria. This paper, however, uses Zambia as a point of reference. The paper relies on views indicating negative attitudes and beliefs that legislators, and policy makers, church leaders and ordinary citizens have toward homosexuality. These positions have been thematised into six major grounds for the sexual prejudices against homosexuality. These are subjected to logical and epistemic scrutiny. Ultimately, the arguments in support of heterosexism are shown to be untenable.     

Individual differences in intention initiation under demanding conditions: Interactive effects of state vs. action orientation and enactment difficulty

The present research examines individual differences in intention initiation. State- compared to action-oriented persons show an intention superiority effect for the cognitive representation of intentions [Goschke, T., & Kuhl, J. (1993). Representation of intentions: Persisting activation in memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 19, 1211–1226], but at the same time have a paradoxical deficit in initiating and carrying them out under demanding conditions. The present two experiments focus on intention initiation. Experiment 1 used a modified event-based paradigm of prospective memory, pre-cuing prospective actions with words varying in association to the target word. State-oriented participants had longer latencies in initiating uncued compared to precued actions under low-positive affect (high listlessness). In Experiment 2, we used a key-pressing task under high vs. low cognitive load (uncompleted vs. completed intention). State-oriented participants under high load had longer latencies when they chose by themselves which of two goals to pursue, compared to an External-Cue condition. Action-oriented participants showed efficient performance in each experiment. The intention-initiation deficit of state-oriented participants was related to higher levels of listlessness (first experiment) or to high load (second experiment) suggesting that motivational factors interact with volitional impairments. These results are interpreted in terms of Personality Systems Interaction theory (Kuhl, 2000).     

Implicit but Not Explicit Affectivity Predicts Circadian and Reactive Cortisol: Using the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test

ABSTRACT Self-report measures assess mental processes or representations that are consciously accessible. In contrast, implicit measures assess automatic processes that often operate outside awareness. Whereas self-report measures have often failed to show expected relationships with endocrine stress responses, little effort has been made to relate implicit measures to endocrine processes. The present work examines whether implicit affectivity as assessed by the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT) predicts cortisol regulation. In Study 1 , implicit low positive affectivity, but not negative affectivity, significantly predicted circadian cortisol release. In Study 2 , implicit negative affectivity, but not positive affectivity, significantly predicted the cortisol response to acute stress. By contrast, cortisol regulation was not predicted by self-reported affectivity. The findings support the use of implicit affectivity measures in studying individual differences in endocrine stress responses and point to a differential role of positive and negative affectivity in baseline versus stress-contingent cortisol release, respectively.     

A longitudinal study of lateral biases in parents' cradling and holding of infants

Lateral preferences in parents' cradling and holding of their infants were assessed in a longitudinal study commencing 1–3 days after birth and ending at 18 months. Right-handed parents showed a consistent left-side preference, which declined slightly as the infants grew older. Left-handed mothers showed an initial left-side preference and then more variable holding behavior, including right-side preferences, in some conditions. No relationship between the parents' holding behavior and two measures of infant head posture was found. It is suggested that parental side-holding preferences and infant head orientation biases are components of a biobehavioral system designed to enhance the organization of the caregiver-infant relationship.