Power functions of loudness magnitude estimations and auditory brainstem evoked responses

The correspondence between subjective and neural response to change in acoustic intensity was considered by deriving power functions from subjective loudness estimations and from the amplitude and latency of auditory brainstem evoked response components (BER). Thirty-six subjects provided loudness magnitude estimations of 2-sec trains of positive polarity click stimuli, 20/sec, at intensity levels ranging from 55 to 90 dB in 5-dB steps. The loudness power function yielded an exponent of .48. With longer trains of the same click stimuli, the exponents of BER latency measures ranged from -.14 for wave I to -.03 for later waves. The exponents of BER amplitude-intensity functions ranged from .40 to .19. Although these exponents tended to be larger than exponents previously reported, they were all lower than the exponent derived from the subjective loudness estimates, and a clear correspondence between the exponents of the loudness and BER component intensity functions was not found.     

A constructivist analysis of the Rotter I-E scale1

A conception of locus of control attribution was advanced as an alternative to the generalized expectancy view presented by Rotter. That alternative stems from regarding the individual as actively constructing a pattern of specific choice consequence relations out of his/her ongoing experience. An integration of structural and factor approaches was used to analyze the Rotter I-E scale. The structural analysis categorized items on four dimensions (focus, area, self-attribution and world attribution) and indicated that the I-E scale unevenly represents the domain it encompasses. Nevertheless, specification of that structural matrix helps to provide a more comprehensive framework for interpreting I-E response patterns of 216 high school juniors and seniors. For example, male responses cohered around asserting active control over tasks hut attributing control to external sources with regard both to personal issues and to more abstract systems-related issues. Females organized their senses of self-efficacy with a central theme being that of a passive agent stance, plus an expectation that circumstances would provide equality of opportunities to which they could respond. Thus the present approach has demonstrated its utility in interpreting I-E findings and its conceptual advantage for personality research on locus of control and on similiar attributional characteristics.     

Hairdressers as caregivers. I. A descriptive profile of interpersonal help-giving involvements

The interpersonal help-giving behaviors of 90 hairdressers were explored in depth in an interview study. On the average, hairdressers saw 55 customers a week, and talked 25 minutes with each. About one-third of the talking time concerned clients' moderate to serious personal problems--particularly problems with children, physical health, marriage, depression, and anxiety. Hairdressers reported that offering sympathy and support, being lighthearted, just listening, and presenting alternatives were among their most frequent response strategies. Although they often enjoyed fielding clients' personal problems, at times they felt perplexed by them. Hairdressers perceived listening to customers' interpersonal problems to be an important part of their everyday function and expressed a need for professional inputs in that domain.     

The Primary Mental Health Project (PMHP): Evaluation of current program effectiveness

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Primary Mental Project (PMHP), a program for early detection and prevention of school adjustment problems. Pre- and postprogram assessments were done with 215 primary-grade children seen in PMHP, usig teacher ratings of problem behaviors and competencies, and child-aide ratings of problems. School mental health professionals judged educational and behavioral changes in project children during the year. Significant across-the board improvements were found on all criterion measures. Modest intercorrelations among criterion change estimates suggested that the observed changes were due to program, rather than halo, effects. PMHP children also improved significantly more than matched, retrospective controls.     

Sex guilt,trait anxiety,and females' subjective sexual arousal to erotica

Subjective sexual arousal and affective reactions of 80 college women to explicit sex films were studied in a 2 (sex guilt) × 2 (trait anxiety) × 2 (films) design. There was a decline in sexual arousal to a film of oral-genital sex and a decline in sex guilt in the present sample in comparison to a similar sample from this laboratory 8 years ago. High-sex-guilt women reported fewer genital sensations and rated themselves lower on sexual arousal during and after the films than did their counterparts less disposed to guilt over sex. High-sex-guilt women reported more affective guilt, disgust, and anxiety-fear as a consequence of viewing an explicit sex film than women below the median on sex guilt. High-trait-anxiety women reported more intense genital sensations and rated their sexual arousal as higher following the films than low-trait-anxiety women. Women above the median on trait anxiety reported more subsequent anxiety-fear and depression-distress following the films than low-scoring women. These results were discussed from the perspective of Izard's differential emotions theory, which regards anxiety as a variable pattern of fundamental emotions rather than as a functional unity.This research was supported in part by a National Science Foundation Grant to the University of Connecticut Computer Center. The authors wish to thank Wendy Cunningham and Linda Wildes for serving as experimenters.     

Saccade size control in reading: Evidence for the linguistic control hypothesis

In Experiment 1, it is shown that during reading the eye makes larger saccades near long words than near short words. The effects are reduced when the subject’s peripheral vision is diminished by the use of a moving “window” centered on the subject’s fixation point, outside of which letters are replaced by Xs. In Experiment 2, it is shown that even if linguistic predictions are kept constant, the eye tends to make longer jumps when approaching THE than when approaching a three-letter verb. This “THE-skipping” effect is weaker if THE is compared with an auxiliary (HAD, WAS, or ARE) than if it is compared with a less frequently occurring verb (ATE, RAN, MET). It follows that knowledge of the lexicon can combine with information from peripheral vision fast enough to influence saccade size from moment to moment.     

Alcohol and human sexual behavior.

Despite the potential clinical significance of the relationship between alcohol consumption and human sexual responsiveness. the subject has received little systematic research attention. Clinical observations have suggested that alcohol abuse can lead to impotency disorders in males and sexual dysfunction in women. Alcohol has been associated with sex offences such as rape and pedophilia, increased sexual activity and extramarital affairs. However, correlation has been confused with cause, and unequivocal evidence of alcohol as the causal agent is lacking. Recent research using penile tumescence and vaginal pressure pulse as measures of sexual arousal has shown a significant negative linear relation between alcohol and sexual responsiveness in both men and women social drinkers. Findings that cognitive rather than pharmacological factors decisively influence alcohol's effects on sexual arousal, together with other psychosocial analyses, dispute the disinhibition hypothesis of alcohol's effects. A social learning analysis of alcohol's influence on sex is proposed.