Changes in Moods and Activation Levels During the Menstrual Cycle in Experimentally Naive Subjects

Two experiments providing additional validity data on the Profile of Mood States and the Thayer Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List were per-formed. In the third and main experiment, seven normally menstruating women filled out both questionnaires at the same time every day for 90 days. They were not aware that they were participating in a study of menstruation. Analysis of the time series records of individual women revealed relatively few significant fluctuations in moods and activation levels. Analysis of the group data showed that Fatigue, Confusion, Deactivation/Sleep, and Depression/Dejection were significantly lower in the premenstrual phase than in the periovulatory phase of the cycle, while General Activation was higher. Anger/Hostility and Confusion were both lower in the menstrual phase than in the periovulatory phase. On a retrospective menstrual distress questionnaire, these same subjects say that they experience increases in anxiety, irritability, depression, and tension in the premenstrual phase of the cycle. The differences between individual and group data and the apparent discrepancy between daily self-reports and retrospective questionnaires are discussed.     

Component analysis of ECG by computer

The present paper describes a set of interactive computer programs and methods (i.e., cardiac component analysis, CCA) that allow the collection, summation, and averaging of the time durations of the various ECG components. The programs are written in FORTRAN and run on a Texas Instruments minicomputer using an Intecolor 8001 terminal as the display device. The program’s features include analog-to-digital conversion, color display of individual heart-beats, operator interaction, and statistical summation with tabular output. Subroutines are well structured and easily transported to other machines. Although these programs may be used on-line, it has been more efficient to perform the analyses off-line, after a subject has completed the task. Various versions of the program have been used to analyze human, baboon, and dog ECGs in 2- to 30-sec epochs, at sample rates of 258 and 1,000 samples/sec. Preliminary results from an experiment of the effects of meditation and cognitive overload are discussed.     

Reminder-induced recovery of associations to an overshadowed stimulus

The possibility of reversing the deficit produced by overshadowing through the use of memory reactivation was investigated. Using lick suppression as a measure of associative strength, water-deprived rats were conditioned in a Pavlovian paradigm which produced reliable overshadowing of a flashing light by a tone. It was found, however, that exposure to the overshadowed stimulus outside of the conditioning context during the retention interval (reminder treatment) caused an increase in lick suppression during testing in animals that had undergone overshadowing, relative to nonreminded overshadowed animals. Subjects that received the reminder treatment but were conditioned without overshadowing showed no increase in lick suppression. Additional control groups ensured that the increase in suppression observed in the overshadowed subjects following reminder treatment was not due to nonspecific fear. The results suggest that the performance deficit produced by overshadowing is due at least in part to a reversible failure to efficiently retrieve associations to the overshadowed stimulus at the time of testing, rather than a failure to form those associations during conditioning.     

Analogical problem solving

The use of an analogy from a semantically distant domain to guide the problemsolving process was investigated. The representation of analogy in memory and processes involved in the use of analogies were discussed theoretically and explored in five experiments. In Experiment I oral protocols were used to examine the processes involved in solving a problem by analogy. In all experiments subjects who first read a story about a military problem and its solution tended to generate analogous solutions to a medical problem (Duncker's “radiation problem”), provided they were given a hint to use the story to help solve the problem. Transfer frequency was reduced when the problem presented in the military story was substantially disanalogous to the radiation problem, even though the solution illustrated in the story corresponded to an effective radiation solution (Experiment II). Subjects in Experiment III tended to generate analogous solutions to the radiation problem after providing their own solutions to the military problem. Subjects were able to retrieve the story from memory and use it to generate an analogous solution, even when the critical story had been memorized in the context of two distractor stories (Experiment IV). However, when no hint to consider the story was given, frequency of analogous solutions decreased markedly. This decrease in transfer occurred when the story analogy was presented in a recall task along with distractor stories (Experiment IV), when it was presented alone, and when it was presented in between two attempts to solve the problem (Experiment V). Component processes and strategic variations in analogical problem solving were discussed. Issues related to noticing analogies and accessing them in memory were also examined, as was the relationship of analogical reasoning to other cognitive tasks.     

The effects of episodic and semantic memory on the identification of sentences masked by white noise

Two studies examine how episodic and semantic memory affect subjects’ abilities to repeat sentences masked by white noise. Subjects first hear a list of 70 sentences that are not masked. Subjects in the framework conditions are told prior to hearing the list that all sentences refer to a contextual framework concerning a deserted island. Subjects in the no-framework groups are not given this information. Subjects in the framework-after condition are given this information only after hearing the list of sentences. Subjects then perform a white-noise identification task. The results indicate that framework subjects are able to identify both old and new framework-related information better than other subjects. Subjects in the no-framework and framework-after conditions identify old information better than control subjects who do not participate in an acquisition phase. Emphasis is placed on the interdependence of episodic and semantic memory, including conditions leading to such interdependence.     

The goal structure of situations

An empirical method for analysing the goal structure within and between persons in different social situations is described. The method involves establishing the main goals of occupants of situational roles and then finding out how the different goals inter-relate in terms of degree and type/direction of conflict and compatibility. Principal components analyses were carried out on ratings of importance of goals of those in different situational roles. Criteria of high factor loadings combined with high mean importance ratings were used to produce the main higher order goals for each of the roles. The goals for the six roles studied were, in each case except one: social acceptance/developing relationships, own well being and achieving a specific situational task goal. However, the precise nature of these goals is rather different in the different situations. Inter-relationship of goals was studied using ratings of conflict or compatibility between pairs of goals within and across roles of each situation. The results were used to describe the goal structures of the different situations. The situation with the most conflict between goals was, as expected, the complaint. Ways were suggested in which knowledge of the goal structure, particularly the points of conflict, could help with skilful handling of potentially difficult social situations.     

The role of loudness in auditory imagery

Four experiments studied characteristics of auditory images initiated by named but unheard sounds. The sounds varied in their loudness ratings. As the difference between the loudness ratings of the two sound phrases increased, the times to mentally equate the loudness of the two images increased, whereas the times to identify the louder (or softer) of the images decreased. Moreover, congruity effects were found in the comparative judgment task: Times were faster to identify the louder of two loud-rated stimuli than to judge the softer of the same two stimuli, and times were faster to identify the softer of the two soft-rated than two loud-rated stimuli. The loudness ratings did not always influence performance, however, for neither an image generation nor a reading task showed response times that varied with loudness ratings. These results suggest that sensory/perceptual components are optionally represented in auditory images. These components are included when appropriate to a given task. A control experiment showed that the results cannot be considered epiphenomenal.     

Locus of control and the perception of freedom in an agent of reinforcement

Internals and externals observed a staged videotape presentation that portrayed a “teacher” and a “learner” engaging in a 20-item anagrams task. For externals, any variability (10, 50, and 90% schedule) in the reinforcing behavior of the “teacher” (agent of reinforcement) resulted in significantly greater perceived freedom than when no variability (0 and 100% schedule) occurred in behavior. For internals, perceived freedom was a negative linear function of the amount of reinforcement administered. Internals indicated that they could influence the behavior of the “teacher” in all reinforcement conditions, whereas externals indicated that they could influence only the “teachers” in the variable reinforcement conditions. It was concluded that greater freedom is attributed to a person whose behavior is perceived as congruent with the person's inner disposition.     

Vicarious extinction of phobic behavior in early childhood

Fifteen children who had previously demonstrated phobic behavior under dental treatment were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions. Each condition involved six sessions which were conducted over a three week interval. Results supported the efficacy of modeling as a means of ameliorating phobic behavior in the dental treatment situation. Although viewing the operatory and professional staff alone appeared therapeutic, modeling was considered a superior mode of treatment.     

Pavlovian theory of dreaming

Pavlovian theory provides a conceptual scheme for the examination of recent empirical data on dreaming. Consistencies are examined between these data and Pavlovian theory of the general properties of the nervous system. An equation is made between Pavlov’s excitation-inhibition continuum, the REM-NREM cycle, and the basic rest-activity cycle. Speculations, based on this equation, are made about the inter-relation between waking and sleeping behaviors. Testable hypotheses are suggested throughout the paper.