More on concurrent interval-ratio schedules: a replication and review.

It has been suggested that the failure to maximize reinforcement on concurrent variable-interval, variable-ratio schedules may be misleading. Inasmuch as response costs are not directly measured, it is possible that subjects are optimally balancing the benefits of reinforcement against the costs of responding. To evaluate this hypothesis, pigeons were tested in a procedure in which interval and ratio schedules had equal response costs. On a concurrent variable time (VT), variable ratio-time (VRT) schedule, the VT schedule runs throughout the session and the VRT schedule is controlled by responses to a changeover key that switches from one schedule to the other. Reinforcement is presented independent of response. This schedule retains the essential features of concurrent VI VR, but eliminates differential response costs for the two alternatives. It therefore also eliminates at least one significant ambiguity about the reinforcement maximizing performance. Pigeons did not maximize rate of reinforcement on this procedure. Instead, their times spent on the alternative schedules matched the relative rates of reinforcement, even when schedule parameters were such that matching earned the lowest possible overall rate of reinforcement. It was further shown that the observed matching was not a procedural artifact arising from the constraints built into the schedule.     

Electromyographic activity over facial muscle regions can differentiate the valence and intensity of affective reactions

Physiological measures have traditionally been viewed in social psychology as useful only in assessing general arousal and therefore as incapable of distinguishing between positive and negative affective states. This view is challenged in the present report. Sixteen subjects in a pilot study were exposed briefly to slides and tones that were mildly to moderately evocative of positive and negative affect. Facial electromyographic (EMG) activity differentiated both the valence and intensity of the affective reaction. Moreover, independent judges were unable to determine from viewing videotapes of the subjects' facial displays whether a positive or negative stimulus had been presented or whether a mildly or moderately intense stimulus had been presented. In the full experiment, 28 subjects briefly viewed slides of scenes that were mildly to moderately evocative of positive and negative affect. Again, EMG activity over the brow (corrugator supercilia), eye (orbicularis oculi), and cheek (zygomatic major) muscle regions differentiated the pleasantness and intensity of individuals' affective reactions to the visual stimuli even though visual inspection of the videotapes again indicated that expressions of emotion were not apparent. These results suggest that gradients of EMG activity over the muscles of facial expression can provide objective and continuous probes of affective processes that are too subtle or fleeting to evoke expressions observable under normal conditions of social interaction.     

“Aunt Grace can't have babies”

One of the most necessarily sensitive areas of pastoral care is dealing with perinatal death. This case study grows from a need for care providers to understand better the feelings of a mother in the loss of her baby. This particular exploration evolved from a taped interview with the writer's aunt (now in her seventies) and her dealings with the multiple losses she experienced over fifty years ago. Her conversation in the interview gives credibility to many coping skills that we endeavor to teach today and that she developed for herself out of a need to survive....it was as if the birds would never sing again.-Aunt Grace     

The circumplexity of Leary's Interpersonal Circle: a multidimensional scaling perspective

To investigate the circulant structure of the 16 scales comprising the Interpersonal Checklist (ICL; Laforge & Suczek, 1955), intercorrelation matrices for mate and female undergraduate ICL scores were subjected to multidimentional scaling analysis. Results showed the following: (a) while the 16 ICL scales fall in a rough circular array, measurement gaps exist in the friendly-dominant and hostile-submissive quadrants; (b) sixteenths A-B-P and L-M-N were misarranged; (c) stress coefficients for a three-dimensional solution were in an acceptable range. Implications of these findings for future research and anchoring of the ICL to Kiesler's (1983) "1982 Interpersonal Circle" are discussed.     

The Separation-Individuation Test of Adolescence

The procedures undergone to establish the validity of the Separation- Individuation Test of Adolescence (SITA) are described. The test consists of six scales designed to measure key dimensions of adolescent separation-individuation. Each scale was subjected to three stages of validation: theoretical-substantive, internal-structural, and external-criterion. The results of data with 305 adolescents are reported. Although particular modifications from the original form are planned, appreciative levels of validity were established for the SITA's various scales.     

Daily versus major life events as predictors of symptom frequency: a replication study

Predictions of physical symptomatology by daily life events and by major life events were compared, replicating and expanding work reported by DeLongis, Coyne, Dakof, Folkman, & Lazarus (1982). Analyses of daily, prospective data collected on 79 married men for 90 days demonstrated that daily, undesirable events were better predictors of symptom frequencies than either past, major life events or daily, desirable events. These results, similar to those found by DeLongis et al. (1982), were further explored by examining "healthy" subjects versus subjects with prior medical conditions. Undesirable daily events were a much stronger predictor of physical symptoms in the healthy group than in the prior medical conditions group.     

Influence of a 14-day regimen of electrical stimulation involving large portions of the cerebral mass on later habit acquisition in the rat

Four groups of rats, one of which served as a normal, nonoperated group, were used. The other three groups were operated and fitted with an electrode carrier of eight electrodes of varying lengths arranged in a 7.5 mm X 5 mm rectangle. About 10 or 12 days after surgery, the following groups of animals underwent a 14-day regimen wherein each animal spent 15 min in a deep, metal, electrically insulated cylinder: Group A, normal, nonoperated group, with no intervention; Group B, stimulated each day with 45 trains of rectangular biphasic pulses (3 trains per min) at the rate of 20 pulses per second (pps); Group C, the same but at the rate of 100 pps; Group D, the same but 180 pps. After a 48-hr fast and without benefit of shaping, each animal was placed for 60 min in a lever-pressing device and was rewarded with a pellet after each three to four presses. The resulting performance curves showed no improvement in pressing rate for Group A; marginal improvement for Group B; definite improvement for Group C; and the greatest improvement for Group D, the terminal rate being almost twice that of Group C.     

The accuracy of aimed movements to visual targets during development: the role of visual information

Children aged 1.5 to 8 years were required to touch accurately an illuminated target lamp located on a vertical board. Movements were made when visual information was complete (target lit for 3 s, room illuminated; partial (target lit for 3 s, room dark, and reduced (target lit for 0.7 s, room dark). Dependent variables were response accuracy, reaction time, and movement time. Accuracy decreased with decreasing availability of visual information and improved with age under all conditions. Reaction times were shorter in the dark (Conditions 2 and 3) than in the light; they decreased with age up to age 5 and did not continue to decrease thereafter. Movement time did not change with age under Conditions 1 and 3 but tended to increase with age under Condition 2. Slower movements were more accurate at all ages, provided visual feedback could be utilized. Increased reliance on the strategy "slower movements yield higher accuracy" was held to account for developmental changes under Condition 2, whereas in Conditions 1 and 3 improvement in the efficiency of motor preprogramming was implicated.