Comparing the perceived causes of the second Iraq war: a network analysis approach

The objective of this research was to examine the representation by British students of 11 perceived causes of the invasion of Iraq. We used network analysis to develop a network of the pattern of causes that are involved. Overall most participants identified a nexus of causes that reciprocally linked religious prejudice, racism and the history of conflict in the Middle East. They identified a reciprocal link between religious prejudice and September 11th, indicating that it was a cause and effect of religious prejudice. They also supported a link between the personalities of Bush and Saddam and economic gain, and acknowledged the effect of the first Gulf war on Saddam. We also found that Muslim participants were significantly less in favour of the invasion than Christian participants, and produced different networks of the links between causes. The study demonstrates that network analysis can be used to compare and contrast representations of a political event, and thus extends its use in the study of social representations. Aggr. Behav. 32:321–329, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Emotional responding in depression: Distinctions in the time course of emotion

The current studies were designed to investigate if the emotion context insensitivity hypothesis (ECI; Rottenberg & Gotlib, 2004) is applicable across the time course of emotion. Recent affective science research has pointed to the importance of considering anticipation and maintenance of emotion. In the current studies, we assessed emotion responses among college students with depression symptoms in anticipation of, during, and after an emotional picture using the emotion modulated startle paradigm. People with and without depression symptoms did not differ in blink magnitude in anticipation of emotional pictures suggesting that some anticipatory processes may not be impaired by depression symptoms. In contrast, individuals with depression symptoms did not exhibit blink magnitudes that varied by valence, either during viewing or after the pictures were removed from view. These findings suggest that ECI is relevant not only for those diagnosed with major depressive disorder, but also for people with depression symptoms that may not cross the diagnostic threshold. These data also point to the importance of considering the time course of emotion to better understand emotional deficits in individuals with differing levels of depression symptoms. Identifying where emotion goes awry across the time course of emotion can help inform treatment development.     

Understanding why and how individuals choose to help others: indirect reciprocal considerations and the moderating role of situation severity

In this article, we examine the impact of how helpful an individual is toward third parties on people's willingness to help that individual. Our results show lower willingness to help those that are unhelpful toward others. Further, varying levels of severity of the situation in which help is needed moderates this relationship. Specifically, in less severe situations (i.e., where withholding help does not lead to dire consequences), willingness to help was greater when recipients were seen as being helpful toward others. This effect was also found in moderate severity situations, although to a lesser extent. More severe situations, however, caused people to want to help regardless of how helpful the recipients themselves were. Empathetic feelings toward the recipients mediated these findings.     

Emotional responding in depression: Distinctions in the time course of emotion

The current studies were designed to investigate if the emotion context insensitivity hypothesis (ECI; Rottenberg & Gotlib, 2004) is applicable across the time course of emotion. Recent affective science research has pointed to the importance of considering anticipation and maintenance of emotion. In the current studies, we assessed emotion responses among college students with depression symptoms in anticipation of, during, and after an emotional picture using the emotion modulated startle paradigm. People with and without depression symptoms did not differ in blink magnitude in anticipation of emotional pictures suggesting that some anticipatory processes may not be impaired by depression symptoms. In contrast, individuals with depression symptoms did not exhibit blink magnitudes that varied by valence, either during viewing or after the pictures were removed from view. These findings suggest that ECI is relevant not only for those diagnosed with major depressive disorder, but also for people with depression symptoms that may not cross the diagnostic threshold. These data also point to the importance of considering the time course of emotion to better understand emotional deficits in individuals with differing levels of depression symptoms. Identifying where emotion goes awry across the time course of emotion can help inform treatment development.     

Pituitary-adrenal activity in acute and chronically stressed male and female mice lacking the 5-HT-3A receptor

The serotonin (5-HT)-3A receptor has been localized in limbic and brainstem structures that regulate hypothalamic--pituitary--adrenal (HPA) activity. We previously showed that 5-HT-3A receptor knock-out (KO) male mice displayed lower ACTH responses to acute restraint or lipopolysaccharide administration compared to age-matched wild-type (WT) males. In the present study, we found that pituitary-adrenal responses to acute stress were not different in female WT and KO mice. Furthermore, we examined the role of the 5-HT-3A receptor in regulation of chronic stress-induced HPA activity in both male and female WT and KO mice. The results show that ACTH, but not corticosterone, responses to novel restraint are lower in chronically cold stressed females compared to non-stressed control females but no effect of 5-HT-3A receptor deletion was observed. In contrast, male mice showed facilitated responses to novel restraint after chronic cold stress and this facilitation produced sex differences in ACTH responses to novel restraint between male and female chronically stressed KO mice. Together, these results indicate that there are sex differences in HPA responses to novel restraint in chronically stressed mice and these differences are partly related to 5-HT-3A receptor function.     

Initial relaxation response: contrasts between clinical patients and normal volunteers

The effectiveness of EMG biofeedback, progressive muscle relaxation, autogenic training, and self-relaxation were compared using a within-subjects design. Thirteen clinical subjects and 48 normal volunteers participated in 4 counterbalanced relaxation sessions using one of the techniques. Frontalis EMG and surface skin temperature were monitored throughout the sessions. For reducing EMG, biofeedback was more effective than the other three techniques. A significant interaction of treatment X subjects was found for changes in skin temperature. Clinical subjects had the greatest increase in skin temperature with EMG biofeedback and analog subjects responded best to self-relaxation. There were no significant differences in initial measures of EMG or skin temperature for the two samples.