Hypersexuality and limbic system seizures

Hypersexual behavior was induced in adult male cats by repeatedly evoked limbic system seizures. Accentuation of Dopaminergic activity with drugs was used to facilitate development of the seizure induced hypersexuality. Hypersexuality consisted of biting knap of neck, mounting, thrusting and coital intromission. The gradual development and eventual disappearance of hypersexuality was correlated with the progressive prolongation of the seizures in their evolution. There are three stages of seizure evolution in relation to sexuality. First stage-normal sexuality, intermediate stage-hypersexuality and late stage-hyposexuality. A theoretical “hypersexual growth and decay curve” was constructed in relation to the evolution of limbic seizure durations in the intermediate stage. It was suggested that the observed hypersexuality was related to the early discharge activation of hypothalamic, preoptic and basal ganglia neurohumeral facilitatory mechanisms for sexuality, and the late effects were related to discharge activation of brain stem serotonergic inhibitory mechanisms. The discussion attempts also to use these experimental findings to explain clinically observed hyposexuality and hypersexuality. It was suggested that either hypersexuality or hyposexuality may be associated with psychomotor seizures and that the predominating sexual state at a given moment is dependent upon the evolutionary stage of the seizure at that moment. Consequently, psychomotor seizures with associated hypersexuality should not be considered a clinical anachronism. In fact, these observations support the impression that rape may be a manifestation of a psychomotor seizure.     

Sex characteristics,task clarity,and authority

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of sexual stereotyping on the exercise of authority. The hypotheses were that the sexual composition of the group affects the authority behavior of group leaders when the task has low clarity but that sex characteristics have no effect on authority behavior when the task has high clarity. These predictions were expected to hold both in situations where there is a direct association between sex and the task ability and in situations where no such connection is established. As predicted, no significant difference was found in the number of high control acts made by male and female leaders in the high task clarity conditions, even when sex was directly related to the task ability. Also as hypothesized, sex effects did operate strongly in the low task clarity conditions. Male leaders made significantly more high control acts than female leaders, even in conditions where no prior relation was established between sex and the task ability. Thus, these results indicate that the effect of sex characteristics on the exercise of authority is enhanced in low task clarity situations and is neutralized in high task clarity situations.A preliminary version of this paaper was presented at the West Coast Conference for Small Group Research, San Francisco, California, April 24, 1974. We would like to acknowledge the comments made by Anne McMahon and Mary Walshok and the research assistance provided by Sue Aldrich, Patti Baird, Jim Hart, Debbie Jones, Glenn Kassel, Jane Morrison, Karen Scheblein, and Kay Smith.     

A look,by simulation,at the validity of some asymptotic distribution results for rotated loadings

In the last few years, a number of asymptotic results for the distribution of unrotated and rotated factor loadings have been given. This paper investigates the validity of some of these results based on simulation techniques. In particular, it looks at principal component extraction and quartimax rotation on a problem with 13 variables. The indication is that the asymptotic results are quite good.     

Conditioning in human opiate addicts

Eight volunteers maintained on daily methadone participated in a classical conditioning procedure to determine which if any of the elements of narcotic withdrawal could be conditioned. The unconditioned stimulus was the injection of a small dose of naloxone. The unconditioned response was a brief precipitated withdrawal syndrome. The conditioning stimulus was a tone, odor, and injection of saline. Conditioning was successful in the pilot study in 5 of 8 subjects. The conditioned response consisted of tearing, yawning, lacrimation, systolic blood pressure increase, respiratory irregularities and subjective feelings of narcotic withdrawal sickness (nausea, muscle aches, chills). A second group of 8 subjects showed, in addition to the above, evidence of conditioning of heart rate, respiratory rate and skin temperature decrease. These laboratory findings support the clinical reports of a conditioned withdrawal syndrome and suggest ways to improve treatment results by detecting and extinguishing or modifying conditioned responses.     

Stimulus probability and same-different classification

Three experiments investigated the effect of stimulus probability on same-different classification time. In Experiments I and II, subjects made same responses on the basis of name matches of simultaneously presented letters. Half of the same trials involved letters that were also physically identical. Experiment I showed that the presentation probability of specific letters affected name matches and different responses, but not physical matches. Experiment II varied stimulus contrast as well as probability. Contrast had a main effect but did not interact with probability at any level of processing. In Experiment III, subjects were switched to the physical level of processing. Stimuli that now had the same name but differed in case were called different. In this condition, the probability effects obs(irved in Experiment II disappeared. These results are interpreted as demonstrating that stimulus probability has its effect during the process that derives the name of the stimulus from the visual representation. This process takes place before the name comparison is made, and the name comparison process precedes the determination of the different response.     

Deceit as a function of sex of subject and target person

Thirty male and female undergraduates were run in same- and opposite-sex pairs to determine if the extent of experimentally sanctioned deceit would be influenced by sex pairings and potential for harm to another's self-esteem. Ss, who all believed they were playing the role of a teacher in a learning experiment, were instructed to provide false feedback (lie) at least three times during 30 trials to a learner, the other S. Consistent with hypotheses derived from a consideration of the potential harm to another's self-esteem and a suggested norm of white lying, perceived relative importance of male and female sex roles, and greater female concern for the social welfare of others, it was found that white lies occurred significantly more often than lies, that males were significantly more likely to give false feedback than females, that females were the target of false feedback significantly more often than males, and that the interaction between sex of S and sex of target person was also significant in that males lied to females more than any other sex pairing.This research was partially supported by the New Mexico Highlands University Institute of Scientific Research. A brief version of this report was presented at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association meeting, Denver, May, 1974.     

Gender, Internet use, and sexual behavior orientation among young Nigerians.

This study examined the influence of gender and Internet use on the sexual behavior orientation of young adults in Nigeria. Using an ex-post-facto design, data were collected from a total of 231 participants. Results of the hierarchical regression model provided support for the influence of gender and Internet use on sexual behavior orientation among young Nigerians. Further, results also revealed an interaction effect; as the use of the Internet increased, male participants reported a greater extent of risky sexual behavior orientation than their female counterparts. The findings were explained in the context of the theoretical foundations of the study, while practical implications for combating youths' risky sexual behavior orientation were highlighted.     

Chunking, rule learning, and multiple item memory in rat interleaved serial pattern learning

Nonhuman animals, like humans, appear sensitive to the structure of the elements of sequences, perhaps even when the structure relates nonadjacent elements. In the present study, we examined the contribution of chunking, rule learning, and item memory when rats learned serial patterns composed of two interleaved subpatterns. In one group, the first interleaved subpattern was a formally simple sequence, whereas in two other groups the first subpattern was formally more complex, containing 2 or 4 violation elements, respectively. In all groups, the second interleaved subpattern encountered was formally simple. Evidence from the study suggests that rats chunked their interleaved patterns into component subpatterns, that is, they cognitively sorted pattern elements to form chunks based on nonadjacent structural relationships that can be characterized as rules. They also learned interitem associations via traditional discrimination learning to use adjacent elements as compound or configural cues for later events in the sequence. Thus, the evidence suggests that rats used chunking, rule learning, and interitem association learning concurrently to master these complex patterns.     

Associations among early abuse, dissociation, and psychopathy in an offender sample

Theorists have postulated that some variants of psychopathy result from childhood abuse and neglect. Dissociative symptoms are also thought to arise from abuse. To date, the conjoint associations among abuse, dissociation, and psychopathy have not been examined systematically. Some have hypothesized that abuse relates primarily to the affective symptoms of psychopathy, with dissociative experiences mediating this relationship. Others have suggested that abuse more directly affects the impulsive lifestyle features of psychopathy. The authors used structural equation modeling to examine these hypotheses in a sample of 615 male offenders who had completed a retrospective self-report measure of childhood abuse, the Dissociative Experiences Scale, and R. D. Hare's (2003) Psychopathy Checklist--Revised. Abuse exerted no direct or indirect effect on the core interpersonal and affective features of psychopathy but was directly related to the facet of psychopathy associated with an impulsive and irresponsible lifestyle. Implications for psychopathy subtypes are discussed.