Psychophysiological adaptation: An investigation of multiple parameters

Heart rate (EKG), digital skin resistance level (SRL), and frontalis electromyography (EMG) of 20 undergraduate volunteers were monitored in three 30-min sessions to chart the course and magnitude of adaptation. As a group, 7, 13, and 13 min of adaptation were required for SRL, EMG, and EKG, respectively. High arousal levels in any of these measures at the session's outset resulted in longer adaptation times compared to low initial arousal. EMG showed the strongest variance across sessions. Females required longer adaptation periods than males in SRL and EKG. Self-reported trait anxiety levels bore little relationship to adaptation course. Methods were outlined for setting individualized adaptation periods by either the min 1 EMG level or regression equations for the initial values of each of the measures. Overall, psychophysiological adaptation proved to be an influential variable requiring experimental management to avoid confoundment with treatment effects.Portions of this research were presented at the meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., March 1980. We gratefully acknowledge statistical consultation given by Virginia Weymouth, Memphis State University Department of Computer Services, and Dr. Michael Lupfer.     

EXPERIMENTER CALCULATION ERRORS: A POTENTIAL FACTOR AFFECTING INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS1

Following a study of socially withdrawn children, it was noted that checks of experimenter calculations indicated discrepancies. The present study investigated the magnitude and direction of experimenter errors in data computations. Two full-time research assistants, who served as experimenters, processed the behavioral observation data. These experimenters were referred to as the subjects in this study. Standard data values, against which the subjects' computations were compared, were established by two other research assistants and a computer staff. The results indicated that experimenters' original data values disagreed with the standard data values. The daily errors showed considerable variability for both experimenters. The specific factors accounting for this variability could not be identified, although frequency of experimenter responses required to obtain rate and duration data, time spent calculating, and complexity of task were suggested as possible contributing variables. While disagreements occurred across all experimental days, the magnitude of differences was generally small. An examination of direction of differences in both experimenters' data showed no systematic trends in favor of the experimental hypothesis. Rather, there appeared to be a trend in the other direction. This study suggests that the same research decisions would have been made during the original investigation using either set of data.     

Verbal reports of stimulus effects on learning: Introspection revisited

The accuracy of subjects' verbal reports on the respective causal roles of relevant and irrelevant stimulus factors on learning was investigated. In two experiments, university undergraduates learned strings of letters that were either grammatically structured or unstructured (a causal variable) and either color coded or black (a salient but irrelevant variable). Results indicated that subjects reported more causal impact of color than structure on the learnability of lists, despite the fact that the latter variable and not color had an actual effect on learning. It was proposed that verbal reports of stimulus effects on one's own behavior can be regarded as a task in estimates of covariation rather than direct retrieval of memory traces.     

A Longitudinal Application of the Theory of Reasoned Action to Women's Career Behavior1

Based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975), we hypothesized that young women's career intentions would be predicted by their gender-role attitudes and perceptions of their boyfriends' and parents' career-related preferences for them. Career intention was expected to predict future career behavior. The model was tested using longitudinal data from 105 women studied in 1973 and followed up 14 years later in 1987. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results supported the TRA: women's gender-role attitudes and their perceptions of important others' preferences predicted their career intentions, which predicted career behavior 14 years later. Implications for the study of women's careers and the longitudinal application of the TRA are discussed.