Sexual experience and preference for males or females in the female rat

The influence of sexual experience on preference behavior was investigated in adult female rats. In the first experiment, preference behavior for sexually active males versus estrous females was investigated in female rats who were experienced with mounting behavior. Preference of these mount experienced females was compared to preference of females who were naive in this respect. Mount experience with estrous females induced a female-directed preference in ovariectomized female rats, irrespective of whether the females were treated with OIL or with testosterone-propionate (500 micrograms TP, injected once 48 h prior to testing). Sexually naive, OIL-treated females did not show a preference for males or females, but TP induced a preference for a male. Individual differences in mount frequency were not correlated with preference behavior. In the second experiment, the influence of experience with feminine sexual responses on preference behavior was investigated. OIL-treated and TP-treated females oriented equally toward males and females when they had been given the opportunity to copulate with males prior to the preference tests. The results strongly suggest that prior sexual experience is an important determinant of preference behavior. The female's behavior during sexual interactions was, however, not predictive of later preference.     

Do you really want to maintain that a flat tire can upset your stomach? Using the findings of the psychophysiology of stress to bolster the argument that people are not directly disturbed by events

The purpose of this paper is to help clients and others more fully appreciate the complex chain of events intervening between an external happening and an emotional response to that happening. It deals first with the sensory processing of physical stimulation and then presents the current state of knowledge regarding stress psychophysiology. A decision by the cortex which defines something as dangerous or threatening activates two major stress reaction pathways, the endocrine system and the autonomic nervous system, with a large number of physical consequences such as: acceleration of heart rate, increased blood pressure, reduced effectiveness of the immunological system, slowing of gastro-intestinal processes, pupil dilation, bronchial dilation and inhibition of salivation. The complexity and variety of such consequences is illustrated with a series of flow-chart diagrams, and it is suggested that these can be an additional and persuasive argument for the RET position which follows the claim of Epictetus: People are disturbed not by things, but by the views they take of them. Finally it is argued that while rapid emotional responses oftenseem to occur automatically it is because the intervening cortical processes are at times not verbalized. This is shown in the context of a diagrammatic outline of the Rational-Emotive Therapy process.Paul J. Woods, Ph.D., co-editor of this journal, is an associate fellow and an RET training supervisor of the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy.     

The effects of perceived parental rearing style on the development of Type A pattern

The aetiological antecedents of the Type A pattern have not been studied widely. In the present study the effects of parental rearing practices on the development of Type A pattern were evaluated. Perceived parental rearing style was assessed by the EMBU and Type A pattern by the JAS. Subjects were drawn from a random sample of residents (older than 21 years) of a Dutch community. Results suggested that a significant amount of variance of Type A behaviour can be accounted for by perceived parental characteristics, especially rejection and lack of emotional warmth. It is suggested that lack of emotional warmth and negative evaluation of children by their parents may lead to an internalized maladaptive cognitive set in the children which may be a developmental antecedent for eliciting the competitiveness, achievement striving, and sense of time urgency characteristic of Type A adults.     

Reasons for employee sabotage in the workplace

Unionized workers at a factory were asked to rate a variety of reasons which would justify the use of sabotage in an organization, as well as the justifiability of four general methods of sabotage (slowdowns, destructiveness, dishonesty, and causing chaos). Results showed that as compared to those who didn't accept a wide variety of reasons for sabotage, those who accepted a variety of reasons would more readily justify all forms of sabotage except dishonesty. The data is discussed in terms of the reasons for the lack of justification that dishonesty receives, as well as future directions for the study of sabotage.     

Male liberation

This article on Liberation approaches the subject from the perspective ofmen. Women have taken the lead in trying to throw off the bondage of patriarchy. Men have, for the most part, been reactors to the evolving changes. The author feels that there is a more creative role for men to play, but first, we must become more conscious of the ways in which our privileged position oppresses us. The author documents this dynamic as well as points to some possible directions for men to move in their personal and professional lives. The priority on developing collegiality and inclusiveness in our professional associations gives this subject an important place in our thinking and decisionmaking.This paper was read at a workshop on male liberation at the National A.A.P.C. Convention in San Antonio, April 30,1982.     

Auditory-visual interaction and the timing of inputs

Summary The objective of this study was to analyze the structural properties of the respective inputs that are conducive to immediate auditory-visual cross-modal bias. The study was designed as an updated and extended replication of one by Thomas (1941). Subjects were presented with either auditory or visual target signals in several positions around the median plane, together with a competing signal, always in the other modality, 15° to the left or to the right of that plane. The task was to indicate whether the target signal came left or right of center. Target and competing signals were delivered according to three temporal configurations: continuously on for 4 s, or periodically interrupted at either a fast or a slow tempo, and all combinations of the three configurations were used. Judgements of the location of the auditory target signal were attracted toward the visual competing signal in all conditions but two, those with a periodic target signal and a continuous competing one. Conditions with the two signals in the same configuration yielded larger biases than those combining different configurations, confirming that synchronization of discordant inputs is a major condition of cross-modal interactions. The occurrence of significant bias in nonsynchronous conditions, on the other hand, suggests that another factor might be the attraction of localization responses by competing signals with salient temporal configurations, and that interruption might be one important source of saliency. Auditory biases of visual localization were, as usual, smaller than visual biases, but nevertheless reached significance in a majority of conditions, and were also influenced by timing in much the same way as the latter.This work was supported in part by the Belgian Fonds de la Recherche Fondamentale Collective (FRFC) under convention 2.4505.80. The first author is Chercheur qualifié of the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS). The results have already been reported at the Symposium on Perception, Action and Development, Brussels, January 1984     

Recognizing people seen in events via dynamic "mug shots"

This study examined effects of an event and dynamic mug shots on facial recognition. Witnesses saw either a film of a liquor store holdup staged by six perpetrators, slides of the same targets, or freeze-framed views from the filmed event. Slides of different facial views of targets among 12 foils, or dynamic 180 degrees mug shots of the same men, or multiple static views were administered 24 hr later in yes-no recognition tests. Recognition (d') was poorer for the same men seen in the event than in slides, but better for dynamic than for static mug shots. Nondynamic event characteristics were responsible for poor recognition of people seen in events, whereas dynamic aspects of facial transformations, not multiple views, seemed responsible for the superiority of dynamic mug shots. The implications of these results for issues of ecological validity of traditional face recognition methodology and for static feature models vs. dynamic transformation models of face recognition are discussed.