Lateral asymmetry of personal optimism

By combining models of cerebral emotional asymmetry and unilateral hemispheric activation, it was hypothesized that orienting to the right would produce greater personal optimism about future events than would orienting toward the left. This was supported significantly in two experiments which differed from each other in their manipulations, hypothetical future events, means of responding, and settings. The results supported previous research on unrealistic optimism and extended the concept to show the effect of induced lateral orientation. It was proposed that this effect is mediated by mood, and possibly by perceived control, and that this methodology can be extended to other behaviors which have proven amenable to mood manipulation.     

Performance differences following exposure to predictable and unpredictable noncontingent outcomes in high and low achievers

Two experiments are described in which subjects rated as high or low in achievement motivation were exposed to uncontrollable outcomes on a cognitive task. Effects on subsequent performance on a different cognitive task were shown to depend on level of achievement motivation, on whether the uncontrollable outcomes were predictable or unpredictable, and on whether the uncontrollable outcomes were positive or negative. These findings have important theoretical implications which are discussed.     

Bilingual frequency encoding

Two experiments are reported that examine the nature of the processing of frequency information in Spanish-English bilinguals. In the first study, subjects studied a list of English-only, Spanish-only, and mixed-language words varying in their frequency of occurrence, and under conditions of being either informed or uninformed about the later frequency test. Subjects were then shown pictures represeting the nominally presented items and had to give frequency judgments for the words depicting the objects. Frequency judgments were significantly faster when the words had been presented in a single language, suggesting a summation of access times for the mixed-language words. Instructional conditions had no effect on frequency judgments, but the latency to judge was significantly reduced for the informed subjects. In the second study, using similar acquisition procedures, subjects were shown test words in either the same or the different language from the one in which the words were originally experienced. Subjects demonstrated a clear ability to assign frequencies according to the relationship between acquisition and test language. The data were discussed in terms of supporting the hypothesis of separate bilingual language processing, and implications for the automatic nature of frequency acquisition were also addressed.This article is based on a paper originally presented at the meetings of the Southwestern Psychological Association, San Antonio, April 1983.     

Evidence for the involvement of brain GABA and serotonin systems in the anticonflict effects of chlordiazepoxide in rats

Using male hooded Lister rats the effects of GABAergic and serotonergic treatments alone and with chlordiazepoxide (CDP) were compared with the behavioral effects of CDP in a conditioned conflict procedure with three components; Reward, Time Out, and Conflict. CDP (2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 mg/kg ip) dose- relatedly increased punished and time out responding, but increased rewarded responding in an inversely dose-related manner. Punished responding was enhanced by chronic treatment to a rate which remained stable between 9 and 19 injections. The GABA transaminase inhibitor ethanolamine-O-sulfate (EOS), given chronically in drinking water (5.0 mg/ml), increased punished responding linearly to a high stable level after 2-3 weeks. Rewarded and time out responding were less substantially increased. CDP given with EOS dose- relatedly increased time out and punished responding substantially above the rates found with either treatment alone. The GABA antagonist picrotoxin blocked the increase in punished and time out responding found with EOS and CDP alone. The tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA; 100 mg/kg x 3) linearly increased punished responding for the first week of treatment. CDP with PCPA selectively and significantly increased punished responding above the rates for either treatment alone, but the increases were not as substantial as those with EOS + CDP. The serotonin reuptake inhibitor Wy 25093 reduced increases in time out and punished responding under CDP, and the precursor 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) counteracted increases in punished responding under PCPA but also substantially reduced rewarded responding. These results provide evidence that both increased GABA and decreased serotonin transmission are involved in the anticonflict effects of CDP, as EOS and PCPA both mimicked and potentiated effects of CDP, while picrotoxin, Wy 25093, and 5-HTP counteracted them.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Increased novelty-induced grooming in aged rats: a preliminary observation

Age-related changes in grooming activity in female Fischer-344 rats were observed in a home cage and in a novel testing chamber for 50 min. Compared to the home cage condition with brief handling treatment, excessive grooming was found in the novel situation. The amount of novelty-induced grooming of aged rats (26-28 months) was about two times that of young animals (6-8 months). This increase in novelty-induced grooming of aged animals was attributable to an increase in the number of grooming bouts, prolongation of each grooming bout, and a slight increase in the duration of licking elements. However, there were no age differences in the percentage of face washing and the duration of face-washing elements. These results are discussed in terms of behavioral aging and age-related changes in peptidergic pathways in the brain.     

A preliminary study of Hare's “Research Scale for the Assessment of Psychopathy” in mentally-abnormal offenders

The abbreviated (15-item) version of Hare's Research Scale for the Assessment of Psychopathy (RSAP) was investigated in a sample of male admissions to Broadmoor Special Hospital (N = 50), along with five MMPI measures relevant to psychopathy (Impulsivity, Sociability, Psychopathic Deviate, Anxiety and Sociopathy). Patients were assigned to one of four clinical diagnostic groups: Personality Disorder, Mixed (personality disorder with schizophrenia), Schizophrenia and Affective Disorder. Results indicated that while both psychopathic groups (Mixed and Personality Disorder) showed high scores on almost all RSAP items, the Affective Disorder group showed low scores on almost all items. Results of a discriminant function analysis indicated that Hare's RSAP was superior to the MMPI measures at discriminating between psychopaths and non-psychopaths. Use of the discriminant function to re-allocate patients to criterion groups showed a high hit rate (94%) for psychopathic patients but a hit rate of only 61% for non-psychopathic patients. Half of the schizophrenic patients were mis-allocated to the psychopathic group. The results support the idea of an affective deficit common to psychopaths and schizophrenics, but suggest that psychopaths additionally show a deficit which may be characterized by a lack of goal-directed behaviour.