THE LATERALISATION OF EMOTION: A CRITICAL REVIEW

Recent experimental investigations on patients with unilateral brain lesions and on neurologically intact people are reviewed with a view to appreciating the role of lateralised processes in emotion. Distinctions are drawn between the perception of emotion, the expression of emotion and the interaction of these two factors in studies of latéralisation. In spite of a mass of contradictory findings, and despite the interaction of structural and cognitive factors in some studies of emotion, there are some fairly robust findings. The right hemisphere seems to be specially involved in tasks requiring emotional analysis, particularly when the tone of the displayed emotion is negative. The right hemisphere, too, appears to be particularly involved in displaying some negative emotions. Among the important problems which await resolution, we do not know whether emotional events are apprehended independently of cognitive ones, nor how mood affects the “Cerebral balance of power”.     

Perception of correlation reexamined

Almost all studies of adult notions of correlation between dichotomous variables show that people do not incorporate two conditional probabilities as they should according to normative definitions. However, these studies disagree considerably about what correlational notions people do have. This paper identifies three factors that contribute to the variability in research results. The first two factors were mentioned in the literature, and the evidence concerning them is summarized: (1) the way data are presented and (2) the instructions subjects receive. A third factor is suggested and studied; the type of variables between which correlation is judged may affect subjects’ notion of correlation, Specifically, asymmetric, present/absent variables (e.g., symptom: present, absent) may strengthen the incorrect notion of correlation as the tendency of two events to coexist (e.g., presence of symptom and presence of disease) disregarding the complementary events. In three experiments, subjects were asked to choose among five interpretations of the sentence “A strong [or no] relationship exists between [two variables],” The above prediction was confirmed.     

The secretary problem as a model of choice

The finite “secretory problem” in dynamic programming generates a set of mathematically optimal criteria for search strategies in sequential decisions. One of the limitations on its applicability has been its failure to allow for the uncertainty of whether or not a choice alternative which has been inspected sometime previous to the present, will be “available.” In this paper, extensions of the model are presented which incorporate not only a parameter for the uncertain availability of previous alternatives, but for the uncertain availability of an alternative currently being observed. The paper emphasizes socalled heuristic strategies which may be used to approximate optimal solutions, and which entail very reasonable demands on the processing capacity of the decision-maker. Laboratory realizations and potential applications are discussed.     

Attribution of intention as a function of physiognomy

Ss agree in attributing character traits to strangers’ photographs, but there has been no explication of what such labels imply. Presumably. trait names either mediate or reflect Ss’ expectations of such strangers" likely social behaviors: but that remains undemonstrated, and we may be able to study such physiognomy-tied expectations directly. Sampling problems confront trait studies and intention studies alike, but the present research showed that Ss’ expectations of a person’s behavioral intentions, as measured by alternative interpretations of short “scenarios,” were reliably influenced by that person’s photograph.     

Effects of grouping on the pupillary response in a short-term memory task

Subjects heard strings of nine digits for immediate recall, either at a monotone 1/sec. rate or in groups of three digits separated by pauses. Concurrent measurements of pupil size show a steady dilation in the monotone condition, and brief dilation-constriction waves during the pauses of grouped presentation. The results are consistent with hypotheses concerning rehearsal in the two modes of presentation. Pupillary dilations apparently accompany episodes of covert rehearsal.     

A Survey of Undergraduate Women's Social Regulations

Data concerning women undergraduates' social regulations in a selected number of coeducational colleges and universities were collected in order to identify liberal regulations in use or under consideration in these institutions grouped according to size, control, and regional location. The collected information supported considerable liberalization in the areas of room and apartment visiting, off-campus living, clothing, sign-out, curfew hours, and coeducational residence halls. Larger respondent institutions' regulations and those of Western institutions evidenced the most liberalization, while regulations of public-control and private-control institutions were considered equally liberal.     

USING INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT TO PROGRAM MAINTENANCE OF VERBAL/NONVERBAL CORRESPONDENCE

We investigated the effects of an intermittent reinforcement procedure on maintenance of verbal/nonverbal correspondence with nutritious snack choices in a day-care setting. Nutritious snack choices were first established using correspondence training procedures in a multiple baseline across three children. Withdrawal of the procedures with one subject led to loss of appropriate responding, suggesting the need for a maintenance strategy. The intermittent reinforcement procedure was implemented in a multiple baseline across subjects. Nutritious snack choices were observed consistently during the intermittent reinforcement condition and the subsequent extinction condition.     

Characteristics of Suicidality Among Adolescents

The identification of high-risk adolescent suicide attempters in a population of depressed and suicidal adolescents is of crucial importance. This retrospective study examined characteristics of suicidality (recent and lifetime, active and passive) and psychopathology (depression, aggression, impulsivity, stressful life events, SCL-90 dimensions) among four groups of depressed adolescent outpatients: (1) suicide attempters who required medical treatment (n = 84), (2) suicide attempters who did not require medical treatment (n = 57), (3) suicidal ideators who had never made a suicide attempt (n = 40), and (4) nonsuicidal patients (n = 44). Results indicate that the nonsuicidal group could be differentiated from the three suicidal groups on the basis of suicidality and psychopathology, and that the three suicidal groups could be differentiated from one another on the basis of suicidality but not psychopathology. These findings are discussed in terms of the usefulness of certain self-report measures of suicidality for identifying suicidal adolescents and for differentiating among them. Furthermore, the findings suggest that psychopathological factors do not determine which suicidal adolescents make a medically dangerous suicide attempt and which do not.