All symptoms are not created equal: the prominent role of hyperarousal in the natural course of posttraumatic psychological distress

This 3-wave longitudinal study examined the natural course of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms using data collected from young adult survivors of community violence. Three key findings emerged. 1. Mean levels of distress for each symptom cluster decreased over time, with reexperiencing decreasing most rapidly. 2. Cross-lagged panel analysis revealed that hyperarousal strongly influences, but is not generally influenced by, other symptoms clusters. 3. Trajectory analysis demonstrated that respondents for whom hyperarousal was the most pronounced baseline symptom showed lower overall symptom improvement relative to trauma exposed counterparts for whom hyperarousal was a less prominent early symptom. Implications for theory, research, and clinical practice are discussed.     

Arousal, valence, and memory for detail

A common finding in the emotion-memory literature is that memory is enhanced for positively arousing stimuli and negatively arousing stimuli relative to neutral stimuli. We tested the notion that post-stimulus elaboration is responsible for these effects. Post-stimulus elaboration refers to the process of thinking about an event (after its offset) more frequently or more in-depth. We tested the hypothesis by presenting participants with 36 slides depicting events that varied in arousal (low and high) and valence (positive and negative). The opportunity for elaboration was manipulated by requiring participants, during the interslide interval, to complete addition problems, simply view the addition problems, or view a blank slide. Cued recall memory was tested for central and background details. Based on the post-stimulus elaboration hypothesis it was expected that the greatest memory decline would occur for the central details of negatively and positively arousing slides when participants were required to complete addition problems (i.e., a distractor task x arousal x detail interaction). Contrary to the hypothesis, we found that filling the inter-slide interval with a distractor task decreased memory for negative stimuli compared to positive stimuli. This effect was independent of arousal. We also found that arousal increased central detail memory for positive and negative stimuli and background detail memory for positive stimuli but not for negative stimuli. This interaction was explained on the basis of pre-attentive encoding and cue utilisation. It was concluded that in order to understand the complex relationship between emotion and memory, future studies should include, as a minimum, the variables of valence, arousal, and detail.     

Plasticity and functions of the orbital frontal cortex

We compare the effects of psychoactive drugs such as morphine and amphetamine on the synaptic organization of neurons in the orbital frontal (OFC) and medial frontal (mPFC) regions in the rat. Both regions are altered chronically by exposure to intermittent doses of either drug but the effects are area-dependent. For example, whereas morphine produces increased spine density in OFC but decreased spine density in mPFC. The differential response of the OFC and mPFC to drugs is paralleled by an areal-dependent effect of gonadal hormones on these regions as well: males have greater dendritic arborization in the mPFC whereas females have a greater arborization in the OFC. We also compared the effects of neonatal injury to the OFC and mPFC on cognitive, motor, and social behaviors as well as on the anatomical organization of the remaining brain. Again, there were differential effects of the treatments to the OFC and mPFC. Neonatal OFC lesions allowed virtually complete functional recovery of cognitive and motor behaviors, which was correlated with mild abnormalities in cerebral development compared to the more severe deficits and morphological sequelae following mPFC lesions at the same ages. One exception was the effect of OFC on social behavior, which was severe regardless of whether the injury was in infancy or adulthood. It is proposed that both drug-induced and developmental abnormalities in the integrity of OFC neurons may lead to deficits in social behavior or other behavioral pathologies, possibly including depression.     

Incremental exercise, plasma concentrations of catecholamines, reaction time, and motor time during performance of a noncompatible choice response time task

The primary purpose was to examine the effect of incremental exercise on a noncompatible response time task. Participants (N=9) undertook a 4-choice noncompatible response time task under 3 conditions, following rest and during exercise at 70% and 100% of their maximum power output. Reaction and movement times were the dependent variables. Maximum power output had been previously established on an incremental test to exhaustion. A repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance yielded a significant effect of exercise intensity on the task, observation of the separate univariate repeated-measures analyses of variance showed that only movement time was significantly affected. Post hoc Tukey tests indicated movement time during maximal intensity exercise was significantly faster than in the other two conditions. The secondary purpose of the study was to assess whether increases in plasma concentrations of adrenaline and nor-adrenaline during exercise and power output would act as predictor variables of reaction and movement times during exercise. Catecholamine concentrations were based on venous blood samples taken during the maximum power output test. None of the variables were significant predictors of reaction time. Only power output was a significant predictor of movement time (R2 = .24). There was little support for the notion that peripheral concentrations of catecholamines directly induce a central nervous system response.     

In search of the elusive nature of clinical psychoanalytic theory

Two case vignettes illustrating different ways of listening to clinical material are presented. The author discusses some limitations of clinical psychoanalytic theory that stem from the fact that primary unconscious processes are, by their very nature, impossible to describe in a language regulated by secondary processes. Hegelian dialectics, first addressed in psychoanalysis by Lacan and later elaborated in the work of Green, as well as the use of paradox by Winnicott and the formalistic approaches of Matte Blanco and Bion, are briefly reviewed as alternative formulas. As psychoanalysts, we are condemned to live with doubt, and neither clinical theories nor metapsychology offer escape from this reality.     

Source of arousal and memory for detail

Two questions about the relationship between arousal and memory were investigated: First, does the source of arousal influence memory, and, second, what impact does arousal have on memory for detail? In Experiment 1, physiological arousal (running or not running in place) was factorially combined with emotional arousal (viewing a neutral or an emotional slide sequence). Recognition memory was tested for gist, central detail, and background detail. Experiments 2 and 3 were similar to Experiment 1, with the exception that a cued recall task was used in Experiment 2 and physiological arousal was manipulated with stationary biking in Experiment 3. The results of these experiments indicated that physiological arousal had little impact on memory and that emotional arousal led to improvements in memory for both central and background detail. Overall, these results supported the notions that the source of arousal is an important determinant of an event’s memorability (Christianson, 1992a) and that emotional arousal serves to enhance the scope of memory (i.e., flashbulb memory; Brown &; Kulik, 1977).     

Satisfaction With Subordinates: A Neglected Research Issue Concerning Supervisors1

Satisfaction with subordinates, a relatively neglected facet of job satisfaction, was examined via questionnaires administered to both a sample of 37 retail store supervisors and a second sample of 58 bank supervisors regarding 274 of their subordinates. Functional relationships between supervisors and subordinates, in which subordinates help get things done in the workplace, were related to satisfaction with subordinates even after entity relationships (similarity between supervisors and subordinates on biodata and values) were controlled.     

Norms for words that rhyme

The use of rhyme in learning/memory and cognitive studies is extensive. However, there are very few normative studies for words that rhyme. The current study rectified this problem by collecting rhyme norms for 477 words from 545 subjects. Groups of subjects were given 40 words in serial order and requested, for each word, to generate as many rhymes as possible within a 30-sec interval. The data include several rhyme measures as well as measures of other word attributes that were taken from other sources. In addition, the rhyme responses to the target words were given along with their Thomdike and Lorge (1944) and Ku?era and Francis (1967) normative frequencies. Finally, the data were used to investigate various relationships including the spew hypothesis and the accessibility of rhyme sets.     

A comparison of children who receive and who do not receive permission to participate in research

In a study examining children's social competence in elementary school settings, the authors had the opportunity to compare children who received parental permission to participate to children who did not receive permission. Results indicated that children who were not involved in the study were more likely to be viewed by teachers as having unsatisfactory relationships with peers than children who were in the study. The present results suggest that investigators begin reporting the number of children who do not participate in a given study and begin examining whether minors who receive parental permission differ on important dimensions from minors who do not receive such permission. Ethical considerations of the present study are discussed.     

Use of a statistical significance criterion in drawing inferences about hemispheric dominance for language function from dichotic listening data

A dichotic listening test (composed of VCV nonsense syllables) was administered to 31 right-handed subjects. A χ² statistical significance criterion was then applied to the resulting ear differences in subjects. Fifteen subjects had ear differences significant at the p < .10 levels. Of these, 14 had right-ear advantages, an incidence consistent with the incidence of left-hemisphere language dominance derived from neurological data. Incidence for the total group of 31 subjects, however, showed the overabundance of left-ear-superior protocols typical of studies that report ear-dominance scores with no statistical criterion.