Empirical sleep assessment in the home: A convenient,inexpensive approach

We have previously reported on a sleep assessment device (SAD) that addresses shortcomings inherent in self-report sleep data and polysomnography. The SAD produces a sleep record by tape recording subjects' verbal responses to auditory cues spaced at fixed intervals throughout the night. In prior studies, the SAD proved to be a reliable and valid assessment tool according to electroencephalographic comparisons. Herein, we report on the unassisted home use of the SAD by eight normal volunteers and four bedmates. Subjects and bedmates completed sleep questionnaires for 12 nights and subjects also employed the SAD the last 6 nights. Comparisons of subjects and bedmates self-report sleep data before and during SAD use indicated that the SAD did not disrupt sleep. Subjects were able to self-administer successfully the SAD in their homes. SAD data closely matched subjects' self-report data. The present study found the SAD to be an accurate, unobtrusive, and easily utilized empirical measure of sleep in the natural environment. In so doing, it extends the demonstrated reliability and validity of the SAD from the sleep laboratory to the home with normal sleepers.     

Self-Efficacy,Perceptions of Success,and Intrinsic Motivation for Exercise1

A number of investigators have attempted to identify the determinants of continued participation in exercise regimens. Within a social cognitive framework, the present study examined the relationships among self-efficacy cognitions, perceptions of success, and multidimensional intrinsic motivation in the exercise domain. Multivariate analyses of variance indicated that highly efficacious individuals were more intrinsically motivated toward aerobic dance than were their less efficacious counterparts. However, multiple regression analyses revealed both perceptions of success and self-efficacy to account for significant variance in intrinsic motivation at both the composite and dimensional levels. Moreover, perceptions of success were considerably stronger predictors than were efficacy cognitions. The results are discussed in terms of the need for multiple measures of perceived success, the employment of longitudinal designs to determine the direction of causality among these variables, and possible implications for adherence issues.     

Gender and values: What is the impact on decision making?

In this study we investigated C. Gilligan's [(1982), In a different voice: Psychological theory and women's development, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press] suggestion that women and men, due to socialization, develop differently in terms of moral development [L. Kohlberg (1969), “Stage and Consequence: The Cognitive Development Approach to Socialization,” In D. G. Goslin (Ed.), Handbook of socialization: Theory and research, Chicago: Rand McNally]. We also considered whether men and women differ in terms of a related construct, values of equity and equality [K. A. Rasinski (1987), “What's Fair Is Fair or Is It? Value Differences Underlying Public Views About Social Justice,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 53, pp. 201–211]. It is our expectation that gender influences overall orientation in terms of the two sets of values, and that differences in values lead decision makers to weigh decision issues and to make final decisions differently. Results suggest that there are some gender-related differences in value systems, weights of decision issues, and final decisions.     

The role of esteem and coping in response to a threat communication

Two experiments examined the relations among self-esteem, perceived competency to cope, and actual coping behaviors following a threat communication. Leventhal's “parallel response model” (in Advances in experimental social psychology, L. Berkowitz (Ed.), New York: Academic Press, 1970, Vol. 5) predicts that low-esteem subjects will show deficits in both competency and coping behaviors. Experiment 1 manipulated threat level of a tetanus communication. Low-esteem subjects showed coping deficits on measures of free associations, free recall, fatalism, and coping. Threat groups differed only on fear and danger measures. Experiment 2 manipulated the fear level of an antismoking film and used false feedback to alter perceived competency. Positive feedback increased perceived competency to quit smoking among low-esteem subjects only. Without feedback, low-esteem subjects reduced smoking less than high-esteem subjects; positive feedback reversed the pattern. The discussion argued that, consistent with Leventhal's model, the low-esteem coping deficit has two independent causes: (1) excessive concern with fear, and (2) inadequate perceived competency.     

Chronic effects of electrical stimulation of muscle on the fractionated components of audio response time

Six male volunteer subjects underwent five weeks (15 sessions) of electrical stimulation (ES) of the triceps brachii muscle (medial head), participated in a pretest, and five weekly post-treatment performance tests of an elbow extension task. Response time (RSP) was electronically fractionated into the two components of reaction time (RT): premotor reaction time (PMT) and motor reaction time (MT): and movement time (MVT) for 45 degrees of elbow extension. Acceleration characteristics of the movement were quantified via a piezoelectric accelerometer mounted on a specially-built mechanism that allowed the desired motion in a transverse plane. Statistical analysis did not indicate significant treatment effects on the criterion measures, however, a significant linear trend for MT and significant linear and quadratic trends for MVT were indicated. Neuromuscular adaptation to the passage of electric current through nerve and muscle tissue was indicated by a significant quadratic trend and significant differences between all weekly accumulative (treatment) voltages. An unexpected significant negative correlation between PMT and MT was considered cause for further study. The particular technique of ES administration, although it produced consistant changes in RSP components (Ward and Grabiner 1981) was not as effective as methods described by other investigators for increased human performance.     

Schedule-induced locomotor activity in humans.

In two experiments, humans received tokens either on a fixed-interval schedule for plunger pulling or various response-nondependent fixed-time schedules ranging from 16 to 140 seconds. Locomotor activity such as walking, shifting weight, or pacing was recorded in quarters of the interreinforcement interval to examine the induced characteristics of that behavior in humans. While performance was variable, several characteristics were present that have counterparts in experiments with nonhumans during periodic schedules of food reinforcement: (a) first quarter rates, and sometimes overall rates, of locomotor activity were greater during intervals that terminated in a visual stimulus and token delivery than those without: (b) overall rates of locomotor activity were greater during fixed-time 16-second schedules than during fixed-time 80- or 140-second schedules; (c) rates of locomotor activity decreased during the interreinforcement intervals; (d) locomotor activity was induced by response-dependent and response-nondependent token delivery. These results showed that the rate and temporal pattern of locomotor activity can be schedule-induced in humans.     

Using computer conferencing to formulate a computer simulation of transitive behavior

The activities of a group engaged in simulation modeling via computer conferencing are described, and the model which resulted from those activities is briefly outlined. The phenomena which were modeled were initially described in a series of studies by Trabasso and his colleagues. These studies centered upon exhibition of transitive choices by children and adults, and supported the hypothesis that the choices were guided by formation of “linear arrays“ of the choice objects.