Perceived ethicality of guided imagery in rape research

In our first study, undergraduate students (30 men, 30 women) evaluated the ethical acceptability of two previously published studies that used guided imagery in rape situations. In one, women imagined themselves as rape victims; in the other, men imagined themselves as rapists. Most students rated the research acceptable, but there was a significant interaction (p less than .05): Women found the study of women as victim less ethical, and men found the study of men as rapist less ethical. In our second study, 30 noncollege women evaluated the research on women as rape victims. After reading the scenario, none of these women said they would have agreed to participate or thought the research was ethically acceptable. We discuss issues of informed consent, demands of the research situation, and potential benefits and risks.     

Personality and Health: Advantages and Limitations of the Five-Factor Model

Interest in the association between personality characteristics and physical health has been renewed in recent years. Theory and research in this area has also been complicated by conceptual and methodological limitations. The present article briefly reviews this literature and discusses the advantages and limitations of the five-factor model of personality as an integrating framework for studies of personality and health. The model has already been fruitfully applied in several contexts, and more possibilities exist. Although it has some potential limitations, the application of the five-factor model--as well as other aspects of current personality theory and research--is likely to facilitate progress in the study of how personality influences health.     

Cluster analysis of depressed college students' social behaviors.

Measures of interpersonal behaviors exhibited by depressed college students toward their dormitory roommates were cluster analyzed, and this procedure produced 2 relatively distinct subgroups: a dependent, friendly, overgenerous type and an autocratic, competitive, aggressive, mistrustful type. These 2 groups were studied over a 9-month period; findings revealed that behaviors associated with each cluster were relatively stable and unrelated to gender or initial symptom severity. In longitudinal analyses, depressives in one group showed symptom abatement across time, whereas symptoms of the other group remained elevated. The roommates of depressives exhibited relatively high levels of hostility and a progressive decline in social contact and satisfaction with their depressed cohabitant. The results are discussed in relation to other typological approaches to unipolar depression.     

Localization of sound in the vertical plane with and without high-frequency spectral cues.

Binaural localization of 3.0-kHz high- and lowpass noise presented in the median vertical plane (MVP) and lateral vertical plane (LVP) was investigated. We anticipated superior performance when localizing the highpass noise by virtue of the availability of pinna cues. The viability of this supposition was strengthened by monaural localization tests in which performance proficiency for the highpass noise exceeded that for the lowpass noise (p less than .01). The main result showed that binaural localization of proficiency for highpass noise surpassed that for lowpass noise for all listening conditions (p less than .01). However, the importance of binaural temporal and level differences in vertical-plane localization was demonstrated by the highly respectable performances when the lowpass noise was presented in the LVP. Data from binaural localization in the MVP and monaural localization in the LVP suggested that the influence of pinna cues diminishes for source elevations above 45 degrees.     

Emotional distress and the perceived interference of menstruation

The relation of perceived interference of menstruation on expected behaviors to emotional distress was examined. It was predicted that the perceived interference of menstruation would be more predictive of emotional distress associated with menstruation than either menstrual or premenstrual pain. Participants completed measures of menstrual pain and visual analogue scales of emotional distress (anger, frustration, depression, anxiety, fear). Measures of perceived ability to tolerate the pain, the perceived interference of the pain, and attitudes toward menstruation were also collected. Results indicated that perceived interference was the strongest predictor of emotional distress secondary to menstrual pain. Ratings of menstrual and premenstrual pain were also significant predictors of emotional distress. Results supported the major hypothesis of the study and provide evidence that the appraisal of interference imposed by a particular condition or Stressor may be an important factor in stress and coping processes.     

Programming experiments on a TERAK 8510/A microcomputer

In the course of bringing up one’s first experimental microcomputer system, certain standard problems occur that are trivial to the experienced programmer but are great blocks to the novice. In this spirit, some paradigms that were implemented on a TERAK 8510/a microcomputer, and the related problems, are described. Specific topics include some consideration of timing procedures for reaction time experiments and how to handle large text files on small floppy disk systems.     

A stereotaxic positioning platform for double-angle placements

A simple and inexpensive device for double-angled positioning of electrode carriers during stereotaxic surgery is described. The device consists of a base and adjustable vertical point that is used to locate the position of final stereotaxic coordinates in space. This allows reproducible placements for deep midline brain structures that require double-angle approaches. Such placements are easily obtained with this instrument on standard and even single-carrier stereotaxic instruments.     

Discrepancy and nondiscrepancy methods of assessing visual-auditory interaction

Much of our information about interaction among the sensory modalities has come from studies in which discrepancy between the modalities has been imposed experimentally. The question arises whether the conclusions generated from discrepancy research are affected by the use of the nonnatural experimental situation: Would the same conclusions be reached if discrepancy were not used? In addition to using the index of interaction derived from discrepancy, as in prior research, the present study assessed two nonexperimentally imposed indices to explore the interaction between vision and audition in a spatial localization task. The additional indices, or “tags,” were standard deviations (SDs) and confidence ratings (CRs) of localization responses. The SD tag showed a pattern of interaction between vision and audition that was identical to that found with spatial discrepancy. The CR tag produced a similar pattern but did not show the same regular variation with the independent variable. Both SD and CR tags showed identical patterns of results when an experimentally imposed discrepancy was and was not used, suggesting that the use of moderate degrees of experimental discrepancy does not produce misleading conclusions about intersensory interaction.