Mood induction in a clinically depressed population

Mood induction paradigms have become particularly useful in isolating and examining the relationship between mood and cognition relative to depressive vulnerability. The relationship between these two variables was examined using a 2 × 4 design (Diagnostic Group × Condition) whereby subjects classified as depressed (N=72) and nondepressed (N=61) were assigned to one of four conditions. It was shown that the cognitions of clinically depressed individuals were more dysfunctional than those of nondepressed subjects and that they can undergo temporary states of elation in the absence of any significant change in depressive cognition. How these results relate to cognitive theories of emotion is discussed.     

Father absence and adolescent "problem behaviors": alcohol consumption, drug use and sexual activity

Among the issues faced by adolescents are problems relating to alcohol consumption, drug use, and sexual behavior. A survey of 813 adolescents found that adolescents are most likely to discuss these problems with peers and least likely to discuss them with parents, especially fathers. However, father absence from the home resulted in greater use of and problems with alcohol, marijuana, and sexual activity. This was the case especially for boys. The results obtained underscore the significance of the father as a key figure in the transmission of values and as a deterrent to certain behaviors. The results point to adolescents from fatherless homes, especially boys, as being at risk for problems in the areas noted. This suggests that community agencies providing services to adolescents should make special efforts to incorporate into their programs specially designed services to meet the particular needs of this group. Aspects of such programs are discussed.     

Salivary output of the alcoholic: Effect of treatment with amitriptyline

In a group of alcoholic patients salivary output was measured before stimulation, during anticipation of tasting lemon juice, and after stimulation with lemon juice. These measures were obtained twice a day (a.m.-p.m.). Either amitriptyline or a placebo had been administered to each patient. The dental-roll technique for measuring salivary output was demonstrated to be reliable over time. In patients who had received the placebo salivary output in anticipation of the taste of lemon juice demonstrated an extinction phenomenon. Amitriptyline inhibited this anticipatory response. No relationship between the subjective symptom of dry mouth and salivary output was found. The results are interpreted as indicating that amitriptyline inhibits welldeveloped conditional anticipatory responses and that the symptom of dry mouth probably occurs predominantly during the hours immediately preceding mealtimes.     

The behavioural treatment of obsessional-compulsive disorders, with and without clomipramine

The effects of behavioural treatment alone, and in combination with clomipramine, were assessed on 40 patients with chronic obsessional-compulsive disorders, using a 2 × 2 factorial design. These effects were assessed by behavioural measures and mood measures.The behavioural treatment was followed by significant improvements on most behavioural measures. Clomipramine administration was followed by significant improvements on mood scales and some behavioural measures. There were no significant interactions between these two experimental conditions.     

Lateral eye movements as indicators of processing strategies in paired-associate learning

Subjects, classified as left-or right-movers on the basis of their lateral eye movements, were presented with paired-associates designed to elicit processing by either the left hemisphere (low-imagery synonyms) or the right hemisphere (high-imagery rhymes), followed by both recall and recognition tests. While recall of high-imagery pairs exceeded that of low-imagery pairs, there were no differences in recognition between the two types of paired-associates. There were no differences in retention between left- and right-movers, suggesting that if these groups differ in cognitive style, such differences may not be reflected in measures of information retention. The types of errors the groups made appeared to be influenced more by differences in information processing strategies.     

An investigation of bilateral asymmetries in electrodermal activity

Research in cerebral laterality supports the idea that functional differences between the left and right hemispheres exist with respect to cognitive style and perceptual ability. Related research, which has examined autonomic nervous system (ANS) correlates of cerebral laterality, suggests that a component of the ANS, electrodermal activity (EDA), is also lateralized. Some findings in the literature report the occurrence of bilateral asymmetries in phasic and tonic EDA as a function of a left or right hemisphere preference for information processing. This experiment used normal male subjects who were either left or right movers in a test of Conjugate Lateral Eye Movement (CLEM). This selection procedure served to maximize a subject’s preference for either a right or left hemisphere mode of information processing. Bilateral EDA was recorded continuously while subjects performed a visual recognition task using word (left hemisphere) and shape (right hemisphere) stimuli. The data do not support the contention that performance on a procedure chosen to selectively activate a given hemisphere elicits asymmetric tonic and/or phasic EDA. The results show no significant difference in the frequency of elicited skin conductance responses under either of the experimental conditions. Bilateral tonic EDA rose continuously over time and did not vary in either hand as a function of task. The present results fail to offer support for either of the hypotheses which argue for I) increased contralateralexcitation with selective hemispheric activation, or 2) increased contralateralinhibition of the EDR with hemispheric arousal.     

Children's appraisals of sex-typed behavior in their peers

Four experiments evaluated the effect of variations in sex-typed behavior in hypothetical peers on children's ratings of friendship. In all four studies, the children were heterogeneous with regard to social class, ethnicity, and race. In Experiment 1, children (71 boys, 90 girls) in Grades 3–6 read five stories about a target boy and in Experiment 2 (102 boys, 137 girls) about a target girl who displayed four sex-typed behaviors that ranged from exclusively masculine to exclusively feminine. In Experiment 1, boys preferred the exclusively masculine boy most as a friend. With each addition of a feminine behavior (and corresponding subtraction of a masculine behavior), the friendship ratings became increasingly negative. In contrast, the girls preferred the exclusively feminine boy most as a friend and, with each addition of a masculine behavior, the friendship ratings became increasingly negative. In Experiment 2, the converse was found although girls' ratings of friendship were less sharply affected by the target girl's sex-typed behavior than was observed for boys' ratings in Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, children (33 boys, 38 girls) in Grades K—2 were read three stories about a target boy, accompanied by detailed chromatic illustrations, whose four sex-typed behaviors were exclusively masculine, equally masculine and feminine, or exclusively feminine. The boys had significantly more favorable friendship ratings than the girls; however, in contrast to Experiments 1 and 2, the target boy's sex-typed behavior did not affect friendship ratings of either boys or girls. Experiment 4 (28 boys, 27 girls) repeated the procedure of Experiment 3 with children in kindergarten and Grade 1; in addition, the children made forced-choice friendship ratings for each of the three possible story pairs. In contrast to Experiment 3, boys' friendship ratings were affected by the target boy's sex-typed behavior, as observed in Experiment 1, but girls' friendship ratings were not. However, in the forced-choice situation, the boys significantly preferred the exclusively masculine boy whereas the girls significantly preferred the exclusively feminine boy. The results were discussed in relation to the influence sex-typed behavior has on modifying the effects of a peer's sex on affiliative preference and sex differences in appraisals of cross-gender behavior, including the concept of threshold effects.