Response patterning in goldfish: single alternation in a Pavlovian aversive paradigm

Single alternation behavior was studied in a Pavlovian aversive shuttle-response situation using goldfish. Independent groups of fish were given either a fixed interval between alternating reinforced (R) and nonreinforced (N) trials or were given differential temporal information between trials. Although all groups exhibited higher response probabilities on reinforced than on nonreinforced trials, goldfish receiving a short interval (10 s) following R trials and a long interval (60 s) following N trials (R10N60) demonstrated significantly superior alternation performance compared with subjects receiving a fixed intertrial interval (R35N35) or a long interval following R trials and a short interval following N trials (R60N10). The alternation performance exhibited by the R10N60 group was shown to be equivalent to that of subjects receiving standard color discrimination training. However, the alternation performance in group R35N35 showed a great deal of within-subject variability and raises questions concerning the elusive nature of alternation using Pavlovian conditioning procedures.     

A new pan-cultural facial expression of emotion

We obtained the first evidence of a facial expression unique to contempt. Contrary to our prediction, this contempt expression was not culture-specific but was recognized by people in Estonia S.S.R., Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Scotland, Turkey, the United States, and West Sumatra. Pan-cultural agreement about the contempt expression was as high as has been found previously for other emotions.We are grateful to our collaborators, Anthony Chan, Karl Heider, Rainer Krause, Rolf Kuschel, Ayhan LeCompte, Tom Pitcairn, Pio Ricci-Bitti, Klaus Scherer, Masatoshi Tomita, Athanase Tzavaras, Arnold Upmeyer, and Jaan Valsiner; to Maureen O'Sullivan for comments on this report. Paul Ekman's work is supported by a Research Scientist Award (MH 06092) from the National Institute of Mental Health.     

Apparent equivalence between perception and imagery in the production of various visual illusions

The ability of high and low imagers (as assessed by the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire) to utilize imagery in the production of a visual illusion was examined in three experiments. In Experiment 1, subjects were to imagine noninducing elements oi the Ponzo figure. In Experiment 2, subjects were asked to imagine the inducing angle of the Ponzo figure. Subjects were requested to imagine the inducing diagonals of the Hering and Wundt figures in Experiment 3. Regardless of which figure was presented, high imagers consistently reported an illusion whether it was produced by real or imagined lines. Also, the imagery-produced illusion was equivalent in magnitude to the actual illusion (when all lines are physically present). Low imagers reported an illusion only when lines were physically present. These results were interpreted in terms of Finke’s (1980) equivalence theory.     

An epidemiological study on work and family stress among Chinese in Hong Kong

Hong Kong, with a population of over six million in a modern city, has been shown to be a very stressful place to live in. However, epidemiological data from a big-scale study in this regard are lacking. The present territory-wide survey, from a sample representative of the general population, was aimed to investigate the work and family stress of Chinese adults in the community with respect to the impact on their psychological well-being. The psychosocial context was considered as an important source of stress. The results showed that coping with work demands and rearing children were reported as the highest stress responses. Moreover, workers in Hong Kong took an instrumental attitude, i.e., one emphasizing material rewards, in order to reduce the job stress arising from interpersonal conflicts in the workplace.     

Prism Adaptation During Target Pointing From Visible and Nonvisible Starting Locations

The performance of subjects whose starting limb location was visible when pointing to a sagittal target during exposure to prismatic displacement showed immediate target acquisition, but aftereffects of exposure were absent. When starting limb location was not visible, accurate exposure performance was slow to develop, but aftereffects were substantial. Visible starting location evoked a zeroing-in control strategy on the basis of relative-location coding, which rapidly reduced performance error but disabled detection of spatial misalignment between sensorimotor systems. When starting location was not visible, absolute-location coding of the displaced target initiated movement that had to be corrected subsequently by visual feedback. In this case, comparison of the initial erroneous movement code with the limb location that achieved the target enabled misalignment detection and consequent realignment.     

Natural theology: Theism or antitheism?

I propose that reasons advanced in support of theism serve just as well, or can be modified to serve just as well, as reasons for believing that there exists a wholly evil supreme being (‘antitheism’). Accordingly, I suggest that attempts to justify theism are futile, since all would-be success is neutralized by the corresponding support that is thereby provided for antitheism.     

The long-term outcome of a personal network-oriented HIV prevention intervention for injection drug users: The SAFE study

Social influence processes have been found to affect numerous drug and health-related behaviors. We postulated that by using a network-oriented intervention it may be possible to capitalize on social influence processes to reduce human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behaviors. The present study used an experimental study design for delivering a psychoeducational acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) preventive intervention to injection drug sharing networks. Participants were recruited from the ALIVE study, an epidemiological study in Baltimore. In the present paper we examine the self-reported behavioral outcomes of 117 injection drug users 18 months after the baseline interview. HIV seronegative experimental participants reported significantly less frequent needle sharing and less injecting of heroin and cocaine than controls. In multiple logistic regression models of HIV seronegative participants, there was a significant negative association between assignment to the experimental group and the HIV-related behaviors of needle sharing and sharing of cookers in the prior 6 months; controls were 2.8 times more likely than experimentals to report needle sharing and were 2.7 times more likely to report sharing cookers. The results of this 18-month follow-up suggest that among injection drug users network-oriented interventions may be a promising approach to HIV prevention.     

Outflow theory and autokinetic movement: color, viewing angle, and dark adaptation.

The number of reported changes in direction of autokinetic movement was assessed as a function of color of the light that served as stimulus, viewing angle (0, 30, or 60 deg of displacement from straight ahead), and dark adaptation. Color and dark adaptation had no significant main effect on the number of reported changes in direction for the red and yellow lights, but viewing angle was inversely related to the number of reported changes. For the blue-green light, atypical effects of viewing angle and dark adaptation were found.