Approach-avoidance motivation in personality: Approach and avoidance temperaments and goals.

The present research examined the role of approach and avoidance motivation in models of personality. Specifically, it examined the hypothesis that approach and avoidance temperaments represent the foundation of several basic dimensions espoused in the trait adjective, affective disposition, and motivational system approaches to personality. Factor analytic support for the hypothesis was obtained in Studies 1, 2, and 6; measures of extraversion, positive emotionality, and behavioral activation system loaded together on 1 factor (Approach Temperament) and measures of neuroticism, negative emotionality, and behavioral inhibition system loaded on another factor (Avoidance Temperament). This 2-factor structure was shown to be independent of response biases. In Studies 3-7, approach and avoidance temperaments were shown to be systematically linked to achievement goals (both nomothetic and idiographic). The findings are discussed in terms of an integrative approach to personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Approach and avoidance coping responses among older problem and nonproblem drinkers.

The Coping Responses Inventory (CRI) was used to study coping among older problem and nonproblem drinkers. The CRI organizes coping efforts according to their focus (approach or avoidance) and method (cognitive or behavioral). Compared with nonproblem drinkers, older problem drinkers were more likely to use cognitive and behavioral avoidance responses to manage life stressors. Problem drinkers who experienced more negative life events and more severe stressors used both more approach and more avoidance coping. Those who had more financial and social resources relied more on approach and less on avoidance coping. Problem drinkers who relied more on avoidance coping tended to have more drinking problems and to report more depression and physical symptoms and less self-confidence. Positive reappraisal was associated with less depression and more self-confidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fantasy responses to subliminal stimuli.

On the basis of findings by Klein et al. (see 33: 9518) that perception is affected by subliminal stimuli, the present research tests the hypothesis that such stimuli will affect the nature of fantasy productions as well. Ss were presented with TAT card-projections, simultaneous with the projection of superimposed subliminal "negative," "positive," and "neutral" toned words. The results failed to support the hypothesis. In a 2nd phase of the experiment, clarity of the TAT slides was reduced whereupon the effect of the subliminal stimuli seemed to be achieved. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of guilt, approachability of examiner, and stimulus relevance upon sexual responses to thematic apperception stimuli.

Examined the effects of approachability of female Es and stimulus relevance upon the sexual responses of 24 high- and 24 low-guilt male undergraduates (as determined by the Mosher Forced Choice Guilt Scale) to thematic stimuli. Consistent with previous results, findings show that all Ss made more sexual responses to high-relevant than low-relevant stimuli and that low-guilt Ss gave more sexual responses than high-guilt Ss to the high-relevant stimuli. Ss' perceptions of the Es were also examined. Results support predictions derived from social learning theory that high-guilt Ss are unable to discriminate between Es playing approachable and unapproachable roles, while low-guilt Ss are able to do so. Results support the hypothesis that high-guilt Ss are relatively insensitive to situational cues regarding external reward or punishment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Feedback stimuli and the extinction of avoidance responding in rats.

Trained 24 female Wistar rats to avoid electric shock in a 2-way shuttlebox with a feedback stimulus contingent upon each avoidance response in order to investigate extinction of the avoidance response. Shock presentations were then discontinued. Results indicate that the temporal relationship of the avoidance response and feedback was disrupted by continuously presenting the feedback stimulus or by random presentations of the stimulus. These procedures prolonged extinction relative to complete withdrawal of the feedback, but enhanced extinction relative to response contingent presentations of the feedback. Parallels between patterns of extinction found with these procedures and those found with appetitive reinforcers are discussed. (French abstract) (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thematic sexual responses as related to sexual drive and guilt.

The Ss were 66 males. A special set of cards "with a built-in dimension of sexual relevance" was employed. A "direct relationship was found between sexual drive as measured by rate of orgasm, but not by deprivation, and sexual responses. Self-reported guilt and thematic sexual responses were significantly inversely related when deprivation was held constant. A significant interaction was found for deprivation by guilt, but not for rate by guilt, with thematic sexual responses… . Analysis of individual pictures indicated that pictures of relatively low sexual relevance best measured drive, and pictures of relatively high sexual relevance best measured guilt." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4HJ69L. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Approach and avoidance of social information.

Examined how an approach or avoidance tendency to information influences the perception of related social behaviors. The sexual attitudes of 50 male and 54 female undergraduates were assessed prior to viewing either a birth control, conservative social values, or educational issues lecture. Ss indicated the number of meaningful actions in the sequence by pressing a thumb switch. It was hypothesized that more units would be indicated when the topic was consistent with the S's sexual attitudes, due to an attempt to gain more informational content. Ss with positive sexual attitudes (erotophiles) indicated more units in the birth control condition, whereas Ss with negative sexual attitudes (erotophobes) indicated more units in the social values condition. Results suggest that there are chronic differences in the segmentation patterns of individuals, reflecting affective orientations toward social information. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two time-dependent responses of chicks to imprinting stimuli.

Analyzed in detail the conditions eliciting approach behavior to the imprinting stimulus in White Leghorn, New Hampshire, and hybrid White Leghorn-New Hampshire chicks. It was found that the approach response to a relatively weak imprinting stimulus could arise by 2 different mechanisms. Some Ss approached the stimulus object within a few min.; others needed a considerably longer stimulation, essentially a conditioning, to elicit the approach response. The 2 mechanisms, which were termed "prompt approach" and "conditioned approach," were distinguished on the basis of the different conditions required for eliciting them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paradoxical autonomic responses to aversive stimuli in the developing rat.

The goals of this research were to determine (1) the change in heart rate elicited by aversive auditory stimuli in the laboratory rat at different ages and (2) the autonomic origins of those changes at each age. The results of the 1st 2 experiments showed that aversive white noise stimuli elicited cardiac deceleration in preweanling (16-day-old) rats and cardiac acceleration in weanling (23-day-old), periadolescent (30-day-old), and adult (60-day-old) rats. Subsequent experiments showed that (1) the decrease in heart rate elicited by the noise stimulus in preweanling rats was mediated by parasympathetic activation of the heart, (2) the stimulus-elicited increase in heart rate elicited by the noise in periadolescent rats was mediated by parasympathetic withdrawal of the heart, and (3) the noise-induced increase in heart rate in adult rats was primarily mediated by sympathetic activation of the heart. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of alcohol and cognitive set on sexual arousal to deviant stimuli.

48 undergraduate male social drinkers were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 expectancy set conditions in which they were led to believe that the beverage they were administered contained alcohol or no alcohol. For half of the Ss in each expectancy condition, the beverage was an alcoholic malt liquor; the others drank a nonalcoholic malt beverage. After their drinks, changes in penile tumescence (PT) in response to normal and deviant tape recordings and to self-generated fantasy were measured physiologically by a mercury-in-rubber strain gauge. The cognitive set (expectancy) significantly increased PT in response to the various erotic recordings. Alcohol did not significantly influence levels of sexual arousal. Ss who believed they had consumed an alcoholic beverage evidenced significantly more arousal to the forcible rape recording and to the sadistic stimuli than Ss who believed that they had consumed a nonalcoholic beverage, regardless of the actual contents of the beverage. The cognitive set, as well as the alcohol, significantly influenced heart rate, skin temperature, and subjective reports of sexual arousal. Self-report measures of sexual arousal were positively correlated with PT. Mosher Forced-Choice Guilt Inventory scores were not significantly correlated with PT, although the Sex Guilt subscore was negatively correlated with the subjective measure of sexual arousal for the heterosexual intercourse and forcible rape tapes. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evoked cortical responses and patterned stimuli.

Describes several studies to illustrate the type of work done in dealing with responses evoked by patterned visual stimuli. In each study Ss sat in a "darkened electrically shielded room and viewed patterned stimuli." Visual patterns were illuminated to medium brightness by a strobe lamp approximately 1/sec. "Each time the strobe lamp was fired the computer (a CAT) was triggered, storing a record of the brain's activity occurring during a given period of time following the onset of stimulation." Resultant cortical responses typify those found in adults with normal vision. It is considered "imperative that longitudinal studies be carried out, both to provide evoked-response correlates of maturational processes related to visual perception and to provide normative data for the possible clinical application of this technique." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Approach and avoidance motivation in psychopathic criminal offenders during passive avoidance.

The authors evaluated competing theories that attribute psychopathic individuals' poor passive avoidance to a strong activating system, a weak inhibitory system, or poor modulation of behavioral activation when inhibitory cues appear. In Study 1, the continuous motor task involved a reward phase to elicit the activating system followed by a passive avoidance phase. Study 2 tested the generality of the theories by using an active avoidance phase to elicit the activating system. Heart rate and response speed results from Study 1 best supported the strong activating system and poor response modulation models in low-anxiety psychopathic offenders. Study 2 results did not clearly support any of the models. Further research is needed to determine if excessive activation by reward and poor response modulation are associated with passive avoidance deficits and other characteristics of low-anxiety psychopathic offenders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Autonomic origins of cardiac responses to nonsignal stimuli in the rat.

Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure responses to nonsignal auditory stimuli were measured in rats after saline or pharmacological blockade of the sympathetic or vagal innervation of the heart. HR responses to the low-intensity stimulus were predominantly deceleratory, whereas responses to the high-intensity stimulus were more notably acceleratory. Both stimuli elicited a biphasic pressor–depressor response, although potential baroreflex influences accounted for only a small proportion of the HR response variance. Deceleratory responses to the low-intensity stimulus were eliminated by scopolamine and thus appeared to be predominantly of vagal origin. Acceleratory response to the high-intensity stimulus appeared to be mediated primarily by sympathetic activation because it was substantially attenuated by the β? antagonist atenolol. Furthermore, HR responses to the low-intensity stimulus appeared to reflect coactivation of both sympathetic and vagal systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of avoidance in aggressive responses to attack and no attack.

In 2 experiments male Ss interacted with a presumed opponent in a task that permitted the 2 participants to exchange various intensities of shock, including a zero intensity. The Ss' responses were considered separately following attack (receipt of shock) and no attack (no receipt of shock). For responses following no attack, the Ss' aggressive behavior varied with their ability to avoid further shock. Relative to controls, Ss who could avoid further shock by nonaggression (Exp I, 40 college students) were less aggressive. Those who could avoid shock by being very aggressive (Exp II, 20 college students) were more aggressive than controls. Aggressive responses following attack, however, were not influenced by avoidance contingencies. The ability to avoid further shocks apparently influenced males' aggressive responses in the absence of attack but failed to influence males' aggressive responses to attack. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Approach and avoidance coping responses among older problem and nonproblem drinkers": Clarification.

Reports a clarification in the article by R. H. Moos et al (Psychology and Aging, 1990[Mar], Vol 5[1], 31–40). The authors wish to note that research reported in the article by P. L. Brennan and R. H. Moos (see record 1991-10154-001) was based on the sample used in the research reported by Moos et al and that this information was inadvertently deleted in the Brennan and Moos article. (The following abstract of the article by Moos et al originally appeared in PA, Vol 77:14961.) The Coping Responses Inventory (CRI) was used to study coping among older problem and nonproblem drinkers. The CRI organizes coping efforts according to their focus (approach or avoidance) and method (cognitive or behavioral). Compared with nonproblem drinkers, older problem drinkers were more likely to use cognitive and behavioral avoidance responses to manage life stressors. Problem drinkers who experienced more negative life events and more severe stressors used both more approach and more avoidance coping. Those who had more financial and social resources relied more on approach and less on avoidance coping. Problem drinkers who relied more on avoidance coping tended to have more drinking problems and to report more depression and physical symptoms and less self-confidence. Positive reappraisal was associated with less depression and more self-confidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Autonomic responses to threatening stimuli in relation to the repression sensitization dimension.

Presented 3 neutral and 3 threat-producing pictures to 20 undergraduate sensitizers and 20 repressers, identified by Byrne's Represser-Sensitizer Scale. The GSR was employed to measure RT of the autonomic responses, affective arousal, and recovery time from affective arousal. In addition, the Herr-Kobler psychogalvanometric test of neuroticism was employed to determine the relative autonomic reactivity of the 2 groups. Results indicate no difference in autonomic RT between or within the groups, or in autonomic reactivity on the index of neuroticism. No difference in affective arousal was found between groups, but both repressers and sensitizers showed greater physiological emotional arousal to critical than to neutral pictures. There was no difference in recovery time from affective arousal between groups, but both groups took longer to recover from critical than from the neutral pictures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An fMRI study of personality influences on brain reactivity to emotional stimuli.

Functional imaging studies have examined which brain regions respond to emotional stimuli, but they have not determined how stable personality traits moderate such brain activation. Two personality traits, extraversion and neuroticism, are strongly associated with emotional experience and may thus moderate brain reactivity to emotional stimuli. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to directly test whether individual differences in brain reactivity to emotional stimuli are correlated with extraversion and neuroticism in healthy women. Extraversion was correlated with brain reactivity to positive stimuli in localized brain regions, and neuroticism was correlated with brain reactivity to negative stimuli in localized brain regions. This study provides direct evidence that personality is associated with brain reactivity to emotional stimuli and identifies both common and distinct brain regions where such modulation takes place. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cardiac and visual responses to stimuli presented both foveally and peripherally as a function of moving stimuli.

Measured heart rate (HR) and visual fixation responses as indices of attention getting (AG) and attention holding (AH) in 17 15-wk-old infants. The stimulus situation was one in which a brief central stimulus was followed by either a brief peripheral stimulus (AG trials) or a prolonged peripheral stimulus (AH trials). The stimuli for both central and peripheral presentations were moving black and white bar patterns. The speed for the central stimulus was constant over trials and groups (at 6.6°/sec), whereas the peripheral stimuli were either 6.6 or 26°/sec. Results suggest that much of the observed HR change can be accounted for by the AG phase, whereas the AH phase was reflected in the time it took for the cardiac responses to return to prestimulus baseline values. Stimulus speed also affected both attention behaviors; the faster speed produced the greatest HR change. Latency of 1st fixation and duration of looking measures did not show any discrimination between stimuli of different speeds. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variety of muscle responses to tactile stimuli

Influences exerted by tactile stimuli on the muscle activity were investigated with two methods: (1) analysis of kinematics and electromyographic (EMG) activity of eight forelimb muscles during contact placing (CP) reactions elicited by tactile stimuli applied to the dorsal, medial or lateral sides of the paw in cats, and (2) the Hoffmann (H)-reflex technique to quantify the effects of the tactile stimuli on the excitability of the alpha motoneurones of the soleus muscle in awake rats. The first group of the data showed that the tactile stimuli applied to dorsal, medial or lateral aspects of the paw led to different strategies of the forelimb movements during CP reactions. These differences arose from various patterns of activation of the elbow flexor and extensor muscles at the beginning of CP reactions and a various involvement of the medio-lateral components of movements, depending on the site of the tactile stimulus application. With the H-reflex technique it was found that the tactile stimulus diminished the excitability of alpha motoneurones of the soleus muscle when applied to the skin overlying the lateral side of the ankle joint. This effect was in line with the observation that the tactile stimulus applied to the lateral side of the paw activated the elbow flexor muscles but not their antagonists to initiate CP reaction.     

Adrenalectomy reduces peripheral neural responses to gustatory stimuli in the rat.

The adrenalectomized rat, because of excessive body sodium loss, has been an important animal model for studying the physiological mechanisms underlying salt ingestion. To investigate the mediation by peripheral taste responsivity of changes in salt intake, multiunit responses of the chorda tympani nerve to various concentrations of NaCl, KCl, and LiCl, hydrochloric acid, and quinine hydrochloride were recorded from 18 adrenalectomized or intact male Sprague-Dawley rats. To control for a generalized decrease in sensory sensitivity, recordings from this auriculotemporal nerve to tactile stimulation of the pinna were also performed. There were no group differences in amplitude of the integrated neural responses to tactile stimulation. The largest decrease in gustatory responsivity occurred for suprathreshold concentrations of NaCl and LiCl. Data are discussed with reference to possible mechanisms underlying this neural alteration and the role that reductions in salt taste responsivity play in mediating increases in salt intake. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)