Repression-sensitization and health behavior.

Examined the relationship between repression–sensitization (R–S) as assessed by the Revised Repression–Sensitization Scale and visits to a prison infirmary for 90 males during a 1-yr period. The main effect for the R–S dimension was significant for (a) total number of visits, (b) number of medically justified visits, and (c) number of medically unjustified visits. In each instance, sensitizers had significantly more visits than repressors. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repression-sensitization and medical diagnosis.

The transsituational consistency of trait measures can be demonstrated best through the establishment of relationships between personality test responses and nontest behaviors. The repression-sensitization scale shows promise as a correlate of both psychological disturbance and physiological malfunctioning. The association between repression-sensitization scale responses and medical diagnoses was investigated in 360 medical patients representing (a) 3 age levels (20-29, 40-49, and 60-69); (b) 3 repression-sensitization levels (repressors, neutrals, and sensitizers); and (c) both sexes, with 20 patients in each group. Repressors tended to have purely organic diagnoses, whereas sensitizers received diagnoses involving psychological components (p     

Repression-sensitization and social desirability responding.

3 groups of male and female Ss were given Byrne's R-S scale and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability (SD) scale. The scores on these 2 scales were correlated and significant negative correlations were obtained for all 3 groups. The magnitude and consistency of these correlations appear to reflect sufficient independence between these dimensions to justify considering them as separate variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repression-sensitization and the verbal elaboration of experience.

Presented affective (pleasant and unpleasant) and neutral visual stimuli to 24 undergraduates. Verbal elaboration was measured by the number of words S checked on a 50-item list to describe his experience while viewing each slide. Correlations between Ss' scores on the Repression-Sensitization scale and degree of verbal elaboration indicate that sensitizers elaborate their experience more freely than repressors when confronted with stimuli that are threatening or difficult to describe in affective terms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The reaction of interviewers to favorable and unfavorable information.

How do interviewers react as information shifts in the direction of favorability or unfavorability? No actual interviews were involved. Protocols were used by 16 raters. "Primacy effects are shown to be related to the first shift in direction of evidence; magnitude of effects are shown to be related to the degree of interviewer committment at the point of shift and the weight of the challenging information." From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3LD97B. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Origin and processing of postural information

Selective one-dimensional ROE experiments were applied to study the host-guest interactions of cyclomaltohexaose with p-nitrophenol and the solution structure of 3A-(4-methylamino-3-nitrobenzyl)-cyclomaltoheptaose. The line selective excitation of the aromatic signals of p-nitrophenol gave intense ROE enhancements on the cyclomaltohexaose multiplets (H3 and H5), indicating deep complexation inside the cavity. The results on 3A-(4-methylamino-3-nitrobenzyl)-cyclomaltopheptose showed that the aromatic moiety covers the wider base of the cyclomaltoheptaose cone. The rotational correlation time for this compound was calculated to be 2.9 x 10-(-10)s using carbon-13 spin-lattice relaxation data. Quantitative analysis of the measured enhancements was performed and proton-proton distances were obtained between the aromatic and cyclomaltoheptoase protons as well as interglycosidic distances inside the cyclomaltoheptaose moiety.     

Self-schema and social information processing.

Tested the hypothesis that desirability of self-rating on a trait is predictive of the way information related to that trait is processed during the perception of others. In Exps I and II, 122 undergraduates' self-ratings on 15 traits and yes-no response latencies in person perception were collected. Desirability of self-rating on a trait was related to the perceived general desirability of the trait. This relation was hypothesized to reflect an influence of the self on person perception processes. Consistent with research by the present author (see record 1984-06453-001) on self-image bias, 2 alternative models of this influence were proposed: defensive and cognitive. In Exp III, 72 undergraduates' self-perceptions were manipulated by either positive or negative feedback. Results support the defensive model and indicate that even small situational changes in self-perceptions are capable of producing specific changes in the way an individual processes information about others. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Continuum models in neurobiology and information processing

Continuum models have been used with considerable success for single neurons but have been neglected in the study of neuronal populations. In more popular discrete neuronal network models, the geometric details of the neuronal centers are usually neglected. We here give a continuum nonlinear dynamical model and an approximate model which admits the possibility of ascertaining the roles of the various connectivity patterns from center to center in the central nervous system. Frequency transfer characteristics are used to incorporate the nonlinear dynamics of single neurons. Simple examples are evaluated both analytically and numerically and the results presented graphically.     

Depression and information processing: Self-schemata and the encoding of self-referent information.

Tested the suggestion made by cognitive theorists that in depression, negative environmental events can activate self-schemata that structure the processing of information in a negative fashion. Either success or failure feedback was provided to 23 depressed and 24 nondepressed female undergraduates (determined by Beck Depression Inventory scores), and the personal favorability of trait adjectives recalled in a depth-of-processing paradigm was examined. At the self-referent processing level, depressed Ss did not respond to success feedback by processing and recalling more favorable self-references, while nondepressed Ss did so respond. These findings suggest that depressed individuals suffer from a deficit in the ability to activate positive self-schemata with which to process positive self-relevant information and not necessarily from an oversensitivity in the processing of negative information. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-consciousness and the processing of self-relevant information.

Three experiments were conducted to examine cognitive processes involved in self-conscious behavior. According to Hull and Levy (1979), self-consciousness is associated with processes involved in self-referent encoding. The present studies advance the more specific hypothesis that self-consciousness is involved with the aspect of self-reference associated with the activation of knowledge about the self. Experiment 1 used a self-reference paradigm and found that self-consciousness increased the extent to which a manipulation of accessible self-knowledge influenced self-referent encoding. Experiment 2 used a self-perception paradigm and found that self-consciousness increased the extent to which a manipulation of accessible self-knowledge affected subsequent self-perception. Experiment 3 used a correlational design to demonstrate how cognitive processes associated with self-reference may mediate self-conscious behavior. Individual differences in self-referent encoding were associated with individual differences in self-consciousness; both variables were associated with increased affective reactions to self-relevant feedback; and partialing out individual differences in self-referent encoding eliminated the effects of self-consciousness. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for reconciling various theories of self-consciousness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential processing of in-group and out-group information.

People have a more differentiated cognitive representation of in-groups than of out-groups. This has led to the prediction that memory should be better for in-group information than for out-group information. However, past research has provided equivocal support for that prediction. This article advances a differential processing hypothesis that offers a solution to this paradox. The hypothesis suggests that whereas in-group information is organized by person categories, out-group information is organized through attribute categories. In-group membership alters the categorical basis of memory for person information, but these categories are not necessarily superior to the attribute categories that are used to organize out-group information. That is, both person and attribute categories elicit equal amounts of recall for the in-group and the out-group. Three experiments are reported that support the differential processing hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Automatic and intentional processing of numerical information.

Ss evaluated either numerical size or physical size of stimuli varying along both dimensions. Size congruity, distance, and semantic congruency effects were obtained for numerical comparisons of digit pairs and for comparisons of digits with an internal standard (5). Only the size congruity effect was obtained for physical judgments. It was smaller for pairs in which both stimuli were either both smaller or both larger than 5 than for pairs that contained the digit 5. The results are consistent with the notion that intentional processing is mainly algorithm-based, whereas autonomous processing is mainly memory-based. Implications of the results for models of numerical processing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early adverse experiences and the neurobiology of facial emotion processing.

To examine the neurobiological consequences of early institutionalization, the authors recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from 3 groups of Romanian children--currently institutionalized, previously institutionalized but randomly assigned to foster care, and family-reared children--in response to pictures of happy, angry, fearful, and sad facial expressions of emotion. At 3 assessments (baseline, 30 months, and 42 months), institutionalized children showed markedly smaller amplitudes and longer latencies for the occipital components P1, N170, and P400 compared to family-reared children. By 42 months, ERP amplitudes and latencies of children placed in foster care were intermediate between the institutionalized and family-reared children, suggesting that foster care may be partially effective in ameliorating adverse neural changes caused by institutionalization. The age at which children were placed into foster care was unrelated to their ERP outcomes at 42 months. Facial emotion processing was similar in all 3 groups of children; specifically, fearful faces elicited larger amplitude and longer latency responses than happy faces for the frontocentral components P250 and Nc. These results have important implications for understanding of the role that experience plays in shaping the developing brain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repression-sensitization: A measure of the evaluation of emotional expression.

To explore the meaning of repression-sensitization (R-S) scales, Ss' interpretations of Byrne's R-S Scale were solicited. Repressors were found to interpret the scale as an indicator of mental illness while sensitizers construed the measure as concerning honesty with one's self. In a 2nd study, repressors and sensitizers differed in their use of affect-ideation terms in describing TAT figures. When the TAT measure was described as a mental illness measure, however, the use of emotional words decreased most significantly for sensitizers. An interpretation of R-S Scale performance in terms of Ss' evaluations of emotionally is offered. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hemispheric asymmetry for visual information processing

The left and right hemispheres of humans do not handle all aspects of visual information processing with equal ability. This is illustrated by a review of research concerning the processing of global versus local stimulus properties, low versus high spatial frequencies, and coordinate versus categorical spatial relationships. In general, the right hemisphere is dominant for processing global aspects of visual stimuli that are carried by low spatial frequencies, for the processing of coordinate spatial relationships and, perhaps, for extracting information from the magnocellular visual pathway. In something of a complementary manner, the left hemisphere is dominant for processing local aspects of visual stimuli that are carried by high spatial frequencies and, perhaps, for processing categorical spatial relationships and for extracting information from parvocellular visual pathway. Consideration is given to developmental mechanisms that may underlie the emergence of hemispheric asymmetry for these interrelated aspects of visual information processing.     

Eye movements in reading and information processing.

Reviews studies of eye movements in reading and other information-processing tasks such as picture viewing, visual search, and problem solving. The major emphasis of the review is on reading as a specific example of the more general phenomenon of cognitive processing. Basic topics discussed are the perceptual span, eye guidance, integration across saccades, control of fixation durations, individual differences, and eye movements as they relate to dyslexia and speed reading. In addition, eye movements and the use of peripheral vision and scan paths in picture perception, visual search, and pattern recognition are discussed, as is the role of eye movements in visual illusion. The basic theme of the review is that eye movement data reflect the cognitive processes occurring in a particular task. Theoretical and practical considerations concerning the use of eye movement data are also presented. (7? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The stimulus in information processing.

Argues that the nature of the stimulus is an important variable determining how information is processed. 2 major stimulus concepts are discussed: dimensional integrality vs. separability, and state vs. process limited stimuli. These concepts relate to the effects of stimulus redundancy on discrimination. There will be a gain with redundancy: (a) if the need for redundancy is due to a process limitation and the redundant dimensions are integral, or (b) if the need for redundancy is due to state limitation and the redundant dimensions are separable. Redundancy can also lead to improvement in discrimination if the stimulus elements can be integrated into a gestalt whole. (28 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intra- and interhemispheric information processing in schizophrenia.

Reviews the literature on intra- and interhemispheric information processing in schizophrenia with respect to dichotic and monotic listening, hemiretinal presentation, and dihaptic stimulation. There appears to be little support for the notion that schizophrenia is related to interhemispheric transfer deficits or abnormal functional lateralization. The performance deficits manifested by schizophrenics on lateral information-processing tasks are also incompatible with models on left-hemisphere brain damage. Results suggest left-hemisphere overactivation and consequent temporal abnormalities in processing sensory information directed to the right sensory field. (153 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)