Effects of preparatory information about sensations, threat of pain, and attention on cold pressor distress.

Three experiments with 170 male undergraduates investigated pain experience conceptualized as a combination of stimulus sensations (e.g., aching) and emotional distress. In Exp I, less distress was reported to cold pressor stimulation by Ss first told about stimulus sensations than by Ss who were uninformed or were told about symptoms of bodily arousal (e.g., tension). Adding a pain warning to sensation information blocked distress reduction, presumably by eliciting an emotional interpretation of the stimulus. In Exp II, Ss attending only to hand sensations reported less distress than Ss attending to their bodies. This decrease in the power of the stimulus to provoke emotion is presumably mediated by a schema of hand sensations formed by attention. In Exp III, Ss attending to hand sensations early in the immersion and distracting themselves later reported the same low levels of distress as did Ss who attended to hand sensations throughout. Ss distracted throughout and Ss attending to hand sensations later showed no distress reduction. Therefore, stimulus schematization must precede distress reduction. (64 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of active alert and relaxation hypnotic inductions on cold pressor pain.

Contrasted relaxation and active alert hypnotic inductions with or without a specific suggestion for cold pressor pain analgesia. Groups of high (n?=?38) and low (n?=?27) hypnotizable Ss were tested; hypnotizability had been determined from results of the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form C. Cold pressor pain data were obtained after counterbalanced exposure to relaxation and active alert inductions. Highly hypnotizable Ss demonstrated lower pain scores than did low hypnotizable ones. Pain reports did not differ between induction conditions. Highly hypnotizable Ss given an analgesic suggestion showed lower pain scores than did those exposed only to hypnosis. The findings, conceptualized within E. R. Hilgard's (1977) neodissociation theory, show that relaxation is not necessary for hypnotic analgesia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Labor room and laboratory: clinical validation of the cold pressor as a means of testing preparation for childbirth strategies

Annually, numerous couples prepare for childbirth through Lamaze childbirth education classes. Research on various portions of the Lamaze method has used the cold pressor as an analogue for labor. In this experiment, pregnant women who had attended either (a) Lamaze classes which taught pain control methods (n = 22), or (b) Red Cross parenting classes which did not teach pain control methods (n = 7), and students who received either (c) brief Lamaze training (n = 10), or (d) no training (n = 10), were tested on the cold pressor. Pregnant women were also interviewed after the delivery of their children. On the cold pressor, clinically trained Lamaze women were superior (longer tolerance, less pain and/or distress) to clinical control (Red Cross) women, which were equal to student Lamaze trained women. All groups performed better than student controls. Post hoc analyses showed that women who managed labor pain well performed better on the cold pressor task than women who did not manage labor pain well. This experiment established some limits for applying analogue results to childbirth. Moreover, it showed that women who attended Lamaze classes received less medication during labor than women who attended Red Cross classes; however, it was not clear whether this difference was due to the Lamaze classes per se, or to other uncontrolled variables.     

Impact of group consensus and social support on stimulus meaning: Mediation of conformity by cognitive restructuring.

Three experiments with a total of 163 undergraduates tested the hypothesis that a person reinterprets the meaning of the stimulus object when facing unpopular responses from a unanimous group and that this change in meaning leads to a shift in response toward the group's position. In Exp I, several opinion items were presented, and either Ss observed unpopular responses, supposedly made earlier by a unanimous group (UG) or by a group having 1 dissenter (social support), or they observed no response at all (control). Ss merely gave their interpretation of the meaning of a key word or phrase in each opinion statement—they did not give their own opinions. Results show that UG Ss gave more uncommon meanings to the stimuli than did Ss in the other 2 conditions. Exp II ruled out the possibility that the shift in meaning was due to Ss' adhering to the interpretation they assumed to be held by the majority. In Exp III, Ss were exposed to scores representing the meanings that were produced by the unanimous group and control conditions in Exp I. Results show that after observing the consensually produced meanings for these items, the Ss shifted their own opinions toward the position held by the UG in Exp I. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learned helplessness and learned resourcefulness: Effects of noncontingent success and failure on individuals differing in self-control skills.

In Exp I, 72 undergraduates were assessed using the Self-Control Schedule and received noncontingent success-, failure-, or no-feedback on a task that ostensibly assessed therapeutic abilities. Ss were subsequently tested on insolvable puzzles. In Exp II, 72 undergraduates followed the same procedure as in Exp I but were subsequently tested on solvable anagrams. Results show that the performance of Ss with low resourcefulness (LR) in self-control skills on the insolvable puzzles was debilitated by the helplessness induction, while Ss with high resourcefulness (HR) and LR Ss showed equal helplessness-induced deficits on the anagrams. As predicted from the self-control model, HR Ss more frequently checked statements indicating positive self-evaluations and task-oriented thoughts and less frequently checked negative self-evaluations than did LR Ss during exposure to uncontrollability in both experiments. It is concluded that the self-control model best accounts for Ss' self-reactions during exposure to uncontrollability or failure, while the learned helplessness model accounts for the generalization of helplessness from uncontrollable situations to controllable ones. The list of self-referent statements used in the experiments is appended. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processing of information in iconic memory: Differences between nonretarded and retarded subjects.

Compared iconic memory processes of 17 undergraduates and 18 retarded Ss (primarily aged 18–28 yrs; IQ 56–77) in 4 experiments. In Exp I, a partial report paradigm was used in which 6 retarded and 6 undergraduate Ss were presented 6 pictures under 4 intervals (0–500 msec). In Exp II, using 5 Ss in each group the same procedure as in Exp I was used but letters as well as pictures were included. Results show that although overall performance for retarded Ss was poor, they did better with letters than with pictures—a reverse of the finding with undergraduate Ss. In Exp III, 2 retarded Ss were given extended practice and incentive to perform well. Asymptote was reached in 10 days but never equaled performance of unpracticed undergraduates. In Exp IV, using 5 Ss in each group, information load was varied from 1 to 4 items, and a masking stimulus was used to interrupt processing following 6 intervals that lasted up to 250 msec. Results show that (1) there are quantitative differences between intelligence groups in iconic capacity; (2) retarded Ss process information more slowly, a difference that increases with increasing information load; and (3) there are substantive structural differences in iconic memory of retarded and nonretarded Ss. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of differences in suggestibility within self- and external-control conditions.

Studied possible effects of differences in waking suggestibility on performance within self- and external-control conditions. 10 high-suggestible and 10 low-suggestible undergraduate Ss, as measured by body sway, were assigned to each of 3 experimental conditions—self-control, external-control, and no reward. Response rates of self and external groups were higher than the no-reward group. However, response rates of high-suggestible Ss in the self-control condition were not significantly different than similar Ss in the no-reward groups. Moreover, performance of high- and low-suggestible Ss was not significantly different in the external-control condition, whereas response rates of high-suggestible Ss were significantly lower than low-suggestible Ss in the self-control condition. It is concluded that low-suggestible Ss respond equally well to either self- or external demands and rewards, whereas high-suggestible Ss are so dependent on external factors that their performance is minimal when self-determination of reward contingencies is required. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moderating effects of contextual variables on the relationship between hypnotic susceptibility and suggested analgesia.

Assessed 75 undergraduates high, medium, or low on hypnotic susceptibility (the Carleton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale) on the cold pressor task before and after 1 of 3 instructional treatments. The treatments were (a) brief instructions to try to reduce pain, (b) the same analgesia instructions preceded by a hypnotic induction procedure, and (c) no hypnotic induction or instructions. In the hypnotic treatment, susceptibility correlated significantly with reductions in reported pain, and high-susceptible Ss reported significantly larger pain reductions than did control Ss. In the instruction-alone treatment, there was no significant relationship between susceptibility and pain reduction, and Ss at all 3 susceptibility levels reduced reported pain significantly more than did controls and as much as did high-susceptible hypnotic Ss. Findings suggest that the correlation between hypnotic susceptibility and hypnotic analgesia is moderated by Ss' attitudes and expectancies concerning their own performance in situations defined as related to hypnosis. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of stress on perceived intoxication and the blood alcohol curve in men and women.

To determine the influence of stress on intoxication and blood alcohol concentration (BAC) 60 healthy male and female volunteers were exposed to a cold pressor test, distressing film, or control condition after consuming a moderate dose of alcohol. Two measures of perceived intoxication suggested a sobering effect of acute stressors. In addition, Ss viewing the distressing film showed longer latency to peak BAC than Ss in the control condition. As BAC began to fall, the cold pressor test initially increased rate of alcohol elimination. These stress-induced changes in intoxication and the BAC curve support a biobehavioral model in which stress may increase alcohol use partly because it attenuates alcohol's psychopharmacological impact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of sex guilt on interpersonal pleasuring.

Two experiments (120 undergraduate males) investigated whether conceptualization of sex guilt could be extended to an interpersonal physical pleasuring paradigm. In Exp I, low-guilt (as determined by the Mosher Forced-Choice Guilt Inventory) Ss administered more overall pleasure to a female confederate than did high-guilt Ss. In Exp II, in addition to a main effect for guilt, high-guilt Ss administered significantly lower levels of pleasure when they anticipated further interaction with the confederate than when they did not. Low-guilt Ss administered slightly more pleasure when they anticipated further interaction with the confederate. Results are not consistent with D. L. Mosher's (see PA, Vols 39:9269 and 40:4236) hypothesis that low-guilt Ss are more sensitive to situational cues than high-guilt Ss. It is suggested that the inconsistency was a function of the reinforcement value of interpersonal pleasuring. Although previous research required Ss to make responses that had little apparent reinforcement value, the nature of the pleasuring response did appear to have reinforcement value for both low- and high-guilt Ss, since they increased their levels of pleasuring over trials. A 3rd experiment (24 Ss) that failed to find a relationship between hostility-guilt and pleasuring provided strong support for the relation between sex guilt and interpersonal pleasuring. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Plans to resist distraction.

Conducted 2 experiments with a total of 71 preschoolers to investigate the effects of giving such Ss plans to resist distraction on their actual resistance in a subsequent work situation. A paradigm was developed in which the S, while motivated to work on a repetitive task, was exposed to a "Clown Box" which went through a standardized routine designed to distract the S from his work. The dependent variable assessed the amount of time the S worked in the E's absence. In Exp I, it was found, whether or not the Ss had rehearsed the actions called for in the plans, those who were given 3 plans for resistance worked longer than those who were not given plans. In Exp II it was found that Ss who were given only 1 plan worked as much as Ss who were given 3 plans, and more than Ss who were not given plans. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pain perception and cardiovascular responses in men with positive parental history for hypertension

Evidence suggests a reduced pain sensitivity in hypertensive individuals. This study sought to extend this work to normotensive individuals with hypertensive parents. Men with a positive (PH+) or negative (PH-) parental history for hypertension rated their pain every 15 s during a 90-s hand cold pressor test and for 90 s after the cold pressor test. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressures and heart rate were measured throughout. After the cold pressor test, the men recalled their pain using the McGill Pain Questionnaire. PH+ men showed greater SBP and DBP responses to the cold pressor test. Although pain ratings during the cold pressor test did not differ between groups, posttest reported pain receded faster in the PH+ than in the PH- men. The PH+ men also reported less total pain on the McGill. These findings support the hypothesis that risk for hypertension may be associated with attenuated pain responses to nociceptive stimuli.     

Instructional demands and ratings of overt and hidden pain during hypnotic analgesia.

16 highly hypnotizable (Carlton University Responsiveness to Suggestion Scale) undergraduates rated the intensity of cold pressor pain during a baseline trial and again during 3 hypnotic analgesia trials. During each analgesia trial, Ss were instructed to give overt reports that reflected consciously experienced pain and covert reports that reflected the intensity of "hidden" pain. Treatment instructions administered before the 1st analgesia trial did not specify the relationship between overt and covert pain. Instructions given before the remaining 2 analgesia trials indicated that hidden pain would be either more or less intense than overt pain. Until they were given explicit information about the relative intensities of the pain, Ss reported no differences in the magnitude of overt and covert pain, contrary to the dissociation hypothesis of hypnotic analgesia. Consistent with social psychological formulations of the hidden observer phenomenon, Ss reported both higher covert than overt pain and lower covert than overt pain, depending on the instructions they were administered. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pavlovian second-order conditioned analgesia.

Three experiments, with 118 Sprague-Dawley rats, assessed conditioned analgesia in a Pavlovian 2nd-order conditioning procedure by using inhibition of responding to thermal stimulation as an index of pain sensitivity. In Exp I, Ss receiving 2nd-order conditioning showed longer response latencies during a test of pain sensitivity in the presence of the 2nd-order conditioned stimulus (CS) than Ss receiving appropriate control procedures. Exp II found that extinction of the 1st-order CS had no effect on established 2nd-order conditioned analgesia. Exp III evaluated the effects of post 2nd-order conditioning pairings of subcutaneous morphine sulfate (10–20 mg/kg) and the shock unconditioned stimulus/stimuli (UCS). Ss receiving paired morphine–shock presentations showed significantly shorter response latencies during a hot-plate test of pain sensitivity in the presence of the 2nd-order CS than did Ss receiving various control procedures; 2nd-order analgesia was attenuated. Data extend the associative account of conditioned analgesia to 2nd-order conditioning situations and are discussed in terms of the mediation of both 1st- and 2nd-order analgesia by an association between the CS and a representation or expectancy of the UCS, which may directly activate endogenous pain inhibition systems. (52 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Construct accessibility and depression: An examination of cognitive and affective factors.

Two experiments with undergraduates examined the parameters of construct accessibility in depression. In Exp I, 30 depressed and nondepressed (the Beck Depression Inventory) Ss were required to name the colors of tachistiscopically presented depressed-content, neutral-content, and manic-content words. Because of the predicted accessibility and interference effects of the depressed-content words, depressed Ss were predicted to demonstrate longer response latencies to these words than to the non-depressed-content words. Results support the prediction: Nondepressed Ss did not demonstrate differential response latencies. In Exp II (30 Ss), a mood-induction paradigm was used to investigate whether the interference effects obtained in Exp I were due to temporary mood differences between depressed and nondepressed Ss or were a function of more stable depression-associated patterns of information processing. Although predicted group differences were obtained on a mood adjective checklist, no effects were found for task performance. Findings suggest that transient mood is not a sufficient explanation for the results obtained in Exp I. Implications for the understanding of both construct accessibility and depression are discussed. (68 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of source magnification of cognitive effort on attitudes: An information-processing view.

In Exp I 120 undergraduates viewed a videotape of 1 or 3 speakers presenting 1 or 3 arguments in favor of a counterattitudinal position. The 3-source/3-argument message produced significantly more persuasion than any of the other conditions, which did not differ from each other. It is suggested that each time a speaker appears, the recipient "gears up" to process the message and that if either speaker or argument is repeated, further thinking about the arguments is minimal. Exp II (30 Ss) excluded an alternative to this processing interpretation by showing that Ss exposed to the multiple-source/multiple-argument message did not infer that the pool of proproposal arguments was larger than that inferred by other Ss. In Exp III (100 Ss), Ss exposed to 3 compelling arguments purportedly produced by 3 different persons generated more positive thoughts and were more persuaded than Ss who read the same high quality arguments presumably generated by 1 person. However, Ss exposed to 3 weak arguments purportedly produced by 3 different persons generated more negative thoughts and were less persuaded than Ss who read the same low quality arguments attributed to 1 source. Overall, results indicate that increasing the number of sources of a message increases thinking about the message content. This increased thinking can result in either increased or decreased persuasion, depending on the cogency of the message arguments. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Species-specific danger signals, endogenous opioid analgesia, and defensive behavior.

Examined the effects of handling stimuli and stress odors on species-specific defensive behavior and pain sensitivity with a total of 100 female Sprague-Dawley derived rats in 4 experiments. Ss not adapted to handling had longer jump latencies on the hotplate test of pain sensitivity than those with extensive handling experience. In a postshock freezing test in Exp II, naltrexone (7 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) enhanced defensive freezing relative to saline controls in nonadapted Ss. However, naltrexone produced no such effect in Ss that were adapted to handling. These 2 studies indicate that the handling procedure triggered an endogenous opioid analgesic response in Ss not adapted to handling. Exp III showed that a similar naltrexone-reversible opioid analgesia could be triggered by stress odors. Naltrexone, when compared to saline, enhanced postshock freezing in the presence of conspecific stress odors but not in their absence. In Exp IV, stress odors and nonadapted handling were able to activate defensive freezing directly when tested in compound but not in isolation. Results are consistent with the view that stress odors and handling stimuli are danger signals that activate endogenous opioid analgesia as well as defensive behavior, suggesting that analgesia is a component of the rat's defensive behavior system. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fear behavior, fear imagery, and the psychophysiology of emotion: The problem of affective response integration.

Exp I compared the psychophysiological reactions of 25 Ss with 2 fears, focal phobia and social-performance anxiety. Ss were determined by questionnaire (e.g., Differential Personality Questionnaire, Fenz-Epstein Anxiety Scale) and interview to be at the high extreme of their respective fear reference groups. Each group was exposed to both its own and the other group's primary fear stress (i.e., a snake-exposure test and a public speaking performance). These same Ss were also instructed to imagine both types of fear situations as well as control scenes. Results indicate a different psychophysiological response for the 2 fear groups across the 2 fear contents. Thus, snake-phobic Ss showed greater arousal when exposed to a live snake than did socially anxious Ss. Despite significantly greater verbal reports of fear and arousal by socially anxious Ss, both fear groups showed a similar marked increase in physiological arousal during speech performance. Neither group generated a significant physiological reaction to either fear content during imagery assessment. Exp II examined emotional imagery with 40 undergraduates from the same 2 fear populations. An imagery pretraining program, based on the reinforcement of verbal report of somatic response content in imagery, led to a significant visceral arousal response during fear imagery. Response-trained Ss showed a pattern of heart rate change during imagery that varied between Ss and fear contents. Response-trained Ss also showed relatively greater concordance between verbal and visceral measures than did untrained Ss. (60 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Writing and revising persuasive documents: Cognitive demands.

In 2 experiments, 40 graduate and 60 undergraduate students wrote preliminary and final drafts of a persuasive document. In Exp I, the need for Ss to comply with mechanics (i.e., punctuation and spelling), to form complete sentences, and to sequence their ideas, respectively, were eliminated one at a time from preliminary-draft formats. The elimination of sentence-formation and sequence operations produced corresponding increments in persuasive argument production. In Exp II, Ss with average verbal ability (as assessed by the Scholastic Aptitude Test) benefited more from the elimination of these structure operations than did Ss with low verbal ability. When allowed to freely choose their typical preliminary-draft format, Ss with average verbal ability usually selected proposition-based formats (e.g., lists, outlines, and diagrams) that dispensed with the need for structure operations. Ss with average verbal ability also produced more sentences, more arguments per sentence, and fewer mechanical errors than did those with low verbal ability. In both experiments, comparatively few new arguments were constructed during revision. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)