Implicit causality as implicit salience.

In past research, Ss attributed interpersonal actions more to agents than to patients and interpersonal experiences more to stimuli than to experiencers. For example, in the sentences "A cheats B" and "A shocks B," the act of cheating and the experience of shock were attributed more to A than to B. These and related findings are explained in terms of salience. In Study 1, people reading simple 3rd-person sentences judged agents to be more salient than patients and stimuli to be more salient than experiencers. In Study 2, the usual pattern of attributing actions primarily to agents and experiences primarily to stimuli was eliminated by manipulating sentence form so that the reader was depicted as actor rather than observer. In Study 3, sentences describing accidental collisions between inanimate entities implied greater salience and causality of agents than patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electrodermal activity in euthymic patients with affective disorders: One-year retest stability and the effects of stimulus intensity and significance.

Examined the effects of stimulus intensity and meaningfulness on the electrodermal activity (EDA) of patients with remitted major affective disorders in 22 unipolar (mean age 41 yrs), 22 bipolar (mean age 38.5 yrs), and 26 normal control (mean age 41.5 yrs) Ss. 29 of the affective disorder patients and 23 of the control Ss participated in a study of EDA conducted 1 yr earlier by the 1st author and colleagues (1983). Ss blew up a balloon until it burst and were exposed to 8 86-db tones, 12 105-db tones and 8 familiar sounds that reached a peak intensity of 105 db. Skin conductance was recorded bilaterally and averaged over hands. Results indicate that, compared to the control Ss, the affective disorder patients responded significantly less to the balloon task, the 105-db tones, and the familiar sounds. The affective-disorder groups had lower tonic levels than did the controls. Several measures of EDA displayed moderately high 1-yr retest stability. The pattern of findings is consistent with the hypothesis that depressed EDA may be a trait characterizing those who are prone to major affective disorder. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A matching-to-sample feedback technique for training self-control of tinnitus.

Treated 30 individuals (aged 24–82 yrs) with subjective tinnitus aurium with a matching-to-sample feedback procedure. Ss' tinnitus sounds were reproduced audiometrically on all characteristics and were presented to them in the noninvolved ear or in both ears when the tinnitus was binaural. This experimental sound was then reduced in 5-db steps within sessions, and Ss had the task of concentrating on reducing the loudness of their tinnitus until a match was achieved between it and the experimental sound at each new db level. Results show a significant difference in db levels from baseline to final training session. Nearly all Ss demonstrated a marked reduction in tinnitus loudness, with several eliminating it completely. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neonatal movement response decrement and recovery to sounds as a function of stimulus intensity.

Studied response decrement, novelty response, and dishabituation of body movements to repeated presentations of white noise stimulus (of 66, 76, and 86 db) to 89 2–3 day old Ss in the 1st epoch of active-quiet sleep following a feeding. In Part 1, Ss receiving the 86 db repeating stimulus had greater movement scores compared to Ss receiving the 76 db intensity, who in turn had greater movement scores than those receiving the 66 db intensity. All groups demonstrated movement response decline following repeated stimulation, and, in Part 2, a novelty response was observed when either a 66 or 76 db repeating stimulus was increased to 86 db. A novelty response was not observed when intensity was decreased. Dishabituation was not observed following a novelty response. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Noise and the young mouse: Genotype modifies the sensitive period for effects on cochlear physiology and audiogenic seizures.

Examined the correspondence between the critical period, during which acoustic trauma will profoundly alter subsequent auditory behavior, and the broader sensitive period, during which acoustic trauma is most damaging to cochlear functions in the young ear, using 133 C57BL/6 and 183 CBA mice (aged 12–54 days) as Ss. Ss were exposed to 2 min of 124-db octave band noise (8–26 kHz). A noninvasive electrocochleographic technique was used to assess cochlear microphonic (CM) and action potential (AP) thresholds in exposed Ss and nonexposed littermate controls. Noise had no effect on 12-day-old CBA Ss but produced a maximal threshold elevation at 30–36 days in 54-day-old Ss. Susceptibility to audiogenic seizures in exposed CBA Ss was greatest at the peak of the sensitive period for cochlear damage. 12-day-old C57BL/6 Ss were also unaffected by noise exposure; 36-day-old C57BL/6 Ss had maximal AP (23 db) and CM (17 db) threshold; elevations and 54-day-old C57BL/6 Ss had an 18-db elevation of the AP; and their CM was no longer affected. It is concluded that both genotypes have a sensitive period for the effects of noise trauma on CM and AP thresholds: CBA has a sensitive period for acoustic priming for audiogenic seizures, and C57BL/6 has a critical period for acoustic priming. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions of responsibility for group tasks: The egocentric bias and the actor–observer difference.

In each of 3 experiments it was demonstrated that under certain conditions individuals who work on a task in a dyad will tend to attribute greater responsibility for a positive outcome to their partners than to themselves. In Exp I 56 college students, who had qualifying scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, working in dyads on a crossword puzzle attributed more responsibility to their partners than to themselves for an outcome they were led to believe was quite good, thus contradicting the expected "egocentric bias" effect. This was true across depression categories. In Exp II, 100 college students working in dyads on the puzzle attributed more responsibility to their partners than to themselves for a positive outcome when asked immediately after the task to make the attribution. However, Ss attributed greater responsibility to themselves than to their partners when asked to make the attribution 3 days later, thus replicating the egocentric bias effect. Half of the 30 dyads in Exp III believed they were being videotaped while working on the puzzle, whereas the other half did not. "Videotaped" Ss attributed more responsibility for the positive outcome to themselves than to their partners, whereas the nonvideotaped Ss attributed more responsibility to their partners than to themselves when both groups were asked to give their attributions immediately after the task. The relationship between the egocentric bias effect and the actor–observer difference phenomenon is discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Auditory intensity discrimination in blackbirds and pigeons.

Three male and 3 female redwing blackbirds, 2 male brown-headed cowbirds, and 2 male White Carneaux pigeons were trained with operant conditioning techniques to respond to small increases in the intensity of pulsed tone trains at 3 frequencies: .5, 1.0, and 2.0 kHz. All 3 species produced similar intensity difference limens (DLs) at the frequencies tested. Intensity DLs decreased as sensation level (intensity level above absolute threshold) increased at all 3 frequencies, with the slopes of these sensation level functions being greatest at 2.0 kHz. The median intensity DLs at 50 db sensation level were 3.3, 2.7, and 2.9 db at .5, 1.0, and 2.0 kHz, respectively, averaged over the 3 species. Some Ss were also required to detect decreases in intensity. They produced intensity DLs 2–3 times larger than the DLs obtained when these same Ss were required to detect increases in intensity. Avian intensity DLs generally appear to be 1–2 db higher than the DLs of those mammals that have been tested (rat, cat, monkey, humans). (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social and interpersonal reactions to depression and disability.

Studied the reactions of 167 undergraduates to a 21-yr-old male actor with a physical disability who behaved in either a depressed or socially appropriate manner in an interview and appeared to be either physically disabled or nondisabled. Consistent with predictions, the actor was rated more favorably when he appeared disabled, and Ss had strong negative reactions to depressive behavior regardless of physical appearance. S attitudes toward persons with disability were affected by the interpersonal behavior of the target: Ss evidenced more open, accepting attitudes toward persons with disability after viewing appropriate behavior by the actor, and Ss in the depressed disabled condition endorsed more stereotypic, negative attitudes. Results are discussed in terms of "kindness norm" behavior and social models of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal integration of acoustic stimulation obtained in reflex inhibition in rats and humans.

Investigated whether inhibition provided by initial stimuli of various durations conforms to established temporal integration functions. Initial stimuli (S1) were noise bursts varying in duration (2, 20, or 200 msec) and intensity (55 or 85 db). Eliciting stimuli (S2) for 6 Holtzman rats were intense tone bursts, which elicited the acoustic startle reflex, and for 9 19–24 yr old humans were electrotactile stimuli to the forehead, which elicited the eye blink. Findings reveal that inhibition was greater with the 85-db S1 stimulus and increased linearly with log increases in duration. Data suggest that the acoustic substrate for reflex inhibition has a long-time constant. There was one exception to this general finding. For 7 human Ss, inhibition declined when the duration of the 85-db S1 was increased from 20 to 200 msec. Postexperimental questioning and video monitoring suggest that this anomaly resulted from a reflex-enhancing arousal process. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional impact of videotape and reenacted feedback on subjects with high and low defenses.

A group of 40 high and low defensive college students were given reenacted videotape and videotape feedback of an earlier stressful interview. Defensiveness was based upon the L and K scores from the MMPI. The stress interview was reenacted by having an actor or actress portray the earlier interview performance. The Ss rated the emotional impact of the experience 5 times during the feedback interview and again at its conclusion. All Ss had more negative feelings when viewing actor/actress self-portrayals. Low defensive Ss viewed both themselves and the actor/actress portrayals more negatively than did high defensive Ss. Many of the low defensive Ss still had negative feelings after viewing themselves, whereas none of the high defensive Ss did. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Salience of appeal and avoidance of helping situations.

Studied memory processes in natural settings by testing the ability of 411 undergraduates sent on a short campus walk to recall things, people, or events seen on the walk. Ss had passed a table displaying a low salience appeal for donations to a children's charity, a high salience appeal featuring a needy child, or a high salience appeal featuring a child already helped by donations. Ss maintained greater distances from the table when it featured a high salience appeal than when it displayed either a low salience appeal or no appeal. Recall of the appeal depended upon the extent to which Ss had expressed a need to believe in a just world. Findings are discussed with regard to conflicting demands inherent in situations where appeals for help are made. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pinna reflex thresholds and audiogenic seizures: Developmental changes after acoustic priming.

Exposed 200 16-day-old C57BL/6J mice to 30 sec. of 120-db noise (acoustic priming). Primed Ss and 220 unprimed Ss were tested on subsequent days for either audiogenic seizures or an altered threshold to the Preyer pinnal reflex. Within 24 hr., the Preyer reflex threshold had decreased in primed Ss by 5.4 db., and a further decline of 10.1 db. occurred over the next 4 days. The 2 indices of audiogenic seizures did not show a corresponding change until the 2nd day after priming. It is hypothesized that acoustic priming selectively disrupts inhibitory mechanisms which normally protect the CNS from an overload by intense sounds, and that audiogenic seizures and the Preyer reflex are independently affected by this common event. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Potential behavioral consequences of attributions of locus of control.

Investigated the relationship between an observer's causal attributions made regarding an actor's performance and potential observer behavior with respect to the actor. Ss' task was analogous to that of a manager in a machinery parts factory who must make employment decisions on the basis of observed performances. 407 undergraduates observed a male or female actor performing a task similar to a factory worker's. Ss made causal attributions regarding the performance and rated the likelihood of hiring, paying a bonus, or placing the actor in a supervisory position. Results indicate that for successful actors, the more internality attributed (more ability and less task ease), the more likely the actor was to be hired. In the unsuccessful condition, the less internality attributed (less lack of ability and more task difficulty), the more likely the actor was to be hired, given a bonus, and placed in a supervisory position. Implications for both the equity and attribution models are discussed. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attribution difficulty and memory for attribution-relevant information.

Compared the processing and retrieval of attribution-relevant information when the attributional inference is easy or difficult to make. Ss attributed behavioral events to the person or to the situation, based on several items of context information. Each context sentence implied either the person or the entity as causal agent. When the attributional inference was difficult to make (an equal number of context sentences implied actor and entity as the causal agent), Ss recalled more of the behavioral events, recalled more context sentences, and were less confident in their attributions than when the attributional inference was easy to make (most context sentences implied the same causal agent). Ss also recalled context information that was implicationally incongruent with the majority of the other context sentences with a higher probability than when that same information was implicationally congruent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phasic electrodermal orienting response in chronic schizophrenics: II. Response to auditory signals of varying intensity.

Studied phasic electrodermal orienting response (OR) to brief tones at 60, 75, or 90 db. Results support earlier findings obtained with brief visual stimuli both in retest and in newly recruited Ss among 72 clear and 72 confused chronic schizophrenics and 48 normal controls. Confused Ss showed diminished reactivity to stimuli of low to moderate intensity. A moderate increase in stimulus intensity significantly improved initial OR frequency among confused Ss without affecting response amplitude; further increase brought initial OR amplitude to normal levels. Chronic schizophrenics again showed consistently faster habituation than controls. Results are not attributable to particular diagnostic subgroupings or total time in hospital. While long-hospitalized Ss with a hebephrenic diagnosis are more likely to be confused, it is the fact of confusion itself that is significant in determining OR. Results suggest faster but less detailed assilimation of information among chronic schizophrenics in general, coupled with a defensive attenuation of specific input among confused patients in particular. (30 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Terror management and tolerance: Does mortality salience always intensify negative reactions to others who threaten one's worldview?

Terror management research has shown that reminding Ss of their mortality leads to intolerance. The present research assessed whether mortality salience would lead to increased intolerance when the value of tolerance is highly accessible. In Study 1, given that liberals value tolerance more than conservatives, it was hypothesized that with mortality salience, dislike of dissimilar others would increase among conseratives but decrease among liberals. Liberal and conservative Ss were induced to think about their own mortality or a neutral topic and then were asked to evaluate 2 target persons, one liberal, the other conservative. Ss' evaluations of the targets supported these hypotheses. In Study 2, the value of tolerance was primed for half the Ss and, under mortality-salient or control conditions, Ss evaluated a target person who criticized the US. Mortality salience did not lead to negative reactions to the critic when the value of tolerance was highly accessible. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectations, aspirations, and evaluations as influenced by another's attributions for success and failure.

A study with 80 male and female students aged 16–18 yrs examined the effects of another's attributions for performance on one's own expectations, aspirations, and evaluations of performance. Ss witnessed an other (O) who had attributed his (or her) performance (successful or unsuccessful) on an anagram task to luck, task ease or difficulty, effort, or ability. When O had succeeded, Ss expected to perform best if O had attributed his success to the task (rather than to luck, effort, or ability); when O had failed, Ss expected to perform worst when O had attributed his failure to the task. In addition, Ss witnessing a successful O were more hopeful if O had made a task attribution, but Ss witnessing an unsuccessful O were more hopeful if O had made an effort attribution. Finally, Ss showed a tendency to attribute their own performance to the same cause to which O had attributed his own performance. Results are discussed in relation to the stability–instability and internal–external dimensions of causal attributions and to the need to perceive oneself as exercising effective control over the environment. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trait attributions: Relative validity, covariation with behavior, and prospect of future interaction.

Data obtained from 39 undergraduates suggest that the prospect of future interaction and the type of information available about an actor exerted considerable influence on the trait attributions offered by Ss. Attributions were more extremely dispositional, more valid, and more strongly related to subsequent behavioral tendencies when future interaction was anticipated than when it was not. Ss offered more extreme trait attributions when they were provided with behavioral information about the actors that warranted a dispositional inference than when they were not provided with such information. However, even when Ss were not provided with information that warranted a dispositional attribution, they still offered more extreme trait inferences when future interaction was anticipated than when it was not. Findings are interpreted in terms of three explanations for why the naive psychologist offers attributions. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overshadowing and summation in compound stimulus conditioning of the rabbit's nictitating membrane response.

Examined acquisition of the rabbit's nictitating membrane response to a light?+?tone simultaneous compound stimulus and its components as a function of the intensity of the tone. In Exp I, the tone intensity was varied across the values of 85, 89, and 93 db, and the CS–UCS interval was 400 msec. In Exp II, the tone intensities were 73, 85, and 93 db, and the CS–UCS interval was 800 msec. Exps III and IV further examined the effects of the 73-db CS–UCS tone at CS–UCS intervals of 400 and 800 msec. All experiments included control groups, which were trained with either a light or a tone CS. Overall results show repeated instances of overshadowing: the impairment of CR acquisition to one or both of the components of a compound. Two types of summation were obtained: within-Ss summation, in which Ss trained with a compound showed a higher level of responding to the compound than to either of its component CSs; and between-groups summation, in which a group trained with a compound showed faster CR acquisition than either of its corresponding control groups trained with a single CS. Results are discussed in terms of perceptual and distributive processing models of compound stimulus conditioning. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)