Studies in efficiency: Muscle-action patterns in reaction time as related to GSR conditioning.

A significant interaction between degree of efficiency in reaction time and in meeting task requirements in the GSR conditioning situation was found, such that efficient Ss tended to take longer to reach criterion under instructions to relax, while there was no difference between the groups when the requirement was to solve a problem. Under the relax instructions the correlation of right- to left-arm tension with trials to successive CRs was .60; under problem instructions it was -.04. Taken together with the previous studies, these results are interpreted as support for the method of analysis implied by the concept of efficiency. They prepare the way for further tests of the hypothesis that efficiency will be related to degrees of psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypnosis, task-motivating instructions, and learning performance.

40 Ss, including 30 who had been previously rated as suggestible and 10 as nonsuggestible, were pretested and then retested on equivalent forms of 3 learning tasks: digit symbol substitution, memory for words, and abstract reasoning. All Ss received the pretests in the same way. The 30 suggestible Ss were retested under 1 of the following 3 experimental treatments with 10 Ss assigned at random to each treatment: task-motivating instructions, hypnotic induction procedure with task-motivating instructions, and control. The 10 nonsuggestible Ss were retested under a task-motivating-instructions treatment. Analyses of covariance indicated that (a) task-motivating instructions given alone or following a hypnotic induction procedure did not significantly affect performance on the memory for words or abstract reasoning tasks; and (b) task-motivating instructions produced a comparable enhancement of performance on the digit symbol substitution task in hypnotized and nonhypnotized Ss and in suggestible and nonsuggestible Ss. (33 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Instructions as discriminative stimuli in verbal conditioning and awareness.

This investigation was to study the effects of preconditioning instructions and type of reinforcer on level of awareness and extent of conditioning. Prior to a conditioning task, Ss in different experimental groups were given varying degrees of information concerning the nature of the reinforcement and the reinforcement contingency. In some groups of Ss the reinforcement consisted of E saying "good" while in other experimental groups the Ss received points as reinforcement. The results indicated that the degree of conditioning and level of awareness were partially dependent upon the amount of information in the preconditioning instruction. However, in experimental groups where only partial information was given, Ss who received points conditioned better than Ss who received "good" even though there were no differences in the level of awareness. The nature of the response class was also found to be an important variable that affected the level of conditioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

GSR reactivity as a function of anxiety, instructions, and sex.

"GSR conditioning and extinction measures were obtained on 120 college Ss in a factorial experimental design in which 12 treatment groups were divided into 2 sex groups, 3 instruction groups, and high- and low-anxiety groups. The 3 instruction groups were given 3 different kinds of instruction designed to be: (a) apprehension arousing; (b) neutral; and (c) reassuring." Male Ss showed less conditioning when given reassuring instructions; female Ss showed the least conditioning with the apprehension-arousing instructions. Females showed greater GSR reactivity than males in all phases of the experiment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A developmental study of efficiency in differential galvanic skin response conditioning.

Hypothesized that in a differential galvanic-skin-response (GSR) conditioning situation, differential sets would be increasingly effective with increasing age in producing differential rates of conditioning. The GSRs of 193 children from kindergarten and Grades 1, 2, 4, and 6 were conditioned under inhibiting and facilitating sets. Support for the hypothesis was found in a significant Grade * Set interaction. Ability to verbalize the positive-conditioned-stimulus-unconditioned-stimulus relation was also a function of the Grade * Set interaction, as well as the interaction of Grade * Successful vs Unsuccessful Conditioning. Data also indicate the importance of cognitive factors in classical conditioning paradigms with human Ss. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of anxiety level and psychological stress on verbal learning.

"It was predicted that under neutral conditions high anxiety (high drive) Ss would exhibit a performance superior to that of low anxiety (low drive) Ss on a paired-associate learning task with minimal intratask interference but that under conditions of psychological stress (report of inadequate prior performance) high anxiety Ss, due to the greater arousal of interfering extratask responses, would no longer exhibit the superiority found under neutral conditions. Results indicated that while the high anxiety Ss under neutral instructions were significantly superior to the low anxious, as predicted, and the Ss operating under stress were inferior to their neutral controls, the predicted interaction between anxiety level and stress was not found." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interaction of set and awareness as determinants of response to verbal conditioning.

The utility of an operant conditioning model to psychotherapy was evaluated by studying the definition of the situation given S and S's focus on E's behavior. Instructions induced either a positive or negative set, identifying a story telling task as a test of empathy or personal problems. Awareness was induced in ? of the Ss by calling attention to E's reinforcement "mm-hmm." 12 undergradate students served as Ss in each of the 4 experimental groups. Positive set-Aware Ss increased use of emotional words, while Negative set-Aware Ss decreased use of emotional words. The results were interpreted as evidence that awareness can either facilitate or inhibit conditioning, depending upon S's set. (26 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of locus of control, instructions, and verbal conditioning on self-referenced affect in a counseling interview.

Examined the relationships between locus of control, specificity of instruction, and verbal conditionability on self-referenced affect in a counseling analog interview. 118 female undergraduates were administered Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale. On the basis of scores tabulated for H. L. Mirels's factor of personal internality, 40 Ss were classified as internals or externals and were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions: general instructions or specific instructions. All Ss then participated in an interview with a counselor. The interview was divided into 3 sections: baseline, conditioning, and extinction. During the conditioning period, the counselor verbalized self-referenced affect and reflection of feeling on a 2-min interval schedule. Results indicate that specific instructions combined with verbal conditioning procedures produced the greatest increase in self-referenced affect for both internal and external Ss. Findings are discussed in relation to the directive and instigational functions of instructions on internal/external Ss. Implications for future research are outlined. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of immediately preceding task brightness on visual performance.

To determine how visual performance at low photopic brightness levels is affected by the brightness of an immediately preceding visual task, Ss were required to read photographs of banks of instrument dials (a near-vision task) and banks of Landolt rings (a far-vision task) after adaptation to the brightness level of the first task, under speed and accuracy instructions. The Ss performed both the near and far tasks. Within the brightness ranges used, performance was related to the brightness of the task but not to the brightness of the immediately preceding task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of generic advance instructions on learning a classification task.

Investigated whether giving students generic advance instructions about how to learn a classification task would be effective in facilitating learning of a specific classification task. The effect of instructions was compared with the effects of adjunct postquestions, simply reading the materials (control group), and both instructions and adjunct postquestions. The experimental task involved learning to classify instances of several different categories. Ss were 72 US Navy enlisted personnel. It was hypothesized that advance instructions to Ss regarding how and what to learn would facilitate learning of classification material. Results show that the instruction group and adjunct questions group did equally well on classifying new and old instances of US Navy call signs. All groups did better than control groups. Results suggest that students can learn a general strategy for processing classification material and that providing students with generic information about how and what to learn is an effective instructional strategy. A text of the instructions used to teach Ss how to learn a classification task is appended. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of leadership in a simulated industrial task.

Ss high and low in dominance were selected with the CPI Dominance (Do) scale and confronted with a simulated industrial task which could be solved best by 1 person assuming a leader role and the other following his instructions. When the instructions emphasized the task, the High Do Ss did not assume the leader role significantly more often than the Low Do Ss. When leadership was emphasized, however, the High Do Ss assumed the leader role in 90% of the pairs. It is concluded that the CPI Do scale has predictive validity when leadership is made salient. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of sleep deprivation on performance in a simulated communication task.

"Twenty Ss were tested for their ability to receive and send complex instructions in a simulated communication situation following 55 and 70 hr. without sleep. The ability to receive showed a significant decrement, but the ability to send did not. The time required to send instructions and the number of errors corrected spontaneously increased significantly. In the case of sending, high-intelligence Ss showed greater decrement than low-intelligence Ss." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal control of behavior: The effects of shouting.

Tested the implication of A. R. Luria's (1961, 1969) theory that children under 5 yrs of age would have more difficulty obeying instructions to inhibit a response the greater the intensity (loudness) of the instruction; this should not be true for children over 5 yrs of age. In the present study, 18 younger children (aged 3 yrs 6 mo to 4 yrs 9 mo) and 18 older children (aged 4 yrs 10 mo to 6 yrs 4 mo) played a game in which they were to follow instructions and either perform or refrain from performing simple acts. Instructions were loud, medium, or soft in intensity. Results for younger Ss were clear and significant in supporting Luria's theory. For older Ss, however, results do not neatly fit Luria's theory: Increased intensity facilitated compliance with instructions to inhibit a response. Data support the contention that an important aspect of language development is the decontextualization of meaning. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dissonance, awareness, and motivation.

The problems were whether dissonance can be aroused between 2 cognitions without awareness of 1 of them and whether change in consummatory strength of a motive can be an avenue of dissonance reduction. 40 high school Ss were hypnotized to a depth adequate for assuring amnesia for suggestions. ? ate sauce that was very thirst arousing (HT), and ?, sauce that aroused little thirst (LT). Placed under hypnosis again, the 20 experimental Ss were told that, on awaking, they would feel water bloated, while the control Ss were told they would feel fatigued. Ss were awakened and offered water. HT experimental Ss drank less water than LT experimental Ss, the reverse of the control group effect (interaction p     

Instructional demand in a behavioral avoidance test for claustrophobic fears.

28 volunteers responding to advertisements for claustrophobics participated in a behavioral avoidance test. Each S served as his own control and was confined in a small, dark test chamber under both high- and low-demand instructions. Dependent measures were time spent in the chamber, and changes in verbally-reported anxiety, heart rate, and respiration. The effect of demand was highly significant for the time measure (i.e., Ss stayed confined longer under high demand), but nonsignificant for the other measures; no significant order or interaction effects were found. 11 of the Ss would have been defined as phobic in the low-demand, but not the high-demand condition. Implications for the conduct of behavioral avoidance tests in therapy-outcome research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some factors in the selection of leaders by members of small groups.

The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between amount of participation, frequency of task- and group-oriented interaction, and the selection of leaders by other group members. The general hypothesis was that amount of participation and organizational-integrative interaction are both associated with leader selection but that each may reflect different aspects of the criterion. Two three-person groups met simultaneously in separate rooms and were given identical instructions by the experimenters. Each group discussed a human relations problem for about 20 minutes, reaching a group consensus in that time. The groups were then told that a second meeting would take place immediately in which one person from each group would act as a representative; the two representatives would discuss a concrete problem related to the previously discussed topic. Each group then selected one of the members to act as representative. Data were obtained on 26 three-person groups, and for the total sample of 66 Ss, data on time-talked were put into percentage form for each meeting. Those members who were chosen as representatives talked an average of 44.8% of the meeting time; nonrepresentatives talked an average of 27.6% of the time. The average number of interactions (DEF) per meeting was 12.6 for representatives and 6.1 for nonrepresentatives. However, the variances are heterogeneous in this case, so a median test was used, yielding a chi square of 8.79, significant beyond the .01 level. Thus, both on measures of amount of participation and interaction, those members chosen as representatives were higher. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-acceptance, acceptance-of-others, and verbal conditioning with mental hospital patients.

A previous study by the authors with military personnel demonstrated that (a) the frequency of endorsement of self-accepting questionnaire items can be increased by standard verbal conditioning techniques, and (b) this increase generalizes to similar but novel items as well as to items indicative of more positive attitudes towards others. The present study attempted to extend these findings to 60 male hospitalized psychiatric patients who scored low on a selected portion of a self-acceptance questionnaire. Experimental Ss were reinforced for accepting responses to 18 self-acceptance items on 3 successive days, while controls received no reinforcement. A postexperimental scale, comprising the original 18 self-acceptance items and an additional 32 novel items, was administered to all Ss. Results support the previous findings, showing that attitudes, which are theoretically relevant to social interaction, can be modified by means of verbal conditioning techniques. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ontogenetic changes in the modulation of taste aversion learning by home environmental cues in rats.

Conducted 3 experiments using 611 Sprague-Dawley rats to define and analyze an age-related phenomenon of conditioned taste aversion. When consumption of sucrose solution was followed by LiCl-induced illness in Ss' home, acquisition of the aversion to sucrose solution was retarded in preweanling (18-day-old) Ss. This effect was not found in adults or in 21-day-old Ss. Place of testing had no effect in the younger 2 age-groups, but in adults manifestation of the acquired aversion was retarded when they were tested in the home. There was no interaction between place of conditioning and testing for any age. The locus of the environmental influence on conditioning in preweanling Ss was found to be the place of tasting rather than place of illness, retention interval, or testing. Also, the effect was found to be invariant under minor variations in familiarization of Ss with the nonhome environment. The principle emerging from these data and others is that the home environment can have a significant influence on learning and conditioning in the immature rat. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of hypnotic time distortion upon free-recall learning.

Attempted, by using hypnosis to modify the perception of the passage of clock time, to alter the amount of effective time available to Ss for free-recall learning. 80 undergraduate and graduate students served as Ss, in 8 experimental groups of 10 each. It was hypothesized that if effective time is manipulated successfully by hypnotic instructions designed to produce time distortion, Ss receiving instructions designed to stretch 3 min into 10 should perform as well in a free-recall learning task as Ss allotted 10 min of nominal time and better than Ss allotted 3 min of nominal time for the task. This was found to be the case. Results are compared to those of previous studies, and limitations of the investigation are mentioned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)