CS and UCS intervals and orders in human autonomic classical differential trace conditioning.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 25(3) of Canadian Journal of Psychology Revue Canadienne de Psychologie (see record 2007-04520-001). In diagram appearing in this erratum should be substituted for the diagram appearing as Figure 2 on p. 423 of the article.] Measured the GSR and digital volume-pulse change in 4 groups of 80 Ss each with light and tone as CS and shock as UCS. For Groups I and II, the CS-UCS interval was .75 and 7.5 sec., respectively; for Groups III and IV, the UCS-CS interval was .75 and 7.5 sec., respectively. Group III showed "backward" differential conditioning in the GSR; Group II yielded reliable conditioning of "multiple responses" occurring before UCS onset; the magnitude and extent of conditioning was greater in Group I than in Groups II and III, which did not differ; some evidence for "reverse" conditioning was suggested in Group IV, with slightly greater responding to the CS not paired with the UCS; instructions which distracted 1/2 the Ss from the CS did not affect responding to those stimuli. (French summary) (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Velvet totalitarianism on Canadian Campuses: Subverting effects on the teaching of, and research in, the discipline of psychology.

Canadian campuses have proved particularly hospitable to political correctness (PC), so that although the label "velvet totalitarianism" may be tactless and even offensive, it is applicable to these Canadian "islands of repression in a sea of freedom". Areas of psychology such as developmental and individual differences are particularly, but not uniquely, vulnerable to the totalitarian, anti-epistemic principle that the soundness of a view has to be evaluated in terms of subjective comfort rather than of evidence and logic; "harder" areas like physiological psychology and neuroscience are also vulnerable. This paper discusses recent Canadian examples of gross abuses of academic freedom in the teaching of and research in psychology, as well as considering some more subtle but nevertheless influential abuses. A final point of discussion is the relation between these developments and recent problems of fragmentation in Canadian psychology as a discipline and as a profession. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The state of psychological theory as illustrated by Melzack's new conceptual nervous system model/theory: Strong on imaginativeness but weak in inference.

Melzack's (see record 1989-30022-001) paper typifies the highly imaginative conceptual contributions that he has made in psychology. Moreover, as usual, there is close attention paid to applied relevance, rather than constraining his contribution to "ivory-tower," purely academic considerations. However, in my view, it is not at all clear that the New Conceptual Nervous System (NCNS) proposed by Melzack (1989, pp. 6-13) represents a genuine scientific advance in understanding and control. What is in doubt is whether there is any strong inference possible to ensure that changes in theoretical positions are due to evidential and logical considerations, rather than merely faddish ones. As I see it, there are at least three problems that tend to prevent such strong inference-based progress. The first problem is that Melzack follows the currently fashionable practice of using the terms "theory" and "model" (and, at times "approach") as if they were equivalent. The second problem is that although the central explanatory concepts of the new position are more complicated and imaginative than those of the old explanations, it is not clear that they are any less vague. The third problem is apparent from a consideration of the general structure of the paper with regard to the implications of the new CNS position. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attentional factors and aversiveness ratings in tests of the preparatory-adaptive-response interpretation of reinforcement.

Questions the methodology of recent tests of preparatory-adaptive-response (PAR) theory (i.e., that signaling reduces the aversiveness of noxious stimuli) on the ground that prior instructions to rate the aversiveness of a shock produce a heightened attention toward the UCS and that this attention blocks the normal PAR mechanism. Exps I-III, with a total of 96 undergraduates, involved distractor tasks concurrent with, but unrelated to, the criterion task of rating the intensity of signaled and unsignaled shocks. Despite a variety of distractor manipulations (e.g., time estimation and pattern recognition tasks), results fail to support the attentional-PAR notion. In Exp IV, "attention" was defined by the accuracy of shock ratings and was reduced by having 24 undergraduates rate a distractor shock in addition to a criterion shock. While reduced attention to the UCS was obtained, the critical signaled     

Berlyne as a disinterested critic: A colleague's account of some academic interactions.

This paper presents a personal account of an aspect of Berlyne's contribution that is not readily apparent in his many publications: his association with colleagues at the University of Toronto. Berlyne's characteristic style of academic interaction with his colleagues is designated "disinterested criticism". Three examples of interactions are given, dealing with definitional distinctions, the uncovering of unnecessary assumptions, and conflict between applied and basic research goals. In all three cases the academic interaction appeared to have the same, sequential components: (1) the argument, (2) resistance, and (3) finally, reluctant acceptance of the validity of the issue raised by Berlyne. On the basis of these academic interactions, it is concluded that Berlyne, as an academic colleague, functioned in the Socratic rather than the Protagorean or Sophistic mode, inasmuch as he was more interested in considering issues than in manipulating minds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electrodermal and plethysmographic OR components: Repetition of and change from USC-CS trials with surrogate UCS.

For 40 undergraduates a tone and a light were repeatedly paired (P) in the same order (e.g., tone-light) for 15 trials, after which the 2nd member of the pair (e.g., light) was presented alone as the change trial. For another 40 Ss the repetition consisted of 15 single (S) tone (or light) presentations followed by the light (or tone) as the change trial. The duration of both stimuli was .3 sec., the interstimulus interval (on P trials) was .75 sec., and the mean ITI approximated 45 sec. The GSR and digital-blood-volume-pulse change (VPC) were recorded. The GSR habituated reliable and at the same rate to both repeated patterns over Trials 1-15, but the VPC did not habituate to either pattern. Change from both S and P repetition produced response increases, but the increase under the P condition was not so pronounced as to inspire confidence in explanations of UCS-CS conditioning in terms of orienting reaction reinstatement to change. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Canadian psychologists for social responsibility.

The report in Canadian Psychology from "Canadian Psychologists for Social Responsibility" (P. R. Johnson, October 1984, pp. 336-337; see record 2007-03848-001) requires comment. First, we are amazed at the arrogance of the assumption that one political position is socially responsible, and all others presumably are irresponsible. Aside from that, the annual report of the section in effect says that evidence is unnecessary as long as in our heart we know we're right. Furthermore, the position attacked in the report is a straw man. Who has denied "that people are afraid of a nuclear holocaust"? Rather than attacking a claim that CPSR's critics have not made, its spokesman could try to deal seriously with the response made to another article emanating from this new section (O. Johnson, 1983). If the denigration of the need for objective evidence, and the ignoring of basic distinctions, are characteristic of CPSR's approach, there seems to be no difference between them and any other political group. In that case, the question naturally arises: Why should this political group constitute a section of CPA? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A realist perspective.

Discusses whether changes in theoretical positions in psychology represent genuine progress or merely current opinion and proposes that psychology's problems are epistemological rather than ethical. A realist position is espoused that is not in line with the dominant view in psychology of the relation between theorizing and data and of the proper way to settle scientific disputes. An instrumentalist position like that of constructionism is suggested to lead to lower levels of evidential sensitivity. Some unsound doctrines that are implicitly or explicitly adopted are explored. First, because certain truth is unattainable, truth should be abandoned as the primary criterion of theories. Secondly, there is no difference between theories and models. The third doctrine is that of dualism, which has recently emerged in arguments about the logic of treatment evaluation in psychology. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-modal differentiation under identical reinforcement schedules, and UCS-intensity effects in human classical eyelid conditioning.

Assesses cross-modal differentiation between light and tone CS with specially developed tests applied to selected trials of a 41-trial conditioning series which employed a delayed, 500-msec interstimulus interval, and an overall reinforcement schedule of 67%, 1-msec UCS pairings for both CS. An unpaired CS-and-UCS control group of 64 Ss indicated reliable conditioning for the 128 experimentals (Ss were undergraduates). There was some differentiation even for those 64 experimentals for whom the identity of reinforcement schedules for the CS was maintained throughout the trial series. Magnitude and frequency of CR were reliably direct functions of both between- and within-Ss variations of UCS intensity (120 or 260 V DC infraorbital shock). Emphasized was the importance of providing within-experimental differentiation tests especially for experiments where the within-Ss treatment effect fails to emerge. (French summary) (23 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)