The Effects of Body Image, Social Support, and Media Sensitivity on Self-Esteem, Psychological Well-Being, and Restrained Eating in Middle School Students
David Jara, Brett L. Beck, Eileen Astor-Stetson, April Zarecky, and Michael Starks
Bloomsburg University
Numerous studies have documented the difficulty of the transition into adolescence for American children (e.g., Greene &
Ollendick, 1993). Several factors seem to converge including concerns about changing into middle school, puberty, and dating
(Dacey, Nelson, Clark, & Aikman, 1991), social support (Beck & Scott, 1996), and body image (Flannery-Schroeder &
Chrisler, 1996). This study sought to further explore these relationships and their impact on psychological adjustment as well as
pathological eating behavior. In addition, given the frequent blame on the media for portraying an unrealistic female body image
as desirable, we included a measure of sensitivity to these images. Following obtaining parental permission, 138 middle school
students completed several surveys. It is distressing that body image was a strong predictor of self-esteem, F(1, 129) = 24.54,
p < .001, psychological well-being, F(1, 130) = 17.62, p < .001, and disordered eating behavior, F(1, 130) = 11.11, p =
.001. It is even more distresing that increased exposure to unrealistic media images (e.g., television, magazines) potentiated the
pathological effects of a poor body image. It also is noteworthy that high media exposure/ sensitivity was highly correlated with
a poor body image, r(137) = -.64, p < .001. In addition, nearly one-quarter of the high media sensitive/poor body image group
who reported pathological eating were adolescent boys. These results support the findings of Beck and Scott (1996) in that
social support, particularly family support, is vital in negotiating the adolescent transition. Family support was the strongest
predictor of healthy self-esteem and normal eating behavior. Although adolescence has been viewed as a time of breaking away
from family and engaging in relationships with friends and significant others, it appears that these past interactions form the core
for engaging in nonpathological behavior and evaluating oneself more positively.
The Effects of Age, Sex, Grade Level, Body Image, and Family Involvement on Self-Esteem, Psychological Well-Being, and Depression in Middle School Students
April Zarecky, Brett L. Beck, Eileen Astor-Stetson, David Jara, and Michael Starks
Bloomsburg University
Much has been written about the transition from elementary school to middle school. It is distressing that American boys tend
to maintain their level of self-evaluation from youth while the self-esteem of adolescent girls plummets (e.g., Lamborn, Mounts,
Steinberg, & Dornbusch, 1991; Lerner & Olson, 1995). Similarly, adolescent girls show much greater levels of depression than
their male counterparts (Simmons, Blyth, van Cleave, & Busch, 1979). Possible explanations for these findings have been
changing schools (Beck, Kinney, & Scott, 1995), puberty (Hirsch & Rapkin, 1987), distorted body image (Dacey, Nelson,
Clark, & Aikman, 1991), and parental involvement (Nielsen & Metha, 1994). The purpose of the present study was to further
explore the role of these variables in predicting several measures of adolescent adjustment. Following obtaining parental
permission, 138 middle school participants completed several surveys. Similar to prior research (e.g., Beck & Scott, 1996), it
was found that adjustment problems are not simply the result of school transition or puberty-related timing. It was found that a
poor body image in females was a strong marker for adolescent problems including psychological well-being, F(1, 133) =
5.72, p < .02, and depression, F(1, 133) = 5.91, p < .02. This likely is the result of differing cultural evaluations of the bodies
of boys and girls (Richards et al., 1990). Finally, it is noteworthy that parental acceptance as opposed to parental control was a
strong predictor of self-esteem, psychological well-being, and depression, F(1, 133) = 16.44, 11.29, 10.04, respectively; all ps
< .002. Prior investigators (e.g., Nielsen & Metha, 1994) have noted that parents exercise more control over their daughters as
opposed to their sons. This research suggests this may be problematic and that family warmth could be the key to avoiding
problems associated with the adolescent transition.
A preliminary investigation of human olfactory contrast
Kathleen E. Calaman and Steven M. Specht
Lebanon Valley College
Previous work from our laboratory has focused on human taste contrast, especially as it relates to gustatory memory. The
purpose of the present experiment was to begin to examine contrast effects using olfactory stimuli
The present 3 (Trials) x2 (Intensity) factorial design experiment examined the effects of high and low intensity odors on
subsequent intensity ratings of the same olfactory stimulus. Subjects were presented with either 1.0% or 0.1% indole with a 60
second interstimulus interval. The first group was presented with two high intensity stimuli (1.0%) and then with a low intensity
stimulus (0.1%). The other group was presented with three low intensity (0.1%) stimuli. Following the presentation of each
odor, the subjects were asked to rate the intensity of the odor on a visual analog scale.
A 3 (Trials) 2 (Intensity) ANOVA performed with these data revealed a significant interaction effect. Subjects who were
initially exposed to 1.0% indole subsequently rated 0.1% indole as less intense than subjects initially exposed to 0.1% and
subsequently presented with 0.1% indole. These data suggest that contrast effects occur for olfactory stimuli and provide a first
step in studying more complex gustatory-olfactory stimuli and sensory memory.
Impression formation is influenced by the quality of speech and writing
Melissa D. Moyer, Elspeth A. Shumway and Steven M. Specht
Lebanon Valley College
Because image has become essential to success, positive self-presentation is increasingly important in both spoken and written
language. Proper grammar and presentation in a workplace in which many highly qualified people compete for limited jobs, can
be the deciding factor between employment and joblessness. The necessity of careful and deliberate self-presentation is also
relevant in social settings, in which people interact to make positive impressions on strangers. Because speech is clearly an
important part of identity, the manner in which a person communicates expresses more than just their message
The present 2x2 factorial design experiment, examined the effects of high and low quality writing and speech on impression
formation. Subjects were exposed to a high or low quality written or spoken passage and were asked to use a visual analogue
scale to rate the presenter on a variety of personality attributes including "competence", "educated", "friendliness", and
"successfulness". Preliminary results show that on levels of competence, education and successfulness, the presenter was rated
higher for the high quality passage. The presenter of the low quality passage was rated as being more friendly than the presenter
of the high quality passage.
Aging and Physician-assisted Suicide: More Support for Suicides Among the Elderly?
Melinda Bowman, Barbara Loecher, and Becky Shoff
Cedar Crest College
To determine whether people are more likely to support a request for physician-assisted suicide if the person making the
request is elderly, we distributed two different questionnaires to two groups of participants, one to each group. One
questionnaire asked whether a physician should be allowed to honor his 75-year-old terminally ill patient's request for help
ending her life. The other asked whether a doctor should be permitted to honor the same request from his 35-year-old
terminally ill patient. Each group included elderly, college age, and adolescent participants. We found participants no more
likely to endorse assisted suicide for an elderly person than for a younger adult. In contrast to earlier studies, we found elderly
participants most likely to endorse assisted suicide in general, followed by college students, and then adolescents. The elderly in
this study probably were not representative, however. Among other things, they were exceptionally healthy -- they took a
weekly aerobic exercise course, and had no obvious functional limitations. These results suggest the healthy elderly may have
different views of assisted suicide than frailer elderly. We also found college participants more likely than elderly ones to have
considered the subject of assisted suicide, suggesting that healthy elderly may not be giving adequate thought to end-of-life
issues.
Mood Does Not Affect The Funniness of Jokes But Jokes Affect Your Mood
Kelly L. Cronin, Vanessa C. Fazio, and Bernard C. Beins
Ithaca College
An individual's mood does not seem to affect how funny that person finds jokes, according to our previous research. On the
other hand, exposure to humor might have an effect on a person's mood. Fifty-one participants read a set of statements
designed either to elevate or to depress mood, rated a set of 21 jokes for their humor value, and completed a mood adjective
checklist twice. The mood-inducing statements led either to positive or to negative affect, but the affective state had no effect on
ratings of the jokes. Participants in an elated state rated jokes the same way as participants in the depressed state rated them.
After reading and rating the jokes, the participants in the elation and the depression groups showed no difference in their mood
states. The results suggest that one's mood has no effect on the cognitive task of rating jokes. At the same time, exposure to
humor may be instrumental in changing the mood state. One possibility is that ratings of jokes may occur in a relatively stable
cogitive domain; perhaps mirth or other more emotional responses would be affected by changes in emotional states.
The Role Of Embarrassability In Humor Appreciation
Vanessa C. Fazio, Kelly L. Cronin, and Bernard C. Beins
Ithaca College
Embarrassability has not received much attention in the research literature. Researchers have documented its role in humor
appreciation even less. Previous research has shown that embarrassability is composed of several different factors, such as a
person's interdependence and independence, and a person's level of social anxiety. These personality factors that constitute
embarrassability may also have a strong effect on the appreciation of jokes. In this correlational study, participants read a set of
20 jokes and rated them. Half of the jokes involved sexual themes and half involved nonsexual themes. After rating the jokes,
participants completed an Embarrassability Scale (Mogdigliani, 1966). People with a high level of independence and a low level
of social anxiety (who have a lower level of embarrassability) are expected to rate sexually related jokes more positively.
Conversely, participants with higher embarrassability should rate neutral humor more positively because it will lead to less
embarrasment due to the more socially acceptable content.
Changes In Mood Do Not Equal Changes in Appreciation of Jokes
Brian F. Falvey, Erin T. Fortier, Melissa Killeleagh, Tisha G. Miller, Eric J. Sambolec, and Bernard C. Beins
Ithaca College
Common sense suggests that an individual in an elevated mood would be likely to rate humor more positively than would a
person in a more neutral state. In this study, participants read sets of statements designed either to elevate their mood or to
have no effect on mood. They subsequently rated a set of 21 jokes regarding how funny the participants thought the jokes
were. The results reflect no effect of mood change on subsequent ratings of jokes. Appreciation of jokes can occur on several
different levels; changes in an emotional state may not relate to a more cognitive evaluation of jokes.
Perceived vs. Actual Influence in Romantic Relationships
Melanie Bujung
Elizabethtown College
This study centers on perceptions and realities within romantic relationships and examines discrepancies or agreements in
perceptions of influence of each partner and perceptions of influence versus actual measures of influence of each partner within
relationships. Twenty dating or engaged college couples were studied for perceptions of self and other influence within their
romantic relationships and the accuracy of those perceptions in predicting actual influence. Implications for relationship
closeness and satisfaction were also considered. Subjects completed 1) Berscheid, Snyder, and Omoto's (1989) Relationship
Closeness Inventory (RCI), which included a measure of perceived influence of other, with the addition of a complementary
measure of perceived influence of self, 2) Hendrick's (1988) Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS) measuring relationship
satisfaction, and 3) a measure of actual influence which involved having couple members separately rank order desired items on
five lists and then, as a coule, choose one item on each of the same five lists that they might win in a random drawing.
Comparisons of subject and couple choices resulted in scores of actual influence. Results of the study indicate that perceptions
of self influence tend to correlate with partner's perceptions of other influence. Couples tend to agree on how much influence
they perceive each partner as having. Other findings were that all couples exhibiting higher closeness perceived an equally high
exchange of influence and couples, in general, tended to perceive their relationships as having an equal exchange of influence.
No significant effects were found for perceived influence as a predictor of actual influence.
The Effect of Mitigating Circumstances on Judgements of Responsibility, Blame, and Anger
David Nelson, Debra Shepard, Kris Fleming, Shelley Goodstine, Tom Almy, Sarah Anderson, Laura Breloff, Lisa Mosher, and Mary Turner DePalma
Ithaca College
To assign personal responsibility for an event, an individual must proceed through a series of cognitive steps (Weiner, 1995).
First, an event occurs and a search for personal causality ensues. The perceived cause must then be judged as something that
the person could have willfully changed (i.e., mutable). If both personal causality and mutability are present, a judgement of
responsibility will be rendered, and increased levels of blame will be assessed (Weiner, 1995). According to Weiner (1995),
however, the presence of mitigating circumstances may soften, alleviate, or totally eliminate a judgement of responsibility. Since
no data exist regarding this latter assertion, the current experiment was designed to provide an empirical test of Weiner's theory
about the effect of mitigating circumstances. Three hundred and fifty-nine undergraduates (248 females, 111 males) read one of
two scenarios about a motor vehicle accident in which the presence of mitigating circumstances was manipulated. Respondents
were then asked to make a series of judgments about the driver who presumably caused the accident. A 2(Condition:
mitigating, non-mitigating) X 2(Sex: male, female) X 3(Order:fault, control, blame) MANOVA was performed on the nine
dependent measures. The results indicated that the presence of mitigating circumstances did significantly decrease ratings of
responsibility, anger, blame, irritation, and sorrow felt towards the driver of the other vehicle. A significant Condition X Order
interaction was also observed with respect to blame ratings. If respondents in the mitigating condition were asked to rate blame
first, blame ratings were lower than when any other question was asked first. Analyses also revealed a significant Condition X
Sex X Order interaction. Females in the non-mitigating condition assigned the highest levels of sorrow when blamed was asked
first than when questions about either control (M=3.38) or fault (M=3.43) were asked first. This research provides empirical
support for Weiner's assertion that mitigating circumstance do soften and alleviate judgements of responsibility, anger, and
blame.
Effects of Defendant's Sex and Mental Disturbance History on the Success of an Insanity Plea
Joy Boehlert, Melissa Henderson, Dominic P. Cottone, Patricia A. D'Amico, April V. Madres, Elizabeth Margiotta, Courtney J. Millian, and Linda M. McBride
Ithaca College
There have recently been reports in the media concerning incidents of workplace violence, especially homicide. Often
connected with these acts of violence are questions about the insanity plea and when people should be held criminally
responsible for their actions. The present study was designed to test the effects of two variables on the success of an insanity
plea in a workplace violence case: 1) the sex of the defendant, and 2) his or her history of mental disturbance, or lack thereof.
All subjects read a six page summary of a criminal trial including testimony given and jury instructions. The defendant was
charged with murdering his/her boss and a security guard at his/her place of work. Participants were randomly assigned to one
of eight conditions which varied according to the defendant's sex and history of mental disturbance (no prior diagnosis of mental
illness or any reports of strange behavior, no prior diagnosis but descriptions of strange behavior, a prior diagnosis of
depression, which is not normally associated with violence, or a prior diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, which can be
associated with violent behavior). After reading the summary, subjects responded to approximately 45 multiple choice or short
answer questions asking about their verdict, the sentence they would recommend, and the factors that influenced their decision .
A post-experimental questionnaire, containing approximately twenty questions, asked for background information on
demographics and jury experience, and about attitudes towards the mentally ill, violent acts, and the insanity plea. Results of
preliminary analyses will be reported.
Effects of Employer's Likability and Role as Alleged Rapist or Victim on Jurors' Verdicts in a Rape Trial
Jennifer M. DiFabio, Mindy L. Lais, Jonathan D. Starr, Lori M. Gabriel, Sara C. Galacci, Rachel McElhatten, and Linda M. McBride
Ithaca College
Rape cases ask jurors to choose between the victim's versus the defendant's version of what happened. There is often little
concrete evidence on which jurors can base their decision as to whether the defendant is guilty or innocent. The present study
was designed to determine the effect of various extralegal factors on jurors' verdicts in a rape case. Specifically, the power
relationship between the defendant and the victim was manipulated by having the alleged rapist either be the employer or the
employee of the victim. In addition, the employer's likability varied between conditions. Participants were 40 male and 52
female undergraduate students at Ithaca College. They were randomly assigned to one of four conditions that varied as follows:
A female boss, depicted as either likable or not likable, accuses her male employee of rape; or, a male boss, depicted as either
likable or not likable, is accused of rape by his female employee. Students read a five page summary of testimony and jury
instructions supposedly given during a criminal trial. After reading the summary, participants responded to a 74 item
questionnaire asking for their verdict, the sentence they would recommend, if any, and the factors that influenced their decision.
A 16-item post-experimental questionnaire asked for background information on demographics and jury experience, and about
attitudes toward issues related to the case material presented. Results of the study will be reported.
Relationship of Attachment Style and Parental Alcohol Use to Reasons for Drinking, Sexual and Alcohol Attittudes and Behaviors, and Measures of Alcoholism in Teenage College Students
Kristine Y. Sudol and Connie Schick
Bloomsburg University
Undergraduates (203 women, 88 men; ages 18-19) completed a questionnaire containing Hazan and Shaver's (1987)
three-group (Avoidant; Anxious-Ambivalent; Secure), Bartholomew and Horowitz's (1991) four-group (Secure; Fearful;
Preoccupied; Dismissing) attachment style models; the TWEAK, a 5-item measure of alcoholism (Russell, 1994); the CAGE, a
6-item measure of alcoholism (Mayfield, McLeod, & Hall, 1979); the SASSI (Miller, 1985); the Alcohol: Reasons For Use
Test (Schick, Astor-Stetson, Beck, 1996); a measure of social, enhancement, conformity, or coping reasons for drinking
(Cooper, 1994); items on sexuality and drinking behaviors; and 29 background questions, including parental drinking problems.
Generally, both secure and insecure men with social drinking parent(s) and insecure women with problem drinking parent(s)
drank more and scored as more alcoholic, had more sexually risky behaviors and beliefs, and remembered more troubled
backgrounds. The TWEAK was an excellent discriminator for this population, but the other two measures were less effective.
Results will be detailed on the poster.
Self-Esteem, Competition Anxiety, Type of Sport: Gender Effects in College Varsity Athletes.
Beth Gilliard, Tricia Tucker, and George Fago
Ursinus College
In the past, most research in the field of sport psychology has focused on gender differences between athletes. Studies
traditionally have found that women have lower self-esteem than men in athletics. However, another important source of
difference in athletics that has not been taken into account is type of sport: individual vs. team. This study investigates the
hypothesis that the type of sport played, individual vs. team, may have an effect on athletes' self-esteem as well as other
characteristics such as anxiety. Specifically it was hypothesized that team athletes will have higher self-esteem, suffer from less
pre-competition anxiety, and have a more external locus of control. Subjects were college varsity athletes, both men and
women, competing in basketball, gymnastics, and wrestling. Self-report measures used included the Rosenberg Self-Esteem
Scale, The Competitive Sport Anxiety Inventory-2, and the Personal Attitude Inventory for Locus of Control. Preliminary data
analysis supports the hypotheses.
Contextual Freezing Disrupted By Microinjections of Lidocaine in the Region of the Nucleus Raphe Magnus
Jennifer J. Quinn, Michael J. Mahometa, and J. Timothy Cannon
University of Scranton
Research has begun to elucidate both forebrain and midbrain anatomical substrates of fear-induced freezing. Recently, Morgan,
Whitney, Thompson, & Springmeyer (1995) observed that chemical stimulation of the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM),
including the nucleus raphe magnus (NRM), produced both analgesia and immobility (freezing). The NRM is widely believed to
play an important intermediary role in some, but not all, descending analgesic influences of the periaqueductal gray (PAG).
Since the PAG has also been shown to be involved in freezing, the present study sought to determine if the NRM might also
play a parallel intermediary role in freezing.
Rats were implanted with guide cannulae and allowed a minimum of two weeks to recover. During fear conditioning, animals
were placed in a chamber and, after 3 min, exposed to 3 footshocks (1mA, 1 sec in duration, 20 sec apart). Animals remained
in the chamber for an additional 8 min following the last footshock. Twenty-four hours later, animals were injected with either
0.7ml saline or 0.7ml lidocaine (formulated as 20mg/1ml), and immediately placed in the chamber for observation without
further exposure to shock.
Animals microinjected with lidocaine in the region of the NRM spent significantly less time freezing 24 hours post-shock than
animals either injected with saline in the NRM or lidocaine in other medullary regions. Animals injected with saline in the NRM
did not differ from those injected with lidocaine in other medullary regions.
These results suggest that the region of the NRM plays an important role in the expression of fear-induced freezing in the rat.
NMDA RECEPTORS AND INTRACELLULAR MECHANISMS WITHIN NUCLEUS ACCUMBENS CORE ARE INVOLVED IN APPETTITIVE LEARNING.
A.E. Kelley*, M.R. Holahan, S. Smith-Roe and A.E. Baldwin.
Dept. of Psychiatry, Univ. Wisconsin Medical School, Madison, WI 53719.
As part of an ongoing study of the functional role of glutamate receptors within the nucleus accumbens, we investigated the
effects of intra-accumbens infusion of AP-5, the selective competitive NMDA receptor blocker, in two types of appetitive
learning paradigms. In the first study, food-deprived animals were infused with AP-5 (5 nmol) or vehicle in the accumbens core
during acquisition of a radial arm maze task. Four of the eight arms were baited with sugar pellets. Rats were given 5 trials per
day for 9 days. On the first four days, they ran the maze following an intra-accumbens infusion. On the next four days, they
were tested with no treatment. On the last day, they were once again given an intra-accumbens treatment of AP-5 or vehicle,
AP-5 increased trial durations, unbaited errors and baited errors during the treatment phase. There were also residual
impairments on days 5 and 6 (when no treatment was given). By day 8, trail durations and errors were minimal in both groups.
AP-5 infused on Day 9, after learning had occurred, had smaller effects on behavior, although unbaited errors were slightly
increased. In the operant learning paradigm, hungry rats were trained to lever press for food. Pretreatment with AP-5 in the
accumbens core completely blocked acquisition of this response, which developed rapidly over several days in the control rats.
Treatment with AP-5 after the response had been learned had no effect. Moreover, treatment with intra-accumbens protein
kinase inhibitors (H-7, a PKA and PKC inhibitor, and bisindolyalemide, a selective PKC inhibitor) immediately after animals
were in the operant chamber also impaired learning. Together these results suggest that activation of NMDA receptors and
subsequent intracellular molecular events are important for response-reinforcement learning.
ACCURACY AND INTENSITY RATINGS OF FACIAL EXPRESSIONS: A SEARCH FOR RELATIONSHIPS WITH DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY SCORES
Colleen Phillips and J. Timothy Cannon
University of Scranton
There is a growing body of research concerning the relationship between depression and accurate identification of facial
displays of emotion. Since depression and anxiety tend to be highly correlated, it is possible that significant differences in ability
to interpret facial displays of emotion found by some studies are related to anxiety as well as depression. Therefore, the present
study investigated college students' scores on anxiety and depression inventories and the preceding's relationships with intensity
ratings of and ability to correctly categorize facial displays of emotion. Significant relationships were found between anxiety
scores and both intensity ratings and ability to categorize emotional displays. Anxious subjects gave higher intensity ratings of
facial displays of emotion than nonanxious subjects. Anxious subjects also had lower scores on a measure of categorizing facial
displays of emotion than nonanxious subjects. In contrast, there was little indication of any relationships between depression
and intensity ratings of facial displays or ability to categorize facial displays of emotion. Additional research into these areas may
prove fruitful.
MODERATORS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MORAL REASONING AND MORAL DECISION
Galen L. Baril and Sheri A. Hanson
University of Scranton
This study tested the moderating effects of Thoma's utilizer dimension, social desirability, extroversion, likeability, dependability,
anxiety, sex, and instructions on the relationship between moral reasoning and moral decisions. Half of the subjects were asked
what they would do (personal instructions) while half were asked what others would do (impersonal) in measuring moral
decisions. A stronger reasoning-decision relationship was obtained with personal instructions, with a high utilizer score (though
not statistically significant) and introversion.
The effect of rate of reinforcement on the acquisition and extinction of EMG biofeedback
Lori M. Buck, Kay E. Ennis, and Steven L. Cohen
Bloomsburg University of PA
Despite the popularity of biofeedback as a clinical tool in the treatment of
several disorders, there is minimal research on basic mechanisms such as
acquisition and extinction, and relatively few single-subject data are
available for analysis. The present research represents preliminary studies
that examined some basic principles of operant conditioning that relate to EMG
biofeedback. In Experiment 1, 5 male and female students had 4 sessions of
biofeedback. The major independent variables were the rate of feedback
(maximum, 50%, 10%) and type of trials (adaptation, baseline, tense, relax,
tense, extinction). Each session started with a baseline EMG, that was
followed by feedback (i.e., the operation of an electromechanical counter) for
increasing and decreasing EMG above or below an adjusting threshold. The
session ended with extinction (no feedback). Across sessions, the rate of
feedback was varied from "maximum feedback" (i.e., the counter operated every
0.5 s that the threshold criterion was satisfied) to 50% and 10% of the
maximum. Analysis of single-subject data showed that EMG increased during
tension periods, decreased during relaxation periods, and returned to baseline
during extinction. No consistent differences in EMG were observed as a
function of rate of feedback. In Experiment 2, 4 male and female students were
treated like those in Experiment 1 except that they received 7 1-min trials
where they increased EMG to receive feedback, and 21 1-min extinction trials.
Again, feedback increased EMG, EMG returned to baseline under extinction, and
there were no consistent differences in EMG as a function of rate of feedback.
Although the present procedures were successful in controlling EMG, they were
unsuccessful in showing a relationship between rate of reinforcement and rate
of acquisition and extinction. Present procedures are being modified to
determine if such a relationship exists.
Rate of reinforcement and EMG biofeedback: Effects of extinction and mental-math interference
Kristin A. Haase , John S. Schreffler, and Steven L. Cohen
Bloomsburg University of PA
A review of the literature shows relatively few studies that have examined
basic mechanisms of biofeedback and that also report single-subject data. The
present research represents an attempt to develop a methodology that will show
a relationship between rate of reinforcement and the acquisition, extinction,
and resistance to disruption of EMG biofeedback. In Experiment 1, 6 male and
female students had 4 sessions of biofeedback. The major independent variables
were the rate of feedback (maximum and 5%) and type of trials (adaptation,
baseline, tense or relax, extinction). Each session started with a baseline
EMG that was followed by feedback (i.e., the operation of an electromechanical
counter) for increasing or decreasing EMG above or below a threshold . Unlike
previous studies in our lab that used an adjusting threshold, this experiment
used a fixed threshold that was a percentage of the baseline EMG. The session
ended with extinction (no feedback). Across sessions, the rate of feedback was
varied between "maximum feedback" (i.e., a timer operated every 0.2 s that the
threshold was satisfied, and 50% of the timer endpulses operated the counter)
and 5% of the maximum. EMG was changed during feedback periods and returned to
baseline during extinction. No consistent differences in EMG were observed as
a function of rate of feedback. In Experiment 2, 6 male and female students
were treated like those in Experiment 1, except that the session ended by
having each participant perform a mental math problem (i.e., counting backward
to themselves). Again, feedback modified the EMG, and there were no consistent
differences in EMG as a function of rate of feedback. Unlike previous
research, the mental math did not affect EMG. Present procedures continue to
be modified to determine if a relationship exists between rate of reinforcement
and acquisition, extinction, and resistance to disruption of EMG.
Relationship of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale, Attachment Style, and Gender to Mood Awareness, Affect Intensity, Alcoholic Drinking, and Childhood and Behavioral Characteristics in College Students
Kristen L. Aldinger, Connie Schick, Elaine N. Aron, Arthur Aron, and Judith A. Feeney
Bloomsburg University
Undergraduates (342 females, 90 males; ages 17-23) completed a questionnaire containing Hazen and Shaver's (1987)
three-group (Avoidant, Av; Anxious-Abivalent, AA; Secure, S), Bartholomew and Horowitz's (1991) four-group (S; Fearful,
Fear; Preoccupied, Pre; Dismissing, Dis), and best of all 7 attachment style items; the TWEAK, a 5-item measure of
alcoholism (Russell, 1994); the Mood Awareness Scale (Mood Monitoring, MM; Mood Labeling, ML; Swinkels & Giuliano,
1995); the Affect Intensity Measure (Larsen, 1984); the Highly Sensitive Person questionnaire (SHP; Aron & Aron, 1996);
and 35 background questions. Generally, (a) hiHSP (all attachment groups), all but Av males (3-gp), AA and Fear (4-gp) and
all but Dis males had higher AIM scores; (b) hiHSP, Pre, and Fear had higher MM scores (theoretically related to poor
adjustment and negative emotionality); (c) S females outscored all but AA males (3-gp), S outscored insecures (4-gp), and S
outscored all but Av (7-gp) on ML (theoretically related to good adjustment); and (d) loHSP and S males (trend) had higher
TWEAK scores. Background questions showed hiHSP were more tense and worried, bored and fearful (especially if
insecurely attached), depressed, and marginally prone to drink when nervous, sad, angry, or lonely. However, their low
TWEAK scores were probably due to their also avoiding alcohol due to experiencing unpleasant physiological effects from it.
Results for background questions will be detailed on the poster.