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Affective arousal: Some implications
Abstract
ATTEMPTED "TO SHOW THAT THE ROLE OF PRIMARY AFFECTIVE AROUSAL IS TO SUSTAIN OR TERMINATE ACTIVITIES ACCORDING TO THE HEDONIC PRINCIPLE OF MAXIMIZING THE POSITIVE AND MINIMIZING THE NEGATIVE, AND TO ORGANIZE DISPOSITIONS WHICH THEMSELVES BECOME REGULATIVE . . . .(AND TO) DEMONSTRATE THAT A MULTIPLE-ASPECT, ECLECTIC, APPROACH TO PROBLEMS OF AFFECTIVE AROUSAL IS USEFUL. AND, FINALLY, THAT THE CONCEPT OF AFFECTIVE AROUSAL IS CENTRAL IN IMPORTANCE FOR A POSSIBLE SCIENCE OF VALUE AND FOR PSYCHOLOGY AS A WHOLE." (27 REF.)
... The classic human psychophysical study of affective responses to taste was conducted by Engel in 1928 (Woodworth, 1938). Engel's Ss rated various concentrations of chemicals representing the four taste qualities as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. ...
... In general, the preference curves bore little resemblance to Engel's hedonic curves (Woodworth, 1938). In many cases Ss indicated nearly equal preference for all low concentrations of a chemical, while Engel's curves indicate increasing and then decreasing hedonic values for quinine, NaCl, and citric acid at low concentrations. ...
... It is possible that intensity always interacts with specific chemical properties to produce the affective tone attributed to a sapid substance by the taster and that there is an affective process within the taster that responds only to the interaction. Neither the data of Engel (Woodworth, 1938) nor those of Young ( 1967) on isohedonic contours nor those of Pangborn (1967) on temperatureintensity-quality interactions contradict this view. One of the many dimensions of the stimulus related to preference must also be related to the subjective intensity which in turn is related to the molar concentration of the solution. ...
Using the method of magnitude estimation with .1M NaCl as standard, Ss rated a number of concentrations of sodium chloride, citric acid, sucrose and quinine hydrochloride for both intensity and preference. The resulting judgments, when plotted as a function of concentration on log-log coordinates, could in most cases be described by linear equations. The slope of the intensity function for each chemical was significantly different from the slope of the corresponding preference function for 4 out of 5 Ss. The slope differences may reflect the existence of an affective taste process that is mobilized when a person attends to the hedonic components of a sapid chemical.
... Compared with the results from previous studies, the present research provides evidence for the replication of the English social-effect dimensions (Saucier, 2010) in the Lithuanian twocomponent solution in both data sets, with a slight re-alignment of the Lithuanian dimensions in the observer-rating perspective. Thus, the Lithuanian two-component structure, similarly to the English dimensions, reflects the hedonic principles of maximizing pleasure and avoiding distress (refer to Young, 1967) with one dimension describing the extent to which a person is a source of pleasure to others, and the other component expressing the extent to which a person is a source of distress to others. However, at the more detailed levels of the Lithuanian structure, some fine-grained components are not strongly related to the two main English social-effect dimensions, such as the observer-rating component of Attracting Attention or the selfrating dimension of Being Misunderstood by others. ...
Social effects represent the psychological (emotional, cognitive, and motivational) reactions evoked in other people by the expression of traits in behavior and emotion. From the transactional view on personality, studying the psycholexical structures of social effects can help to discover unique vs. common thought and behavior patterns, affects, and motivations, which are primarily related to personality dispositions. Thus, we developed the comprehensive taxonomy of social effects following the principles of the psycholexical approach. In the first study, two judges selected 9,625 person-descriptive terms—adjectives, type-nouns, attribute-nouns, and participles—from the Dictionary of the Standard Lithuanian Language. In the second study, six judges classified all the selected descriptors using German psycholexical methodology. Finally, a principal component analysis was performed, followed by varimax rotation for the 208 social-effect descriptors, separately for ipsatized self-ratings and observer-ratings from 203 to 204 Lithuanian students, respectively. We found out that the five-component solution was the best fit for self-ratings, whereas for observer-ratings it was a four-component structure. In this article, we present the results from the factor analyses and discuss our findings in the context of previous studies, as well as cross-language personality models.
... The data are seen as an extension of the work of Young (1967) and N. E. Miller (1959). These data complement Young's in that hedonic values are derived · 2.2 ++-+ 2.9 +-++ 4.6 ++--5.9 ...
Four rats were each fixed with two chronically indwelling bipolar electrodes for intracranial stimulation (ICS). ICS with one bipolar electrode was rewarding, and ICS with the other was aversive. After demonstration of the efficacy of ICS, rats were placed in a chamber with a retractable lever. A depression of the lever yielded four trains of ICS. All possible combinations of positive and negative ICS within the constraint of four events were then tested with high intensities of both rewarding and aversive ICS at intertrain intervals of.125,.25, and 1.0 sec, and with different intensities of ICS. It was found that the rats pressed more for the contingencies containing the greater number of positive ICS. The sequence of rewarding and aversive ICS was also shown to be an important variable in determining pressing rates. It was concluded that knowing the net positiveness of complex contingencies and knowing whether the first event was rewarding or aversive was sufficient to predict closely the acceptability of a contingency.
... He later added naturalistic as well as spiritual/existential intelligences in multiple intelligences and all these can broadly be grouped into one of three categories, i.e. abstract, 2 concrete 3 and social intelligence. 4 Researchers believe that emotional intelligence has its roots in social intelligence (Bar-On, 2006;Young, 1943Young, , 1967. The recognition of social intelligence received a major boost by the publication of Gardner's highly regarded theory of multiple intelligences in 1983. ...
Although a centuries-old phenomenon, emotional intelligence has received an enormous amount of attention and popularity in various academic and non-academic circles during the last two decades. Emotionally intelligent abilities, capacities and skills are increasingly becoming significant and inevitable almost in all works of life ranging from effective leadership, building teams, to the globe-spanning network of communication, development of human potential and performance, social skills and economic and political life. In this dynamic and complexly integrated international economic system, tomorrow's leaders will have to facilitate others to develop their own leadership, skills and potential with the help of emotional intelligence. Be that as it may, there still exists continuing debate among researchers pertaining to the best method for measuring this construct of emotional intelligence. Keeping this in view, the present paper aims to introduce a new measure, based on a holistic and system modelling approach, to conceptualise and measure the phenomenon of emotional intelligence. It develops, constructs and validates a model that conceptualises and measures the phenomenon of emotional intelligence by constructing and using a latent variable structural equation model within the certain boundaries of the psychosocial system. It will provide us with a measurement or index of emotional intelligence at individual level. An emotional intelligence index will indicate the extent to which a particular individual or a group of people is emotionally intelligent and which areas lack this intelligence, if any. Strengths and weaknesses of various components of the model will also indicate characteristics at a certain level in order to pinpoint what exactly an individual or group of individuals requires to improve its emotionally intelligent capabilities.
... Emotionality has traditionally been defined (Duffy, 1962;Lindsley, 1951;Schlosberg, 1954;Young, 1967) in terms of the activation or intensity dimension; that is, individual differences in emotional responsiveness tend to be viewed as variations in level of emotional arousal and are often cast in physiological terms. (The close conceptual link between emotions and physiological activity, as Averill, 1974, has noted, is in the spirit of the dichotomy between affect and cognition. ...
Traditionally, emotionality has been viewed in opposition to cognitive organization. The present article challenges this dichotomy and argues, in accordance with the cognitive perspective on the emotions, that the phenomenon of individual differences in emotional responsiveness has significant cognitive components. A new affective variable, emotional range, is introduced to describe previously unexplored aspects of emotionality and is studied in relation to 2 indices of social cognition. Using 29 male and 25 female college students, this initial cognitively oriented investigation of emotionality revealed a strong positive relationship between emotional range and both role taking and cognitive complexity in the description of other persons. Discussion centers on the implications of these findings for conceptualizing the role of cognition in emotional responsiveness. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... Emotions interrupt current processing (Simon, 1967; Mandler, 1984) and appraise changing priorities as circumstances change, resulting in changed processing priorities (Oatley & Jenkins, 1992; Schwarz, 1990). Emotions classify circumstances (Ekman, 1992aEkman, , 1992b), prime access to memory (Bower, 1981Bower, , 1992 Singer & Salovey, 1988) and encode an appraisal of preferences (Bechara, Damasio, Tranel & Damasio, 1997; Young, 1967; Zajonc, 1998) that is used in judgment and decision-making processes (Carver & Scheier, 1990b; Clore 1992), in order to reallocate resources (Simon, 1967) consistent with decisions and judgments made. Emotions thereby mediate the relationship between situations and behavior (Scherer, 1984;) and among people (Campos, Campos & Barrett, 1989), placing the individual in meaningful relationship to circumstances (Lazarus, 1991) and in meaningful social discourse (Oatley, 1993). ...
Consensus is growing that emotions are important to competence. However, beyond agreement on this broad principle, investigators agree on little. The construct of competence is very much bound to time, place and purpose, making for fundamental difficulties of operationalization, generalization, construct validity and thus consensus. The construct of emotion has multiple, conflicting, validated analyses. Each of the current analyses of emotion tells a coherent story about emotions: Emotions' causal precursors, validated measures that instrument emotional events and emotions' predicted sequella. In an attempt to bring clarity to this muddle, we start from a systematic metatheory of competence. In our metatheory, competence requires self-regulatory information processing. In the context of this metatheory, we summarize a theory of control in human competence, in which emotions are control signals, embodying the proximal motivating linkage between appraisals of circumstances' significance and consequent competent action. Implications for Sloman's (1999) CogAff schema are discussed.
... Dopaminergic modulation of activity within any one of these sites could thus affect in a similar fashion hypothalamic outputs to brainstem sites involved in autonomic function (Allen & Cechetto, 1992;Saper, Swanson, & Cowen, 1979). This might alter post-training levels of 'arousal' which have long been known to influence learning and memory (Young, 1967). Alternatively, dopaminergic systems intrinsic to the lateral hypothalamic region appear to exert a potent, NMDA receptormediated control over A10 dopaminergic function indicating an additional possible 'feed-forward' mode of action (e.g. ...
The effects of postsession d-amphetamine within subregions of the ventral and dorsal striatum on appetitive Pavlovian learning were assessed. Rats acquired a conditioned approach response on presentation of a stimulus predictive of 10% sucrose solution (unconditioned stimulus [US]), but not during equally frequent presentations of a stimulus uncorrelated with the US. In Experiment 1, postsession d-amphetamine infusions enhanced acquisition of conditioned responding, with no effect on control measures. In Experiment 2, rats received postsession d-amphetamine in the accumbens shell or core. Shell infusions facilitated conditioning; core infusions did not. In Experiment 3, dorsomedial striatal infusions of d-amphetamine also were ineffective. In sum, dopaminergic activation within the shell, but not the core, of the nucleus accumbens facilitates the acquisition of a Pavlovian association.
This chapter presents the core of the belief change model, or the engine of belief. It is here where the heavy lifting gets done at the confluence of the mind and contextual forces. Conversion to a new suite of beliefs works in a multifaceted way; a dynamic event where the cognitive transition is mediated by structural and contextual forces, along with the baggage of previous experiences mixed with existing concepts. The engine of conversion revolves around a series of seven mechanisms, which collectively operationalise the engine into defined practices, behaviours, and thinking patterns. From inputs that land in the mind, computation spits outs inferences automatically, some of which we act upon immediately, while others allow us the opportunity to reflect before making a decision to act. As a result, we experience strong leanings towards certain kinds of thinking. In addition, all of our senses deliver information pertinent to belief change because they deliver embodied expressions of emotional states, which after repeated exposures, act to stimulate the very emotions they signify. Not only are emotional experiences during belief-related activities relevant, but so too are their role in linking action, thought, and feeling through ingrained pathways that play out like inexorable tracks once the belief stimulus is activated. The model also suggests that rituals play a pivotal role not just in the transmission of belief concepts but also in the process of attuning cognition for ongoing receptivity to deeper, more elaborate concepts.
This chapter describes the theory of the Metaplastic metadiscipline (Ars MetaPlastica), a science-artdesign research field that studies the most recent technological influences into the contemporary culture. It discusses the realization of the metaplastic virtual media through interdisciplinary methodologies between reality and virtual realities. The virtual media acquire form and meaning through its process of conceptual interpretation. The metaphor of the artistic machine finds its new realization where the metaplastic machine itself becomes aesthetic expression of the virtuality. The Open Metaplastic framework's art approach applied to software and hardware modeling design are also discussed and some examples of applications are introduced.
Interaction systems with the user need complex and suitable conceptual and multisensorial new media definition. This study analyzes social and conceptual evolutions of digital media and proposes an interactive mixed-space media model which communicates the information contents and enhances the user experience between interactive space of physical objects and online virtual space. Its feedback gives information through user performance among its multisensorial interfaces. The research widens previous research publications, and gives precisely a definition of a fuzzy logic cognitive and emotional perception level to the metaplastic multimedia model. It augments the interaction quality within its conceptual media space through an action-making loop and gives as a result new contents of information within its metaplastic metaspace configurations.
The idea that olfaction and emotion are closely linked has become commonplace in both popular and scientific discussions of the sense of smell. Odors are said to influence mood, evoke powerful experiences of pleasure or displeasure, produce alertness or relaxation, and evoke long-forgotten emotional memories. These effects are often said to reflect the dependence of olfaction on parts of the brain involved in emotional experience. Some writers have even gone as far as dubbing olfaction “our most emotional sense” (Lieff and Alper, 1988). How much of this is fact and how much fancy? Unfortunately, assertions about olfaction and emotion are often made without sufficient justification from the scientific literature, in part because little relevant research has existed until quite recently. Yet, as research on olfaction and emotion grows, it is important to critically examine ideas that have sometimes been taken as self-evident. In this chapter we seek to clarify the various ways in which the sense of smell could be construed as “emotional” by discussing eight “propositions” connecting olfaction to affect. We also explore the possibility that regardless of whether claims for some unique relationship between olfaction and emotion can be substantiated at present, odors may have a role to play in the study of affective reactions; hence a second aim of this chapter is to suggest ways in which olfaction may be profitably used in the study of affective experience.
This paper describes the advancements on the Metaplastic Arts and Design research field through its own cyber media and interdisciplinary methodologies. It enhances the metaplastic discipline within art and sciences application fields. In the conclusion of this paper some examples of applications are introduced.
On the basis that the medial forebrain bundle system of the anterior brainstem is a major component of the system whose activity is positive affect, it is submitted that any drug that would increase activity in that system has a high risk of becoming the focus of an addiction. When an increase in activity of that system is a contingency of an act (such as imbibing, inhaling, snorting, or injecting), then that act will occur more and more frequently (i.e., positive reinforcement occurs) and this is a basis for an addiction. The potential for a drug to increase activity in the system is often manifested by measuring the lever pressing of rats for a fixed intensity of electrical stimulation of the system. Drugs, therefore, can be screened for their addiction likelihood by observing their effects on pressing for brain stimulation.
This paper describes the Metaplastic Cyber Cosmos evolution through its own memetic approach for the realization of new cyber media and interdisciplinary methodologies of Cyber Arts between reality and virtual realities. It introduces the open and conceptual platform of met plastic discipline. The following paragraphs use the metaplastic definitions within art and sciences application fields. In the conclusion of this paper a practical example is introduced.
The two theories concerning mixed emotions adopted in this research are briefly explained. Also discussed are the image codes linked to the mixed emotional words, and the way to realize a mechanism using fuzzy inference, in which the internal emotion of a simulated person reacts on a sequence of inputted terms and evokes some emotional change. Next, the relevant part of the theory for a subjective observation model to the application of emotion processing system is briefly explained. The construction methodology of the system, which has two functions, is described. One function is that the evoked emotion is transitive, depending on the observation, and the other is that the aggregated emotion by the several subjective observations settles to the objective emotion. Then, some attractive results obtained by the simulated emotion processing system are shown, namely, what kind of emotions are evoked, and how the emotional transition is done by subjective observations when a poem is used for the input signal. Furthermore, we could obtain several emotional clustering diagrams processed by pair vectors such as [optimism, curiosity], which is a very attractive result from a psychological viewpoint.
This article attempts to provide a sketch of the neurobiology of emotion that includes essential aspects of emotion as identified by personality and social psychologists. We offer a model of emotion that includes a negative valence system with the amygdala at its core and a positive evaluation system with the nucleus accumbens at its core. The apparent specificity of emotion is conferred by the additional contribution of two monoaminergic systems - serotonin produced by the raphe nucleus and norepinephrine produced by the locus coeruleus. This view of emotion stands in sharp contrast to the usual approach to the understanding of the neurobiology of emotion, which seeks to find a specific pathway for each emotion.
This chapter focuses on a comprehensive theory of emotion. The concept of emotion has played an extraordinarily varied role in behavioral theories. In psychology, emotions account for the drive and reinforcement mechanisms involved in learning and explain defense processes, addictions, and attachments. Ethology has used emotion to account for aspects of natural selection, while in anthropological, social and clinical study, emotion has been a focus for research on expressive behavior and interpersonal communication. Finally, physiological investigators interested in emotion concentrate on studies of autonomic and central nervous functions. The abundance of all research perspectives may well be the source of the one thing upon which various emotion theorists agree: The concept of emotion is defined poorly and research is fragmented and unintegrated. The chapter provides a provisional model of emotion that is both comprehensive and unified. The chapter discusses the key questions raised by past theories and research to which the new conceptualization is addressed. A limited elaboration of the model, drawing upon empirical findings where available and raising questions for future study is presented. In the absence of an integrated database, the model obviously is general and suggestive rather than specific and quantitative. It hopes that this shortcoming does not minimize its integrative and heuristic value.
The two theories concerning mixed emotions, adopted in this research is briefly explained. Also discussed are the image codes linked to the mixed emotional words and the way to realize a mechanism using fuzzy inference, in which the internal emotion of a simulated person reacts on a sequence of inputted terms and evokes some emotional change. The relevant part of the theory for subjective observation model to the application of emotion processing system is briefly explained. The construction methodology of the system, which has two functions, is described; one function is that the evoked emotion is transitive depending on the observation, and the other is that the aggregated emotion by the several subjective observations settles to the objective emotion. Some attractive results obtained from the simulated emotion processing system are shown: what kinds of emotions are evoked, and how the emotional transition is done by subjective observations, when a poem is used for the input signal. Lastly, the more expanded emotional Dialog System is introduced.
Social-effect descriptors (like charming and annoying) register the individual's footprint on the social world. Highly prototypical social-effects terms in English were identified and factor-analysed in peer-ratings, with comparisons to the same procedures in self-ratings. Two internally replicated factors were highly interpretable. They reflect the extent to which a person is a source of pleasure to others, or alternatively is a source of pain to others. The factors are linked to hedonic principles and basic appraisal tendencies. Extension-correlation analyses indicated that variation in social-effects dimensions is represented diffusely in Big Five and six-factor measures, but corresponds more directly to variation in a Big Two personality structure that has previously been found to arise rather ubiquitously across cultures. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The cyberworlds concepts has started as a network of virtual worlds is rapidly increasing to interactive environments of communications. The goals in this study are to propose a semantic online model of cyberworld, based on previous definition of the metaplastic visual language codification. The project includes an example of the meta-plastic application for Web shared communications. The paper explains more precisely the theoretical and artistic background of metaplastic virtual worlds evolution, from their cybernetic archetypes to their new definition.
How humans regulate eating and why regulation fails in many people is not well understood. Obesity has reached unprecedented proportions. Diabetes and heart disease are among a range of illnesses associated with excessive caloric intake and poor energy balance. A theory of food regulation is proposed within a paradigm sufficiently broad to encompass and integrate mind and body. The theory states that homeostatic eating occurs when the pleasure of eating fulfils the desire to eat. It is suggested that absent, unrecognised or misinterpreted eating sensations represent missing key afferent information in homeostatic eating such that eating is not fully pleasurable for some people. Externally oriented attention and recoded perception may account for the non-recognition of key eating sensations. The theory offers an explanation as to why so-called normal eaters may suffer from disorders ranging from coronary artery disease to autoimmune diseases. The theory predicts that relatively simple means could alleviate many such diseases and suggests how to test this prediction. If upheld, the theory could assist people to maintain their own well being and could help to prevent and treat some of the major scourges of Western society.
Human behaviour includes an important component which may conveniently be called evaluative. Using postcard reproductions as stimulus materials, 10 volunteer subjects selected the two pictures most liked and the two most disliked. These were then used as UCSs with appropriate controls from the neutral category. The conditioning hypothesis—that a neutral stimulus followed by a positively or negatively valued stimulus will acquire the evaluative weight of the second stimulus—was supported at a highly statistically significant level. The effect of negative evaluation was demonstrably stronger than that for positive evaluation, a result consistent with our knowledge of aversive conditioning. The possibility is discussed that evaluation of the UCS by the subject, shown to be a sufficient condition for learning, may also be the only necessary condition. This would imply a model of conditioning based on affective evaluation rather than on response production.
Discusses recent studies in the context of G. Wilson and G. Davidson's review of fear reduction techniques. Studies pairing positive ICS with circumstances eliciting avoidance demonstrate the possibility of counterconditioning and provide an experimental basis for certain procedures of systematic desensitization.
This chapter introduces a methodology of metaplastic discipline for the realization of new virtual world. It explains the theoretical and artistic background of metaplastic virtual worlds evolutions, from their archetypes to their definition. The union between the plastic elements and the fuzzy logic systems, found its expression with new metaplastic aesthetic values. The virtual media acquire form and meaning through its process of conceptual interpretation. The metaphor of the artistic machine finds its new realization where the machine itself becomes aesthetic expression of the virtuality. The following paragraphs use metaplastic definitions within Art and Sciences application fields. In the conclusion of this chapter, two practical examples will be introduced.
The paper introduces a basic concept of the emotional memory model. The proposed model is realized by two basic methods; (i) one is to introduce a matrix into the model, which is called a frame, as a set of arbitrary attributes extracting the basic features of emotional words, (ii) the emotional words are represented by any values considering how well fit the items of the frame are. The model discussed can be considered as a kind of emotional processing system, which may be developed as a human cognitive process model
Sucrose-quinine isohedons re 1, 4, 16, and 40% sucrose were determined for the rat. Isohedonic mixtures were located by the up-and-down method using a group of 24 Ss. An interaction was found between sucrose concentration and quinine hydrochloride concentration in their joint determination of the acceptability of sucrose-quinine mixtures. High levels of quinine always contributed negatively to the acceptability of mixtures. Low levels of quinine made positive contributions to acceptability but did so only when the component of the mixture was of high concentration. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A critical review supplementing previous articles upon the role of hedonic processes in motivation and learning. Special emphasis is placed upon the organizing and regulatory functions of affective processes. Recent experiments from the author's laboratory are reviewed and their theoretical significance considered. These experiments deal with hedonic processes as related to gustatory stimulation, food preference and intake, regulation of ingestive behavior, development of incentive values, and related matters. The main topics considered are: basic concepts and definitions; psychophysical studies of hedonic processes; studies of thresholds, preference, and the regulation of food intake; physiology of affective processes; the role of affective processes in motivation and learning; general conclusions. (2 p. ref.)
Preferences were determined by recording tongue contacts with test fluids using subthreshold electrical currents. The up-and-down psychophysical method was used to determine hedonic equality between standard and comparison solutions. Preferences were observed and isohedonic contours plotted in 3 stimulus areas––soursweet, salt-sweet, bitter-sweet––for a group of 30 nondeprived rats. Low concentrations of the non-sweet solute may facilitate tongue activity relative to sucrose standard. With high concentrations in all 3 stimulus-areas activity was inhibited. The study shows that points along an isohedon are not equal in activating potential but that standard and comparison solutions are equally activating at a particular point within a stimulus area. The characteristics of isohedons are considered.
Previous studies with need free rats have relied upon the group up-and-down method to determine hedonic equality and to plot isohedons within a stimulus area. The present study shows that isohedons can be plotted for individual Ss within the sucrose-sodium chloride and sucrose-saccharin stimulus areas by using a brief exposure preference technique. Isohedons for individual Ss are similar in form to those for groups. Individuals differ among themselves consistently in the placement of their isohedons within a stimulus area. In one experiment the hedonic equivalence of certain saccharin and sucrose solutions was demonstrated and the possibility of objective palatability ratings of incentives was suggested.
3-dimensional activity surfaces and flat activity contour maps were plotted for groups of need-free (nondeprived) rats in 4 areas of gustatory stimulation. Each area is defined by concentrations of 2 solutes in compound solution. Every compound solution contained sucrose plus 1 of the following: sodium chloride, quinine hydrochloride, tartaric acid, sodium saccharin. The activity maps show mean rates of licking (licks/min recorded electrically) and how these rates depend upon variations in compound stimulus. Analysis of data in relation to isohedonic contour maps shows that preferences cannot be reliably predicted from rates of licking (rates of ingestion) nor can rates of licking be reliably predicted from isohedons.
Rats were trained in a shuttle box to avoid punishing midbrain stimulation. After avoidance performances stabilized, usually at low levels, brief stimulation was applied to various brain points at the start of a trial; later, each priming electrode was evaluated for positive reinforcement in a self-stimulation test. In general, strongly reinforcing electrodes in the medial forebrain bundle and associated tegmental regions facilitated avoidance behavior; nonrewarding electrodes in cortex and other sites did not except for a dorsal hippocampal point that distinctly facilitated avoidance but provided little or no reinforcement. Amphetamine had effects much like positive brain stimulation. These results are consistent with the view of Woodworth and Schlosberg that avoidance responses eventually depend on positive incentives for their maintenance. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In seeking a suitable topic for the address at this annual event of the psychometricians, I tried to keep in mind the motto of our official publication, Psychometrika , to promote “the development of psychology as a quantitative, rational science.” The best that I have been able to do falls short of this ideal in two important respects. Although the material that I am to bring before you pretends to be quantitative, in the sense that measurements have been made, the problem has not been rationalized and the data have thus far yielded only to graphical treatment.
Several experiments designed to evaluate different methods of determining food acceptability are reported. Rats are used as subjects and sucrose solutions as food. Brief exposure preference methods show acceptability of sugar to be directly proportional to log concentration; one-hour exposure to single solutions showed quantity of fluid ingested to vary inversely with concentration. In the latter method, however, the total weight of sucrose taken in is greater in the concentrated solutions than in those more dilute. Paired-stimulus methods give more direct and possibly more accurate measures of preference than do single-stimulus methods.
After implantation of electrodes at various points in the brains of rats, the animals were placed in a Skinner box, arranged in such a manner that they could stimulate themselves by pressing the lever. The results indicate that various places exist in the brain "where electrical stimulation is rewarding in the sense that the experimental animal will stimulate itself in these places frequently and regularly for long periods of time if permitted to do so." The reward phenomenon appears most reliably when the electrodes are placed in the septal region, where an extreme degree of control was observed.
By coordinating such factors as amount and kind of previous experience with a stimulus, level of sensory adaptation, and degree and kind of simultaneous stimulation, it is shown that drive cannot be equated with the sheer physical intensity of the stimulus. "When this is done, many of the supposed exceptions to the drive-reduction hypothesis are eliminated, since they can no longer be correctly described as involving increases in drive." 29 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).