Getting individual differences in autonomic reactivity to work for instead of against you: determining the dominant "psychological" stress channel on the basis of a "biological" stress test

The transfer of respondent eliciting and extinction functions through stimulus equivalence classes

Two studies investigated the transfer of respondent elicitation through equivalence classes. In Experiment 1, match-to-sample procedures were used to teach 8 subjects two four-member equivalence classes. One member of one class was then paired with electric shock, and one member of the other class was presented without shock. All remaining stimuli were then presented. Using skin conductance as the measure of conditioning, transfer of conditioning was demonstrated in 6 of the 8 subjects. In Experiment 2, similar procedures were used to replicate the results of Experiment 1 and investigate the transfer of extinction. Following equivalence training and conditioning to all members of one class, one member was then presented in extinction. When the remaining stimuli from this class were then presented, they failed to elicit skin conductance. In the final phase of the experiment, the stimulus that was previously presented in extinction was reconditioned. Test trials with other members of the class revealed that they regained elicitation function. These results demonstrate that both respondent elicitation and extinction can transfer through stimulus classes. The clinical and applied significance of the results is discussed.

Transfer of aversive respondent elicitation in accordance with equivalence relations

The present study investigates the transfer of aversively conditioned respondent elicitation through equivalence classes, using skin conductance as the measure of conditioning. The first experiment is an attempt to replicate Experiment 1 in Dougher, Augustson, Markham, Greenway, and Wulfert (1994), with different temporal parameters in the aversive conditioning procedure employed. Match-to-sample procedures were used to teach 17 participants two 4-member equivalence classes. Then, one member of one class was paired with electric shock and one member of the other class was presented without shock. The remaining stimuli from each class were presented in transfer tests. Unlike the findings in the original study, transfer of conditioning was not achieved. In Experiment 2, similar procedures were used with 30 participants, although several modifications were introduced (formation of five-member classes, direct conditioning with several elements of each class, random sequences of stimulus presentation in transfer tests, reversal in aversive conditioning contingencies). More than 80% of participants who had shown differential conditioning also showed the transfer of function effect. Moreover, this effect was replicated within subjects for 3 participants. This is the first demonstration of the transfer of aversive respondent elicitation through stimulus equivalence classes with the presentation of transfer test trials in random order. The latter prevents the possibility that transfer effects are an artefact of transfer test presentation order.

Transformation of the discriminative and eliciting functions of generalized relational stimuli

In three experiments, match-to-sample procedures were used with undergraduates to establish arbitrary relational functions for three abstract visual stimuli. In the presence of samples A, B, and C, participants were trained to select the smallest, middle, and largest member, respectively, of a series of three-comparison arrays. In Experiment 1, the B (choose middle) stimulus was then used to train a steady rate of keyboard pressing before the A (choose smallest) and the C (choose largest) stimuli were presented. Participants pressed slower to A and faster to C than to B. Then B was paired with mild shock in a Pavlovian procedure with skin conductance change as the dependent variable. When presented with A and C, 6 of 8 experimental participants showed smaller skin conductance changes to A and larger skin conductance changes to C than to B. In Experiment 2, A was then used as a sample in a match-to-sample procedure to establish an arbitrary size ranking among four same-sized colored circle comparisons. One of the middle circles was then used to establish a steady rate of pressing before the other circles were presented. Five of 6 participants responded slower to the "smaller" circle and faster to the "larger" circle than they did to the "middle" circle. In Experiment 3, A, B, and C were then presented on a series of test trials requiring participants to pick the comparison that was less than, greater than, or equal to the sample. Novel stimuli were included on some trials. Results indicated that the relational training procedures produced derived relations among the stimuli used in training and that these allowed correct inferences of relative size ranking among novel stimuli.

A new discrimination method for the Concealed Information Test using pretest data and within-individual comparisons

A latent class discrimination method is proposed for analyzing autonomic responses on the concealed information test. Because there are significant individual differences in autonomic responses, individual response patterns are estimated on the pretest. Then an appropriate discriminant formula for the response pattern of each individual is applied to the CIT test results. The probability that the individual concealed information is calculated by comparing the discriminant formula value of the crime-related item to that of non-crime-related items. The discrimination performance of the latent class discrimination method was higher than those of the logistic regression method and the discriminant analysis method in an experimental demonstration applying the three methods to the same data set.

The S-S construct of expectancy versus the S-R construct of fear: which motivates the acquisition of avoidance behavior?

The authors provided a differential test between stimulus-stimulus (S-S) and stimulus-response (S-R) theory predictions in regard to the roles that the constructs of expectancy and of fear play in maintaining classically conditioned fear responding within the context of a human conditioned-avoidance paradigm. After the participants had developed sustained avoidance responding, their shock electrodes and avoidance response apparatus were removed to enhance the cognitive expectancy that the conditioned stimulus (CS) would not be followed by the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). This manipulation of expectancy was successful in 96% of the participants. The study was conducted over a 2-day period and involved 1 experimental group and 3 control groups. During the test trials, the authors used autonomic and self-report indices of fear to assess the presence or absence of fear to the CS. The data disconfirmed the prediction of the S-S theory that fear to the CS would be extinguished. The authors discuss the implications of this finding for S-S theories and for approaches in cognitive behavior therapy.

On the role of covarying functions in stimulus class formation and transfer of function

This experiment investigated whether directly trained covarying functions are necessary for stimulus class formation and transfer of function in humans. Initial class training was designed to establish two respondent-based stimulus classes by pairing two visual stimuli with shock and two other visual stimuli with no shock. Next, two operant discrimination functions were trained to one stimulus of each putative class. The no-shock group received the same training and testing in all phases, except no stimuli were ever paired with shock. The data indicated that skin conductance response conditioning did not occur for the shock groups or for the no-shock group. Tests showed transfer of the established discriminative functions, however, only for the shock groups, indicating the formation of two stimulus classes only for those participants who received respondent class training. The results suggest that transfer of function does not depend on first covarying the stimulus class functions.

A transformation of respondently conditioned stimulus function in accordance with arbitrarily applicable relations

Adult male subjects saw a sexual film clip paired with a nonsense syllable (C1). Similarly, an emotionally neutral film clip was paired with a second nonsense syllable (C3). Responses to the nonsense syllables were recorded as skin resistance responses. Subjects were also trained in a series of related conditional discriminations, using the C1 and C3 stimuli, from which the following equivalence relations were predicted; A1-B1-C1, A2-B2-C2, and A3-B3-C3. Some subjects were given matching-to-sample (equivalence) tests after the conditional discrimination training (Experiment 1), whereas others were not (Experiment 2). Subjects were tested for a transformation of eliciting functions by presenting the A1 and A3 stimuli, which were related through equivalence to C1 and C3, respectively. Five of the 6 subjects who showed significantly greater conditioned responses to C1 than to C3, also showed significantly greater skin resistance responses to A1 than to A3. Two additional subjects demonstrated a transformation of an eliciting stimulus function in accordance with five-member equivalence relations (Experiment 3), and another 5 subjects demonstrated similar effects in accordance with the relations of sameness and opposition (Experiment 4).

What's the fear of? Using implosion to explore the bodily-injury fear complex

The present study utilized implosive therapy scenes to assess fear reactions to cues hypothesized to be instrumental in the development and maintenance of bodily-injury phobia. In addition to a bodily mutilation stimulus, the cue areas targeted were loss of control and death fears. Twenty-six high-fear subjects and 24 low-fear subjects rated their fear while imagining that they were the woman depicted in four audiotaped scenes. A repeated measures analysis of variance detected significant group differences for the fear ratings, with the high-fear group reporting more fear than the low-fear group. Also, the high-fear group's skin conductance response amplitudes averaged across the four scenes were significantly higher than those of the low-fear group. Finally, the high-fear group's more pathological questionnaire scores were significantly different from the low-fear group's for both the Self-Control Schedule and the Lester Attitude Toward Death Scale. This study is the first to assess various components of bodily injury fear through the use of imagery while measuring across two response-modes.

Assessment of cardiovascular reactivity across laboratory and natural settings

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the stability of heart rate and blood pressure reactions of individuals across laboratory challenges and a challenge in the natural environment. Undergraduate musicians' heart rates and blood pressures were measured during anticipation and in response to a mental arithmetic challenge and a visual-verbal concepts challenge in the laboratory and anticipation of a musical performance jury in the natural environment. Results revealed that systolic blood pressure reactivity measured in anticipation of laboratory challenges, but not during these tasks, was related to systolic blood pressure levels measured in anticipation to the musical performance jury. Generalization of heart rate and diastolic blood pressure reactivity across settings was not supported. Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate reactions were stable across laboratory tasks.

Cardiovascular Reactivity Evoked by Means of Psychological and Physical Stressors

Cardiovascular effects of several physical and psychological stressors were investigated. Indirect continuous blood pressure as well as heart-rate were recorded. Systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressure as well as heart-rate were recorded. Different patterns of cardiovascular activation during different stressors were obtained. The Valsalva manoeuvre evoked a basic negative feedback baro-receptor response. Physical exercise (bicycle ergometer stress) evoked an overriding of the baro-reflex sympathetic stimulation to fulfil metabolic needs. Psychological stressors such as a TV-game (‘space invaders’), a binary choice program and mental arithmetic produced a pattern of autonomic nervous stimulation which can be described as extra-metabolic or psychophysiological. Possible differences in reaction patterns between psychological stressors are discussed in the light of a literature study. ‘Active’ and ‘passive’ coping may be of importance.