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Biomedical subjects

M Zuckerman

Publications and source records attributed to M Zuckerman.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Influences of sensation seeking, gender, risk appraisal, and situational motivation on smoking.

The study evaluated the current relationship between the trait of sensation seeking and smoking as possibly mediated by gender, cognitive risk appraisal and situational-relevant motivation. Subject were 1071 male and female undergraduates of whom 279 indicated they were past or current smokers and completed a Smoking Questionnaire (SQ). All subjects took the Sensation Seeking Scale. Sensation seeking is significantly (p less than .001) related to the proportion smoking in both men and women, although more women at the university are now smoking. Sensation seekers inhaled more of the smoke than lows, perhaps an indication of stronger nicotine need. Smoking was seen as highly risky, but the degree of estimated risk was not related to sensation seeking. Women reported smoking more in emotional and social situations; men reported smoking more in situations requiring close attention to a task. Sensation seekers reported smoking more than lows in social situations. Research is needed on specific cognitive factors mediating smoking and how they are related to personality and gender.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Some dubious premises in research and theory on racial differences. Scientific, social, and ethical issues.

The scientific premises for looking for statistical differences between groups designated as races (on somewhat arbitrary grounds) are questionable. The explanation of such differences in strictly biological-evolutionary terms is even more dubious. Studies of temperament, basic personality traits, disorders (such as antisocial personality), and specific genetic markers show that there is much more variation within groups designated as races than between such groups. Investigators and theoreticians interpreting such differences on the basis of limited sampling within the three broad racial groups should be careful to avoid selectivity and misrepresentation of data that serve racist ideology, and should be cautious about presenting their theories to the public through inappropriate media forums.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMed1990

The psychophysiology of sensation seeking.

This article summarizes studies relating the trait of sensation seeking to electrodermal and heart-rate responses and cortical evoked potential arousal. Stimulus factors of novelty, intensity, and stimulus significance are important. High sensation seekers tend to give stronger physiological orienting responses than lows to novel stimuli of moderate intensity, particularly when such stimuli are of specific interest. Lows tend to show defensive responses as defined by heart-rate acceleration. The cortical reaction of the highs tends to be augmented by intense visual or auditory stimuli, while that of the lows tends to be reduced or unresponsive to variations in stimulus intensity. Differences between psychophysiological responses of high and low sensation seekers are interpreted as reflective of different evolved biological strategies for processing novel or intense stimulation.

Arousal↗
PubMed1988

Affects, demographic variables, and health.

The revised Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL-R) was given to a national probability sample that consisted of 1,543 adults who also were interviewed, which provided demographic data and self-ratings of health, medication use, and social activities. Standardization procedures have reduced markedly the acquiescence factor and the correlations among the dysphoric affect scales in the MAACL-R. The demographic variables of sex, race, age, education, occupation, income, marital status, religion, geographical area of residence, and size of town or city were related to some of the scales. Positive affect was related directly to self-ratings of health; dysphoric affect was related negatively to these ratings. Frequencies of volunteer activities and social activities in general correlated negatively with depression and positively with positive affect scales.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Sensation-seeking congruence in couples as a determinant of marital adjustment: a partial replication and extension.

The present study is a replication of an earlier one. There were 30 dysfunctional couples and 30 control couples matched with the clinic couples on age and education. Both partners independently took the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS) and the Locke Marital Adjustment Questionnaire (MAQ). Control couples were significantly higher on the MAQ (better marital adjustment). Correlations between partners in the control couples were higher than those between partners in the dysfunctional couples on the SSS Total and Boredom Susceptibility scales, which replicated previous findings. Female partners of males who scored high on the SSS were more likely to initiate the contact for treatment than partners of low male sensation seekers. Female partners of low male sensation seekers and the low males themselves tended to report that sex between them was only tolerable or "disgusting," whereas female partners of high sensation seekers and their mates tended to report sex as pleasurable and apparently sought therapy for other reasons. Congruence on sensation seeking is an important factor in marital adjustment.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1986

Aortic dissection following coronary artery bypass surgery: diagnosis by CT.

We describe an unusual case of aortic dissection causing spinal cord infarction. The dissection arose from an intimal tear at the suture line of a coronary artery bypass graft. CT was used to diagnose the dissection and to demonstrate its extension to the aortoiliac bifurcation and innominate artery and its rupture into the left pleural cavity. The most common causes of intimal tears following cardiac bypass surgery are aortic cross-clamping, aortic cannulation, and injury during suturing of the graft to the aorta. An underlying disease of the aorta such as atherosclerosis, cystic medial necrosis, or aortitis is commonly present. CT is an accurate and safe means of detecting aortic dissections following cardiac surgery, and is also useful in assessing the extent of the dissection and identifying its rupture into the pleural or pericardial cavity.

Aortic Dissection↗
PubMed1985

Nocturnal penile tumescence and penile responses in the waking state in diabetic and nondiabetic sexual dysfunctionals.

This study compared diabetics with sexual dysfunction, nondiabetics with sexual dysfunction, and a group of controls on nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT) during three nights in a sleep laboratory, and penile response to erotic stimulation in the waking state on one of the nights. Both diabetic and nondiabetic dysfunctionals showed less erectile response to erotic films and tape than controls but did not differ from each other. In contrast, the diabetic dysfunctionals showed significantly weaker NPT response than both the nondiabetic dysfunctionals and the controls, and 58% of them (contrasted with 23% of nondiabetic dysfunctionals and 0% of controls) would be classified as organic using minimal NPT (less than 11.5 mm maximal increase in penile circumference during any nocturnal erection) as the sole criterion. There was a significant relationship between NPT and waking erections in response to erotic stimuli, especially in the diabetic dysfunctionals and the controls.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Sensation seeking, mania, and monoamines.

Mania is a clinical state that could be described as sensation seeking behavior out of control. This article describes the biochemical correlates of the sensation seeking trait in normals including: gonadal hormones, monoamine oxidase, CSF norepinephrine, plasma dopamine-beta-hydroxylase and serotonin. The findings on monoamines and their neuroregulators in manic and depressed states of bipolar affective disorders are also discussed. Some hypotheses are suggested that link the personality disposition with the variations in the clinical state, and make some high sensation seekers 'at risk' for the affective disorder.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1983

Sensation seeking in homosexual and heterosexual males.

The study was designed to test the relationship between the personality trait of sensation seeking and homosexuality. Previous studies had shown a relationship between the trait and variety of heterosexual activity but had not shown a relationship to homosexual behavior. This study compared 19 male homosexuals associated with a gay club in a university, 16 control students belonging to a social club at the same university, 13 members of a gay church group, and 19 members of a nongay church group on conservative vs. liberal attitudes toward religion and politics, attitudes toward homosexuality, heterosexual and homosexual experience scales, and the sensation seeking scales. The control (nongay) church group had more conservative attitudes, less heterosexual experience, and lower sensation scores than the other groups. But the control university group did not differ from the gay university group on any of the sensation seeking scales and differed from the gay church group on only one of the subscales. However, the gay university group was also higher than the gay church group on this subscale, so the difference was probably a function of the younger ages of the university groups than the gay church group. It is concluded that male homosexuals, as a general group, do not differ from heterosexuals on the sensation seeking trait, although the trait might be related to variety of homosexual behavior and partners, just as it is to variety of heterosexual experience.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

A test of the optimal level of arousal theory of sensation seeking.

The study was designed to test the theoretical predictions that high-sensation seekers feel and function better than low-sensation seekers under conditions of heightened arousal, whereas lows perform better than highs when central nervous system arousal levels are dampened. Thirty-two male medical students scoring in either the top or bottom deciles of their class on the total score of the Sensation Seeking Scale, Form V, were administered placebo, stimulant, and depressant drug treatments (each substance in a different session). Results did not support an optimal level of arousal model of sensation seeking, in that affective, cognitive, and motoric responses to drugs that increased or decreased tonic levels of arousal generally failed to differentiate high- and low-sensation seekers.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Facial, autonomic, and subjective components of emotion: the facial feedback hypothesis versus externalizer-internalizer distinction.

Two different models have been advanced concerning the role of facial expression in the experience of emotion. The facial feedback hypothesis states that facial expressions regulate affective experience. This position has been supported by findings that experimentally induced changes in facial expressiveness produced corresponding changes in autonomic responses and self-reports of emotion. A second model posits that expressive behavior and autonomic responses are negatively related. Evidence supporting this view consists of correlational analyses showing that facially expressive people (externalizers) exhibit less autonomic arousal than do those who are not facially expressive (internalizers). In the present study, the facial feedback hypothesis and the externalizer-internalizer distinction were evaluated by manipulating facial expressiveness and measuring subsequent autonomic responses and self-reports of emotion. Results showed that higher levels of facial expressiveness were accompanied by higher levels of autonomic activity and subjective reports of affective experience. This relationship was obtained in comparisons among experimental conditions as well as correlational analyses within conditions.

Autonomic Nervous System↗