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Biomedical subjects

R Gustafson

Publications and source records attributed to R Gustafson.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Treating insomnia with a self-administered muscle relaxation training program: a follow-up.

22 subjects seeking psychological help for problems of insomnia were trained to use a self-administered treatment package which contained a booklet explaining the problem and outlining the training program in detail and a tape with three versions of progressive relaxation training. A follow-up study one year later indicated that 90% of the subjects had trained according to the instructions and that 82% experienced a positive effect on sleep both with respect to falling asleep, staying asleep, and consumption of sleeping pills. It was concluded that self-administered relaxation training seems a cheap, convenient, and effective means of treating insomnia.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Operant conditioning of activities of daily living on a psychogeriatric ward: a simple method.

On a psychogeriatric ward a simple token economy was established by handing out coffee and cigarette tickets for demands of concrete Activities of Daily Living from 14 men and 16 women. During the treatment period the number of target behaviors increased dramatically and many positive spin-off effects were observed. It was concluded that simple token economies of even 18 weeks can easily be introduced and administered and produce decisive positive changes with respect to psychogeriatric patients' activities of daily living, staff attitudes, and ward atmosphere.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1991

Is the strength and the desirability of alcohol-related expectancies positively related? A test with an adult Swedish sample.

Workers at the Swedish Telephone Company participated in the present study to explore the alcohol-related expectancies for a general sample of Swedish citizens and relate these expectancies to various background factors and whether the expected effects of alcohol also were desired effects. A slightly modified version of the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (AEQ) was used and data were analyzed in terms of six general factors. Results indicated that men expected more sexual enhancement than women and that high consumers expected more strong effects for all six factors than the low consumers. Men further rated both sexual enhancement, physical and social pleasure, and social assertiveness as more desirable effects than did women, and the high consumers rated all six effects as more desirable than the low consumers. Results are discussed in terms of expectancies as causes of drinking.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Aggressive and nonaggressive behavior as a function of alcohol intoxication and frustration in women.

An experiment tested whether alcohol increases aggression in women in a situation in which both an aggressive and a nonaggressive response alternative of equal instrumentality and of equal variability are available. Subjects were assigned to one of three groups, namely, an alcohol, a placebo, or a control group. The alcohol dose was 1.0 ml of pure alcohol/kg body weight. After drinking their respective drink, subjects were instructed to supervise a bogus partner on a visual scan test over a series of trials. Each time this partner made a mistake, subjects could either give an uncomfortable electric shock (scale 1 to 10) or a comfortable vibration (scale 1 to 10) to the partner. Aggressive and nonaggressive behavior was measured as numbers, intensities, and durations of shocks or vibrations, respectively. Neither alcohol nor frustration differentiated the groups on aggressive or nonaggressive behavior. All groups were significantly more inclined to use the nonaggressive alternative irrespective of alcohol dose and level of frustration. In conclusion it was stated that women do not increase their aggression as a function of alcohol in a situation with more than one response alternative available. The need to incorporate gender differences as to aggressive effects of alcohol was stressed.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Male physical aggression as a function of alcohol intoxication and frustration: experimental results and methodological considerations.

Forty-five undergraduate students were assigned to either an Alcohol, a Placebo, or a Control group. The alcohol dose was 0.80 g of 100% alcohol/kg body weight. Subjects were informed that they could win a sum of money depending on the performance of a partner. They then supervised the partner over a series of trials on a visual scan test and could influence the partner by either giving an uncomfortable electric shock (aggressive alternative) or a comfortable vibration (nonaggressive alternative) at each incorrect response from the partner. Both alternatives were said to be equally instrumental in reaching the goal of winning the money and both could be varied in intensity on a 10-point scale and without limits in terms of duration. Aggression was measured as number of aggressive responses chosen, and in terms of intensity and duration. Nonaggression was measured in terms of intensity and duration. Intoxicated subjects did not increase their aggression but all groups chose significantly more nonaggressive responses and did so with higher intensity and duration. Frustration did not significantly affect these types of responding. Results are discussed in terms of methodological considerations and the importance of using realistic experimental paradigms is stressed. Also, theoretical implications are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Subliminal psychodynamic activation: an experiment controlling for major possible confounding influences outlined by Fudin.

40 and 48 subjects participated in two separate experiments aimed at reproducing the subliminal psychodynamic activation (SPA) phenomenon and taking into account the major methodological critique by Fudin (1986, 1990). Subjects were first exposed either to a full or one of all possible partial symbiotic messages and then to their anagram equivalents. Confounding and irrelevant influences were controlled; the results indicate that only the full symbiotic message improved motor performance. This strongly suggests that subjects encode the meaning of the full message and supports an interpretation in terms of an alleviation of an internal symbiotic conflict leading to a state of calmness conducive to improved motor performance.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Alcohol-related expectancies for self and others reported by alcoholic men and women.

A questionnaire used by Rohsenow in 1983 was administered to 87 alcoholic men and women taking part in rehabilitation programs at local Swedish outpatient rehabilitation clinics. The purpose was to explore their alcohol-related expectancies for themselves and for others and to compare these with the results from other similar studies in other cultures. The answers, scored according to Rohsenow's eight factors, indicated that alcoholics expected larger positive and negative effects for others than for themselves. This discrepancy was slightly modified by such variables as sex, age, and drinking habits. Alcoholics in Sweden seem to have alcohol-related expectancies similar to those of social drinkers both in Sweden and in other Western countries.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Does a moderate dose of alcohol reinforce feelings of pleasure, well-being, happiness and joy? A brief communication.

An experiment tested whether a moderate dose of alcohol reinforces some predrinking emotional states. Subjects were assigned to an Alcohol, a Placebo, or a Control group and mood states were manipulated in a positive and a negative direction. An alcohol dose of 1.0 ml of 100% alcohol/kg body weight did not significantly affect feelings of pleasure, well-being, happiness, and joy, so it was concluded that the present dose of alcohol does not per se reinforce the predrinking emotional state and does not significantly reduce unpleasant feelings. Under the present conditions, alcohol is a weak transformer of the studied emotions. Implications with respect to factors in the setting are indicated.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

Alcohol and outcome expectancies: tolerance for socially nonacceptable behaviors.

A questionnaire was administered to 200 college men and women. The instrument contained two identical sets of 45 items, each one describing a socially nonacceptable behavior. Subjects indicated whether their tolerance for the described behaviors was altered if they knew that the person was moderately intoxicated and whether they expected changed tolerance from others for inappropriate social behaviors when they themselves acted under moderate influence of alcohol. The general result indicated both reduced expected and displayed tolerance for alcohol-related social transgressions. This was interpreted as nonsupportive of the "time-out" hypothesis, according to which alcohol intoxication functions as an "excuse" for socially unacceptable behaviors. A minority of the respondents, however, both showed and expected extreme tolerance under alcohol and for this minority the "time-out" hypothesis might be valid.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Effect of alcohol on quantity of creative production using the Purdue tests.

An experiment was performed to test whether a moderate dose of alcohol (1 ml of 100% alcohol/kg body weight) facilitates the production of creative solutions as measured with a standard creativity test and whether a creative attitude interacts with alcohol in this respect. The 60 subjects were randomly assigned to either an alcohol, a placebo, or a control group, with 10 women and 10 men in each group. Two different personality tests measuring the creative attitude were administered a priori. Analysis indicated that both the placebo and alcohol groups produced significantly less creative solutions to the ten stimulus pictures. The a priori attitude scores significantly predicted the creativity scores for the placebo and alcohol subjects but not for the control subjects. Results were discussed in terms of disinhibition and cognitive changes under alcohol.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Male physical aggression as a function of alcohol, frustration, and subjective mood.

An experiment tested the hypothesis that alcohol intoxication will increase aggression only if the subject is experiencing the intoxicated state as displeasing. Forty males drank either 0.8 mL of pure alcohol/kg body weight or a placebo drink and were then exposed to either a pleasant or an unpleasant mood manipulation. Following this, they were given the chance to aggress in a modified version of the Buss "aggression machine" paradigm. All subjects were observed under varying levels of frustration. Results indicated that alcohol-drinking subjects were more aggressive than placebo-drinking subjects, and that both intoxicated and sober subjects increased their aggression when frustrated. Intoxicated subjects in a pleasant mood were most aggressive under both provocative and nonprovocative conditions. The hypothesis was not supported and results are discussed in relation to different theoretical models and in relation to results from other similar studies.

Affect↗
PubMed1991

Effects of calcium chloride administration on the postischemic isolated rat heart.

Hypercalcemic reperfusion of the postischemic heart has been associated with ventricular dysfunction and with ultrastructural changes in the mitochondria. The isolated working rat heart model was used to correlate ventricular function, mitochondrial damage, and high-energy phosphate content with degree and timing of hypercalcemia during reperfusion. When administered early during reperfusion, calcium chloride caused a dose-dependent deterioration in ventricular function, whereas calcium augmented function when it was administered after a 15-minute period of normocalcemic reperfusion. Hearts treated with calcium early during reperfusion demonstrated more mitochondrial damage and decreased stores of adenosine triphosphate than those in which calcium administration was delayed. The data indicate that a period of normocalcemic reperfusion should precede calcium administration in the postischemic heart. Mitochondrial damage resulting in decreased synthesis of adenosine triphosphate is likely the cause of ventricular dysfunction associated with calcium administration in the postischemic heart.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1990

Alcohol, subliminal stimulation, and disinhibitory processes.

An experiment was performed to test the hypothesis that an unconscious conflict between a wish to attain symbiotic oneness with another person on the one hand and personal independence on the other, should be weakened by alcohol if the main effect of intoxication is to reduce the strength of psychological inhibitions. In turn, a reduction in such conflicts should improve motor performance. Data indicated no such effects, and it was concluded that the disinhibition hypothesis as an explanation of alcohol-related behavior was not supported.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Subliminal stimulation and cognitive and motor performance.

The present experiment investigated whether subliminally exposed messages affect cognitive and motor performance and whether personality factors can explain interindividual differences in this respect. According to Silverman (1983), people have a symbiotic fantasy, that is, a need for symbiotic oneness with the mother figure. This need can temporarily be satisfied by a tachistoscopic exposure of the message "Mommy and I are one." By relieving the unconscious conflict, psychological tension is reduced. Using these notions, it was hypothesized that different measures of performance should be improved. The results indicate that both cognitive performance, in terms of the ability to interpret incomplete and fragmented pictures, and motor performance, in terms of the ability to follow a printed line with a stylus, is improved by this procedure compared to that of a control group exposed to the neutral message "People are walking." However, it was not possible to relate these changes to individual differences in terms of the individual's structure of his psychological defense system as measured by the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT). Other possible explanations are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Effects of alcohol on cognitive performance measured with Stroop's Color Word Test.

An experiment was performed to test whether alcohol intoxication leads to cognitive disinhibition as measured by the Color Word Test. In psychoanalytic terms, it was hypothesized that alcohol would decrease secondary process functioning leading to disinhibition and so make it easier to perform a primary process function. 24 men and 24 women participated and were randomly assigned to an Alcohol group, a Placebo group or a Control group. The alcohol dose was 1.0 ml of 100% alcohol/kg body weight. No statistically significant differences were found on any of the three dependent measures, number of errors, number of hesitations and total time needed, except that men in the Alcohol group needed significantly longer time to complete the test. These results indicate that cognitive disinhibition is not valid as an explanation for alcohol-related changes in cognitive functioning.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Alcohol and the compensation hypothesis: a test with cognitive and psychomotor tasks.

An experiment tested the hypothesis that moderately intoxicated subjects can compensate for the detrimental effects of alcohol. Subjects were assigned either to a Control group, a Low Incentive group, or a High Incentive group. The dose of alcohol was 1.0 ml of 100% alcohol/kg body weight. The rationale of the experiment was that the High Incentive group would be more inclined to try to compensate than would the Low Incentive group. A psychomotor and two different cognitive tasks were used. Analysis indicated that the psychomotor test was not at all affected by alcohol, so there was no possibility for compensation. On the Color Word Test, intoxicated subjects developed the strategy of taking longer time to complete the test and so keeping the number of errors low. On the Dot Test, men were not affected by alcohol and could not compensate while women were affected and successfully compensated for the detrimental effects of alcohol. The results were interpreted as a partial support of the hypothesis of compensation for alcohol effect.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Psychological defense mechanisms and manifest anxiety as indicators of secondary psychosomatic body pain.

13 men and 27 women patients from an outpatient pain unit participated in the study. Blind to the research worker they were diagnosed by the responsible physicians as suffering from either primary somatic or secondary psychosomatic pain. The study explored whether manifest anxiety and number of primitive psychological defense signs could be used to classify patients into the two categories. Analysis indicated that with respect to manifest anxiety this was possible for the women but not for the men in that psychosomatic women exhibited raised manifest anxiety. Both men and women, diagnosed as psychosomatic, exhibited more primitive defense signs than patients diagnosed as somatic. Theoretical and clinical implications were discussed.

Defense Mechanisms↗