Attention and disordered eating behavior: I. Disattention to satiety cues as a risk factor in the development of bulimia.

It was proposed that bulimic behavior could be explained in part in terms of cognitive deficit, in which poor self-control and a lack of sensitivity to eating satiety cues contribute to binging behavior. College women (N = 80) who showed characteristics associated with bulimics (BP) had been found less capable of self-control than control women (C) in a previous study. The present study revealed a tendency for BP college women to be less cognizant of eating satiety cues and less responsive to these cues as far as termination of eating is concerned. However, this was true only when they also reported a diminished ability to focus attention upon a narrow range of stimulation. When BP women described themselves as more capable of focused attention, they showed greater awareness of and responsiveness to cues signaling satiation while eating. Attention to focal stimulation did not mediate differences in sensitivity to satiety cues within the C group.

Distorted body image in normal college women: possible implications for the development of anorexia nervosa.

College women (N = 100) who averaged about 18 years of age were asked to rate the size of their bodies after looking in a mirror, and these ratings were compared to their actual body sizes. Women whose personality characteristics more closely resembled those proposed as basic to anorexic development in Slade's model were more inclined to overestimate body size, but only if they were relatively thin. A motivational role for body-image overestimation was suggested wherein this distortion serves to maintain dieting behavior even when a thin body is attained.

Distorted body image as a risk factor in anorexia nervosa: replication and clarification.

This study replicated the results of an earlier one in which college women showing psychological similarities to anorexics indicated an unrealistically larger body-image relative to controls but only if they were relatively thin. This kind of perceptual enhancement was not found when inanimate objects were rated. The proposal that an enhanced body image plays a dynamic role in motivating food restraint (and may increase the risk of becoming anorexic) was supported by an analysis of dieting strategies.

Attention and disordered eating behavior: II. Disattention to turbulent inner sensations as a risk factor in the development of anorexia nervosa.

The Slade model for development of anorexia nervosa proposes that the female may seek success and control in her life by pursuing a thin body through dieting when faced with serious personal problems. Extending upon this model, the present program of research has sought to identify those characteristics of women generally at-risk for anorexia nervosa that would make dieting behavior especially successful, permitting the progression from food restraint into food aversion. The present studies considered whether heightened and stress-related inner stimulation could interfere with the at-risk woman's sensitivity to hunger sensations, thereby decreasing her motivation to eat. A series of analyses conducted within two studies indicated: (1) a relationship between elevated daily stress, concern over being over-whelmed by inner feelings, and a loss of discrimination regarding sources of inner feelings, (2) a tendency to narrow attentional focus when overloaded with excessive internal stimulation, and (3) diminished sensitivity to hunger sensations for women generally at-risk for anorexia nervosa given a narrowed attentional focus.

The measurement of principled morality by the Kohlberg Moral Dilemma Questionnaire.

The four stages preceding the postconventional level in the Kohlberg (1958, 1971, 1976) system of moral development are described as involving moral judgments that conform to external conditions of punishment, reward, social expectation, and conformity to the law. No special level of self-control seems necessary to behave in keeping with these conditions of external reinforcement. In contrast, the two stages of postconventional (principled) mortality involve defiance of majority opinion and defiance of the law--actions that would seem to require greater self-control. This study was concerned with whether postconventional moral reasoning, as measured by the Kohlberg Moral Dilemma Questionnaire (MDQ), can be associated with higher self-control. If so, prediction of principled moral behavior from the MDQ would be based not only on postconventional moral reasoning but bolstered by the necessary level of self-control as well. College students who came the closest to postconventional moral reasoning showed better self-control than college students who were more conventional or preconventional in their moral judgments. These results support the validity of the MDQ for predicting principled moral behavior.

Differentiation of death-row murderers and life-sentence murderers by antisociality and intelligence measures.

Prior studies of dangerousness have confirmed that the combination of high antisociality and low IQ is associated with male criminal violence and that the same combination can discriminate within a group of violent male criminals by level of severity. My study continued the validation of this two-component measure by showing that men convicted of murder and given the death sentence for their more heinous crimes were more dangerous than murderers who received life sentences. Men who had been extended the death penalty, who selected female victims, and whose murders were judged to have been especially cruel received extraordinarily high dangerousness scores relative to all other murderers. The assumption that high antisociality and low IQ would lead to serious violence because of the criminal's inability to deal with complications that arise in confronting the victim received some support. The murders of more dangerous men followed stronger victim resistance than the murders committed by less dangerous men.

The measurement of criminal dangerousness as a personality construct: further validation of a research index.

The validity of an index measuring criminal dangerousness was further evaluated by determining whether it could discriminate among prisoners committing violent crimes at three levels of severity. The index score was a multiplicative product of an antisocially score and an IQ score, with high antisocially and low IQ reflecting greater dangerousness. Comparison of index scores for men committing murder (most severe); robbery and rape (intermediate severity); and assault, child molestation, and manslaughter (least severe) revealed a significant monotonic increase in dangerousness scores as increasingly severe crimes were considered. Several recommendations for the measurement of criminal dangerousness were offered.

Food cues and perceptual distortion of the female body: implications for food avoidance in the early dynamics of anorexia nervosa.

The present studies concerned a perceptual mechanism that could partially explain the anorexic's severe eating restraint despite continuing hunger. If a woman values a thin body, unrealistic perception of food's fattening effects should increase the aversiveness of ingesting food and foster restraint in eating. The first study considered the perceived thinness/fatness of women's bodies without and with food cues present. College women who (1) shared the stress-generating personality characteristics of anorexics (AP); and (2) judged models as fatter after food cues were introduced (enhancers) reported more stress than AP non-enhancers; no effect of enhancement upon stress was observed in controls. This moderator effect was replicated in a second study. Thus, women with the personality characteristics and high stress that put them at-risk for anorexia also displayed the perceptual distortion involved in the proposed mechanism. Self-ratings verified the same perceptual mechanism in the high-stress AP woman's perception of her own body.

Type A, locus of control, and stress: another case in point.

It has been recommended that a stress measure be included in studies seeking to clarify the Type A behavior pattern to identify moderator effects. This was tested, and a stress-moderating effect of externality among Type As was found along with the absence of relation between Type A status and locus of control.

Self-preoccupation and general stress level as sensitizing factors in premenstrual and menstrual distress.

This study considered whether general stress level and self-preoccupation sensitize women to symptoms of menstrual and premenstrual distress and whether this effect is more pronounced for premenstrual symptoms. Equal-size categories of normal college women reporting greater distress during the premenstrual period (PD), during the menstrual period (MD), or about equally in both periods were constituted. The PD women demonstrated significantly greater self-preoccupation than either the MD or equivalent groups; they also reported higher general stress than either comparison group, although statistical reliability was not attained. However, when both sensitizing factors were introduced into the same analysis, high self-preoccupation and a high level of general stress were found only in the PD group. The present evidence suggests that stress and personality not only sensitize premenstrual symptoms in PMS women but are prominent features in normal women who report more serious symptoms during the premenstrual period.

Psychological defences and menstrual distress.

Two studies considered the possible role of psychological defences and defensive awareness in the distress reported by women during the menstrual (flow) period and during the week before menstruation. Unconscious rationalization was associated with the least distress at both times among college women. The same defensive pattern also was found to be related to less menstrual and premenstrual distress among women reporting the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. None of the other three defences studied (projection, repression, and denial) was associated with menstrual or premenstrual distress. The adaptive role of rationalization was explained in terms of coping by confrontation rather than evasion when the sources of stress tend to be inevitable.

Type A personality, self-control, and vulnerability to stress.

Type A behavior (hard-driving, competitive, time-urgent, hostile-irritable) has been linked to high stress levels and the risk of eventual cardiovascular problems (i.e., coronary heart disease, CHD). However, this pattern of behavior closely resembles the traditional masculine instrumental (goal-oriented) orientation, and, if kept within limits, may be viewed as adaptive in success-oriented, middle-class college students. Hypothetically then, Type A behavior may be displayed by a broad group of individuals, and only in those cases when it is allowed to reach extreme proportions is stress sufficient enough to confer risk. This article considers two lines of reasoning. Is greater self-control required for college women to be Type As, because it involves crossing into traditional male role behavior? Type A women displayed significantly better self-control then Type B women; the opposite result was disclosed for college men with Type As displaying poorer self-control than Type Bs. The question of whether risk-conferring Type A behavior would result from poorer self-control was answered in the affirmative. Self-control assumed moderator status; poorer self-control in both male and female Type As was associated with high levels of day-to-day stress relative to Type As with better self-control. Self-control did not influence stress level in Type Bs. This moderator effect suggests that only Type As who cannot contain their behavior within adaptive limits will be vulnerable to excessive stress and at risk for CHD.

Erotic value of female distress in sexually explicit photographs.

The extent to which distress of the female model contributed to the erotic value of sexually explicit photographs of women in bondage was studied for a sample of 54 young-adult college males. In addition, subjects were categorized by level of antisociality and level of facial-decoding skill with the prediction that the erotic value of a model in distress would be greatest for subjects departing most from social values (antisociality) and most capable of recognizing emotions as facially displayed by another person (facial decoding). There was an overall sadism effect. Most of the men reported pictures depicting a distressed model in bondage to be more sexually stimulating than pictures in which the female model displayed positive affect. The erotic value of distressed females in bondage was greatest when subjects combined greater anti-sociality and better facial-decoding skill.

Personality underlying motivation for type A behavior in late adolescents.

The personality profiles of Type A college males and females, carefully selected as especially vulnerable to stress, were compared with peer controls. The purpose of these comparisons was to determine whether some motivational goals of their excessive competitive striving might be identified by underlying personality traits distinguishing the Type As, whereas other goals might be eliminated. The results indicated that Type As of both sexes were more emotionally dependent and that their competitiveness could be an effort to elicit approval from others. At the same time, higher aggression in male and female Type As implied that the negative impact upon others of winning over them also was a goal of competition. No evidence for need achievement, mastery, or task proficiency as competitive motives was found. Implications of these findings and other significant results were discussed.

Type A behavior and stress in college males.

Substantial inconsistency can be noted among studies that have considered the relationship between Type A status and subsequent cardiac pathology. This erratic prediction pattern could be partially explained by the failure to consider level of stress in Type As, because only Type As that experience excessive and sustained stress should be at special risk. A stress-vulnerability model for young Type A college students was proposed involving selected Type A characteristics and other personality moderator variables serving to elicit, augment, and sustain stress. We considered self-preoccupation as a stress moderator in Type A college males and found evidence that it serves this function. Self-preoccupied Type As reported excessive stress over the previous year, whereas less self-centered Type As did not. Self-preoccupation was of no importance in moderating stress in Type Bs.

Psychological vulnerability to alcoholism: studies in internal scanning deficit.

Three studies considered the predispositional role of impaired internal scanning in alcoholism. Scanning represents the person's sensitivity to internal stimulation and the extent to which the person utilizes internally generated information. The first study found that more acute alcoholic patients displayed poorer scanning than more chronic alcoholics. This finding contra-indicates deficit scanning as an effect of alcoholism and suggests that this impairment antecedes the alcoholic disorder. Two further studies tested the possible antecedent status of deficit scanning. Adolescent wards of the juvenile court, judged to be more at risk for alcoholism, were poorer scanners than their counterparts with fewer drinking-related problems. Male college students with a greater number of alcohol-related problems also proved to be poorer scanners. It is proposed that limited scanning contributes to alcoholic vulnerability by depriving the person of information vital to the control of drinking behaviour.

Strategies of disattention and auditory hallucinations in schizophrenics.

Disattentional strategies used by schizophrenics to attenuate auditory stimulation from the environment were proposed as extraordinary conditions of attention which facilitate the misperception of lexical thought as a voice and create an auditory hallucination. Two strategies were studied. The switching strategy involved concentration upon an external visual display to prevent a clearly audible list of words from registering. The holding strategy required mentally repeating a word in the list so as to ignore the words that followed. Process (N = 32) and reactive (N = 32) schizophrenics, 46 of whom had a history of auditory hallucinations, served as subjects. Effectiveness of the two disattentional strategies was tested by subsequent inability of the schizophrenic to recognize words from the taped list. Process schizophrenics with auditory hallucinations were able to use switching effectively but not holding. In contrast, reactive schizophrenics suffering auditory hallucinations successfully used holding but not switching. Both effects were confirmed relative to hallucinating controls given standard memory instructions. Strategy effects were not apparent in nonhallucinating schizophrenics. These results suggest that different disattentional strategies may have been practiced by hallucinating schizophrenics in keeping with their premorbid status and style of attention deployment. A proposal functionally relating disattention to the genesis of auditory hallucinations was suggested.