Donald P. Corriveau

Serum testosterone and sexual activity and interest in men.

There is considerable interest in the relationship between testosterone and sexual behavior in men, but the few available data bearing on this issue are inconclusive. This study is an attempt to clarify the relationships among various components of sexuality and serum testosterone concentration through examination of these variables in a large homogeneous group of men. Serum testosterone concentration was determined in two blood samples taken 1 week apart from 101 young adult men. Subjects reported their frequencies of various sexual activities and level of sexual interest. Testosterone concentrations in the two blood samples were highly correlated, indicating considerable intraindividual consistency. There was considerable variance among subjects in both mean testosterone and reported sexual activity. Testosterone concentration did not correlate with the sexual activity and interest variables. These results provide evidence that differences among men in circulating testosterone concentration within the normal range do not account for differences in sexual activity and interest. It is also unlikely that variations in sexual activity account for differences in testosterone concentration.

Acute psychologic and neuroendocrine effects of dextroamphetamine and methylphenidate.

These studies examine the interface between central neurochemical events, psychologic state, and neuroendocrine activity. Fifty-nine healthy young men received dextroamphetamine (10 or 20 mg), methylphenidate (10 or 20 mg), or placebo. Psychologic state and serum concentrations of growth hormone, cortisol, and amphetamine were monitored for 2 h following drug ingestion.There was considerable variance in both the endocrine and psychologic responses to these drugs. In general, both dextroamphetamine (20 mg) and methylphenidate (20 mg) stimulated growth hormone release, while only dextroamphetamine stimulated cortisol release. The variance in psychologic response precluded statistically significant differences among the drug groups; however, dextroamphetamine and methylphenidate appeared about equally effective in eliciting euphoria. Growth hormone response following these drugs correlated selectively with increases in euphoria, while cortisol response correlated somewhat selectively with increases in arousal. Serum amphetamine concentration correlated only with degree of growth hormone response and degree of elation.These findings suggest that a common or linked central mechanism underlies both the growth hormone response and euphoria elicited by these drugs, and that a different mechanism underlies the cortisol and arousal responses. More importantly, these findings suggest another way in which psychopharmacologic agents can be used to elucidate the neurophysiology of both pathologic and normative psychologic states.

Item format and the structure of the buss-durkee hostility inventory

The Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory is a widely employed multidimensional measure of aggression. Two studies, each involving the administration of both two-choice and seven-choice response format versions of the instrument, were conducted to determine if (1) the theoretical scales could be reproduced empirically, (2) the change in response format either changes or improves the structure, and (3) the structure of either response format replicates across administrations. The two-choice version provided some support for the present theoretical scoring but was not very stable across administrations. The seven-choice version resulted in a structure that was different from both the two-choice structure and theoretical scoring but was more stable across administrations.

Item format and the structure of the Personal Orientation Inventory

Two versions of the Personal Orientation Inventory were administered to 317 subjects. One version em ployed the standard two-choice response format. The other version used a six-choice response format. The purpose of this study was (1) to determine if a multi ple-response format resulted in improved psychometric properties, (2) to compare the component structure of the two versions, and (3) to compare the empirically derived scales with the theoretically defined scales. The results showed a slight improvement for the mul tiple-response format, but with poorly defined compo nent patterns. The change in format resulted in a change in component structure. The components de rived from both versions did not correspond to the theoretical scales. An analysis indicated that the only well-defined component from either response format could be interpreted as measuring social desirability responding rather than measuring content. A follow-up questionnaire indicated greater subject acceptance of the six-choice version.

ORTHOGONAL COMPONENTS OF REPORTED MALE SEXUAL BEHAVIOR

In constructing an inventory that would yield a general measure of sexual performance and sexual interest, responses of 101 male paid volunteers were subjected to a principal component analysis. No general factor of sexual activity was found. Instead the results indicated that various components of sexual performance occur independently. Implications for the assessment of sexual behavior in basic and applied research were presented.

Social Facilitation following Response Prevention in the Rat

Baum (1969) found that the presence of a nonfearful rat during response prevention facilitated fear reduction. However, Baum used the problematic “reduction in the conditioned avoidance response” as a measure of fear. The present study re-examined the social facilitation effect by examining approach behavior as an index of fear. 60 male rats either received or did not receive response prevention. These treatments were presented either alone or in the presence of a mobile or immobile nonfearful rat. Although all measures of fear showed significant response prevention, none showed social facilitation. The discrepancy between these results and those of Baum was explained by hypothesizing the conditioning of incompatible responses within the context of avoidance procedures.