Peter R. Finn
Indiana University Bloomington
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Featured researches published by Peter R. Finn.
Journal of Sex Research | 2002
Erick Janssen; Harrie C. M. Vorst; Peter R. Finn; John Bancroft
This study involves the development and initial validation of a questionnaire measuring the propensity for sexual inhibition and excitation in men: the Sexual Inhibition & Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS/SES). The underlying theoretical model postulates that sexual response and associated behavior depend on dual control mechanisms, involving excitatory and inhibitory neurophysiological systems. The scales and their discriminant and convergent validity and test‐retest reliability are described. In a sample of 408 sexually functional men (mean age = 22.8 years), factor analyses identified three higher‐level factors: two related to sexual inhibition and one to sexual excitation. Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analyses revealed that the factor structure provided an acceptable fit to the data obtained in a second (N = 459; mean age = 20.9 years) and third (N = 313; mean age = 46.2 years) sample of men, with similar distributions and relationships with other measures. Theoretical issues and areas for further research, including male sexual dysfunction and risk taking, are discussed.
Psychopharmacology | 1999
Peter R. Finn; Alicia Justus; Carlos Mazas; Joseph E. Steinmetz
Abstract Rationale: Impulsivity is associated with increased risk for alcoholism. Alcohol also may increase impulsive behavior, although little is known about the processes underlying this effect. Objectives: This study tested a model proposing that the executive processes of working memory (WM) and conditional associative learning (CAL) modulate behavioral inhibition. Subjects had either a positive (FHP) or a negative (FHN) family history of alcoholism. Hypotheses were that alcohol would increase Go/No-Go impulsive responding but only in subjects with low working memory capacity (low-WM), low-CAL ability, or FHP for alcoholism. The model also predicted that WM and CAL modulate inhibitory responses to contingency reversal on a Go/No-Go task. Methods: A Go/No-Go learning task with a midway contingency reversal was administered to 71 FHP and 78 FHN subjects when sober and after drinking one of two moderate doses of alcohol. WM (digits backward) and CAL (conditional spatial association task) were also assessed when sober. Results: Alcohol resulted in more false alarms but only in low-WM subjects. Both WM and CAL modulated learning to inhibit behavior after contingency reversal, suggesting separate modulation mechanisms for WM and CAL. Subjects with low- capacity WM and subjects with low-capacity CAL ability had more difficulty learning response inhibition after contingency reversal. FHPs and FHNs did not differ in their response to alcohol. Conclusions: The results support our model of the modulatory role of WM and CAL in the ongoing regulation of behavioral inhibitory systems. The results also suggest that individuals with low capacity WM are more susceptible to alcohol’s effect of increasing impulsive behavior, suggesting that alcohol reduces the capacity of working memory to modulate response inhibition.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology | 1990
Robert O. Pihl; Jordan B. Peterson; Peter R. Finn
Sons of male alcoholics (SOMAs) are at markedly heightened genetic risk for the development of alcohol abuse. Study of SOMAs could therefore conceivably increase the efficiency of research aimed at uncovering those heritable factors that predispose to alcoholism. SOMAs manifest observable behavioral, cognitive, and psychophysiological abnormalities while sober and react idiosyncratically to alcohol intoxication. They are most commonly described as conduct disordered and hyperactive, appear heir to a variety of deficits in verbal and abstract cognition, and perform more poorly in the academic environment. SOMAs are characterized by abnormal patterns of cued psychophysiological response, and appear more sensitive to the putatively reinforcing aspects of alcohol intoxication. Various methodological weaknesses permeate the relevant literature. Some straightforward improvements are suggested.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | 1994
Lonnie L. Sears; Peter R. Finn; Joseph E. Steinmetz
Cerebellar and limbic system pathologies have been reported in persons with autism. Because these brain areas are involved centrally in the acquisition and performance in classical eyeblink conditioning, this study evaluated conditioning in 11 persons with autism. Compared to matched controls, persons with autism learned the task faster but performed short-latency, high-amplitude conditioned responses. In addition, differences in learning the extinction rates systematically varied with age thus suggesting a developmental conditioning abnormality in autism. The observed pattern of eye-blink conditioning may indicate that persons with autism have the ability to rapidly associate paired stimuli but, depending on processing of certain contextual information, have impairments in modulating the timing and topography of the learned responses. This abnormality may relate to deviant cerebellar-hippocampal interactions. The classical eye-blink conditioning paradigm may provide a useful model for understanding the biological and behavioral bases of autism.
Journal of Sex Research | 2002
Erick Janssen; Harrie C. M. Vorst; Peter R. Finn; John Bancroft
This study evaluated the predictive value of a newly developed measure of the propensity for sexual inhibition and excitation; the Sexual Inhibition & Sexual Excitation Scales (SIS/SES). Sexual, cardiovascular, and startle responses were measured in a group of 40 sexually functional men during the presentation of threatening and nonthreatening erotic films. Two levels of performance demand were created and two films were combined with a distraction task. Participants were assigned to high and low groups for each of the three SIS/SES scales. As predicted, men with high SES scores showed generally higher sexual responses. High and low SIS1 groups did not differ in their responses. Men with high and low SIS2 scores did not differ in their responses to nonthreatening stimuli; however, low SIS2 men showed greater genital response to the threatening stimuli. The findings provide support for the value of the SIS/SES scales in predicting sexual responses.
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology | 2009
Lyuba Bobova; Peter R. Finn; Martin E. Rickert; Jesolyn Lucas
Increased discounting of delayed rewards may reflect a decision bias that contributes to excessive use of alcohol and more generally, to an impulsive, disinhibitory predisposition that is characterized by a preference for immediate over long-term rewards. The current study examined the association between delay discounting of rewards and the covariation among several types of disinhibitory problems that are often comorbid with alcohol dependence (AD). Lifetime problems with alcohol, marijuana, other drugs, childhood conduct disorder, and adult antisocial behavior were assessed in a sample of 426 young adults, 257 of whom had a lifetime diagnosis of AD. Higher delay discounting rates were associated with the covariation among all domains of disinhibitory problems and were not uniquely associated with any one domain. Higher delay discounting rates also were associated with lower intelligence, lower working memory capacity, and higher trait impulsivity. The results suggest that increased delay discounting of rewards may reflect aspects of a general vulnerability to externalizing, disinhibitory disorders.
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors | 2005
Julie C. Stout; Stephanie L. Rock; Meghan C. Campbell; Jerome R. Busemeyer; Peter R. Finn
Decision-making deficits are considered to be a significant contributing factor for drug abuse. Drug abusers performed poorly on a simulated gambling task (A. Bechara, H. Damasio, D. Tranel, & S. Anderson, 1994); however, the psychological processes that contribute to these deficits are unknown. The authors used cognitive decision models with a simulated gambling task (SGT) to examine underlying processes of decision making in 66 drug abusers and 58 control participants. As expected, male drug abusers performed more poorly than male controls, and model results showed that male drug abusers placed greater emphasis on wins. The findings for women were less clear because control women performed at chance level on the SGT. Additional studies of gender differences on the SGT are needed to clarify these findings of discrepant performance in the control women.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology | 2004
Peter R. Finn; Julie Hall
This study tested the hypothesis that short-term memory (STM) capacity moderates the effect of social deviance on alcohol problems. Personality, cognitive ability, and alcohol use and abuse were assessed in the adult offspring of alcoholics (FHPs; n = 153) and the adult offspring of nonalcoholics (FHNs; n = 150). The results revealed that STM capacity moderated the effect of social deviance on alcohol problems, independent of intelligence. High social deviance and high-STM participants had fewer alcohol problems than did high social deviance and low-STM participants. Intelligence also moderated the effect of social deviance on alcohol problems in the same way, independent of STM capacity. FHPs had lower IQs, lower verbal ability, and more response perseveration than FHNs. The results suggest that working memory capacity moderates the risk for alcoholism associated with disinhibited traits.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology | 1994
Peter R. Finn; David N. Kessler; Andrea M. Hussong
Nonalcoholic men with high-density family histories of alcohol dependence (high risk) were compared with men with negative family histories (low risk) on a differential classical conditioning protocol that examined the acquisition of conditioned skin conductance responses (SCRs) to a tone (CS+) signaling the occurrence of an electric shock. High-risk Ss had significantly smaller SCRs to the CS+ tone probes during the acquisition phase and poor response discrimination between CS+ probes and CS- tones that were not paired with shock. The low-risk Ss showed a consistent pattern of discrimination between the CS+ and CS- tones. Unresponsivity to the CS+ probes was significantly related to more alcohol-related problems. The results suggest a relationship between risk for alcohol abuse and poor conditioning to signals for punishment, possibly reflecting weak behavioral inhibition system processes (D. C. Fowles, 1987).
Addictive Behaviors | 1991
Mitchell Earleywine; Peter R. Finn
Research using latent variable analysis revealed a strong relation between behavioral disinhibition, as measured by the MacAndrew and Socialization scales, and drinking habits (Earleywine, Finn, & Martin, 1990). Theoretical reasons for this link remain unclear. Each of these constructs could relate to a third variable that could account for the covariation between them. Sensation seeking seemed a likely third variable, given its previously established connection to alcohol consumption. Models of the potential links between these constructs were tested on self-report data provided by college men. LISREL modeling revealed that the relation between behavioral disinhibition and drinking could be accounted for by the relation of each to sensation seeking. The findings are discussed as further support for the connection between specific individual differences and alcohol consumption.