Randall B. Martin

Weeping: Evidence for a cognitive theory

According to a two-factor cognitive theory of weeping, schema-incongruent information and efforts to assimilate it create arousal; resolution, giving up of the schema, and cessation of the assimilation efforts result in arousal reduction and may be associated with emotional tears. To assess these predictions, female subjects were shown an emotional film under one of two conditions. In one condition only schema-induction and incongruity phases were viewed, while the other condition viewed the complete film (i.e., schema-induction, incongruity, and resolution). Consistent with expectations, incongruity was associated with increased stress and depressed mood. Only subjects who viewed the complete film reported significant decreases in these states. The final scene, assumed to trigger schema change, produced the greatest amount of weeping.

Emotional Crying, Depressed Mood, and Secretory Immunoglobulin A

The relationship between emotional crying and secretory immunoglobulin A (S-IgA) in whole saliva was examined. Previous research had indicated that lower S-IgA was associated with crying. Similar results were found in the present study. Depressed mood was not associated with S-IgA.

Mood following emotional crying: Effects of the situation

Abstract Following film-induced emotional crying, the effects of five situations on mood were studied: waiting, exposure to humorous material, repetition of film scenes, processing, and music. Thought focus on the movie or on extraneous themes was assessed after the waiting and music situations. Although crying was associated with depressed mood when they were measured closely in time, there was no evidence to suggest that crying facilitated the reduction of subsequent depressed mood. Crying was related to later thought focus on the movie, but depressed mood, indepdent of crying, was not. The need for assessment of response variables that are not direct components of crying was discussed.

Reported mediation as a function of degree of learning

The effects of 10 practice trials beyond a criterion of two perfect trials on reported mediation was investigated in an AB, EC, AC paired—associate learning task. Significantly more“direct” responses were reported after the 10 additional trials than after the two perfect trials. Significantly more explicit mediation was reported for facilitation pairs and there was no evidence for “unconscious mediation”.

Preference of Complexity as a Function of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Amplitude of Orienting Response:

The study investigated personality variables of extraversion, neuroticism, magnitude of orienting response, and their relationship to stimulation preference using a continuous variable of complexity under diversive exploratory conditions. Ss were asked to rank-order preferences for polygons differing in degrees of complexity. Data indicated extraverts preferred more complexity than introverts; there was a trend for low orienters to prefer more complexity than high orienters. Neuroticism was not a significant factor. The relationships between magnitude and habituation of orienting response and extraversion and neuroticism are discussed.

Reported mediation in paired-associate learning

This study investigated the effects of three paired-associate paradigms (mediation, interference, learning-to-learn) and the effects of instructions to develop associations on reported mediation. Although a significant increase in reported mediation occurred on the second list in both the mediation and interference paradigms, no significant increase occurred in the learning-to-learn paradigm. Instructions to develop associations increased reported mediation in all paradigms but did not significantly affect performance.

Word Association Training and Creativity

The effects of verbal reinforcement on word-association responding were investigated in combination with pre-experimental tendencies for common or uncommon responses. Although effective in all combinations, reinforcement tended to be most effective when coinciding with pre-experimental tendencies. Neither variable was related to subsequent performance on the Remote Associates Test.

The assessment of involvement in role playing

Two experiments (N = 169) focused on involvement in role playing. Subjects rated their level of involvement after each enactment; in addition, a probe procedure was used with prompts, increasingly disparate from the content of the role play. In the first experiment, subjects role played an anger of sad scenario; both measures of involvement correlated with emotional response, but were not correlated with each other. In the second experiment, involvement was manipulated experimentally; both measures varied as expected with the manipulation.

Involvement and role playing.

Three studies focused on involvement as a function of type and content of the role play, experimenter behaviors, and proportion of time in scenario roles. Several measures of involvement were obtained. Generally, there was a low correlation between involvement estimated by observers and self-reported involvement; subjective involvement also was related more consistently to other variables.

Verbal paired-associate transfer as a function of practice and paradigm shift

Two studies investigated the effects of practice and paradigm shift on three transfer paradigms: A-B’, A-B; A-C, A-B; and C-D, A-B. Ss were administered the same paradigm for three successive sets of paired associates after which they were either continued with the same paradigm for a fourth set or shifted to a different paradigm. Performance under the A-B’ paradigm tended to diverge from the other paradigms as a function of sets. Paradigm shift did not affect performance beyond that expected on the basis of the nature of the paradigm shifted to.