Sensation seeking and short-term sensory isolation.

General Factor of Personality (GFP) research is an emergent field in personality research. This paper uses a theoretical mathematical model to predict the short-term effects of a dose of a stimulant drug on GFP and reports the results of an experiment showing how caffeine achieves this. This study considers the General Factor of Personality Questionnaire (GFPQ) a good psychometric approach to assess GFP. The GFP dynamic mechanism of change is based on the Unique Trait Personality Theory (UTPT). This theory proposes the existence of GFP which occupies the apex of the hierarchy of personality, and extends from an impulsiveness-and-aggressiveness pole (approach tendency) to an anxiety-andintroversion pole (avoidance tendency). An experiment with 25 volunteers was performed. All the participants completed the GFPQ and the Sensation-Seeking Scale list of adjectives from the trait version of MAACL-R (Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist Revised) on an empty stomach. The participants in the experimental group (20) received 330 mg of caffeine. All the participants filled in a state version form with the sensation-seeking adjectives every 4.5 minutes. This study considers that the Sensation-Seeking Scale list of adjectives from the MAACL-R, available in both trait and state versions, is a good psychometric approach to assess GFP. The results show that GFP is modified by a single dose of caffeine in the direction predicted by the UTPT.

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Does Media Use Have a Short-Term Impact on Cognitive Performance?

Journal of Media Psychology Theories Methods and Applications ◽

10.1027/1864-1105/a000038 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 65-76 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Asja Maass ◽

Klara Maria Klöpper ◽

Friederike Michel ◽

Arnold Lohaus

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Performance ◽

Sensation Seeking ◽

Media Use ◽

Memory Performance ◽

Cognitive Outcomes ◽

Cognitive Outcome ◽

Short Term ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

The Media

It has often been shown that the amount of media use is negatively related to cognitive outcomes. The more time spent on media the poorer cognitive performance is. This association has mainly been found for general-audience, violent, and action-loaded contents but not for educational contents. Typically, long-term-explanations like the time-displacement hypothesis are considered to account for this relation, although this cannot fully explain the association. Additionally short-term explanations should be considered, since it can be expected that media-induced stress can impair information processing. The present study compares short-term effects regarding memory performance and the ability to concentrate, using four different experimental conditions (high- vs. low-arousing films and video games). It was also examined if the experienced level of stress mediates group differences and if habitual media, habitual use of age-restricted contents or the trait sensation seeking moderate this mediation. Participants consisted of N = 117 university students. They were asked to learn written items before media use and to recall these after having used the media. Further, the ability to concentrate was measured. Experimental groups differed with regard to the cognitive outcome measures after media use. A significant univariate difference was found for high- vs. low-arousing contents in general (independent of type of media), the high-arousing content leading to poorer ability to concentrate after media use. The expected mediating and moderating effects are not supported. The study yields evidence that short-term mechanisms might play a role in explaining the negative correlations between media use and cognitive performance.

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Enhancement of Visual Perception under Conditions of Short-Term Exposure to Sensory Isolation: A Comparison of Procedures for Altering Vigilance

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1988.67.1.243 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 67 (1) ◽

pp. 243-252 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Richard P. Atkinson ◽

Marc M. Sewell

Keyword(s):

Signal Detection ◽

Detection Task ◽

Short Term ◽

Weak Signals ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Posttest Performance ◽

Short Term Exposure ◽

Isolation Condition ◽

Signal Detection Task ◽

Sensory Isolation

An experiment was conducted to determine the pre- and posttest performance of subjects on a signal-detection task for the following three experimental conditions: sensory isolation, sensory alertness, and sensory relaxation. All subjects were assessed on 36 pretest and 36 posttest trials. Each block of 36 trials consisted of 12 “strong signals,” 12 “weak signals,” and 12 “no signals.” Exposure durations for each experimental condition lasted for one hour. Analyses showed significant improvements in hits from the pretest trials to the posttest trials on the “strong” and “weak signals” for the sensory isolation condition. Moreover, on the posttest “weak signal” trials, subjects in the sensory isolation condition scored a significantly greater number of hits than did those in the sensory alertness or sensory relaxation conditions. It was concluded that sensory isolation produces perceptual enhancement, as measured by a signal-detection task.

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Effects of Short-Term Sensory Isolation upon Stereoscopic Size and Distance

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1971.32.2.571 ◽

1971 ◽

Vol 32 (2) ◽

pp. 571-577

Author(s):

R. B. Lawson ◽

W. F. Frey

Keyword(s):

Angular Size ◽

Short Term ◽

Sensory Isolation ◽

Size Data

6 sensory isolated Os and 6 yoked control Os estimated stereoscopic size and distance of disparate squares of constant angular size. Data indicate that short-term sensory isolation did not affect stereoscopic size-distance relationships, whereas stereoscopic size and distance varied directly with the magnitude and direction of the disparity carried by the target.

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Personality and Response To Repeated Visual Stimulation in Migraine and Tension-Type Headaches

Cephalalgia ◽

10.1046/j.1468-2982.1999.019008718.x ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 19 (8) ◽

pp. 718-724 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

W Wang ◽

G-P Wang ◽

X-L Ding ◽

Y-H Wang

Keyword(s):

Sensation Seeking ◽

Visual Stimulation ◽

Tension Type Headache ◽

Short Term ◽

Short Period ◽

Type Headache ◽

High Level ◽

Tension Type Headaches ◽

The Brain

Migraine sufferers potentiate their visual evoked potentials (VEPs) from a short period of 2 min to a longer period of 15 min. As a lack of habituation is linked to higher level arousal, we thus hypothesized that short-term VEP potentiation might be correlated with an arousal-related personality trait. We therefore carried out short-term VEPs, Plutchik-van Praag's Depression Inventory, Zuckerman's Sensation-Seeking Scales (Form V), and Zuckerman-Kuhlman's Personality Questionnaire in 26 healthy subjects, 22 patients suffering from migraine without aura between attacks, 13 episodic and 20 chronic tension-type headaches. The chronic tension-type headache sufferers showed increased depression compared with other groups, which might be a consequence of the headache itself. Migraines, however, showed steeper habituation slopes of N1-P1 and P1-N2, decreased thrill and adventure-seeking, and general sensation-seeking man healthy controls; in addition, the habituation slope of P1-N2 was positively correlated with experience-seeking in migraine. The short-term VEP potentiation and the decreased thrill and adventure-seeking and general sensation-seeking in migraine might be related to a high level of cortical arousal and a low 5HT neurotransmission. In compliance with the long-term VEP study, the positive correlation between the P1-N2 habituation slope and experience-seeking in migraine suggests a continuous metabolic overload for the brain interictally, which can trigger the activation of a migraine attack.

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Personality Correlates of Cognitive Disturbances in Short-Term Sensory Isolation

The Journal of General Psychology ◽

10.1080/00221309.1966.9710331 ◽

1966 ◽

Vol 74 (2) ◽

pp. 273-277 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Henry V. Leon ◽

George H. Frank

Keyword(s):

Short Term ◽

Personality Correlates ◽

Cognitive Disturbances ◽

Sensory Isolation

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Conceptual short-term memory (CSTM) supports core claims of Christiansen and Chater

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x15000928 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 39 ◽

Author(s):

Mary C. Potter

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Rapid Serial Visual Presentation ◽

Language Comprehension ◽

Short Term Memory ◽

Visual Presentation ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Short Term ◽

Term Memory ◽

Use Of Knowledge

AbstractRapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of words or pictured scenes provides evidence for a large-capacity conceptual short-term memory (CSTM) that momentarily provides rich associated material from long-term memory, permitting rapid chunking (Potter 1993; 2009; 2012). In perception of scenes as well as language comprehension, we make use of knowledge that briefly exceeds the supposed limits of working memory.

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Ultrastructural Changes of Canine Kidneys During 24-Hour Perfusion on a LI-400 Preservation System

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100065626 ◽

1971 ◽

Vol 29 ◽

pp. 316-317

Author(s):

M. O. Magnusson ◽

D. G. Osborne ◽

T. Shimoji ◽

W. S. Kiser ◽

W. A. Hawk

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Electrolyte Solution ◽

Ultrastructural Changes ◽

Midline Incision ◽

Short Term ◽

Pentobarbital Anesthesia ◽

Pulsatile Perfusion

Short term experimental and clinical preservation of kidneys is presently best accomplished by hypothermic continuous pulsatile perfusion with cryoprecipitated and millipore filtered plasma. This study was undertaken to observe ultrastructural changes occurring during 24-hour preservation using the above mentioned method.A kidney was removed through a midline incision from healthy mongrel dogs under pentobarbital anesthesia. The kidneys were flushed immediately after removal with chilled electrolyte solution and placed on a LI-400 preservation system and perfused at 8-10°C. Serial kidney biopsies were obtained at 0-½-1-2-4-8-16 and 24 hours of preservation. All biopsies were prepared for electron microscopy. At the end of the preservation period the kidneys were autografted.

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