Biomedical subjects

G P Ginsburg

Publications and source records attributed to G P Ginsburg.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Appraisals and impression management opportunities: person and situation influences on cardiovascular reactivity.

This study examined how threat and coping appraisals and impression management opportunities influenced cardiovascular reactivity within a self-presentation context. Participants were videotaped performing a speech that they believed might be evaluated. Participants' physiological responses were recorded 1 week later while: (a) watching their speech, indicating which portions they wished to re-shoot before it was evaluated,;(b) simply watching their speech; or (c) watching an architectural videotape and indicating which portions should be reshot, and also watching their own speech, but without evaluation concerns. Cardiovascular reactivity was influenced by the presence or absence of the impression management opportunity, but more variance in reactivity was explained when participants' threat and coping appraisals were also taken into account. The specific cardiovascular responses pertinent to goal-relevant action within each condition were the only responses related to appraisals. These findings emphasize the importance of considering both the situation and the state of the individual in that situation when attempting to understand social psychological influences on physiological reactivity.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Asking the gatekeepers: a national survey of judges on judging expert evidence in a post-Daubert world.

Drawing on the responses provided by a survey of state court judges (N = 400), empirical evidence is presented with respect to judges' opinions about the Daubert criteria, their utility as decision-making guidelines, the level to which judges understand their scientific meaning, and how they might apply them when evaluating the admissibility of expert evidence. Proportionate stratified random sampling was used to obtain a representative sample of state court judges. Part I of the survey was a structured telephone interview (response rate of 71%) and in Part II, respondents had an option of completing the survey by telephone or receiving a questionnaire in the mail (response rate of 81%). Survey results demonstrate that judges overwhelmingly support the "gatekeeping" role as defined by Daubert, irrespective of the admissibility standard followed in their state. However, many of the judges surveyed lacked the scientific literacy seemingly necessitated by Daubert. Judges had the most difficulty operationalizing falsifiability and error rate, with only 5% of the respondents demonstrating a clear understanding of falsifiability and only 4% demonstrating a clear understanding of error rate. Although there was little consensus about the relative importance of the guidelines, judges attributed more weight to general acceptance as an admissibility criterion. Although most judges agreed that a distinction could be made between "scientific" and "technical or otherwise specialized" knowledge, the ability to apply the Daubert guidelines appeared to have little bearing on whether specific types of expert evidence were designated as "science" or "nonscience." Moreover, judges' "bench philosophy of science" seemed to reflect the rhetoric, rather than the substance, of Daubert. Implications of these results for the evolving relationship between science and law and the ongoing debates about Frye, Daubert, Joiner, and Kumho are discussed.

Attitude↗

PubMed2001

Sociality effects on the production of laughter.

Certain facial displays (typically the human smile) have been found to vary with a situation's sociality. Because the facial display that accompanies laughter is under less voluntary control, it is a stronger test of sociality effects. Participants (N = 162) were videotaped watching a humorous videoclip in 1 of 3 conditions: alone, in a same-sex dyad with a stranger, or in a same-sex dyad with a friend. The frequency and time spent laughing were significantly greater in one or both dyadic conditions than in the alone condition, although no differences existed for self-reported evaluations of the videoclip's funniness or amusement felt. When the self-report measures were controlled for, the dyads of strangers (compared with the alone condition) were associated with the frequency of laughter. Although the results provide further support for sociality effects, the situational demands faced by participants may be a better predictor of facial displays than level of sociality.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Self presentation and cardiovascular reactivity.

This research was concerned with two issues: first, whether cardiovascular response patterns to a social stressor (i.e. self-presentation under evaluative circumstances) differ as a function of one's ability to control the impression one makes on others; second, whether cognitive appraisals are necessary or sufficient for the cardiovascular components of emotional arousal. Forty-two male subjects (Ss), monitored for cardiac impedance and blood pressure, were shown a previously recorded videotape of themselves in which each S verbally described personal aspects about himself. Ss in an Active condition were allowed to mark segments of the tape they wanted to re-shoot before the tape was evaluated by reviewers. Ss in a Passive condition viewed their tape but could not indicate whether to revise it. Control conditions allowed assessment of the activity entailed in tape marking and of evaluation per se. Self-reports of stress, threat, and coping ability regarding the upcoming task were taken. Blood pressure elevations occurred equally in both experimental conditions, but apparently through different underlying mechanisms. The Active condition produced myocardial responses (increased ejection fraction), while the Passive condition produced a vascular response (increased total peripheral resistance). However, while cardiovascular reactivity patterns did differ as a function of the opportunity to control the impression one could make on evaluative others, they did not differ as a function of having appraised the task as a challenge or as a threat. Consideration also is given to the conditions necessary for cognitive appraisal to occur and to influence reactivity.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

T-wave amplitude: relationships to phasic RSA and heart period changes.

T-Wave Amplitude (TWA) has been suggested as an indicator of sympathetic influence on myocardial performance, but critics have argued that TWA is confounded by parasympathetic influence or that it is a non-specific feature of tachycardia. To help clarify the issue, we examined TWA as a function of parasympathetic activity, using cardiac vagal control as measured by high frequency components of heart period variability (respiratory sinus arrhythmia) and of interbeat intervals (IBI), across several stressful tasks. Sixteen male subjects were exposed to Valsalva, Serial Subtraction and Cold-Pressor tasks. After controlling for between-person variance, it was found that RSA did not contribute to TWA and that IBI contributed dependably to TWA only during the Valsalva maneuver, when heart rate was driven very high. In light of these results, we recommend that TWA continue to be considered a candidate indicator of sympathetic influence on myocardial performance, although caution should be used if heart rate is dramatically elevated.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

The globalization of behavioral science evidence about battered women: a theory of production and diffusion.

A theoretical framework is proposed for understanding how the innovative use of behavioral science evidence is both produced and diffused among members of the global legal community. Using case law analyses and interviews with key individuals involved in selected cases, we examine how battered woman syndrome (BWS) is produced and diffused between and among Australia, Canada, England, and the United States. The following diffusion mechanisms are proposed: (1) The availability and accessibility of credible dissemination sources; (2) characteristics of the overall practice environment operating in each legal culture; (3) the attitudes and knowledge of attorneys and judges about the use of scientific evidence; (4) political and social support for the use of the evidence in the legal culture; and (5) the level of structural equivalence, communication, and "neighbor effects" between and among legal cultures. Each mechanism is discussed and supplemented with information from interviews with individuals involved in key cases involving BWS evidence.

Australia↗

PubMed1988