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Biomedical subjects

G T Wilson

Publications and source records attributed to G T Wilson.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

The effect of alcohol on self-evaluation and perception of negative interpersonal feedback.

Recent theories of alcohol use and misuse assume that alcohol alters cognitive-perceptual mediating processes that indirectly reduce emotional distress. One view is that alcohol enhances perceptions of control and power. Alternatively, it has been suggested that alcohol is used to reduce self-awareness, perceptions of negative feedback and negative self-evaluations. The purpose of this study was to test these two hypotheses. Forty men, all college students, participated in the study and were randomly assigned to the four conditions in a 2 X 2 balanced placebo design. Subjects interacted with a woman confederate at two points in the procedure: first under positive feedback conditions and then, after beverage consumption, under negative feedback conditions. Both sequences were videotaped and eventually viewed by the subjects. Before and after each interaction period and after the videotape procedure, subjects completed rating forms which assessed their self-perceptions. Whereas perceptions of control and power were diminished when subjects were sober, the ratings of intoxicated subjects remained stable after they received negative interpersonal feedback. Alcohol impaired the perception of negative feedback and reduced negative evaluations of the videotaped sequences.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Alcohol, selective attention and sexual arousal in men.

Thirty-two men social drinkers were randomly assigned to the cells of a balanced placebo design to investigate the effects of expected and actual alcohol consumption on sexual responsiveness. Using a dichotic listening task, erotic and nonerotic information was presented in the nonattended channel while subjects performed simple (low-attention demand) and complex (high-attention demand) numerical tasks presented in the attended channel. Penile tumescence was recorded continuously in response to all audiotaped information. The high-attention demand task significantly interfered with sexual arousal compared with the low-attention demand task, primarily because of the significant suppressant effect of alcohol on arousal during the complex task. The lack of differences in tumescence under the two cognitive tasks when subjects were sober is inconsistent with the cognitive interference model of sexual arousal. Alcohol expectations increased arousal during the low-attention demand task, whereas actual alcohol consumption decreased arousal only during the high-attention demand task. Both effects are attributed to the different effects of these separate variables on attentional processes. The clinical implications are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Alcohol's effects on self-awareness.

The results of two studies were reanalyzed to examine the effect of alcohol and expectations about intoxication on measures of self-awareness. The first study evaluated alcohol's effects on perception of negative interpersonal feedback and self-evaluation; the second analyzed alcohol's impact on the interaction of couples in which one of the spouses was an alcoholic. In neither study did intoxication result in decreased use of self-focused statements or first person pronouns as predicted by Hull's self-awareness model of alcohol consumption.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Alcohol and the disinhibition of sexual responsiveness.

In a balanced placebo design, in which the joint and separate effects of alcohol and expectation of intoxication were investigated, 22 men undergraduate students who were social drinkers listened to an erotic audiotape while penile tumescence was continuously recorded. The intoxicated subjects showed significantly shorter latency to onset of tumescence and to peak level of tumescence than did their sober counterparts. In contrast to previous research, no effect of expectations about drinking was obtained in this study. The findings are interpreted as indicating a specific effect of alcohol in impairing men's ability to inhibit sexual responsiveness. It appears that the sexual response threshold is lowered but that, once the process of arousal begins, tumescence reaches an average level that is unaffected by a small amount of alcohol.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Alcohol, sexual arousal, and self-control.

The effects of alcohol on self-regulation were investigated using delay of gratification for viewing time for an erotic film as the primary dependent measure. Other measures included reflection--impulsivity, locus of control, sexual-guilt scores, and continuous recording of subject's penile tumescence. Using a balanced placebo design, subjects were led to believe that they had consumed an alcoholic or a nonalcoholic beverage, and half of each of these two groups received either alcohol or tonic water. In addition, the effects of three doses of alcohol (placebo, low dose, high dose) were investigated. Instructional set, regardless of drink content, resulted in longer delay times and increased thoughts with sexual content. Although there was no significant relation between increasing dose of alcohol and delay time, there was an interaction between locus-of-control scores and alcohol dose. Externalizers showed an inverse linear relation between increasing dose of alcohol and delay time. Internalizers showed the opposite trend. Implications for the self-regulation of sexual behavior under the influence of alcohol are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Effects of tolerance on the anxiety-reducing function of alcohol.

Thirty-two male social drinkers were arranged into two tolerance groups, based on changes in standing stability after ingestion of alcohol. Subjects consumed either a large (1.0 g/kg) or small (0.5 g/kg) dose of alcohol. On finishing their drinks, subjects were requested to interact with a female confederate whose continued silence induced anxiety. Heart rate, skin conductance, overt behavior, and self-report measures were taken. Heart rate increased more at the small than the large dose, consistent with the tension-reduction hypothesis. Further, heart rate of high-tolerance subjects increased significantly more than that of low-tolerance subjects, which suggests that alcohol was less effective at tension reduction for the high-tolerance group. Finally, measures of both skin conductance and heart rate showed significant dose-by-tolerance interactions. High-tolerance subjects were more aroused than were low-tolerance subjects at the small but not at the large dose, suggesting that high-tolerance subjects must consume more alcohol to achieve the same autonomic effect experienced by the low-tolerance subjects.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

An evaluation of behavioral therapy in obesity.

The efficacy of behavioral therapy is reviewed. It is suggested that studies so far have concentrated on analysing the weight loss results to the detriment of examining the nature of changes effected in behavior. The need for more research into ways of strengthening patient compliance and into better maintenance strategies is emphasized.

Behavior Therapy↗