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Biomedical subjects

J Hinchy

Publications and source records attributed to J Hinchy.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

The reasoning behind decisions not to take up antiretroviral therapy in Australians infected with HIV.

A substantial minority of HIV-infected Australians are not taking antiretroviral drugs. This study investigated the reasons behind their decision not to do so. Anyone who was HIV-infected but not taking antiretroviral drugs could participate. A self-administered, anonymous questionnaire was used, the principal recruitment method being through insertion of the questionnaire into gay community newspapers in Sydney and Melbourne. All respondents were asked questions covering demographics, previous AIDS-defining illnesses, T-cell and viral load monitoring, and previous use of antiretroviral drugs. In addition, respondents who had considered going on antiretroviral treatment, but then decided not to do so, were given a list of possible reasons for their decision and asked to indicate how much each played a role in their thinking. Of the 270 respondents, the great majority were gay men. One-eighth had experienced AIDS-defining illnesses. Two-thirds had recently had T-cell and viral load tests. One-third had taken antiretroviral drugs previously. Over two-thirds had considered antiretroviral therapy, most having given the matter quite some thought. Reasons for not taking up therapy did not differ greatly at different stages of HIV disease. The most common individual reason was fear of side effects. Important themes that emerged from factor analysis of the reasons data included distrust of conventional medical approaches to treatment, practical problems associated with taking antiretroviral drugs, unpleasant thoughts that being on therapy would evoke, and acceptance of the idea of dying. The findings can be used by doctors and counsellors to help patients clarify and evaluate their concerns about antiretroviral therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Gay men's stereotypes about who is HIV infected: a further study.

Gay men's stereotypes about who is HIV-infected were investigated. Young uninfected (n=62), older uninfected (n=61), and infected (n=65) gay men read brief descriptions of men they did not know and estimated the likelihood that they were infected. Each description highlighted one characteristic of the man described. There were 3 versions of each sketch; the versions highlighting preferred sexual practice, for example, described the man as either preferring insertive anal intercourse, preferring receptive anal intercourse, or liking both equally. Results were largely the same for the 3 sample groups. For 6 of the 9 characteristics investigated--preferred haunts, preferred sexual practice, dress code, access to gay venues, occupation, and sexual orientation--significantly different estimates were given for the different versions. Results are discussed in relation to how AIDS education might counter the use by gay men of stereotypes to infer whether a given sex partner is infected. It is suggested that these stereotypes are likely to be present 'on line' (during actual sexual encounters), rather than 'off line' (in the cold light of day), thereby complicating the task of AIDS educators.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Blocking in human electrodermal conditioning.

Associative blocking in human conditioning was investigated using electrodermal and self-reported US expectancy measures. Previous null results using a design reported by Lovibond, Siddle, and Bond (1988) suggested that a clearly demarcated phase structure and visual cues with semantic content may have distracted attention from the experimental contingencies. Therefore the current experiment intermixed pre-training and compound training trials and masked the transition to the test phase to remove or reduce phase boundaries. Simple coloured squares were used as CSs to reduce semantic content. A significant blocking effect was observed on both the expectancy measure and on the electrodermal measure. Both results were due to improved transfer of conditioning to the target CS in the overshadowing control group in comparison to previous experiments. The results were interpreted as providing evidence that previous null results were due to failure of transfer of learning across clearly distinct phases. There was no evidence of a dissociation between the electrodermal and self-report measures. Theoretical and procedural implications for human Pavlovian conditioning are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

On the determinants of persistent gambling behaviour. I. High-frequency poker machine players.

Persistent gambling was studied as a function of the reinforcement of arousal and winning during normal poker machine playing sessions. Play rate, heart rate, winnings, subjective excitement and expectations of winning were recorded for five male and five female high-frequency players. Autoregressive regression analysis indicated that wins affect play rate for up to three minutes, while effects of the other variables were inconsistent. Markov chain analysis confirmed that wins smaller than 50 credits tend to elevate play rate, while larger wins cause a breakdown in the otherwise very regular rate of play. Results are discussed in relation to the development of impaired control of gambling behaviour.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

On the determinants of persistent gambling. III. Personality, prior mood, and poker machine play.

Sixty-four poker machine players were observed in the ecologically valid setting of their social club while completing a session of play. Subjects were assessed by interview, the Profile of Mood States, and personality measures. Personality scores did not predict level of involvement in gambling, session duration, or persistence when losing. High-frequency players were generally more predictable than other players, with over 70% of the variance of session duration accounted for by predictor variables. Also for this group of players, persistence when losing was significantly accounted for by prior mood and cognitions concerning win size.

Adult↗