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This is to certify that the

thesis entitled
Hemispheric Activation as Measured by
Conjugate Lateral Eye Movements: The
Relationship Between Anxiety and
Some Personality Variables

To Eye Movement Direction
presented by

Melvin Berg

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Doctor of Philosophy degree in Psychology

 

 

 

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HEMISPHERIC ACTIVATION AS MEASURED BY
CONJUGATE LATERAL EYE MOVEMENTS:
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANXIETY AND
SOME PERSONALITY VARIABLES TO EYE MOVEMENT DIRECTION

By

Melvin Berg

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Department of Psychology

I977

ABSTRACT
HEMISPHERIC ACTIVATION AS MEASURED BY
CONJUGATE LATERAL EYE MOVEMENTS:

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANXIETY AND
SOME PERSONALITY VARIABLES T0 EYE MOVEMENT DIRECTION

By

Melvin Berg

The specialization of the left and right cerebral hemiSpheres
for language and spatial processing, respectively, has been found to
be reflected by conjugate lateral eye movements in subjects who are
asked questions. The first eye movement following presentation of verbal
problems tends to be to the right. Following spatial problems the first
eye movement tends to be to the left. Theory suggests that during prob-
len solving, activation of a cerebral hemisphere affects the frontal
eye fields, stimulating eye movement to the contralateral direction.
These results have been reported when the experimenter sits behind
the subject (grbehind1§). When the experimenter faces the subject
(Effacing-§), the results are different. Now, subjects tend to look con-
sistently in one lateral direction. The suggested explanation is that
individual subjects, irrespective of question type, use a preferred hemi-
sphere and that these preferences are manifested as eye movements in the
contralateral direction. Furthermore, an individual's personality is
characterized by personality traits reflecting the functional attributes

of that preferred hemisphere. For instance, right lookers demonstrate

 

 

 

greater verbal than mathematical aptitude and display an analytical
approach to problems.

One suggested resolution of the discrepant results of these two
paradigms emphasizes the effects of the experimenter's location on the
subject. When the experimenter sits behind the subject, the subject is
able to use the appropriate cognitive mode as indicated by the direction 3
of eye movements. However, when the experimenter faces the subject, the
subject, made anxious by the interpersonal situation, falls back upon
the use of a characteristic cognitive mode, mediated by either the left
or the right hemisphere. Consequently, subjects tend to look consistent-
ly in one direction. Hypothesis I: The directional consistency of eye A
movements is a function of anxiety, irrespective of the type of problem
being solved. Hypothesis II: Anxiety is related to experimenter location.

Ego strength, defined as the capacity to maintain adaptive func-
tioning under stress, appears to be related to the capacity to use the
appropriate cognitive mode under stress. Hypothesis III: The capacity
to use the appropriate cognitive mode in problem solving is associated
with ego strength.

The personality traits attributed to left movers are considered
stereotypically feminine. Hypothesis IV: Left movers describe them-
selves with more feminine sex stereotyped terms than right movers.

Forty-eight male, right-handed subjects were asked verbal and
spatial questions in three conditions -- Erbehind-§, §:facing-§, and
stress. The stress condition consisted of an §:behind-§_arrangement
during which the subject was urged to improve his performance, in order

to arouse his anxiety.

 

Contrary to expectations, it was found that verbal problems were
followed by eye movements predominantly to the left while spatial items
were followed predominantly by eye movements to the right. Spatial
problems, furthermore, more frequently elicited staring than verbal
problems.

Hypothesis I was not confirmed, since the stress condition did not
influence eye movements.

Hypothesis II was not confirmed: Equivalent degrees of anxiety
were reported in all conditions.

Hypothesis III received partial confirmation: In the stress
condition, ego strength was very modestly correlated to use of the
appropriate cognitive mode.

Hypothesis IV was not confirmed: Feminine identification was
not associated with a preference fOr left looking.

The finding that spatial problems elicit stares more frequently
than verbal problems agrees with previous research. The finding that
verbal problems are followed by eye movements to the left and spatial
problems by eye movements to the right is incompatible with previous

research.

For my parents, friends, and
teachers who have helped
along the way.

 

ii

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Looking back over the course of my graduate education and the
development of this research project I am thankful to the mentors,
supervisors, and friends who helped guide me in my growth as a
psychologist, clinician, and person. I would like to warmly thank
Dr. Joseph Reyher, Co-chairman of my dissertation committee, for
sharing his enthusiasm for the science and practice of clinical psychol-
ogy, and for his continuous support and steadfast friendship. I am
grateful to Dr. Lauren Harris, Co-chairman of my dissertation committee,
for his profound commitment to this project, his scientific acumen,
and his delightful sense of humor. I owe thanks to Dr. Albert I.

Rabin for his participation on my committee as well as for years of
guidance, sensible advice, and solid teaching which expanded my horizons
as a psychologist. I am grateful to Dr. Terrence Allen for his partici-
pation on my committee, his statistical expertise, and his suggestions
about all aspects of this research. I thank my research assistants,
Mark Allen, Dale Buccilli, Paul Koch, Fran Levine, and Sharon Williams,
for their generous commitment of time and energy. Finally, I thank Eric
Olson for his help in writing the questions used in this study and for

his help in administering the pre-test.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE
LIST OF TABLES ........................ v
LIST OF FIGURES ....................... vi
INTRODUCTION ......................... 1
METHOD ............................ ll
RESULTS ............................ 21
DISCUSSION .......................... 39
LIST OF REFERENCES ...................... 50
APPENDIX
A. TEST FORMS ...................... 58
QUESTIONNAIRE ON HAND PREFERENCE ........... 70
C. BARRON EGO STRENGTH SCALE ............... 73
D. BEM SEX ROLE INVENTORY ................ 77
E. THE DEBRIEFING .................... 79

iv

TABLES

l.

10.

ll.

LIST OF TABLES

Mean Percentage of First Eye Movements to the Right
Made by Subjects on Verbal and Spatial Items in
the Three Conditions .................

Analysis of Variance for Mean Percentage of First Eye
Movements to the Right Made by Subjects, on Verbal
and Spatial Items in Three Conditions ........

Mean Percentage of Duration of Right Looking by
Subjects, on Verbal and Spatial Items, in the Three
Conditions . . . . . . ........ . .......

Analysis of Variance for Mean Percentage of Duration of
Right Looking by Subjects, on Verbal and Spatial
Items, in the Three Conditions ............

Mean Anxiety Reported by Subjects in the Three
Conditions . . ....................

Analysis of Variance for Mean Anxiety Reported by
Subjects in the Three Conditions ...........

Mean Percentage of Verbal and Spatial Items on Which
Subjects Made No Eye Movements, for the Three
Conditions ......................

Analysis of Variance for Mean Percentage of Verbal and
Spatial Items on Which Subjects Made No Eye Movements,
For the Three Conditions ...............

Analysis of Variance for Mean Percentage of Verbal and
Spatial Items on Which Subjects Made No Eye Movements
For the E88 and EFS Conditions ............

Analysis of Variance for Mean Percentage of Verbal and
Spatial Items on Which Subjects Made No Eye Movements,
For EFS and Stress Conditions ............

Analysis of Variance for Mean Percentage of Verbal and
Spatial Items on Which Subjects Made No Eye Movements,
For E85 and Stress Conditions ............

V

PAGE

23

24

26

27

29

3O

32

33

35

36

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE PAGE

l. The Mean Percentage of Items on Which Subjects
Made No Eye Movements in the E85 and EFS
Conditions, for Order I: EBS Followed by
EFS and Order II: EFS Followed by EBS ......... 38

vi

INTRODUCTION

In right-handed individuals, the left cerebral hemisphere serves
verbal, analytic functions and the right henisphere serves spatial
synthetic functions (Sperry, Gazzaniga and Bogen, 1969). In many left-
handed individuals, the functional specialization of the cerebral hemi-
spheres is less clearly lateralized (Hecaen and de Ajuriaguerra, 1964),
and this also appears to be the case for females (Kimura, 1973).
Knowledge about the functional specialization of the hemispheres was
first established through the study of cognitive deficit in individuals
suffering from unilateral cerebral damage (Broca, 1861; Wernicke, 1874;
Reitan, 1955; Teuber, 1962; Milner, 1965, Corkin, 1965). The relation-
ship between cognitive modes and the cerebral hemiSpheres also has been
confirmed by research employing a variety of techniques on normal indi-
viduals: dichotic listening (Kimura, 1967); average evoked responses
(Buchsbaum, 1969): tachistoscopic viewing (Kimura, 1963).

Recently another technique, developed by Kinsbourne (1972), has
served to corroborate these earlier findings about the functional Special—
ization of the cerebral hemispheres. This technique involves the moni-

toring Of conjugate lateral eye movements.

Conjugate Lateral Eye Movements as an Indicator of Hemispheric Activation
Kinsbourne (1972) found that when the experimenter, seated behind

the subject, presented verbal, spatial and numerical problems, the

subject's lateral direction of eye movement, after question presentation,
discriminated between the types of questions. Right-handed subjects
tended to make eye movements to the right in response to verbal questions,
and eye movements to the left in response to spatial questions, and no
consistent directional pattern was found for numerical questions.
Kinsbourne (1973) theorized that the frontal eye fields of each
cerebral hemisphere control the direction of eye movements toward the
contralateral direction. Extensive comparative studies of humans and

lower primates have verified that the frontal eye fields mediate eye

 

movements in the direction contralateral to the activated hemisphere
(Crosby, 1953).

Kinsbourne (1973) calls the cerebrum a "highly linked, integrated
system with close interconnections," so that neural activation in an area
of the cerebrum associated with thought processes, “overflows" into the
frontal eye fields stimulating eye movement in the contralateral
direction. Thus, as Kinsbourne's (1972) results bear out, concentration
on verbal problems, mediated by the left henisphere, triggers eye move-
ment to the right, and concentration on spatial problems, mediated by the
right hemisphere, triggers eye movement to the left. The preponderance
of stares, found after presentation of numerical problems, Kinsbourne
attributed to the equal activation of both hemispheres required for the
solution of these problens.

In left-handed individuals, Kinsbourne (1972) did not find a rela- ;
tionship between problen type and eye movement direction, a result con—
sistent with the known heterogeneous distribution of cerebral functions

in sinistrals (Hecean and de Ajuriaguerra, 1967). These different

findings in sinistrals and dextrals provide support for the construct
validity of conjugate lateral eye movements as an indicator of hemi-
sphere activation. Unfortunately, Kinsbourne did not take sex of subject
into account in his analysis. It is expected that females would show a
lack of consistency in eye movement patterns like that found in sin-
istrals, due to the less completely lateralized cerebral organization

in females (Kimura, 1973).

Studies similar to Kinsbourne‘s (1972) have provided supporting
evidence for his theory. Kocel, Galin, Ornstein, & Merrin (1972) found
that a combined group of verbal and numerical problems elicited more
eye movements to the right than did a group of spatial and musical
questions. Likewise, Weiten & Etaugh (1974) Showed that eye movement to
the right is more likely in response to numerical questions than to music
identification problens. Further convergent evidence is provided by
Galin & Ornstein (1974), whose subjects made more eye movements to the
right on verbal questions than on spatial questions. Galin & Ornstein
also found more stares on spatial questions, which they attributed to
the bilateral activation of the henispheres required when a spatial prob-
lem is verbally presented, as was the procedure in their as well as in
other studies.

Ehrlichman, Weiner, & Baker (1974) performed a series of studies
closely modeled upon those of Kinsbourne (1972) and Kocel et a1. (1972)
and found a consistent though nonsignificant trend for eye movements to
the right to occur after the presentation of spatial questions. These
findings are inconsistent with Kinsbourne's (1973) theory relating

problem type and eye movement direction to the known functional

specialization of the cerebral hemispheres. Ehrlichnan et a1. (1974)
gave no theoretical explanation of their findings.

Consistent with Galin & Ornstein's data, Ehrlichman et al. (1974)
found significantly more stares following spatial questions than after
verbal questions. The replication of these findings provides some sup-
port for Kinsbourne's (1973) theory. This mixture of confirming and
disconfirming findings indicates that the use of lateral eye movements
as an index of hemispheric activation needs further investigation. The

phenomenon may be sensitive, easily influenced by as yet unidentified

 

variables.

Conjugate Lateral Eye Movements as a Correlate of Personality Variables

Another line of research on conjugate lateral eye movement has
used a different experimental paradigm, in which the experimenter and
subject are seated facing each other. The results of these studies are
different from the studies reviewed above in which the experimenter sits
behind the subject. In the course of doing psychotherapy, Teitlebaum
(1954) noticed that his patients characteristically looked in one
direction, either left or right while they reflected on a problem. In
formal investigations, Day (1964a, 1967a, 1967b) confirmed that in
response to problems, people demonstrate consistent eye movement patterns
either to the left or the right. The reliability of this individual con-
sistency in the directional preference of eye movement has been
established (Duke, 1968; Etaugh & Rose, 1973).

Day (1967a) also found that right movers appeared to have an

external locus of attention, are alert and reactive to the external,

visually perceived environment, and identify anxiety as emanating

from external events. For example, the right looker might report “It
was a dull place, so I went for a walk." Left lookers appeared to have
an internal locus of attention, to rely upon subjective experience, and
to locate anxiety as emanating from internal, subjective events. For
example, the left looker might report, "I was anxious and troubled by
disturbing thoughts and feelings and I left hoping to get distracted."
Gerdes & Kinsbourne (1974) have provided supporting evidence that right

movers describe anxiety states with reference to external cues and

 

events.

In a series of studies, Bakan (1969) showed that left movers are
more hypnotizable, more often major in the humanities, have clearer
visual imagery, and score higher on the verbal than on the quantitative
section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). In contrast, right movers
were more likely to score higher on the quantitative section of the SAT,
prefer to major in the physical sciences, and have less clear visual
imagery.

The comparison of left movers and right movers with regard to
attention has been studied from several perspectives with convergent
results. Bakan & Shotland (1969) found that right movers readfaster and .
demonstrate superior ability to maintain visual attention. The greater
reliance upon external attention in right movers was supported by their
production of a lower percentage of Alpha on EEG recordings than left
movers (Bakan & Svorad, 1969). Employing two-self report measures of ;
inner attentiveness and daydreaming, Meskin & Singer (1974) reported

that left lookers are more attentive to subjective experience. Our &

Reyher (1973) showed that left movers score higher on a hypnotic suscep-
tibility scale emphasizing inner experience, while right movers score
higher on a scale emphasizing external experience.

Bakan (1969) speculated that the consistency of eye movement is
"symptomatic" of easier triggering in the henisphere contralateral to
eye movement. Thus, the personality of the right mover is more likely
to reflect the style and dominant cognitive operations of the left heni-
sphere, whereas the personality of the left looker reflects the style

and dominant cognitive operations of the right henisphere as: prelogical,

 

intuitive, subjective, emotional, global, synthetic, diffuse, and best
suited for spatial problems. He characterizes the functioning of the
left hemisphere as: objective, analytical, rational, and best suited
for verbal problems. The greater reliance upon or easier "triggering"
of one of the hemiSpheres results in a variety of individual personality
characteristics related to the mode of cognitive functioning mediated by

that particular hemisphere.

The Relevance of Experimenter Location in Research on Lateral Eye Movement
TWO apparently inconsistent lines of research regarding lateral
eye movements emerge. The studies baSed upon the experimenter-behind-
subject paradigm generally show that the direction of eye movement is a
function of the type of question presented (Kinsbourne, 1972: Kocel, Galin,
Ornstein, & Merrin, 1972: Galin & Ornstein, 1974), whereas the research
using the experimenter-facing-subject paradigm shows that individuals con-
sistently look in one direction and that this tendency is associated

with a cluster of internally consistent personality characteristics (Day,

1964, 1967a, 1967b; Gerdes & Kinsbourne, 1974; Bakan & Svorad, 1969;
Meskin & Singer, 1974: Gur & Reyher, 1973).

R. E. Gur (1973) attempted to clarify the inconsistency between
these two lines of research by using both procedures, the experimenter-
behind-subject and the experimenter-facing-subject paradigms on the same
group of subjects. She confirmed both the findings of Bakan (1969) and
Kinsbourne (1972), suggesting that experimenter location was the critical
difference between their procedures. She proposed that when the experi- 5
menter faces the subject, the subject is made anxious and is distracted
from the nature of the task. The subject then falls back upon the use
of a particular cognitive mode, mediated by one of the cerebral hemi-
spheres. She suggested that anxiety is generated by the face-to-face
interpersonal situation which poses a threat to self-esteem. Jourard and
Friedman (1970) found that subjects disclose more about themselves when
the experimenter is absent than when facing the subject. Subjects feel
observed in interviews and are made anxious by the possibility of receiv;
ing responses threatening to their self-esteem (Argyle, 1969). The
determination whether arousal of anxiety is the crucial variable under-
lying experimenter location will be explored in this study. The follow-
ing hypotheses will be tested:

Hypothesis I: The directional consistency of eye movements is a
function of anxiety, irrespective of the type of problem being solved.

Hypothesis II: Anxiety is a function of experimenter location.

 

The Examination of Further Personality Characteristics Associated with
Directional Preference of Lateral Eye Movement: Ego Strength and Sex
Role Identification

Ego Strength. Use of the appropriate mode of cognitive function-
ing, or the hemisphere best suited to a particular problem, while the
individual is under stress, is adaptive, for it should permit optimal
problem solving performance. It is expected that the trait of ego
strength is reflected in a tendency to use the appropriate hemisphere
while under stress.

Ego strength is defined by Fenichel (1945) as the capacity to
maintain objective perception and to resist the disturbing influence of
affect upon intellectual operations and judgment. In his definition of
ego strength, Lazarus (1966) emphasizes the capacity to withstand stress
and maintain adaptive forms of coping, so that the appropriate modes of
thought are used to suit the demands of the situation. Freedom from the
disturbing influence of stress upon adaptive functioning appears to be
the common element emphasized by other investigators of ego strength
(Ehrenwald, 1966; Karush, Easser, Cooper, & Swerdloff, 1966). In fact,
the largest categories of items on the Barron Ego Strength Scale (1953)
refer to physiological stability and freedom from disturbance by anxiety.
By virtue of the high frequency of its use, the Barron Scale has come
to define the trait of ego strength in the empirical literature.

Research has consistently Shown that ego strength is assOciated
with physiological stability and the ability to cope with stress
(Alexander, Roessler, & Greenfield, 1963; Greenfield, Alexander, &

Roessler, 1963). Thus theoretical conceptualization and empirical

 

studies suggest that a major component of ego strength is the capacity

to cope with stress. It is expected that ego strength is associated with
the capacity to use the apprOpriate hemisphere (left hemisphere for
verbal problems and the right henisphere for spatial problems) as
indicated by the direction of lateral eye movement during problem
solving.

Hypothesis III: The capacity to use the appropriate cognitive
mode, in problem solving, as indexed by the direction of eye movement, is
associated with ego strength.

Identity. The various personality characteristics associated
with left movers and the cognitive style attributed to the right hemi-
sphere appear to have a stereotypic feminine connotation: hypnotizability,
preference for the humanities, higher verbal ability than quantitative
ability, and an intuitive, subjective approach to problems. Those
traits associated with right lookers and the left henisphere appear to
have a stereotypic masculine connotation: preference for the physical
sciences, higher quantitative ability than verbal ability, and an objec-
tive, analytical approach to problems. Several studies (Fernberger,
1948: Jarrett & Sheriffs, 1953: Rosenkrantz, Bee, & Vogel, 1968) have
found that male and female subjects stereotype females as: emotional,
sensitive to inner experience, subjective, intuitive, interested in the
humanities. Males were stereotyped as: objective, relatively unemotion-
al, preferring the physical sciences, and analytical. In line with
these stereotypic patterns, Lopiccolo & Blatt (1972) demonstrated that

males with relatively prominent features of feminine identification have

 

10

a preference for an intuitive, stereotypic feminine cognitive style.
Whether the association of feminine identification and the preference
for a stereotypic feminine cognitive style is a result of feminine iden-
tification arising from a natural ability in stereotypic feminine
interest areas or whether a feminine identification fosters the adop-
tion and development of stereotypical feminine interests and modes of
thought is unknown. Nevertheless, it is expected that, on the basis of
the relationship between identity and cognitive style found by

Lopiccolo & Blatt (1972), males who are left movers should describe

 

themselves with more feminine terms than right movers. It is assumed
that attribution of adjectives generally thought of as descriptive of
a particular sex indicates identification with that sex.

Hypothesis IV: Left movers describe themselves in relatively

more feminine sex stereotyped tenms than right movers.

METHOD

Subjects

Forty-eight right-handed males were drawn from introductory
psychology classes at Michigan State University. It was decided to
use only male subjects since the functional specialization of the

cerebral hemispheres appears to be more clearly lateralized for males

 

than females (Kimura, 1973). A 20-item questionnaire (Humphrey, 1951)
measuring hand usage in everyday tasks was administered, so as to

select subjects with right hand dominance (use of the right hand in

18 of the 20 everyday tasks, including writing and throwing a ball).

The use of subjects with right hand dominance increases the probability 1

of left cerebral henisphere dominance for speech.

Materials

Development and selection of items. An initial item pool con-
sisting of 72 verbal and 72 spatial questions was developed. These prob-
lems were written in an attempt to develop verbal items that require
a minimum of imagery for solution, and spatial items that necessitate
the use of imagery for solution. The verbal questions consisted Of 24
of each sub-type: word analogies, finding synonyms, and finding a word
to match a definition. The spatial items consisted of questions requir-
ing the description of spatial relationships between familiar objects,
the imagined physical transformation of familiar objects, the description
of geographic areas on a map, and the description of familiar locales.

ll

12

Three pretest forms were developed by the random assignment
of eight verbal and eight spatial items from each of the three subtypes.
Each form consisted of 48 itens, 24 spatial, and 24 verbal items. On
each form a verbal and a spatial item were paired, forming a block,
and within each block the order of the itens was randomized. The pre-
test subjects were 58 men and 40 women drawn from introductory psychol-
ogy classes. They were instructed to answer each item and rate each on
a five point scale for the amount of imagery used in the solution of

the problem. The mean imagery rating was determined for each item. 0n

 

the basis of these ratings, the 60 verbal questions with the lowest
imagery ratings and the spatial questions with the highest imagery ratings
were selected for use in the experiment. Itens were selected on the basis
of the ratings by the males, but when items had identical ratings, the
ratings by the females were used instead to determine the superior item.
Selection of spatial items with the highest mean imagery ratings was
presumed to maximize the likelihood that subjects would use a wholistic
and synthetic cognitive mode most characteristic of the right hemisphere.
Conversely, using verbal items with the lowest mean imagery ratings was
presumed to maximize the likelihood that subjects would use an analytical
cognitive mode most characteristic of the left hemisphere.

The 120 test questions selected were assigned to one of six equi-
valent forms, each consisting of 20 items, in the following manner. Ten
items from the verbal and spatial_categories were randomly assigned to
each form of the test. On each form, a verbal and a spatial item were
paired, and within each pair the order of the questions was randomized.

(These forms appear in Appendix A.) During each of the three

13

experimental sessions, two forms were administered. The forms were
presented in an order counterbalanced across subjects.

Apparatus. Subjects were tested in a 15 x 9 foot (4.52 x 3.04 m)
room whose walls were covered with black cloth to assure a homogeneous
visual field. The subjects sat in a reclining lounge chair with a high
backrest. Two 6 x 6 x 3 in. (15.24 x 15.24 x 7.62 cm) foam pads were
attached to the backrest of the lounger at head level to keep the subject's
head in a steady, forward position. A video camera was mounted in the

middle of the wall directly facing the subject. The lens of the camera

 

was placed through a 3 x 3 in. (7.62 x 7.62 cm) hole in the cloth.

Eye movements were observed on a television monitor in another
room. A Hewlett Packard digital recorder was used to record the dura-
tion of eye position at midline and movements to the left and the right.
Three pens on the digital recorder were controlled by different switches
for eye movement to the right, midline, and left. These switches were
operated by observers. A fourth pen, used to indicate the beginning and
end of a problem solution period, was controlled by a switch operated by
the experimenter.

The Hand Usage Questionnaire (Humphrey, 1951) was used to assess
handedness. (See Appendix B.)

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, Gorsuch, &
Lushene, 1970) was used as a measure of anxiety.

The Barron Ego Strength Scale (Barron, 1953) was used to test
Hypothesis III: The capacity to use the appropriate hemisphere in
problem solving is associated with ego strength (See Appendix C).

14

The Bem Sex Role Inventory (1974) was used to test Hypothesis IV:
Left movers describe thenselves in relatively more feminine sex stereo-

typed terms (see Appendix D).

Procedure
Subjects participated in three conditions: experimenter-facing-
subject, experimenter-behind-subject, and the interpersonal stress
procedure. Order of the experimenter-facing-subject and experimenter-
behind-subject procedures was counterbalanced. All subjects received
the stress condition last. All the experimenters were men, and those in
the first two conditions were casually dressed undergraduates.
Introduction to the experiment. [Upon being seated in the

experimental room the subject was instructed as follows:

“Have you ever participated in a psychology experiment

before? (The subject is permitted to answer.) In this

research we are studying how people answer questions

under various circumstances. We are also interested in

how actual behavior relates to problem solving and per-

sonality. Thus I will be asking you a series of short

questions. Secondly, I will ask you to fill out, by

yourself, some standard personality questionnaires

which require a very brief response. AS you see, this

is an observation room; however, the windows have been

covered. For the purpose of this study we will be

monitoring your behavior, just through this camera,

but a permanent video recording will not be made.

 

15

We are merely interested in seeing how people

actually do behave when they answer questions.

Please read this consent form, which is a depart—

mental requirement for everybody participating in
research. If you agree to the conditions, please

sign and we will begin."

Orientation to the apparatus. The subject was asked to sit in
the lounge chair and then was further instructed:

"If you have ever worked with a T.V. camera, you know

 

how difficult it is to keep people in focus when they
are moving, so I would like you to rest your head
between the foam pads, which will hold your head

from moving too much. It is your body which we want
to be steady, so you may glance around if you wish.
Since we need to have you within full view of the
camera, I will adjust your chair to the best possible
position. Try to get yourself into a comfortable
position so that the camera can be set."

Administration of the problems. Depending upon the condition, the
experimenter was seated either across the table, directly facing the sub-
ject or in a chair five feet (1.52 m) behind the subject. The subject
was further instructed as follows:

"I am going to read a series of questions to you.
Listen carefully to each question. I will give you
10 seconds to think about the answer after I read

the question. Then I will say 'answer' and I would

16

like you to give me the answer then. You will probably
find some of the questions easy and some more difficult.
If you do not know the answer merely say 'I don't know.'
I will be using this switch in order to keep track of
the questions. Keep your eyes open while answering

and thinking about the questions. Do you have any
questions?"

Upon reading the first word of each question the experimenter
depressed a button, which controlled a pen on the digital recorder,
signifying that a new trial had begun.

Eye movements were scored by one of two trained observers watching
the eye movements on a television monitor. The observer was seated in
an adjacent room. Upon the first word of the question, the observer
began to score by depressing Switches for the duration of movements to
the right, left or no movement at midline. He continued to score eye
movements until the subject gave his response.

After two test forms had been administered, the subject was given
the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, Gorsuch & Lushene,
1970), and the experimenter told the subject:

"Now I would like you to fill out this short ques-
tionnaire. During this period your behavior will

not be monitored.‘ Listen as I read the instructions.
"A number of statenents which people have used to
describe themselves are given below. Read each
statenent and then circle the appropriate number

to the right of the statenent to indicate how

 

17

you feel right now, that is, at this moment.‘

I will leave the room, while you fill this out and

return in about four minutes."
The experimenter then left the room and returned in four minutes. When
he returned, he instructed the subject:

"Now I would like you to answer some more questions.

I am going to sit over here for this group of questions."

Depending upon which condition was being administered, the experi-

menter was seated in his appropriate chair and administered two more

 

forms of the test. After answering the questions, the subject was given
the anxiety inventory once again, in the manner described above.
Administration of Personality Inventories. After the subject
completed the anxiety inventory he was taken to a small room and
instructed:
“I would now like you to fill out these brief per-
sonality questionnaires. These are commonly used to
get a personality description. Please fill them out in
the order marked at the top of the questionnaire: 1,
2, 3. Read over the instructions to each one now and
I will answer any questions you might have. Here are
some pencils and remember to fill them out in the
proper order. You will have 45 minutes to complete
these. If you finish early, please wait patiently

until I return."

18

The subject was given the following tests to complete in this
order: Hand Preference Questionnaire (Humphrey, 1951), Bem Sex Role
Inventory (Bem, 1974), and the Ego Strength Scale (Barron, 1953).

Administration of the stress condition. In this condition,
another experimenter was used. This experimenter was older and formally
dressed in a white shirt, tie, and lab coat in an attenpt to give a more
inthnidating appearance than the other experimenters. After 45 minutes
this experimenter entered the room and introduced himself:

"Hello, I am Dr. , the supervisor of this

 

 

research. Have you completed these questionnaires?
I would like you to come to the experimental room
with me, where I would like to ask you some more
questions."

After entering the experimental room, the experimenter and the
subject were seated in two adjacent chairs. While looking at some
papers in his folder, the experimenter explained.

"We scored your performance on the tests which you
took with my assistant, and we would like you to

try harder. Ordinarily undergraduates are able to
answer these questions with a high degree of accuracy.
Did you find the earlier questions too hard? (The
subject is given an opportunity to respond to this
and the following questions by the examiner.) How
old are you? Do I have your name Spelled correctly?
What is your major? What is your G.P.A.? Do you

expect to get a bachelor's degree? We want to give you

19

some more questions, in order to get a clearer picture
of what your performance on these items is really like.
Pay very close attention, because each error lowers
your score. Try your very best."

The subject was seated in the lounge chair and instructed as
follows:

"I am going to read a series of questions to you.
Listen carefully. I will give you 10 seconds to
think about the answer after I read the question.
Then I will say 'answer' and I would like you to
give me the answer then. If you do not know the
answer, merely say, 'I don't know'. Keep your
eyes open while answering and thinking about the
questions."

The experimenter was seated in a chair one ft. (.30 m) directly
behind the subject. The experimenter responded to the subject's answer
to every third item with the following six comments: "Are you sure?;
These do seem hard; Close; Hmm; Try your best; Almost." The subject
was given an opportunity to respond to these comnents, but the experi-
menter did not respond further. Thus within the first 15 problems six
comments were made. After the two forms had been completed, the anxiety
inventory was given in the manner described above.

Debriefing. After the experimenter returned to the room, the
experimenter and subject were seated in the two adjacent chairs, and

the subject was debriefed as follows:

20

"Now that the experiment is over, I would like to
tell you about the purpose of some of the things we
have done, and set your mind at ease. First we did
not score your performance on the questions, which
the first experimenter gave to you. Secondly,
although I told you that I would like you to try
harder, implying that your performance was in some
way not up to par, and though I made some critical

coments after some of your responses, this was in

 

no way a reflection upon the quality of your performance.
In fact all subjects who participate in this experiment
are asked the same questions and told the same things.
My instructions to you were designed to help assess

the effects of implied negative feedback and stress

upon your behavior. Iam sorry if any of my state-
ments were in any way disturbing. Let me make clear
that my behavior and statements were intended to be
stress inducing and did not reflect anything about

your performance."

At this point the experimenter encouraged the subject to express
any feelings associated with the experiment, permitting him to ventilate
feelings of annoyance and concerns over decreased self-esteem. The
purpose of the experiment was described, as well as relevant background
information. The subject was encouraged to ask questions. See Appendix

E for further details about the debriefing.

RESULTS

Reliability of Observers

The reliability of the two observers was determined after
approximately 5 hours of practice with pilot subjects. The two
observers, making independent ratings, agreed upon the direction of

the first movement on 85% of the items. With respect to the rating

 

of all eye movements, when movement was seen simultaneously by both
observers, there was agreement upon the direction of the movement
in 98% of these cases. Again with respect to the rating of all eye
movements, there was agreement that eye movement had occurred in

87% of all eye movements scored.

Anxiety and the Directional Consistency of Eye Movement

Hypothesis I states that the directional consistency of eye
movements is a function of anxiety irrespective of the type of problen
being solved. It was expected that the mean percentage of right look-
ing would be greater on verbal items than on spatial items in the
Efbehind §_(EBS) condition, but that no such difference would be found
in the Eefacing-§_(EFS) and stress condition. The mean percentages of
first eye movements to the right, of items on which there was movement,
for the three conditions and two orders of presentation (EBS followed
by EFS or EFS followed by EBS) are presented on Table l. The probabil-
ities of the significance of differences for the main effects and

21

22

interactions, as determined by analysis of variance, ranged from

p < .13 for Question Type (verbal vs. spatial) to p4 .99 for Question
Type X Order. A summary of the analysis of variance appears in Table
2. Hypothesis I was not supported.. The experimental manipulations
failed to influence eye movements. Furthermore, the direction of eye
movements failed to distinguish between question type in all three con-
ditions. At most there was a nonsignificant trend for right looking to

follow spatial questions and for left looking to follow verbal questions.

 

The data next were examined in terms of the total duration of all
directional eye movements during the period before the question was
answered. For each item, from the total amount of time of directional.
looking (left or right), the percentage of time looking to the right
was computed. Thus the unit of analysis is the percentage of duration
of right looking. The means for this analysis are presented in Table 3.
The probabilities of the significance of these differences for the main
effects and interactions as determined by analysis of variance ranged
from p 4. .04 for: Question Type (verbal vs. spatial) to p 4 .95 for
Order. A summary of the analysis of variance appears in Table 4.

Again, Hypothesis I failed to be supported. The three conditions did
not have different effects on eye movements. Significantly more right
looking was found to occur on spatial questions than on verbal questions.
Reciprocally, this indicates that significantly more left looking
occurred on verbal items. Thus the relationship between question type

and direction of eye movement was the reverse of what was expected.

23

TABLE 1

Mean Percentage of First Eye Movements to the Right
Made by Subjects on Verbal and Spatial Itens
in the Three Conditions

 

Order of Administration I: EBS Followed by EFS

 

 

 

 

Verbal Itens Spatial Items
Conditions X SD 7 SD
‘ EBS 43.50 24.58 46.24 28.15
EFS 46.28 30.87 45.62 31.54
Stress 41.42 30.68 48.20 28.76

 

r

Order of Administration II: EFS Followed by EBS

 

EBS 45.34 29.96 49.62 28.84
EFS 39.85 29.86 47.18 30.84
Stress 52.41 28.62 49.60 26.67

 

EBS= experimenter-behind-subject condition.
EFS= experimenter-facing-subject condition.
Stress= stress condition.

24

TABLE 2

Analysis of Variance for Mean Percentage
of First Eye Movements to the Right
Made by Subjects, on Verbal
and Spatial Itens in Three

 

 

 

 

Conditions
Source df Ms F
Order (0) l .03 .09
Error 46 .35
Conditions (C) .
Contrast I 1 .OO .00
Error 46 .05
Contrast II 1 .05 1.05
Error 46 .05
C X 0
(Contrast I) X 0 1 .OO .02
Error 46 .05
(Contrast II) X 0 l .09 1.93
Error 46 .05
Question Type (O) 1 .06 2.33
Error 46 .03
Q X 0 1 .OO .00
Error 46 .03
C X 0
(Contrast IV) X 0 1 .OO .08
Error 46 .Ol
(Contrast V) X 0 1 .OO .08
Error 46 .02
C X 0 X 0
(Contrast IV) X 0 X 0 l .00 .15
Error 46 .Ol
(Contrast V) X 0 X 0 1 .06 2.00
Error 46 .03
Contrasts
I = C1-EC2+C3)/2 C1=EBS
II = C - C +C 3/2 , C2=EFS
III = vérbai (Y - Spatial (S) C3=Stress
IV = C1V-C15-CZV+CZS-C3V+C3S
v - -c]v+c]S+CZV-CZS-C3V+C3S

Experimenter_Location and Anxiety

Hypothesis II states that anxiety is a function of experimenter
location. It was expected that the mean self-reported anxiety in the
EFS condition would be higher than in the EBS condition. Secondly, it
was expected that anxiety in the stress condition would be higher than
in the EFS condition. The mean self-reported anxiety ratings are

reported in Table 5, for the two orders of presentation. The mean

 

anxiety ratings for Order 1 (EBS followed by EFS) were 44.50 for E85
and 44.42 for EFS and for Order II (EFS followed by EBS) the mean for
EBS was 40.63 and 41.46 for EFS. These anxiety ratings are comparable
to ratings made by male college students, while taking an intelligence
test, for whom the mean rating was 43.01 (Spielberger, Gorsuch & Lushene,
1970). The mean anxiety ratings in the stress condition were 49.71 in
Order I and 48.00 in Order 11. These anxiety ratings are comparable to
those obtained from male college students, after viewing a stressful
movie (depicting accidents in a woodworking shop), for whom the mean
was 50.03 (Spielberger, Gorsuch & Luthene, 1970).

The range of probabilities of differences for the main effects

and interactions is from p 2;.0002 for Conditions (Stress - E§§-;-§E§)

to p.¢..72 for Order x Conditions. The analysis of variance appears in
Table 6. The difference between the mean anxiety ratings for the EBS
and EFS conditions was nonsignificant by analysis of variance. Hypothesis

II was not confirmed, though self-reported anxiety was significantly

26

TABLE 3

Mean Percentage of Duration of Right Looking
By Subjects, on Verbal and Spatial Items,
in the Three Conditions

 

Order of Administration I: EBS Followed by EFS

 

 

 

 

 

Verbal Items Spatial Items
Conditions X so x SD
EBS 48.38 22.15 50.70 26.35
EFS 46.59 27.26 49.33 30.76
Stress 46.79 24.86 53.39 27.37
Order of Administration 11: EFS Followed by EBS

EBS 46.80 27.72 53.26 27.32
EFS 39.70 28.03 48.71 29.72
Stress 50.91 26.54 53.47 26.73

 

EBS= experimenter-behind-subject condition.
EFS= experimenter-facing-subject condition.
Stress= stress condition.

 

 

 

 

27

TABLE 4

Analysis of Variance for Mean Percentage of
Duration of Right Looking by Subjects,
on Verbal and Spatial Items, in
the Three Conditions

 

 

 

 

Source df Ms F
Order (0) l .00 .00
Error - 46 .31
Conditions (C)
Contrast I l .01 .23
Error 46 .04
Contrast II 1 .12 3.00
Error 46 .04
C X 0
(Contrast I) X 0 1 .OO .07
' Error 46 .04
(Contrast II) X 0 1 .04 1.04
Error 46 .04
Question Type (O) 1 .18 4.67*
Error 46 .04
Q X 0 1 .OO .21
Error 46 .04
C X 0
(Contrast IV) X Q 1 .OO .12
Error 46 .01
(Contrast V) X 0 1 .OO .22
Error 46 .01
C X Q X 0
(Contrast IV) X Q X 0 1 .OO .41
Error 46 .Ol
(Contrast V) X 0 X 0 1 .03 3.00
Error 46 .01
* p.‘:.OS
Contrasts
I= Cl“ (C2+C3)/2 C]— =EBS
II= c2 +c ag/z c2= -EFS
III= Verbal( -Spatial (S) C3=Stress
IV= C1V-C1S-(C2V+C25-C3V+C3S
V= -C V +C S+C V-CZS-C V+C S
l 1 2 3 3

28

higher in the stress condition than in the other two conditions as

was predicted.

Ego Strength and the Use of the Cerebral Hemispheres

Hypothesis III states that the capacity to use the appropriate
cognitive mode as indexed by the direction of eye movements during prob-
lem solving is associated with ego strength. Within the three conditions,

the correlation of ego strength and the total number of first eye move-

 

ments in the appropriate direction (right on verbal questions and left on y
Spatial questions) was determined. Pearson correlations were: r = -.10

(p< .25) for the EBS condition, r = .25 (p 4 .04) for the stress condi-

tion, and r = .20 (p ¢:.45) for the EFS condition. Thus Hypothesis III

received only weak support.

Sex Role Identity and Left Looking

Hypothesis IV States that left movers describe themselves in rela-
tively more feminine sex stereotyped terms than right movers. The hypo-
thesis received no support. Pearson correlation of the scores on the
Dem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) with the percentage of items for which the
subject's first eye movement was to the left was r:§..09. The correla-
tion of the BSRI with the percentage of time looking to the left, or the
total amount of time spent looking in either direction was rsfi..Ol.

As a third test of the hypothesis, subjects were identified as
either left movers or right movers if 70% or more of their first eye
movements were to the left or the right, the criteria used in previous

research (Our, 1973). By this criterion 11 subjects were classified

29

TABLE 5

Mean Anxiety Reported by Subjects
in the Three Conditions

 

Order I: EBS Followed by EFS

 

 

 

Conditions X SD
EBS 44.50 7.56
EFS 44.42 8.53
Stress 49.71 10.52

 

Order II: EFS Followed by EBS

 

EBS 40.63 7.97
EFS 41.46 7.74
Stress 48.00 11.34

 

EBS= experimenter-behind-subject condition.
EFS= experimenter-facing-subject condition.
Stress= stress condition.

 

30

TABLE 6

Analysis of Variance for Mean Anxiety
Reported by Subjects in the Three

 

 

 

 

Conditions
Source df MS F
Order (0) 1 291.84 1.95
Error 46 149.60
Conditions (C)
Contrast I 1 1192.34 17.49*
Error 46 68.18
Contrast II 1 3.38 .12
Error 46 29.19
0 X C
(Contrast I) X 0 l 23.35 .34
Error 46 68.17
(Contrast II) X 0 l 5.04 _.17
Error 46 29.19
* p ¢L.001
Contrasts

I= Stress-(EFS-EBS)/2
II= EFS-EBS

31

as right movers and 13 as left movers with the remaining 24 subjects
being, by definition, 'ambilateral' lookers. The hypothesis received
no support. The mean score on the BSRI for right movers was -l.52

and for left movers -l.08 (3341.0).

Additional Findings: Staring

The amount of staring (no lateral eye movement occurred) for
verbal and spatial items within the three conditions was examined.
The mean percentages of verbal and spatial items on which there is

no eye movement is reported in Table 7. The probabilities for the

 

significance of differences in the maineffects and interactions

range from p4 .0097 for Question Type (verbal vs. spatial) to p4 .75
for Conditions x Question Type x Order, by analysis of variance. The
analysis of variance appears in Table 8. Thus there is strong evidence

that more staring occurs on spatial questions than on verbal questions.

The Conditions by Order (C x 0) interaction for Contrast I was
significant (pa<..05). Contrast I consists of EBS - (EFS + Stress)/2.
To better understand this interaction, analyses of variance were done
comparing each condition with one other condition in all possible pairs.
These analyses of variance appear in Tables 9, 10, and 11. The C x 0
interaction was significant at p.¢:.05 only for the experimenter-behind-

subject and experimenter-facing-subject conditions as Shown in Table 9.

32

TABLE 7

Mean Percentage of Verbal and Spatial Items on
Which Subjects Made No Eye Movements,
for the Three Conditions

 

Order of Administration I: EBS Followed by EFS

 

 

 

Verbal Items Spatial Items
Conditions 'X SD . 2 50
E85 8.54 15.78 A 14.79 19.14
EFS 13.96 20.85 17.29 19.84
Stress 13.12 15.66 17.71 18.30

 

Order of Administration 11: EFS Followed by EBS

 

EBS 11.87 12.84 15.21 18.79
EFS 8.33 9.40 10.21 10.16
Stress 12.08 15.60 11.04 14.22

 

EBS= experimenter—behind~subject condition.
EFS= experimenter-facing-subject condition.
Stress= stress condition.

 

33
TABLE 8

Analysis of Variance for Mean Percentage of
Verbal and Spatial Items on which
Subjects Made No Eye Movements,
for the Three Conditions

 

 

 

 

Source df MS F
Order (0) 1 22.22 .54
Error 46 41.07
Conditions (C)
(Contrast I) 1 .34 .05
Error 46 6.67
(Contrast II) 1 2.08 .36
Error 46 5.81
C X 0
(Contrast I) X 0 l 31.17 4.67*
Error 46 6.67
(Contrast II) X 0 1 3.00 .52
Error 46 5.81
Question Type (O) 1 26.89 7.30**
Error 46 3.68
O X 0 1 8.00 2.17
Error 46 3.68
C X 0
(Contrast IV) X 0 1 4.34 1.61
Error 46 2.69
(Contrast V) X 0 1 .33 .09
Error 46 3.63
C X Q X 0
(Contrast IV) X Q X 0 l .06 .02
Error 46 2.69
(Contrast V) X 0 X 0 l 2.08 .57
Error 46 3.63
* p 4:.05
** p ¢;.01
Contrasts
I= C1- (C2+C3)/2 C1- =EBS
II=C C+C )/2 C2=EFS
III= Verba (9)- -Spatial( S) C3=Stress

IV= C1V- -C1 S- C V+C S- C V+C S
v= -C1V+C1S+Cz v- 523-3 3 V+ 3s

 

34

This interaction is plotted in Figure 1, and shows that staring is
lowest in the first condition presented to the subjects irrespective

of condition.

------------------------ -----------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------——---—--------------

 

35

TABLE 9

Analysis of Variance for Mean Percentage of
Verbal and Spatial Items on which
Subjects Made No Eye Movements,
for the EBS and EFS Conditions

 

Source df Ms F

 

 

 

Order (0) 1 38.52 .31
Error 46 121.58

Conditions (C) 1 .19 .01
Error 46 25.67

C X 0 1 130.02 5.07*
Error 46 25.67

Question Type (O) 1 105.02 7.68**
Error 46 13.67

Q X 0 l 9.19 .67
Error 46 13.67

C X Q 1 9.18 .81
Error 46 11.32

C X Q X 0 1 1.02 .09
Error 46 11.32

* p14..05

** p4.01

36

TABLE 10

Analysis of Variance for Mean Percentage of
Verbal and S 'atial Items on which
Subjects Ma.e No Eye Movements,
for EFS and Stress Conditions

 

 

 

Source df Ms F

Order (0) 1 200.08 1.76
Error 46 113.46

Conditions (C) 1 8.33 .36
Error 46 23.25

C X 0 1 12.00 .52
Error 46 23.25

Question Type (Q) 1 36.75 2.97
Error 46 12.37

Q X 0 1 24.08 1.95
Error 46 12.37

C X Q 1 1.33 .09
Error 46 14.53

C X Q X 0 l 8.33 .57
Error 46 14.53

 

37

TABLE 11

Analysis of Variance for Mean Percentage of
Verbal and Spatial Items on which
Subjects Made No Eye Movements,

for EBS and Stress Conditions

 

 

Source df Ms F

Order (0) 1 7.52 .06
Error 46 118.53

Conditions (C) 1 6.02 .23
Error 46 26.00

C X 0 1 63.02 2.42
Error 46 26.00

Question Type (O) 1 82.69 5.15*
Error 46 16.07

0 X 0 l 35.02 2.18
Error 46 16.07

C X 0 1 17.52 1.45
Error 46 12.09

C X Q X 0 1 3.52 .29
Error 46 12.09

 

* p44..05

 

Mean Percentage of Verbal

Items on which Subjects
Made no Eye Movements

.4—4 _I
05‘ (m

_.a—a_a._a-.a
“NW-501

_.a
00

Ode-§U‘lm\lm

 

 

38

 

 

_. 0—4 Order I: EBS/ EFS

”' I ' Order II: EFS/EBS

r

h.

1..

L.
i i #
EBS EFS

Figure 1. The Mean Percentage of Items on Which
Subjects Made No Eye Movements in the EBS and
EFS Conditions, for Order I: EBS Followed by
EFS and Order II: EFS Followed by EBS.

DISCUSSION

Lateral Eye Movement as an Index of Hemispheric Activation

The current results showing that spatial questions tend to elicit
right looking and verbal questions tend to elicit left looking are the
reverse of earlier experiments (Kinsbourne, 1972; Kocel et a1., 1972;

Our, 1973; Weiten & Etaugh, 1974; Galin & Ornstein, 1974). The current,

 

findings agree with those of Ehrlichman et‘al. (1974), who found in a
series of three experiments a nonsignificant trend for Spatial questions
to elicit more initial eye movements to the right than verbal questions.
There is no obvious explanation for these findings, which are contrary
to the current understanding of the lateral eye movement phenomenon
and its relation to the activation of the cerebral hemispheres. The
proposal (Bakan, 1969; Kinsbourne, 1972) that eye movement reflects
activation of the contralateral cerebral hemisphere in the course of
cognitive activity must be tested further. Within the confines of this
theory the current results, as well as those of Ehrlichman et a1. (1974),
are difficult to explain, especially since special care was taken to
select Spatial and verbal items likely to require, respectively, a high
and a low degree of imagery for solution.

The discrepancies among the findings of the various studies sug-
gest that lateral eye movement is a fragile phenomenon and that all of

the significant task, subject, and environmental variables have not been

39

40

identified and brought under control. One possible source of uncon-
trolled variance may be the different sets of questions used in the
investigations. Most of the studies used verbal and spatial questions
to elicit right and left hemisphere activation. However, both cat-
egories of questions have been loosely defined. Verbal questions
include word definitions, explanation of proverbs, and word analogies.
Spatial items here included a variety of problems requiring the
construction of a visual image in order to achieve a solution. Examples
of spatial questions include: (a) "Which states border on California?"

(b) "Which direction does the front of your house face?" (c) "If you

 

hold the letter P in front of a mirror upside down, what letter would
you see in the mirror?“ (d) "Describe the route by which you came to
the experiment today." Both of these groups of questions are heteroge-
neous and consist of problems which may tap different cognitive processes.
The use of a standardized set of problems in various experiments would
introduce a higher degree of control into this research.

These problems can often be solved by either a verbal or a
spatial approach. For example, when a subject is asked "Describe the
route by which you came to the experiment today," he may indeed visual-
ize the route or if he is highly familiar with the route he may not need
to call upon imagistic cues to answer the question. The degree to
which individuals use a verbal or spatial approach to solve problems
probably is related to individual abilities and propensities.

In future studies it would be valuable to perform an item analysis
examining the responses of the subjects to individual problems. Such an

item analysis could examine the difficulty of the problem, the percentage

41

of right and left looking, the content of the item, and the relation-
ships among these variables. It also would be worthwhile to relate
these item variables to individual differences such as verbal and
spatial ability.

A new method of measuring lateral eye movements was employed and
consisted of measuring the duration of all eye movements from presenta-
tion of the question to subject response. It was assumed that the
solution of problems extends over a duration and that the eye movements

during this period are an index of continuous hemispheric activation

 

in the service of problem solution. Thus the measurement of the dura-
tion of total eye movements may be a more valid reflection of hemi-
spheric activation than the first eye movement as was used by Gur (1973).
While the rating of first eye movements indicated a trend for Spatial
questions to elicit eye movements to the right with a greater frequency
than verbal questions, this trend was significant only when the dura—
tion of total eye movement was employed as the measure. It would be
appropriate for future research to use both measures of eye movements

and to further clarify the relationship between the two.

Eye Movement, Experimenter Location,_and Anxiety

The results of this study did not confirm Gur's (1973) finding
that experimenter location affects lateral eye movement, such that in
the experimenter-facing-subject situation subjects tend to look predomi-
nantly in one direction while eye movements in the experimenter-behind-
subject condition are to the left or the right depending upon question

type. The current findings suggest that the directional consistency

42

of eye movements is unrelated to experimenter location. This failure to
confirm Gur's (1973) results is difficult to explain, Since the experi-
mental procedures were very similar in both experiments. Since anxiety
was not related to the directional consistency of eye movement in this
study, it may be that other variables contributed to the differences
that Our (1973) found between the experimenter-facing-subject and experi-
menter-behind-subject conditions.

Our (1973) suggested that the effect of experimenter location

upon eye movement is mediated by anxiety. She concluded that the anxiety

 

aroused by the interpersonal situation in the experimenter-facing-
subject paradigm distracts the subject from the salient aspects of the
problem, making him fall back on a mode of cognitive processing (and by
implication of a hemispheric) characteristic of that subject. The
results of the current study indicate that anxiety is not related to eye
movement behavior, since no differences were found between the stress
condition and the experimenter-behind-subject condition. Indeed, there;
were no differences among any of the three conditions. Thus the direc-gf
tional consistency of eye movements does not appear to be related to ‘
anxiety as Our (1973) suggested.

The hypothesis that anxiety is related to experimenter location
was not supported. Subjects reported an equivalent degree of anxiety
in the experimenter-behind-subject and experimenter-facing-subject
situations. A high degree of anxiety, however, was observed by experi-

menters and reported by many of the subjects during the debriefing (see

 

 

 

43

Appendix E). This already high level of anxiety may have prohibited a
further increment of anxiety by such a subtle manipulation as the experi-
menter-facing-subject Situation. It is possible that at this already
elevated level of anxiety, a more potent threat to self-esteem, such as
the stress condition, may have been necessary to arouse further anxiety.
It may be important that both the experimenters and subjects in
the current study were male, whereas Gur's (1973) male subjects were
tested by women. Whether men would experience significantly more anxiety

I ,
/‘

in an experimenter-facing-subject situation with a woman is uncertain.

 

Sarason and Winkel (1966) found that male subjects rated male experi-
menters as more friendly, relaxed, and casual than female experimenters
in the course of administering tasks. This more favorable view of male
experimenters by male subjects could result in a lower anxiety level,

and less of a threat to self-esteem. Men's self-esteem may be more
vulnerable when confronted by a female experimenter, in circumstances
where intellectual competence is apparently being examined. This could
have made the experimenter-facing-subject situation more anxiety-arousing

in Gur's (1973) study.

Ego Strength and Hemispheric Activation

The hypothesis that the capacity to use the appropriate hemisphere
in problem solving is associated with ego strength received very weak
support. A marginally significant low correlation between these factors
was found in the stress condition although not in the other two conditions.
Since ego strength can be thought of as an individual's capacity to main—

tain adaptive means of coping in the face of stress, perhaps it might be

44

expected that this trait influences behavior, or discriminates
among individuals' behavior in stressful Situations only.

A different measure of ego strength may be needed to adequately
examine the current hypothesis, which may be referring to only one com-
ponent of the trait as measured by the Barron Scale (1953). Factor
analysis of the Ego Strength Scale (Stein & Chu, 1967) reveals the fol-
.1owing factors: freedom from disabling anxiety or depression, freedom
from disabling primary process thought, freedom from physical complaints,

a religious attitude of nonbelief, seeking heterosexual stimulation.

 

These factors may not be closely enough related to the capacity for
efficient problem solving and use of the appropriate cerebral hemisphere.
Furthermore, the Ego Strength Scale (Barron, 1953) has proven to be most
effective in discriminating normal and psychiatric groups and also in
differentiating among psychiatric groups (Frank, 1967). The instrument
may lack sufficient sensitivity to discriminate within a normal pOpula-
tion where the range of ego strength by definition is relatively narrow.
Nevertheless, the current findings do suggest that further examination
of the relationship between ego strength and the lateral eye movement

phenomenon is warranted.

Lateral Eye Movement and Identity

The hypothesis that left movers describe themselves in relatively
more feminine sex stereotyped terms was not confirmed. There are
several possible explanations. This hypothesis presupposes a relation-
ship between lateral eye movements and hemispheric activation which the

current findings call into question. Secondly, from another perspective

45

the functional capacities of the cerebral hemispheres and of individuals
characterized as left movers and right movers may not fit the dichoto-
mous categorization of masculine and feminine as was believed at the
outset of the study. Although the functions attributed to each cerebral
hemisphere as well as the personality characteristics of unidirectional
left and right movers appear to correspond to broad sex role stereo-
types, there are major exceptions. For example, it has been shown
repeatedly that males demonstrate superior ability in Spatial tasks, a

function of the right hemisphere which in this study was thought of as

 

mediating functions stereotyped as feminine. Secondly, the superiority
of females in certain limited aspects of verbal ability, a predominantly
left hemisphere function, has also been demonstrated (Harris, in press).
Thus the current finding suggests that there is no relationship between
sex role identification and the use of a preferred cerebral henisphere

as measured by the preferred direction of lateral eye movement.

Additional Findings: Starim

The greater incidence of staring on spatial questions confirmed
similar findings by Kinsbourne (1972), Galin and Ornstein (1974), and
Ehrlichnan et a1. (1974). In all these studies, staring was interpreted
as a manifestation of simultaneous and equal activation of both hemi-
spheres. It is reasonable that staring most often occured on spatial
problems. Since these problems were verbally presented, left hemi»
sphere activation would have been necessary to process the verbal com-
munications, and right hemiSphere functioning was necessary for their

solution.

 

46

Another explanation of the higher frequency of stares on spatial
items is possible. Meskin and Singer (1974) proposed, in their cogni-
tive processing model of lateral eye movement, that concentration upon
imagined visual images may require reduction of external stimulation
in the visual system. Continuous staring at a fixed point may provide
the most redundant and least compelling external visual field. Thus
during spatial problem solving, staring may reduce the interference
from the external field with the internally generated image. A test

of the two competing models, bilateral hemispheric activation and

 

cognitive processing, could be made by presenting spatial and verbal
problems to subjects with their eyes closed. Eye movements could be
measured electrophysiologically. The lack of external visual stimula-
tion would preclude the influence of peripheral factors upon eye move-
ment behavior.

The results of the current study Showed that staring occurred
least frequently in the first condition administered, whether it was
the EBS or EFS condition. This suggests that staring is related to a
time dependent variable involving accommodation to the experimental
Situation. It does not appear to be activation, since no differences
were found in the anxiety scores. Future research should examine this

effect in order to clarify the significance and function of staring.

ConClusion and Suggestions for Future Research
The current results raise further questions about the lateral
eye movement phenomenon. In agreenent with previous empirical investiga-

tions and neuropsychological theory, it was found that spatial problems

47

elicit more staring than verbal items. Secondly, support, though weak,
was found for the hypothesis that ego strength is associated with
the use of the appropriate hemisphere in solving problems as indicated
by the direction of lateral eye movenents.t

It was unexpectedly found, however, that verbal problems pre-
dominantly elicited eye movements to the left and spatial problems
predominantly elicited eye movements to the right. While these results
confirm an earlier report of a nonsignificant trend for spatial prob-

lems to elicit eye movements to the right (Ehrlichman et a1., 1974),

 

they do not agree with most other earlier reports or with the theory
associating the direction of lateral eye movement with hemispheric
activation. These discrepancies are difficult to explain.

It is possible that the lateral eye movement phenomenon may be
influenced by variables which have not been identified and controlled.
It would be helpful if a series of experiments employed the same set
of problems and if the sex of the experimenter is held constant. Sex
and handedness of subjects should be controlled.

Furthermore, unlike all other studies, neither the current study
nor Gur's (1973) study separated verbal and spatial items into homo-
geneous blocks for consecutive presentation of one type of problems;
all of the other studies did follow this procedure. Though the effect
of blocking items has not been enpirically examined, it may be that
blocking enables the subject to develop a cognitive set toward the
problems. This set could encourage the subjects to use the appropriate

cognitive approach and the appropriate hemisphere. Also, the

48

introduction of each block of problems, wherein the subjects are primed
as to the nature of the problems which follow and the most suitable
cognitive approach for their solution can also be employed. Kinsbourne's
(1973) attentional model for laterality effects in cognition has bear-
ing on this point. Kinsbourne suggests that a preparatory state in a
cerebral hemisphere makes that hemisphere more ready to employ the

mode of cognitive processing characteristic of that hemisphere. A
preparatory state could be induced by blocking and priming according to

Kinsbourne's model. The resulting attentional orientation could enhance

 

the readiness of the cerebral hemisphere to become activated by the
appropriate material and could enhance the readiness to stimulate eye
movements in the contralateral direction. Kimura's (1967) model for
laterality effects in cognition does not take into account attention and
hemispheric readiness so that a prediction concerning blocking and .
priming could not be made on the basis of her model. It is suspected that
both the use of blocking and priming Should emphasize the salient
characteristics of the problems and heighten the lateral eye movement
effect as reported by Kinsbourne (1972), Our (1973), and others.

The use of electrophysiological measures of eye movement, permit-
ting the subject's eyes to remain closed, would also introduce a
methodological improvement in this research. The measurement of eye
movements with the eyes closed would prohibit the influence of external
visual stimuli upon eye movement and control all variables on the visual

periphery.

49

The current results indicate that experimenter location and
anxiety do not influence lateral eye movement in any detectable way.
Perhaps a more rigorous and simpler investigation of the influence
of anxiety upon lateral eye movement can be performed. One possi-
bility is the use of two independent groups who are both asked to
solve problems, with eyes closed, in the experimenter-behind-subject
Situation. One group can be subjected to stressful conditions
similar to those used in the present study, whereas the other group

can be administered a "relaxation condition" in which an active

 

attempt is made to reduce the anxiety of the subject. Such an experi-
ment would provide further control of anxiety and would clarify the

influence of this variable upon lateral eye movement.

 

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APPENDICES

 

APPENDIX A

 

—-J
C

11.

12.

(71th

APPENDIX A

Test Forms

Form I

Name a word beginning with "C" meaning to utter loudly or clearly.

0n the typewriter, where is the letter "R" relative to "B"?

 

Which states border the Great Lakes?

Name a word beginning with "I" meaning “to copy or emulate."

Name a word, beginning with "F" meaning "new to one's experience,
novel, original."

On the map of the United States, which is farther south, San
Francisco or Atlanta?

Imagine a telephone. On which Side is the cord to the receiVer?
Complete the analogy. Sporadic:Constant :: Infrequent:

Complete the analogy. Enraged:Annoyed :: Ecstatic:

You leave Jacobson's Department store on Grand River and walk toward
the Student Book Store. Name one store that you will pass on

the way.

Imagine a car from the passenger side, moving forward. In what
direction do the wheels turn?

Complete the analogy. Ziszetter :: Area:

58

 

 

13.
14.

15.
16.

17.

18.

19.
20.

59

Complete the analogy. Shirt:Wear :: Bloody Mary:

Imagine a circle rotating around its diameter. What Shape do
you get?

Which states border on Ohio?

Name a word beginning with "H" meaning "to desire with some con-
fidence of fulfillment."

Imagine the capital letter "P" upside down and held before a

mirror. What letter do you get?

Name a synonym for exaggeration.

 

Name a synonym for perseverance.
You are sitting in front of a telephone. Where is the metal part

which stops the finger, relative to the telephone number?

10.

11.
12.

60

Form II

Complete the analogy. Infection:Epidemic :: One:

On the map of the United States, where is Chicago relative

to Minneapolis?

Name a synonym for cause.

You are traveling from Denver to Minneapolis. Which states do

you pass through?

Name the word beginning with "E" meaning "the applied use of physical

or mental energy."

Imagine Lincoln on a penny. In which direction does he face?
Complete the analogy. NeverzAlways :: Zero:

Imagine a square. In your imagination, draw a line from the
upper left corner to the lower right corner. Now draw line from
the upper right corner to the lower left corner. What Shape does
this produce?

Name the word beginning with "E" meaning "something brought about
by a cause or agent."

Imagine the campus as a clock where the Men's IM is the center
and the Administration Building is 12 o'clock. In what hour
approximately will the Union Building be?

Name a synonym for impatience.

You are standing in front of an ice cream vending machine. On

which Side is the money slot?

13.

14.
15.

16.
17.

18.

19.
20.

 

61

On the cartoon page of the State News, where does "Peanuts"
appear relative to Doonesbury"?

Name a synonym for instantaneous.

Imagine the pedals of an automobile. Where is the brake in rela-
tion to the accelerator?

Name a synonym for infiltrate.

Imagine the lion's head in the MGM movies. To which Side is it
tilted after it stops moving?

Name a word beginning with "G" meaning "to predict with insuf-

ficient information."

 

Complete the analogy. Time:Space :: Schedule:
If you look at the lower case letter "b" in the mirror, what

letter do you see?

10.
11.
12.

13.
14.

15.
16.

62

Form III

Complete the analogy. Number:Gender :: Singular:

Imagine the campus as a clock where the library building is the
center and Beaumont Tower is 12 o'clock. In what hour approximate-
ly will the Administration Building be?

Name a synonym for impulsive.

Imagine Thomas Jefferson on a nickel. Which direction does he

face?

 

Name a word beginning with "N" meaning to "confer with another
or others in order to come to tenns.

If the Administration building were tipped over onto its west
side, in which direction would the bottom of the building face?
Complete the analogy. Barrier:Impede :: Elevator:

Which is farther east, Cincinnati or Toledo?

If you hold the number "9" up to a mirror, and turned it upside
down what letter does this resemble?

Name a word beginning with "L" meaning "deficiency or absence.“
Complete the analogy. DayzYear :: Second:

On the back of a nickel, where does the phrase "E Pluribus Unum"
appear?

Complete the analogy. I:You :: Shall:

Visualize your social security card. Where is your number on
it relative to your name?

Name a synonym for middle.

On your M.S.U. I.D. card, where is your signature relative to

your photograph?

63

17. Name a synonym for regularity.

18. If you are facing the driver's side of a car, on which side
are the hinges of the driver's door?

19. Imagine a square rotating 360 degrees around its axis. What
shape would you get?

20. Name a synonym for general.

 

11.
12.

13.

64

Form IV

Name a word that begins with "G" that means to "talk of rumors and
sensational facts."

You are sitting before a typewriter. Where is the letter "O"

in relation'to "0"?

Recall the portrait of Whistler's Mother." To which Side of the
viewer does she face?

Name a word beginning with "1" meaning "power to sway a person or

course of events."

 

Name a synonym for similarity.

You are traveling from South Dakota to Oklahoma. Which states

do you pass through?

Name a word beginning with "0" meaning, "someone who always expects
the best possible outcome."

You are traVeling from Las Vegas to Dallas. Which states do you
pass through?

Complete the analogy. Dislike:Hate :: Respect:

Imagine your driver's license. Where is the date of expiration
on it relative to your picture?

Name a synonym for extraneous.

Imagine the campus as a clock where the stadium is the center and
the Administration Building is the hour 12. On what hour
approximately is the auditorium?

Which states border on Lake Superior?

14.
15.

16.
17.
18.
19.

20.

65

Name a synonym for dimension.

Imagine two parallel lines. Upon these superimpose two vertical
parallel lines, the same distance apart. What Shape do you get?
Name a word beginning with "B," meaning "to carry, to support."
Name a synonym for destruction.

In what direction does George Washington face on a dollar bill?
Recall the photograph of the U.S. Marines raising the flag at
Iwo Jima. In which direction is the flag pole pointing?

Name a synonym for assemblage.

 

11.

12.
14.

66

Form V

Name a synonym for redeem.

Imagine the Miss Liberty Statue in the Columbia movies. In
which direction does it face?

You are sitting in front of a typewriter. Where is the letter
"J" in relation to "C"?

Name a word beginning with "S" meaning "to prick painfully?
Imagine two right triangles of equal size. If you join then

along their longest side, what figure do you have?

 

Name a word beginning with “G" meaning "to control, guide,
direct.“

Name a word beginning with "C" that means "to begin."

Imagine walking toward the setting sun. What happens to your
Shadow as time passes?

Name a word beginning with "A" that means "wide awake and watchful.”
Imagine turning a bulb into a socket. In which direction must
you turn it?

Imagine the campus as a clock where the Administration Building

is the center and the Union Building is the hour 12. On what hour
approximately is the Student Services Building?

Complete the analogy. MongrelzPurebred :: Alloy:

On the front page of the State News, where is the Sketch of

Beaumont Tower relative to the State News masthead?

 

15.

16. '

17.

18.
19.

67

Man a word beginning with “0" meaning "a view or judgment about
a particular manor." 1 N

You are on the corner of Abbott and Grand River and you "start
walking tourd M.A,c. llama ona stora you will pass on your way.
On. the map of the Unitad Statas, which states border on
California?

Diana a swan: for changa.

Nana a synonym for increase.

(in Your ii. 5. 0. Library card whara is the green stripe in rela-
tion to your student labor?

 

 

d
.

#WN

11.
12.
13.
14.

15.

68

Form VI

On a pay telephone, where iS the Slot for the dime?

Name a synonym for exclusion.

Complete the analogy. Person:Reincarnation :: Battery:

You are driving a car and approaching an intersection with a
traffic light. Where is the red light relative to the green
light?

Name a word beginning with "R" meaning "to keep in mind."

On the station dial of a radio, where do the stations with the
higher frequency numbers appear?

Name a word beginning with "0" meaning "to decide, establish,
or ascertain conclusively."

You are Sitting in front of a typewriter. Where is the letter
"L" in relation to "K"?

Name a synonym for absolve.

Imagine a long rectangular block whose width and height are
equal and whose length is twice its width. If you cut the block
into two equal lengths what figures do you have?

Complete the analogy. Silent:Taciturn :: Mute:

Is Mexico City east or west of St. Louis?

Name a synonym for abstract.

When you wish to back up in a car, and go to your left, which
way do you turn the steering wheel?

You are standing in front of a coffee vending machine. On which

side is the money Slot?

 

 

16.

17.
18.

19.

20.

69

Name a word beginning with "S" that means "to strike with
amazement because unexpected."

Name the word beginning with "C" meaning "quiet or serene."
You are coming out of the Campus Theater on Grand River. You
turn left. Name two stores you will pass.

Name a word beginning with "1" meaning "not suited to the

given circumstances."

' What states border on Texas?

 

 

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX B

Questionnaire on Hand Preference

First, state whether you regard yourself as right-handed (R), left-
handed (L), or ambidextrous (A)

 

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS: The main body of the questionnaire
falls into two parts:

PART A is designed to find out which hand you habitually use, or
would prefer to use, for certain acts requiring the use of one hand
only. It is expected that habitual tendency and preference will, for
the most part, coincide, but if there is any case where they differ,
you are asked to add a note to that effect.

PART B is designed to find out which hand plays the leading role
in certain acts requiring the use of both hands. Indicate in the
column provided, R, if you use your right hand, L, if you use your left
hand, or E, if you are aware of no Special preference in either direction,
i.e., if you are just as likely to use one hand as the other. When in
doubt, you should try to settle the issue by experimenting, for
example, by going through the motions or by trying to visualize your-

self performing the action.

70

 

#WN

10.
11.
12.
13.

14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.

With which hand do you

With which hand do you write?

With which hand do you
With which hand do you

minton, and paddle ball?

With which hand do you

paper)?

71

throw?

 

 

 

draw?

play games such as tennis, squash, and bad-

 

use a pair of scissors (e.g., for cutting

 

With which hand do you
With which hand do you

your hair)

use a razor? (state type of razor)

use a comb? (state side on which you part

 

With which hand do you
With which hand do you
(e.g. , cutting string,
With which hand do you
With which hand do you
With which hand do you
With which hand do you

with a fork?

use a toothbrush?

 

use a knife for purposes other than eating?

sharpening a pencil)

 

 

use a spoon for eating?

 

use a hammer?

 

use a screw-driver?

 

use a knife for cutting, in conjunction

 

On which side of your body do you swing a baseball bat?

 

On which hand do you hold the top of a broom when sweeping?

With which hand do you
With which hand do you

With which hand do you strike a match?

unscrew the lid of a jar?

 

hold the top of a rake when raking?_________

 

With which hand do you deal cards?

 

 

72

20. With which hand do you guide the thread through the eye of a

needle, or the needle onto the thread, as the case may be?

 

 

 

APPENDIX C

 

APPENDIX C

Barron Ego Strength Scale

INSTRUCTIONS:

Read each statement and decide whether it is true as applied
to you or false as applied to you.

You are to mark your answers on the computer answer sheet.
If your response to the statement is IBQE_blacken the space for
alternative 1_for the appropriate item on the answer sheet. If your

response to the statement is FALSE or NOT USUALLY TRUE blacken the

 

space for alternative 2 for the appropriate item on the answer sheet.
Remember to give YOUR OWN Opinion of yourself. Do not leave
a ny items unanswered .

Remember: TRUE -1
FALSE - 2

.J
O

I believe my sins are unpardonable.

Christ performed miracles such as changing water into wine.
Often I cross the street in order not to meet someone I see.
At times I have fits of laughing and crying that I cannot control.

I brood a great deal.

0501-wa

I am attracted by members of the opposite sex.

7. One or more members of my family is very nervous.

73

 

 

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74

I am afraid of finding myself in a closet or small closed place.
I like to cook.

My plans have frequently seemed so full of difficulties that I
have had to give themup.

I have often been frightened in the middle of the night.

I feel sympathetic towards people who tend to hang on to their
griefS and troubles.

I am not afraid of fire.

I have had no difficulty in keeping my balance in walking.

I feel unable to tell anyone all about myself.

I have never had a fainting spell.

I pray several times every week.

I have had blank spells in which my activities were interrupted
and I did not know what was going on around me.

I frequently find myself worrying about something.

I do not like to see women smoke.

I find it hard to keep my mind on a task or job.

I have a cough most of the time.

I like science.

My hands have not become clumsy or awkward.

I have had some very unusual religious experiences.

I would certainly enjoy beating a crook at his own game.

I feel tired a good deal of the time.

When I am with people, I am bothered by hearing very queer things.
Everything is turning out just like the prophets of the Bible

said it would.

 

 

 

30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.

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40.
41.
42.
43.

44.
45.

46.
47.
48.
49.
50.

75

When I get bored, I like to stir up some excitenent.

I feel weak all over much of the time.

I have a good appetite.

I am in just as good physical health as most of my friends.

I like to talk about sex.

I dream frequently about things that are best kept to myself.
I have diarrhea once a month or more.

I have met problems so full of possibilities that I have been
unable to make up my mind about them.

I have strange and peculiar thoughts.

Parts of my body often have feelings like burning, tingling,

crawling, or like "going to sleep.“

I am made nervous by certain animals.

I like to flirt.

My skin seeps to be unusually sensitive to touch.

I do many things which I regret afterwards (I regret things more

or more often than others seem to).

At times I hear so well it bothers me.

The man who had most to do with me when I was a child (such as my

father, stepfather, etc.) was very strict with me.

I sometimes feel that I am about to go to pieces.

I never attend a sexy show if I can avoid it.

I like collecting flowers or growing house plants.

My way of doing things is apt to be misunderstood by others.

I very much like horseback riding.

 

51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.

57.
58.
59.

60.
61.
62.

76

If I were an artist, I would like to draw flowers.

During the past few years I have been well most of the time.
Dirt frightens or disgusts me.

I seldom worry about my health.

I have had very peculiar and strange experiences.

Sometimes some unimportant thought will run through my mind and
bother me for days.

I can be friendly with people who do things which I consider wrong.
I get mad easily and then get over it soon.

When I leave home, I do not worry about whether the door is locked
and the windows closed.

I am easily downed in an argument.

I think Lincoln was greater than Washington.

When someone says silly or ignorant things about something I

know, I try to set him right.

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX D

Ben Sex Role Inventory

APPENDIX D

Please indicate on a 7-point scale how well each of the character-

istics describes you.

beside each item number.

Write the number appropriate for your answer

5 . 6 7

 

. 1 2 . 3
"NEVer or
almost never
true of me
_____1 Self-reliant
_____2 Yielding
__~__23 Helpful
_____4 Defends own beliefs
______5 Cheerful
_____6 Moody
_____7 Independent
_____8 Shy
______9 Conscientious
_____JO. Athletic
_____11. Affectionate
______12. Theatrical
_____13. Assertive
_____14. Flatterable

15. Happy

________16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.

77

Always or al-
most always
true of me

Strong personality

Loyal

Unpredictable

Forceful

Feninine

Reliable

Analytical

Sympathetic

Jealous

Has leadership abilities

Sensitive to others' needs

Truthful

Willing to take risks

Understanding

Secretive

78

. Makes decisions easily _____46. Aggressive

. Compassionate _____47. Gullible

. Sincere _____48. Inefficient

. Self-sufficient _____49. Acts as a leader
. Eager to soothe feelings _____50. Childlike

. Conceited _____5l. Adaptable

. Dominant _____52. Individualistic
. Soft spoken _____53. Not use harsh language
. Likeable _____54. Unsystematic

. Masculine _____55. Competitive

. Warm _____56. Loves children

. Solemn ___57. Tactful

. Willing to take a stand _____58. Ambitious

. Tender 59. Gentle

. Friendly 60. Conventional

APPENDIX E

APPENDIX E

The Debriefing

The debriefing provided an informal manner of investigating
the impact of the experiment upon the experience of the subjects.
The primary aim of debriefing was the clarification of the intent
of the experiment, especially with respect to the induction of stress.
Secondly, the exploration of the subject's feelings helped alleviate
anxiety and a potential sense of failure engendered by the stress
condition. Thirdly, the discussion of the subject's experience served
to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the experimental manipula-
tions and the presence of confounding variables.

The subjects experienced a range of reactions to the stress
condition. One subject reported extreme anger, "I felt like tearing
the place apart." The intensity of his reaction warranted continuing
the debriefing for an extra hour later in the day. The subject returned
and initially expressed his anger at the experimenter for having
received negative feedback. He began to talk of the frustration he had
been experiencing with his academic work and how this frustration had
been aggravated by his experience in the experiment. His anger subsided
significantly and he appreciated this opportunity to explore his frus-

trations. He left the debriefing session feeling that his experience

79

80

had been a positive and useful one in learning about himself.

One other subject experienced intense distress warranting an
extended debriefing. This subject reported feeling quite anxious,
disappointed, and angry with himself over what he still considered
to be his inadequate performance. Since this subject appeared to be
directing his anger toward himself, he was helped to express his anger
toward the examiner. After having directed his anger toward the
experimenter the subject left the debriefing feeling considerably
relieved.

Most of the subjects reported feeling more anxious in the stress
condition, and this was a result of their reported attempts to con-
centrate harder on the problems in this condition. Additionally, some
subjects attributed their higher anxiety to the apparently higher
status and authority of the experimenter in the stress condition.

Three subjects reported that they believed that the experimenter's
comments were designed to raise their anxiety and that they were not
affected by it. Two of these subjects, however, reported, on the anxiety
inventory, experiencing greater anxiety in the stress condition than
in the other two conditions on the anxiety inventory. It is not pos-
sible to determine whether this discrepancy between verbally reported
anxiety and scores on the anxiety inventory is attributable to the
demand characteristics of the experiment. It is possible that these
subjects reported higher anxiety on the inventory because of a desire
to support the hypothesis of the experiment as they perceived them.

An alternative possibility suggests that at least some of these subjects

81

attenpted to minimize the impact of the experimenter's comments in
the stress condition by denying the significance of these comments.
In line with this explanation one subject commented paradoxically,
"I wanted to leave...but I didn't take it seriously."

Two subjects spontaneously reported feeling tense throughout
the experiment as a result of the constraint imposed upon them by
the foam rubber head guides. It is impossible to assess the effect
these head guides had on the entire subject sample, but these head
guides may have raised the anxiety of other subjects who did not
choose to Spontaneously report it.

The debriefing session was apparently experienced as being
helpful by providing an opportunity to ventilate anxiety aroused by the
experiment. Secondly, this discussion of their experience and the
purpose of the experiment seemed to enrich the personal and educational

rewards of their participation.

TICHIGAN STATE UNIV. LIBRARIES
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