Human Motor Responses to Simultaneous Aversive Stimulation and Failure on a Valued Task

Abstract

The effects of presentation of an aversive stimulus and simultaneous failure on a bogus intelligence test upon a subject's aggressive reactions were studied. The subject's fist clenching was used as an indicator of aggression. Four conditions, generated by the combinations of two kinds of stimulus delivered to the subjects (aversive or nonaversive) and two outcomes of the task (failure or success), were investigated. 20 female and 20 male students (ages: 17–34 years) were instructed, upon the reception of an aversive or nonaversive acoustic signal, to press with the right hand a device that displayed a slide. Each slide presented an item from an intelligence test, to which the subjects were either allowed to answer successfully (success) or not (failure). Failure increased the subject's autonomic arousal, as measured by photoplethysmographic sensors, in all stimulation conditions, but only the condition with aversive stimulation increased the speed of clenching. This was interpreted as indicating subject's tendencies to aggression. These results are discussed in relation to the effects of frustration.

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