RESUMO
The present investigation employed a balanced placebo design to examine the effects of alcohol versus the belief that one has consumed alcohol, i.e. alcohol expectancy, on error production while operating a driving simulator. The male subjects employed were social drinkers, having no history of alcohol abuse. The alcoholic beverage consisted of vodka and tonic in the ratio of 1:5, resulting in a mean blood alcohol level of .064%. The placebo beverage consisted of water and tonic, also in the ration 1:5. Principal findings were that alcohol ingestion had a debilitating effect on certain measures of driving behavior (operation of brakes, steering), whereas the belief that one had consumed alcohol had no discernable effects. The results are discussed in relation to other findings using the balanced placebo design. It was concluded that reckless driving under the influence of alcohol, is at least partly a result of the pharmological effects of ethanol.
Assuntos
Consumo de Bebidas Alcoólicas , Condução de Veículo , Cognição , Adulto , Humanos , Masculino , PlacebosRESUMO
The effects of sex of experimenter on approach to a snake were assessed in both modeling and non-modeling conditions. Subjects were selected on the basis of a pretest in which they indicated that they would never pick up a harmless snake depicted on one of eight color slides of animals. 72 subjects (36 males and 36 females) served in one of 8 groups (4 groups of males and 4 groups of females). Each group of 9 subjects served in one of the following conditions: (a) a non-modeling condition with the same sex experimenter, (b) a non-modeling condition with an opposite sex experimenter, (c) a modeling condition with the same sex experimenter, and (d) a modeling condition with an opposite sex experimenter. All experimenters were selected to be attractive. Analysis of variance for scores on a 19-step sequence of approach yielded a significant interaction of sex of experimenter by sex of subject (F = 4.18, df = 1/64, p less than .05). All other comparisons were non-significant. Results indicate that an attractive experimenter of the opposite sex increases approaching a snake particularly by male subjects.