Effects of Varied Temporal Information on Frustration Tolerance and Perceived Aversiveness of Aversive Stimuli

Similar to the modern day goals of psychology to "predict and control behavior," when individuals are able to "predict and control aversive stimuli" the associated negative consequences of those stimuli are perceived to be mitigated. According to E. Skinner (1996), perceived control is "a more powerful predictor of functioning than actual control." It has also been demonstrated that those with high perceptions of personal control make more favorable appraisals of their approach to stressful situations and are less likely to evaluate events in a negative or threatening light (Taylor & Armor, 1996).;As an analogue study of "sentencing guidelines," the practical application of the proposed study was to better understand the effect of varied temporal information, a hypothesized domain of perceived control, on frustration tolerance and perceived aversiveness of aversive stimuli. The concept of varied temporal information, in the legal context, is highlighted in the different prison sentence lengths administered, those being determinate, indeterminate, and unknown sentences in the case of pre-sentenced or pre-arraigned individuals.;Seventy Hofstra University undergraduate students participated for course credit, 6 in the pilot and 64 in the study. They were prescreened to include only those individuals who indicated they had normal hearing. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three levels of the independent variable of temporal information of aversive stimuli termination. In actuality, all participants endured the aversive stimuli, 20 unpredictable white noise bursts at 90 decibels (dB) each and two mathematically insoluble figure-tracing tasks, for the same 20 minutes, with the difference between conditions being the different endpoint knowledge of the experimental task. Participants were provided with varied temporal information regarding termination of aversive stimuli; that being, definitive temporal information in the complete temporal information condition (20 minutes), indefinite temporal information in the partial temporal information condition (10 to 20 minutes), and unknown temporal information in the no temporal information condition (unknown minutes).;The dependent variables were tolerance for frustration and perceived aversiveness. Frustration tolerance was measured by exercised behavioral control of termination of loud unpredictable noises, behavioral persistence at insoluble figure-tracing tasks as measured by both the number of attempts made and length of time spent working on each of the two insoluble figure-tracing tasks, and self-report ratings of frustration tolerance regarding aversive stimuli and length of time spent in experimental task. Perceived aversiveness was measured by post-experimental self-report ratings of perceived aversiveness of aversive stimuli and length of time spent in experiment.;It was hypothesized that participants who received complete temporal information regarding termination of aversive stimuli would manifest the highest levels of frustration tolerance and elicit the lowest post-experimental self-report ratings of perceived aversiveness. Participants who received partial temporal information regarding termination of aversive stimuli would manifest intermediate levels of frustration tolerance and elicit an intermediate level of post-experimental self-report ratings of perceived aversiveness. Participants who received no temporal information regarding termination of aversive stimuli would manifest the lowest levels of frustration tolerance and elicit the highest post-experimental self-report ratings of perceived aversiveness. Results were statistically analyzed using an ANOVA comparing frustration tolerance and level of perceived aversiveness as a function of temporal information of aversive stimuli termination between conditions.;It was expected that regardless of condition, participants who made the most behavioral attempts at terminating the noises, most attempts and spent the most time working at the insoluble figure-tracing tasks, and reported the lowest frustration tolerance and highest perceived aversiveness of the experimental tasks would endorse the highest numeric values regarding the extent to which they seek to control events in their day-to-day lives, as evidenced by their responses on the Desirability of Control Scale (Burger & Cooper, 1979). Results were statistically analyzed using a correlation to determine the relationship between participant's behavioral and self-report responses with the extent to which they seek to control events in their day-to-day lives.