Baker S R, Stephenson D
Department of Psychology, Keele University, Staffordshire, UK.
Integr Physiol Behav Sci. 2000 Oct-Dec;35(4):235-50. doi: 10.1007/BF02688786.
Control or control-belief is often viewed as being directly instrumental in facilitating coping mechanisms in aversive situations, and yet the empirical evidence for the beneficial effects of control is inconclusive. In this study we investigated the role of predictability in determining the effects of perceived control during an aversive reaction time task. Fifty-six subjects were allocated to one of four groups; predictable-control, predictable-no control, unpredictable-control, unpredictable-no control. In the predictable conditions, subjects could temporally predict the occurrence of an aversive noise. In the perceived control conditions, duration of the aversive tone was contingent on subject's performance. All subjects were matched in terms of the nature of the task and in the number and time of receipt of both the warning signal and noise. Heart rate reactivity and two performance parameters were measured, reaction time and performance increase. Both predictability and control-belief led to a reduction in heart rate reactivity, although they appeared to function independently and at different points in the sequence of events. That is, predictability or perceived control was sufficient to mitigate the effects of an aversive situation. Neither perception of control or predictability led to better task performance. These results are discussed in terms of behavioural uncertainty explanations.
控制或控制信念通常被视为在厌恶情境中直接有助于促进应对机制，但关于控制的有益效果的实证证据尚无定论。在本研究中，我们调查了可预测性在厌恶反应时任务中确定感知控制效果方面的作用。56名受试者被分配到四组之一：可预测控制组、可预测无控制组、不可预测控制组、不可预测无控制组。在可预测条件下，受试者可以在时间上预测厌恶噪声的发生。在感知控制条件下，厌恶音调的持续时间取决于受试者的表现。所有受试者在任务性质以及收到警告信号和噪声的数量和时间方面均进行了匹配。测量了心率反应性和两个绩效参数，即反应时间和绩效提高情况。可预测性和控制信念均导致心率反应性降低，尽管它们似乎在事件序列中独立且在不同点起作用。也就是说，可预测性或感知控制足以减轻厌恶情境的影响。对控制或可预测性的感知均未导致更好的任务表现。将根据行为不确定性解释来讨论这些结果。
