オペラント強化による自発性皮膚電位反応の変容
日本人とアメリカ人の比較
1971 年 42 巻 2 号 p. 79-86
詳細
1971 年 42 巻 2 号 p. 79-86
Recent research has shown that a variety of autonomic functions in humans can be modified by feedback and operant reinforcement. The aim of the present study was to determine whether operant techniques, which have been shown to be effective in American subjects, would yield comparable results in a different cultural setting.
An experiment on the operant conditioning of spontaneous skin potential responses (SPRs) was replicated with a sample of Japanese subjects. For comparative purposes, the experimental design and procedures followed those previously used by Crider, Shapiro, and Tursky (1966) with American subjects, where intraindividual and interindividual comparisons were made between contingent reinforcement (CR) and noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) of spontaneous SPRs.
By roughly matching subjects (Ss) in terms of resting level SPR rate, 20 female undergraduates were divided into two experimental groups: a CR-NCR sequence group and a NCR-CR sequence group. Subjects in the CR-NCR group were reinforced with a 70-db tone signifying a monetary bonus for each occurrence of a criterion SPR during an initial 20-min CR period, which was followed by a 20-min NCR period during which Ss received tones at the same rate as during CR but at points of no skin potential change and not less than 10-sec following any spontaneous SPR of criterion amplitude. In the NCR-CR group, the sequence of CR and NCR was reversed. In this group, NCR rates for each S were based on the rates obtained during CR by the matched S. In the analysis, for purposes of comparison, the number of criterion SPRs was transformed into a percentage score typically used in studies of operant electrodermal conditioning.
Intergroup comparison revealed that CR and NCR became differentiated by the first 5-min interval and remained apart thereafter, CR producing a heightened rate of SPRs relative to that of NCR. In both 20-min periods, there were statistically significant main effects for CR compared to NCR. Intraindividual comparisons also revealed statistically significant differences between CR and NCR.
The overall pattern between CR and NCR observed in Japanese subjects was in accord with that previously observed in American Ss. However, the Japanese Ss showed a larger and more rapid differentiation between CR and NCR. This difference could not be explained by variations in operant level or reinforcement density between the two samples. Previous findings reported by others concerning physiological responsivity of Japanese Ss were not reflected in the Japanese Ss of the present study.
The significance of cross-cultural psychophysiological research using operant techniques was discussed from the viewpoint that autonomic learning under different conditions of reward can account for cultural differences in physiological responsivity.
