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and anticipatory shock situations will not be equal in
intensity even for the NHD group. Specifically, intensity
of anxiety/negative affect in anticipation of electric shock
will probably be greater than the intensity of joy/positive
affect in anticipation of a dollar or a lottery ticket.
However, due to financial constraints, it is not possible to
raise the financial value of the reward. Yet, by giving
each subject the choice between a dollar and a lottery
ticket, hopefully the intensity of the reward will be
maximized as each subject chooses the reward that is most
salient to him or her. In considering this problem, it may
be that autonomic, facial, and/or verbal responding are not
as pronounced as expected during the reward tasks. Yet, to
assume that differences in intensity of emotion contributed
to the lowered responsivity in the measured response
systems, attenuated responding would need to be evidenced in
all three subject groups.
Secondly, differences in baseline autonomic responding
may exist between the RHD patients, LHD patients, and normal
controls. This would make it difficult to separate deficits
in baseline autonomic responding, per se, from affective
autonomic responding. Consequently, baseline autonomic
responding will be examined in the psychophysiological
screening procedure.
Thirdly, it may be that the results of this study
provide partial support for both the global and bivalent