Preference for Immediate Events: Choices between Immediate and Delayed Drinks of Quinine Sulfate Solution or Tap Water

When faced with inevitable mild electric shock to the wrist, most people prefer to “get it over with” immediately. The present experiment tested the generality of this preference by asking 60 college students to choose between immediate and delayed drinks of a bitter tasting quinine sulfate solution. The immediate bitter drink was chosen over an equally bitter, delayed drink on 88% of the trials. A control condition using tap water was also tested. Immediate tap water was chosen over delayed tap water on 84% of the trials. This is the first known study in which a nonaversive control has been used and suggests that the preference people have for immediate aversive events may be part of a larger preference for immediate events (positive, neutral, or aversive in hedonic tone).

Conditioning the Pupillary Reflex with Control for the Orienting Response

In an attempt to achieve conditioning of the pupillary reflex under conditions designed to limit the effects of the orienting response, data were obtained for 14 Ss who observed a series of lights of four colors. Each color light was presented 30 times for 7.5 sec. in random order. A mild electric shock was paired with one of the colors during the middle third of the experiment. Comparisons of pupil diameters during various stages of the study show a significant level of conditioning.