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This experiment was undertaken to investigate the effect of thirst upon speed of perceptual recognition of thirst satisfying objects. Recent interest in the aspects of perception which may function adaptively has led to many experiments attempting to uncover the relations between perception and motivation. This interest has centered around the distorting and selective influence of motivation upon perception. One aspect of the selective function of motivation is its effect upon the speed of perceptual recognition of need related objects. It was in this respect that the effect of need on perception was investigated in the present experiment. A significant limitation in much of past experimentation in this field has been the use of 'marginal' stimuli by investigators. 'Marginal' stimuli are stimulating situations in which the presented stimuli are either fleeting, blurred, or actually objectively lacking. It was felt that all perceptual stimuli are not of this sort and that to generalize from these limited experiments using 'marginal' stimuli, to all forms of perceptual situations, is unwarranted by fact. The present experiment involved stimuli which were more highly structured than had hitherto been used. The purpose of the experiment was to determine if, as had been postulated by other experimenters, the existence of an organic need would decrease the time of perceptual recognition of objects related to the satisfaction of that need. The need investigated was thirst: need for water. The technique used to induce thirst in the 30 subjects which consituted the experimental group, was to feed them peanut-butter before the experiment. The 30 subjects in the control group did not receive the peanut-butter. All subjects, subsequent to experimental testing, were asked to fill out a self-rating on a subjective five point scale of felt thirst. The stimulating situation involved the use of ten puzzle-picture cards. Within each card had been hidden one object. Five of these hidden objects were neutral relative to the need being tested. The other five objects were related to the satisfaction of the prevailing induced need. The type of thirst related objects used, had previously been determined through the use of an association technique applied to a class of undergraduate psychology students. The experiment yielded the following results: 1. The experimental group rated themselves as significantly more thirsty on the self administered scale of felt thirst than did the control group. Hence, we could analyze the remaining data confident that a differential degree of thirst had been established between the control and experimental groups. 2. It was statistically indicated that neither the control or the experimental group demonstrated a correlation between speed on the need cards and speed on the neutral cards. This indicated that if the induced need was effecting perceptual recognition, it was doing so for only one type of object: need or neutral. Consideration of nearly equivalent amounts of correlation tendencies in the control and experimental groups, throws some doubt on the original hypothesis the need will effect the recognition of need related objects. 3. The application of distribution free statistical methods to the results of the individual cards showed that there was no significant difference between the recognition speed of the control and experimental group on any single card. 4. These results did not lend support to the hypothesis that need will effect the speed of perceptual recognition of objects related to the satisfaction of that need. Within the limitations of the experimental technique, this experiment did not support the general hypothesis that need effects perception in terms of perceptual recognition time. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Introduction: Nurses and other health care professionals meet patients with heart failure (HF) who report they are thirsty. Thirst is described by the patients as a concern, and it is distressing. Currently there are no standardized procedures to identify patients with increased thirst or to help a patient to manage troublesome thirst and research in the area of thirst is scarce. In order to prevent and relieve troublesome thirst more knowledge is needed on how thirst is experienced and what factors cause increased thirst. Aim: The aim of this thesis was to describe the thirst experience of patients with HF and describe the relationship of thirst with physiologic, psychologic and situational factors. The goal was to contribute to the improvement of the care by identifying needs and possible approaches to prevent and relieve thirst in patients with HF. Methods: The studies in this thesis used a cross-sectional design (Study I) and prospective observational designs (II-IV). Studies include data from patients with HF who were admitted to the emergency department for deterioration in HF (I, IV) or visited an outpatient HF clinic for worsening of HF symptoms (III); others were patients who were following up after HF hospitalization (II), and patients with no HF diagnosis who sought care at the emergency department for other illness (I). Patients completed questionnaires on thirst intensity, thirst distress, HF self-care behaviour, feeling depressive and feeling anxious. Data on sociodemographic, clinical characteristics, pharmacological treatment and prescribed fluid restriction were retrieved from hospital medical records and by asking the patients. Data were also collected from blood, urine and saliva samples to measure biological markers of dehydration, HF severity and stress. Results: Thirst was prevalent in 1 out of 5 patients (II) and 63% of patients with worsening of HF symptoms experienced moderate to severe thirst distress at hospital admission (IV). Patients at an outpatient HF clinic who reported thirst at the first visit were more often thirsty at the follow-up visits compared to patients who did not report thirst at the first visit (II). Thirst intensity was significantly higher in patients hospitalized with decompensated HF compared to patients with no HF (median 75 vs. 25 mm, visual analogue scale [VAS] 0-100 mm; P < 0.001) (I). During optimization of pharmacological treatment of HF, thirst intensity increased in 67% of the patients. Thirst intensity increased significantly more in patients in the high thirst intensity group compared to patients in the low thirst intensity group (median +18 mm vs. -3 mm; P < 0.001) (III). Patients who were admitted to the hospital with high thirst distress continued to have high thirst distress over time (IV). A large number of patients were bothered by thirst and feeling dry in the mouth when they were thirsty (III, IV). Patients with a fluid restriction had high thirst distress over time and patients who were feeling depressed had high thirst intensity over time (IV). Thirst was associated with fluid restriction (III-IV), a higher serum urea (IIIII), and depressive symptoms (II). Conclusions: A considerable amount of patients with HF experiences thirst intensity and thirst distress. Patients who reported thirst at the first follow-up more often had thirst at the subsequent follow-ups. The most important factors related to thirst intensity or thirst distress were a fluid restriction, a higher plasma urea, and depressive symptoms. Nurses should ask patients with HF if they are thirsty and measure the thirst intensity and thirst distress, and ask if thirst is bothering them. Each patient should be critically evaluated if a fluid restriction really is needed, if the patient might be dehydrated or needs to be treated for depression.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1985.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1985.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (M. Div.)--Grace Theological Seminary, 1986. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-63).

1. 1. Psychiatric patients presenting with chronic psychogenic polydipsia are often difficult to treat with standard psychiatric interventions. 2. 2. Pharmacologie intervention was attempted in three patients and was successful in one. 3. 3. One patient had a significant and sustained reduction of water intake while on 160 mg of propranolol. 4. 4. One patient did not improve with either propranolol or captopril while a third patient showed no improvement of serum sodium with demeclocycline nor reduction of water intake with propranolol. 5. 5. The potential mechanisms by which these pharmacologic agents might alter thirst in patients with primary polydipsia are discussed.

No description available.