Date of Award

11-1-1989

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

The intent of this study was to examine the effects of viewing domestic discord on cognitive mapping in a home-like environment. Subjects' level of arousal was manipulated by having them watch a videotape containing scenes of domestic violence before they completed a cognitive mapping task in a furnished, two-bedroom apartment. In an attempt to prolong the effect of videotape content, subjects were exposed to white noise while they completed the cognitive mapping task. The inclusion of control conditions, along with the two arousal factors (videotape content and noise), resulted in four experimental groups.Forty female subjects watched one of the videotapes and then were asked to spend ten minutes (individually) in the apartment with the instructions to familiarize themselves with the floorplan and furnishings so they could make a sketch of the apartment when finished. The drawings were scored using a linear digitizer and the sketch maps were compared to a scale drawing of the floorplan and furnishings.To ascertain the effectiveness of videotape content in increasing subjects' arousal, subjects completed an adjective checklist after watching the videotape. They completed the same checklist after completing the cognitive mapping task to determine if the arousal created by observing the videotape has been maintained.The maintenance of arousal was not successful in that videotape content resulted in increases in arousal, but the arousal level decreased over the course of the study. In regard to cognitive mapping tasks, it was hypothesized that if arousal was maintained, subjects in the groups who observed aggressive content videotape would perform less accurately on complex aspects of the spatial task (i.e., distance, relative placement, and overall area). Arousal was not maintained, however, and results were consistent with an inverted-U relationship between arousal and performance. The arousal generated was sufficient to result in a decrease in performance for one aspect of the task (relative placement of objects). Performance was enhanced by arousal in other aspects of the task (distance and memory for objects).

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