Summary
D-amphetamine sulfate, dl-amphetamine sulfate, and placebo were orally administered to 93 college student volunteers who served as their own controls in a Latin Square design. Dosages were adjusted to the two-thirds power of body weight with the proportionality constant set for 14 mg/70 kg with each drug. Effects were measured upon performances in a mathematical reasoning test, upon self-appraisals of these performances, and in a task which attached monetary payments to the accuracy of self-appraisals (“Decision Score”). The objectives of this research were (1) to reassess the biases in performance self-appraisals reported by Smith and Beecher (1964), and (2) to determine whether these biases represent mere verbal expansiveness or whether they are reflected by changes in decision behavior.
Smith and Beecher's effect upon self-appraisals was confirmed (at p<.02). Decision Score also was affected (at p<.01) in the predicted direction. Performance scores were not significantly affected.
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This research was supported by Grant No. MH-11294-01 from the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Nel Kopp of State College, Pennsylvania, was the Medical Supervisor. The authors wish to thank Dr. Herbert T. Glenn, Director of the Pennsylvania State University Health Center, and his staff for their generous cooperation in providing medical records for screening student volunteers. The drugs were donated by Smith, Kline and French Laboratories.
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Hurst, P.M., Weidner, M.F. & Radlow, R. The effects of amphetamines upon judgments and decisions. Psychopharmacologia 11, 397–404 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00405023
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00405023