Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Testing Animal Anxiety in Rats: Effects of Open Arm Ledges and Closed Arm Wall Transparency in Elevated Plus Maze Test
Published on: June 29, 2018
Reduction of appeasement-related affect as a concomitant of diazepam-induced aggression: evidence for a link between
Patricia S Wallace1, Stuart P Taylor
1Psychology Department, Northern Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois 60115-2892, USA. pwallace@niu.edu
Abstract:
Aggressive responding following benzodiazepine ingestion has been recorded in both experimental and client populations, however, the mechanism responsible for this outcome is unclear. The goal of this study was to identify an affective concomitant linked to diazepam-induced aggression that might be responsible for this relationship. Thirty males (15 diazepam and 15 placebo) participated in the Taylor Aggression Paradigm while covertly being videotaped. The videotapes were analyzed using the Facial Action Coding System with the goal of identifying facial expression differences between the two groups. Relative to placebo participants, diazepam participants selected significantly higher shock settings for their opponents, consistent with past findings using this paradigm. Diazepam participants also engaged in significantly fewer appeasement expressions (associated with the self-conscious emotions) during the task, although there were no group differences for other emotion expressions or for movements in general.
Related Concept Videos
Aggression
Cognitive Theories: Lazarus Mediational Theory of Emotion
Cognitive Appraisal and Emotional Response
Lazarus proposed that emotions are not solely...
The Influence of Cognition on Affect
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
Cognitive Theories: Schachter-Singer Theory of Emotion
Physiological Arousal and Cognitive Labeling
According to this theory, when an individual experiences physiological...
Cognitive Dissonance

