Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

The law of initial value: a rare exception.

M Myrtek, F Foerster

Biological Psychology

|June 1, 1986

Summary

The law of initial value (LIV) is challenged by a new analysis. Removing a statistical artifact revealed a positive dependency, suggesting an "anti-LIV" effect in physiological responses.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Soft Reconstruction Kernels Improve HCC Imaging on a Photon-Counting Detector CT.

Academic radiology·2023

Same author

Vaccinia-based oncolytic immunotherapy Pexastimogene Devacirepvec in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma after sorafenib failure: a randomized multicenter Phase IIb trial (TRAVERSE).

Oncoimmunology·2019

Same author

Sorafenib in combination with docetaxel as first-line therapy for HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer: Final results of the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II MADONNA study.

Breast (Edinburgh, Scotland)·2019

Same author

[Cost-effective medical therapy of hepatitis C employing novel compensation models - pay for cure].

Zeitschrift fur Gastroenterologie·2016

Same author

[Cost-effective medical therapy of hepatitis C employing novel compensation models - pay for cure].

Zeitschrift fur Gastroenterologie·2015

Same author

Targeting the actin cytoskeleton: selective antitumor action via trapping PKCɛ.

Cell death & disease·2014

Area of Science:

Psychophysiology
Physiological Psychology
Behavioral Neuroscience

Background:

The law of initial value (LIV) describes a negative correlation between initial physiological levels and subsequent changes.
This phenomenon is widely observed but its underlying mechanisms and validity are debated.
The a(a - b) effect is a statistical artifact that can influence observed correlations.

Purpose of the Study:

To re-evaluate the law of initial value (LIV) by addressing the influence of the a(a - b) effect.
To investigate the true relationship between initial physiological values and response magnitudes.
To test the LIV hypothesis using psychophysiological data from stress-inducing challenges.

Main Methods:

Analysis of psychophysiological data from 125 male students undergoing stress tests (e.g., Cold Pressor Test).
Monitoring of physiological variables including blood pressure, stroke volume, and electrodermal activity.
Application of principal component analysis to isolate and remove the a(a - b) effect from initial value correlations.

Main Results:

The study found no support for the traditional law of initial value (LIV).
After correcting for the a(a - b) effect, a positive correlation (anti-LIV) between initial values and response was observed.
The results indicate a reciprocal relationship between LIV and anti-LIV depending on the measures used.

Conclusions:

The law of initial value (LIV) may be an artifact of statistical methods rather than a true physiological principle.
An 'anti-LIV' effect, a positive dependency, appears to be a more accurate description of the relationship in certain contexts.
Further research is needed to understand the implications of these findings for psychophysiology and to compare different methods for correcting initial value dependencies.

Related Experiment Videos