“…The mcidental stimulus was one of two tape recordings which was played m the next room at a volume such that it could easily be heard m the expenmental room if the subject focused on it but which was not so mtrusive as to mtemipt what he was domg For subjects assigned to Group I, the stimulus was a senes of scenes from the play A View from the Bridge (VB) These scenes were all arguments 3 The exact lnstructicms were identical to those given by Shevnn and Fisher {1967) 4 The early memory prtx:«dure was mcluded for purposes of a study other tlian that reported here and will not be dealt with m this article between various characters, diffenng m their content but uniformly beUigerent m tone At the volume it was played, and with distortion caused by the tape recorder and by its bemg heard through the walls, it was di£Bcult to make out clearly what was bemg said The angry tone was readily apparent, however, and all subjects, when later mterviewed, perceived it as such For subjects assigned to Croup II, the stimulus consisted of portions of the French operetta Les Cloches de Comevtlle by Planquette, mterspersed with laughter and bnef segments of cockta J partv chatter, with hght music m the background The entire stimulus was qmte gay and lyncal Smce the operetta was sung m French, its verbal content was not available to the subjects, the words bemg said by the partygoers were mostly drowned m the general hum of the party For vanous reasons, 40 subjects were assigned to the VB condition and 20 to the music condition.…”