Mental control research has found that attempts to suppress unwanted thoughts can backfire when cognitive demands arise or intentional control subsides. The present research examined the relative efficacy of an alternative form of mental control that involves concentrating on desirable thoughts instead of trying to suppress unwanted material. Using a novel cognitive measure that addresses some of the methodological issues associated with previous suppression research, a series of three studies indicates that a concentration strategy of mental control circumvents the problems associated with thought suppression. The findings are consistent with ironic process theory, which maintains that suppression invokes a monitoring process that is exclusively focused on goal-antithetical thoughts, whereas a concentration strategy involves a broader range of monitored thoughts that is less likely to undermine mental control.

This research tested the idea that a cognitive vulnerability to depression can be concealed by thought suppression and revealed when cognitive demands undermine mental control. Depressive, at-risk, and nondepressive participants unscrambled sentences that could from either positive or depressive statements. Half of the participants also received a cognitive load. The results indicated that without a load, at-risk participants showed little evidence of depressive thinking, producing a similar rate of positive statements as did nondepressive individuals and a lower percentage of negative statements than did depressive participants. However, the cognitive load caused an increase in at-risk participants' production of negative statements, revealing a previously undetected tendency toward negative thinking that made them resemble depressive participants. As predicted, this effect was especially pronounced among individuals who routinely engaged in thought suppression.

Dougherty (1950, 1951, 1952) reported that cortisone and hydrocortisone had antiphlogistic activity when injected together with a phlogistic agent into the subcutaneous connective tissue of mice. Since as little as 0.08 μg./ml. of steroid dissolved in isotonic saline solution was required for this response, we were interested in adapting the procedure to a screening technique for antiphlogistic agents. This necessitated some changes in the technical details of the original method. Because of the success of this revised method during the last two years, numerous requests have been received for an outline of the procedure. An essential requisite for consistent results is the strict adherence to minute detail in technique. Accordingly, such details are described in this report.