bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Effect of REM Deprivation: Is It Detrimental, Beneficial, or Neutral?
Authors: Lewin Isaac , Glaubman Hanania
Published: February 2007

Based on the assumption that the mental aspect of REM sleep is an extreme state of divergent thinking, it was hypothesized that the psychological effect of REM deprivation varies on a dimension of creativity versus rote learning. On the creativity pole, REM deprivation has a damaging effect, while on the rote learning pole, it has a beneficial effect.

The subjects (.Ss) were 12 male undergraduate students. Each spent 3 nights in the laboratory. Ss served us their own controls, with 5 days separating the REM deprivation and the non‐REM deprivation nights.

Before going to bed, each of the Ss was given 4 tasks, on which testing took place the fallowing morning. Comparable tasks, in a balanced design, were used on the REM deprivation and on the non‐REM deprivation nights, The tasks given were: (a) serial memory, (b) “clustering” memory, (c) word fluency, and (d) Guilford's Utility Test.

Results showed a significant decrement in creativity (the Guilford's Utility Test), and a significant increment in role memory (the serial memory task), due to REM deprivation. No significant differences were found for the other 2 tasks used, which were somewhere in‐between the two extreme poles of creativity and role learning. These results might explain earlier, contradictory findings in this area.

These results lend further support to the general assumption that REM sleep is used by the organism for internal information processing. However, an additional assumption has to be. made, that this processing is divergent and not convergent.
Reaction Time and Heart Rate Between the GET SET and GO of Simulated Races
Authors: St1ern Robert M.
Published: February 2007

The results of three experiments are reported in which simulated race situations, i.e., GET SET—5 sec—GO, were used to examine the anticipatory HR response and RT. The first study involved sprinting up a flight of stairs and the second and third a bicycle sprint. The typical pattern of phasic HR found was acceleration until 1 sec prior to GO and then deceleration. Tonic HR appeared to be a function of the degree of anticipated physical effort. Muscle potential, recorded in the first experiment, appeared to he related to HR. No systematic relationship was found between HR and RT.
Physiological Assessment of Sexual Arousal in Women
Authors: Hoon Peter W. , Wincze John P. , Hoon Emily Franck
Published: February 2007

The purpose of this investigation was to validate the use of vaginal photoplethysmography along with six other physiological measures for the assessment of sexual arousal in women. Six women in counterbalanced order were presented control, dysphoric, and sexually arousing videotapes. Subjective ratings revealed that subjects experienced moderate levels of sexual and anxiety arousal during the videotapes, and comprehension quizzing at the end of the experiment showed that subjects attended to the content. Heart rate, heart rate variability, and skin conductance response failed to discriminate between any of the videotapes. In order from highest to lowest sensitivity, vaginal blood volume, skin conductance, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and forehead temperature showed significant increases during the erotic videotape. Though sensitive, skin conductance appeared to he unreliable. Areas for further research were identified.
Cardiac and Somatic Response Patterns During a Reaction Time Task in Children and Adults
Authors: Lawler Kathleen A. , Obrist Paul A. , Lawler James E.
Published: February 2007

Psychophysiological responses were studied in 25 fifth grade boys and 25 male college students during a choice reaction lime task. Attention to the task was manipulated through changes in two variables: uncertainly and motivation. Heart rate responses reflected changes in uncertainty for both groups. Heart rate, forearm EMG, eye blinks and movements, and general body movement differentiated between two levels of motivation. These results indicated that children and adults responded similarly, and that heart rate and forearm EMG were the most sensitive indices of changes in stimulus variables. Further examination of cardiac and somatic responses revealed an association between cardiac and task‐relevant somatic activity. A study of response patterns over trials confirmed (his relationship, which was discussed in terms of a two‐process model.
Averaged Evoked Responses and the Encoding of Perception
Authors: Schwartz Marvin
Published: February 2007

This paper reviews the hypothesis that averaged evoked response (AER) recordings encode the perception of stimulus content. AERs may be altered by changing subjects' expectancies, attention, affect, etc. AERs may also be altered by differences in the physical parameters of the eliciting stimuli. But if perception is viewed as the processing of the specific informational content of the stimuli, there is no convincing evidence that AERs encode perception. Thus, AKRs appear to be a summary of the activity of stimulus feature detectors and the results of decisions concerning the salience or importance of that information—AERs represent general operations not the specific content of the information being processed.
Patterns of Cerebral Lateralization During Cardiac Biofeedback versus the Self‐Regulation of Emotion: Sex Differences
Authors: Davidson Richard J. , Schwartz Gary E.
Published: February 2007

The purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) to obtain information on central mechanisms underlying cardiac self‐regulation by comparing changes in cerebral asymmetry during self‐control of heart rate with changes observed during the production of affective imagery; and (2) to explore sex differences in hemispheric function during performance of these two tasks. Heart rate (HR) and bilateral parietal EEG filtered for alpha were recorded from 20 right‐handed males and females during two discrete experimental phases: cardiac control and image self‐generation. HR showed significant effects between up versus down in prefeedback and feedback, and between anger versus relaxing imagery in the image phase. The EEG data indicated similar patterns of hemispheric asymmetry in both sexes during prefeedback. However, with the introduction of feedback, females shifted to greater relative right hemisphere activation comparable to what they show when specifically instructed to think emotional thoughts; males showed little differentiation between conditions. These data indicate that the Self‐regulation of HR with biofeedback in males and females may be accomplished by the utilization of strategies involving different underlying patterns of neuropsychological processes.
Multiple Response Comparison of Parietal EEG and Frontalis EMG Biofeedback
Authors: DeGood Douglas E. , Chisholm Ronald C.
Published: February 2007

In Study I parietal EEG and frontalis EMG were simultaneously recorded from 20 normal subjects while half of the subjects received 45 min of eyes‐closed alpha EEG enhancement feedback and the other half received a similar amount of EMG suppression feedback. EMG feedback resulted in a significant reduction in frontalis EMG activity accompanied by a reliable increase in parietal alpha density, while EEG feedback produced only an increase in alpha without corresponding EMG reduction. In Study II, each of 8 subjects underwent four separate feedback contingencies in two 40‐min sessions—one session with eyes open and the other with eyes closed. The four types of feedback were: a) alpha‐up (alpha enhancement), b) alpha‐down (alpha suppression), c) EMG‐down (frontalis tension decrease), and d) EMG‐up (frontalis tension increase). EMG feedback, up and down, resulted in the more consistent pattern of generalized arousal changes reflected in heart rate and respiratory rate as well as EEG and EMG activity. Within the constraints of a limited training period, the results suggest that frontalis EMG feedback is the more efficient procedure for producing a generalized relaxation response. However, since fingertip vasoconstriction accompanied all four types of feedback, caution must be exercised to avoid the oversimplification of generalized organism effects.
Active Circuits for Direct Linear Measurement of Skin Resistance and Conductance
Authors: Lowry Richard
Published: February 2007

Passive voltage‐divider circuitries typically used for measuring skin resistance and conductance provide only indirect measures of these variables. Although the resulting errors of nonlinearity may not be critical for some research purposes, there is no reason why they should be tolerated, because it is possible to design simple active circuitry which avoids the errors by measuring skin resistance and conductance directly. Two such circuits are presented: a) a variable‐gain voltage amplifier for direct linear measurement of skin resistance; and b) a current‐to‐voltage transducer for direct linear measurement of skin conductance. A combined working circuit, suitable for practical research applications, is also presented.
Effects of the Expression of Pain on Autonomic and Pain Tolerance Responses to Subject‐Controlled Pain
Authors: Colby Carl Z. , Lanzetta John T. , Kleck Robert E.
Published: February 2007

A within‐subjects experiment was performed to investigate the effect of various levels of pain expression on autonomic and tolerance responses to electrical shocks which were terminated by the subjects at their tolerance level. Ten male undergraduates posed three levels of pain expression while being shocked by a constant current source that was turned up rapidly, slowly, or not at all. It was found that skin conductance responses to shock are monotonically and positively related to the level of expression; skin conductance is not significantly affected by expression in the absence of shock; pain tolerance levels are not related to the level of expression; and tolerance levels are higher for rapidly ascending shock than for slowly ascending shock. The implications of these results for theories of the expression of emotion are discussed.
The Beneficial Effect of Sleep in an Extended Jenkins and Dallenbach Paradigm
Authors: Benson K. , Feinberg I.
Published: February 2007

Retention of a paired‐associate list of common nouns was tested under two conditions: original learning at night prior to 8 hrs of sleep (Sleep condition), and original learning in the morning prior to a day of normal waking activity (Waking condition). Both conditions were subdivided so that retention was tested at intervals of 8, 16, and 24 hrs after original learning.

For both paced and free recall measures of retention, the Sleep condition proved superior to the Waking condition at the 8 hr interval. At 24 hrs, when the amounts of sleep and waking were equated across both conditions thus normalizing for potential interference, the superiority of the Sleep condition over the Waking condition was also observed. There were no differences in retention between the Sleep and Waking conditions at 16 hrs after original learning. This finding was largely influenced by improved recall on the part of subjects in the Waking condition in the interval between 8 and 16 hrs.

It was concluded that the consolidation during sleep of verbal materials learned shortly before sleep onset has a beneficial effect on their recall and temporal stability in the 8 to 24 hr period following original learning.
Heart Rate as a Discriminative Stimulus
Authors: Epstein Leonard H. , Cinciripini Paul M. , McCoy James F. , Marshall William R.
Published: February 2007

Two experiments were performed to evaluate characteristics of heart activity as discriminative stimuli. In Study I two multiple baseline across subjects designs were utilized to assess the efficacy of trial and error and fading procedures in increasing the detection of heart rate activity above and below an average level. Both trial and error and fading procedures were effective in increasing discrimination accuracy. A 4.4 bpm interval around the subject's mean heart rate was employed as the discriminative stimulus in Study II. Significant stimulus control exerted by the criterion stimuli was found during both training and testing conditions. Experimental procedures were discussed for determining which sensory events in a complex stimulus dimension such as a physiological change are actually exerting stimulus control.
Salivation: A Review and Experimental Investigation of Major Techniques
Authors: White K. D.
Published: February 2007

Techniques for assessing salivation were reviewed and several problem areas highlighted including measurement and reliability problems, and questions relating to sex and gland differences. Ten mate and 10 female undergraduate students took part in an experiment to examine critical issues and assess the comparability of the most frequently used techniques (whole mouth, parotid capsule, and cotton swabs). Results showed that methods were significantly intercorrelated, sex differences were minimal, and laterality effects small and inconsistent.
Orienting and Defensive Responding in the Electrodermal System: Palmar‐Dorsal Differences and Recovery Rate during Conditioning to Potentially Phobic Stimuli
Authors: ÖHman Arne , Fredrikson Mats , Hugdahl Kenneth
Published: February 2007

It was suggested that the effects of fear‐relevant pictures as conditioned stimuli (CSs) for electrodermal responses may be explained if it is assumed that they produce conditioned defense responses (DRs), as opposed to the orienting responses (ORs) that are produced by fear‐irrelevant stimuli. Some propositions in Edelberg's theory of electrodermal activity were used to differentiate between DRs and ORs in a test of this hypothesis. Groups of subjects were conditioned to fear‐relevant (snakes and spiders) or fear‐irrelevant (flowers and mushrooms) CSs by means of an aversive (electric shock) or a non‐aversive (imperative signal for a reaction time (RT) task) unconditioned stimulus in long interval differential paradigms. The neutral‐shock, phobic‐RT, and neutral‐RT groups showed no palmar‐dorsal differences either in magnitude, probability or amplitude, and no conditioning in the recovery rate measure. However, the phobic‐shock group showed a peak of dorsal magnitude early in training that subsequently habituated whereas the palmar magnitude data indicated a gradual conditioning effect that lasted throughout the 20 extinction trials. In addition, it showed slower recovery to the reinforced than to the nonreinforced stimulus. These data are taken as support for the hypothesis.
Vigilance and Human Attention Under Conditions of Methylphenidate and Secobarbital Intoxication: An Assessment Using Brain Potentials
Authors: Hink Robert F. , Fenton Wayne H. , Tinkleberg Jared R. , Pfefferbaum Adolf , Kopell Bert S.
Published: February 2007

Performance is known to fall‐off with the time on a vigilance task. Treatment with methylphenidate attenuates this decrement while treatment with secobarbital enhances it. This experiment was designed to test whether this performance decrement and the drug effects on it are associated with changes in selective attention or in general state (i.e. motivation, alertness, or arousal). Subjects were treated with either 10 mg of methylphenidate, 100 mg of secobarbital, or a placebo in a double‐blind cross‐over design. Two event‐related potentials (N1 and P3) were measured to four tone pips presented in a random sequence. Only two of the four tones could occur in each ear. The task during the vigil was to detect a designated target tone pip. The amplitude of N1 was larger to both target and non‐target stimuli in the attended ear than to those in the unattended ear; P3 amplitude was larger only to the target stimuli. N1 amplitude decreased with time especially when secobarbital was administered. This decrement in N1 amplitude was comparable for both attended and unattended stimuli. The data support the view that the vigilance performance decrement and related drug effects on it are associated primarily with changes in general state.
Imagery Vividness Affects Habituation Rate
Authors: Drummond Peter , White Ken , Ashton Rod
Published: February 2007

In order to investigate the effect of individual differences in imagery vividness on habituation rate, 14 subjects were threatened with receiving and then imagined receiving an electric shock. Subjects first habituated to a tone which was then used as an auditory signal for the shock threat and the imagined shock. The skin conductance response (SCR) was used to follow the course of habituation. Results demonstrated that subjects with non‐vivid imagery habituated to the tone more rapidly than subjects with vivid imagery when the tone was associated with imagining an electric shock. Implications of this finding for therapeutic techniques using instructed imagery are discussed.
Psychophysiology and Psychometrics
Authors: Venables Peter
Published: February 2007

In 1972, psychophysiological data were collected on 1800 3‐yr‐old children with the aim of selecting a subsample of whom some would have characteristics suggesting that they might later break down with schizophrenia and hence be at high‐risk. This approach contrasts with that usually adopted in high‐risk studies where a familial risk definition is employed. The paper examines the extent to which the necessarily crude initial selection procedure appears to have worked in terms of later more extensive analysis and the reliability of the procedures used over an 18 month period. Analogues between the technique used and those employed in psychometric analyses are suggested.
Stress and EEG‐Alpha
Authors: Frost Randy O. , Burish Thomas G. , Holmes David S.
Published: February 2007

When stressed, subjectd showed increased arousal as measured by changes in pulse rate, skin conductance, and self‐reports but did not show changes in EEG‐alpha production. The finding that EEG‐alpha was not sensitive to changes in arousal above the normal level is inconsistent with what has generally been assumed and suggests that alpha biofeedback training will not be effective for teaching persons to reduce high levels of arousal.
Auditory Evoked Potentials and Divided Attention
Authors: Parasuraman Raja
Published: February 2007

In a multi‐channel divided attention task, 8 subjects listened to a sequence of tones delivered at one of two stimulation rates and at one of three spatial locations (channels): left ear, right ear, and an apparent position midway between left and right ears. Subjects were instructed to monitor one, two, or all three channels and detect slightly louder target tones in the monitored channel(s). Seven listening conditions were used, three in which subjects monitored one channel and ignored the others, another three in which two channels were simultaneously monitored and the third ignored, and a further condition in which all three channels were monitored. With a high stimulation rate, the N1 component of the vertex evoked potential (latency 70–130 msec) in both attended and unattended channels significantly decreased in amplitude with an increase in the number of monitored channels. At the same time, N1 was significantly larger when a channel was attended than when it was ignored. There were no significant effects under slow stimulation rate conditions. Like N1, target detectability (d') declined with increasing monitoring load only with a fast stimulation rate, but the correspondence between these two measures was not upheld in every condition. The results indicate that with a high “information load” in a multi‐channel task, selective attention increases the vertex response in all attended channels, while divided attention decreases the response in both attended and unattended channels, thus suggesting that the N1 component of the auditory evoked potential reflects the apparent division of attentional capacity among competing auditory inputs.
Operant Conditioning of Blood Pressure: Effects of Mediators
Authors: Goldman Mark S. , Lee Richard M.
Published: February 2007

Respiration and frontalis muscle activity were evaluated as mediators in the operant conditioning of systolic blood pressure (BP). Three groups of 7 normotensives received 5 training sessions with either: a) systolic BP feedback alone, b) systolic BP feedback plus respiration rate and volume feedback, or c) systolic BP feedback plus frontalis muscle activity feedback. Respiration and muscle feedback subjects were given BP feedback so that they might test various response strategies for BP control. Each session consisted of 5 training cycles, during which the subject was instructed to “lower” BP and then “don't lower” BP. This design demonstrated subjects' BP control, while eliminating extraneous factors as sources of BP change. Respiration feedback clearly enhanced acquisition of BP control, while frontalis muscle feedback was ineffective as a BP mediator. Respiration subjects slowed respiration rate and increased respiration volume when lowering BP. No other systematic physiological changes occurred in any group. Reflex instigation of BP lowering in the respiration group was improbable for a variety of reasons. It was concluded that while mediators may not be essential for response acquisition, they can serve to enhance autonomic self‐regulation. These findings have significant implications for hypertension treatment methodology.
Effects of Coping on Blood Pressure Responses to Threat of Aversive Stimulation
Authors: Manuck Stephen B. , Harvey Ann H. , Lechleiter Stephanie L. , Neal Karen S.
Published: February 2007

The purpose of this study was to examine effects on systolic and diastolic blood pressure due to availability and difficulty of control over anticipated aversive auditory stimulation. In a 2 × 2 factorial design, 44 subjects were presented either of two instructional sets regarding control: a) that exposure to the aversive stimulus would be contingent on the subject's performance at a cognitive task (Control), or b) that the stimulus would occur at random during the task period (No Control). The experimental task consisted of problems in concept formation and was presented to Control and No Control subjects at either of two levels of difficulty (Difficult or Easy); task success was manipulated by the experimenter to assure equivalent performance across groups. Results indicated that within the Task Difficult condition, Control subjects evidenced greater systolic blood pressure elevations than subjects in the No Control group, whereas Control and No Control subjects in the Task Easy condition showed no reliable differences. Diastolic blood pressure did not vary by control or task difficulty. It was concluded that the availability of control responses may induce greater arousal in situations involving threat of aversive stimulation, but that this effect obtains only when subjects experience some degree of difficulty employing available coping strategies.
Comparison Between Time‐Lapse Video Recordings of Behavior and Polygraphic State Determinations in Premature Infants
Authors: Fuller Peter W. , Wenner Waldemar H. , Blackburn Susan
Published: February 2007

This study was done to compare time‐lapse video recordings of eye and body activity with polygraphically determined states of activity from human premature infants. Time‐lapse video recording in neonates is new, and was first reported by Anders and Sostek (1976) who have used time‐lapse video recordings of sleep‐wake activity in full‐term infants. We recorded 8 prematurely born human infants, 5 males and 3 females between 29 and 34 weeks gestational age at birth. Behavioral and physiological states were scored from the polygraphic records. The video‐tape observations were coded for three levels of body movement: no body movement, some body movement, and a lot of body movement, and eyes: closed no rapid eye movements (REMs), REMs, and open. The following relationships (concordance) were observed: 1) 60% of the non‐REM/no movement epochs were in the Quiet state on the polygraph; 2) 83% of the REM/some movement epochs were in the REM state on the polygraph; and 3) 82% of the REM/ a lot of movement epochs were in the REM state on the polygraph.
Telemetry of Human Cerebral Temperature
Authors: Dabbs James M. , Neuman Michael R.
Published: February 2007

Cerebral temperature can be monitored unobtrusively on free‐ranging human subjects. We describe here a pulse‐modulated radio frequency transmitter that is worn behind the ear and transmits information on temperature in the ear canal. The information can be decoded by a portable monitor or recorded for later analysis. Preliminary findings suggest the equipment can be used in a variety of studies.
A Direct Comparison of the Skin Conductance and Skin Resistance Methods
Authors: Boucsein Wolfram , Hoffmann Georg
Published: February 2007

The purpose of the present study was a direct comparison between simultaneous recordings of skin conductance and skin resistance. Sixty male students received a series of 30 white noise stimuli, while measures were taken continuously from four sites on the palmar surfaces of the fingers. Evaluations were made for response amplitudes, recovery, and for an approximate area measure. Magnitude of reactions and reliabilities were compared using ANOVA procedures. Behavioral concordances were estimated as correlations with the subjects' ratings of stimulus intensities.

Conductance and resistance measures do not differ in amplitude, in area, or in strength of their reliabilities and behavioral concordances. No differences in any respect are found between sites. Skin conductance yields significantly (p < .01) shorter recovery times than skin resistance, which is discussed in terms of membrane permeability change.
Stability of EEG Laterality Effects
Authors: Amochaev A. , Salamy A.
Published: February 2007

Task related interhemispheric asymmetries of ongoing EEG activity (alpha band) were tested for stability across three separate occasions. Seven cognitive tasks, presumed to differentially engage either the left or right cerebral hemisphere, were presented to 6 subjects. Involvement with the tasks was determined by evaluation of performance and with a subjective report on degree of involvement. Bilateral EEG was recorded over the parietal areas referenced to an ipsilateral ear, vertex and a central placement, on separate channels. Spectral intensity estimates of 8–13 Hz activity were used to form left/right ratios for determination of asymmetry. Intra‐subject stability of alpha band activity was found to improve with the establishment of task validity and to be related to the electrode placement used.
Variations in Behavioral Response Threshold Within the REM Period of Human Sleep
Authors: Price Leonard J. , Kremen Irwin
Published: February 2007

Behavioral response threshold measures were compared between REM tonic, REM phasic, as well as NREM‐2 sleep. Eighteen young college males were each instructed to respond with one or two microswitch presses upon detection of either of two tones triggered during two non‐consecutive nights of sleep in the laboratory. Repeated measures comparisons (ANOVA) of average response threshold values, as determined via a method of limits procedure, showed REM tonic values to be significantly lower than both REM phasic and NREM‐2 values while the latter two did not differ significantly from each other. The average of REM period threshold values was significantly lower than NREM‐2 values, solely by virtue of the tonic component of the REM period. These differences within the REM period may account in part for greater variance in REM‐period behavioral thresholds within and between similar studies. This consideration deserves attention in any attempt to compare the REM period as a whole to NREM‐2 stage measures of responsiveness.
Comparisons of Sweat Gland Counts, Electrodermal Activity, and Habituation Behavior in Young and Old Groups of Subjects
Authors: Catania Jeffrey J. , Thompson Larry W. , Michalewski Henry A. , Bowman Thomas E.
Published: February 2007

The present experiment utilized a habituation paradigm to investigate age differences in sweat gland counts (SGC), skin conductance responses (SCR), and skin conductance levels (SCL). The 12 young subjects (mean age 25.3 yrs) and the 12 old subjects (mean age 69.5 yrs) exhibited no reliable age differences in habituation of the SCR or in the magnitude of the SCRs measured. Bilateral conductance recordings revealed no laterality effects for SCR or SCL in either age group. Age differences were found for both SGC and SCL. Correlations of SGC with SCL revealed a strong relationship in the young (r= 74) and a relatively weak correspondence in the elderly (r= .22). The reverse was observed for SGC and SCR correlations, with the old sample showing consistently high correlations and the younger sample consistently low correlations. A stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the variance in SCL predicted by age was not independent of the variance predicted by differences in SGC. The data are discussed in terms of age‐related change in peripheral factors which affect electrodermal behavior.
P300 and Stimulus Categorization: Two Plus One is not so Different from One Plus One
Authors: Johnson Ray , Donchin Emanuel
Published: February 2007

Event related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from subjects who were instructed to count one of three, equally probable tones presented in a random sequence. In another condition, the subjects had to count one of two stimuli, one of which was presented with a probability of .33. The data support the view that the pattern of variation of P300 amplitude with the sequential structure of the series depends on the category to which events are assigned, rather than on the individual stimuli eliciting the P300. Furthermore, the data support the idea that the amplitude of P300 elicited by task‐relevant stimuli is determined by the subjective probability associated with the eliciting event.

DESCRIPTIONS: ERP, P300, Subjective probability, Stimulus categorization.
Evoked Potential and Behavioral Signs of Attentive Dysfunctions in Hyperactive Boys
Authors: Loiselle David L. , Stamm John S. , Maitinsky Steven , Whipple Stephen C.
Published: February 2007

Subjects were 12 boys (12–14 yrs old) who had previously been diagnosed for hyperactivity (clinical group) and 15 age‐matched normal controls. For the selective attention (SA) task vertex ERPs were recorded to dichotically presented tone pips, with differing frequencies to each ear. Each series contained randomly interspersed signals and subjects were instructed to count the signals to one ear (targets). Behavioral tasks consisted of responses to SA targets, a 10‐min vigilance series, and dichotic listening. No significant group differences were found to non‐attended channels for N and P amplitudes and latencies. N amplitude enhancements to the attended channels were significant for the controls (44%), but not for the clinical boys (14%). Also, P latencies and amplitudes to the target pips were significantly greater for the control than the clinical group. Behavioral responses showed significant deficits by the clinical boys for SA and vigilance, but not for dichotic listening. Correct behavioral SA responses correlated significantly with P target amplitudes, but not with N amplitude enhancements. These findings indicate severe dysfunctions by the clinical boys for selective attention, involving both stimulus and response sets.
Effect of Harassment and Competition Upon Cardiovascular and Plasma Catecholamine Responses in Type A and Type B Individuals
Authors: Glass David C. , Krakoff Lawrence R. , Contrada Richard , Hilton William F. , Kehoe Kathleen , Mannucci Elinor G. , Collins Carla , Snow Barry , Elting Ellen
Published: February 2007

Two experiments examined the relationship between Type A behavior and cardiovascular and plasma catecholamine responses to experimental competition and harassment. Experiment I showed that, in 44 male adults, the presence of a hostile opponent caused no significant differences in the responses of Type B's. In A's, by contrast, hostility elicited greater increases in systolic blood pressure, heart rate and plasma epinephrine during competition. Behavior pattern A appears selectively predisposed to enhanced reaction to hostile interactions, but competition alone does not distinguish between individuals with A and B behavior patterns. Experiment II, with 20 cases, was carried out to determine whether or not the absence of A‐B differences in the presence of a nonhostile competitor could be explained by Type B's reactivity to the challenge of competition alone. The results were consistent with this interpretation. A's showed greater blood pressure and plasma epinephrine evaluations than B's when both types were confronted by the challenge of task performance. Consideration was given to the role of sympathetic activation in mediating the tendency of Type A individuals to develop coronary heart disease.
The Effects of Psychological Stress on Respiration: A Preliminary Study of Anxiety and Hyperventilation
Authors: Suess William M. , Alexander A. Barney , Smith Deborah D. , Sweeney Helga W. , Marion Richard J.
Published: February 2007

The occurrence of hyperventilation (overbreathing resulting in lowered end‐tidal CO2) in conjunction with psychological stress was investigated. Twenty‐nine normal subjects were individually placed in a stress condition by being required to make perceptual judgments under threat of electric shock for exceeding a specified number of errors. Feedback of errors was controlled by the experimenter and no subject was ever shocked since manipulated feedback never exceeded shock criterion. Stress induction consisted of four phases: request for participation, subject decision, pre‐task instruction, and task. Dependent measures consisted of end‐tidal CO2, respiration rate, heart rate, and State Anxiety scores. Stress manipulation was confirmed by significantly increased heart rate and anxiety scores from baseline values. Baseline comparisons indicated significant decreases in end‐tidal CO2 (i.e., hyperventilation) for all phases as well as significant increases in respiration rate for all phases but one. Comparisons among several phases revealed significant changes in end‐tidal CO2 either unaccompanied by or uncorrelated with changes in respiration rate. These results: 1) support the occurrence of hyperventilation to stress in normals, 2) suggest that respiration rate alone is an insufficient measure of respiratory reactivity to psychological stimuli, and 3) are discussed in terms of more appropriate functional assessments of respiratory response to stress.
Recall, Recognition, and Rate: Memory and the Heart
Authors: Jennings J. Richard , Hall Stanley W.
Published: February 2007

Heart rate (HR) changes during recall and recognition tasks were related to memory load and performance. Current hypotheses imply that heart rate acceleration may indicate the processing of stored information, and, thus relate to task performance. Twenty volunteers performed a recognition task with memory set size varying between five and ten items. The task was divided into input, retain, and test periods. Eight volunteers performed a recall task which was identical except for the form of the memory test. Consistent HR changes showed a deceleration prior to each task period which was followed by acceleration. HR was not influenced by memory load, but did show a small but consistent relationship to performance. In both recall and recognition experiments relatively greater acceleration in the retain period was associated with more accurate memory performance. Similar but less clear effects occurred during information input. In this period degree of deceleration also appeared related to recognition performance. Results were related to previous concepts of HR and attention rather than processes specific to memory.
Lateral Differences in the Latency Between Finger Tapping and the Heart Beat
Authors: Davidson Richard J. , Horowitz Mark E. , Schwartz Gary E. , Goodman David M.
Published: February 2007

Based upon suggestions that the two cerebral hemispheres may be differentially involved in the perception and regulation of autonomic activity, three studies were designed to explore differences in the relationship between left versus right hand finger tapping and the heartbeat. In each study, right‐handed subjects were asked to tap with either their left versus right forefingers regularly at the rate of approximately once per second. When the time from the R‐spike immediately preceding their tap to the tap was examined, a significant difference between the two hands was obtained in two of the studies, with the left hand tapping closer to the last R‐spike compared with the right. A variety of additional conditions in the experiments suggest that this effect may depend upon tapping rhythmically. The implications of these findings for the differential role of the left and right hemispheres in the perception and regulation of cardiac activity are considered.
P300 and Uncertainty Reduction in a Concept‐Identification Task
Authors: De Swart J. H. , Kok A. , Das‐Smaal E. A.
Published: February 2007

The relationship between the amplitude of P300, the mean amplitude of the Slow Wave, and uncertainty reduction after (dis)confirmation of hypotheses was studied in a Concept‐Identification task. The subjects had to categorize stimuli according to a conceptual rule (joint denial or exclusion) and to rate the confidence that their classification was correct. Three types of feedback were distinguished: confirming (subject's categorization was correct), disconfirming (subject's categorization was incorrect), and non‐informative feedback. The EEG was averaged separately according to the three types of feedback and the two confidence ratings (low, high).

The data showed the predicted interaction between type of feedback and confidence level. A larger P300 amplitude turned up after confirming feedback when the subject was less confident, than when he was more confident. The reverse was found after disconfirming feedback. The P300 amplitude after non‐informative feedback was not influenced by confidence. The mean amplitude of the Slow Wave showed approximately the same interaction pattern.

The results were interpreted in terms of changes in the probability of hypotheses which subjects use to categorize stimuli in a Concept‐Identification task.
Extent of Coronary Atherosclerosis, Type A Behavior, and Cardiovascular Response to Social Interaction
Authors: Krantz David S. , Schaeffer Marc A. , Davia James E. , Dembroski Theodore M. , MacDougall James M. , Shaffer Richard T.
Published: February 2007

It has been hypothesized that increased hemodynamic reactivity to psychological challenge in Type A individuals might be one important factor in specifically promoting the onset or progression of coronary artery disease (CAD). This study sought to test this notion by relating the extent of documented atherosclerosis to cardiovascular responses to challenging social situations. Eighty‐three patients scheduled for cardiac catheterization were given a structured Type A interview and a history quiz while heart rate and blood pressure were monitored. Analyses controlling for age and beta‐adrenergic blocking medications revealed some evidence of Type A‐B differences in systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and rate‐pressure product during the interview, but not during the quiz. More importantly for the aim of the study, there was little systematic evidence that magnitude of response on any of the cardiovascular measures was positively related to severity of CAD. Internal analyses of 24 non‐medicated patients and examination of data derived from cardiac catheterization were used to rule out the possible confounding effects of beta‐blocking drugs and myocardial damage. Results of this study do not provide evidence for a direct linkage between blood pressure or heart rate responses and the atherosclerotic process in coronary arteries. Limitations of the present study are discussed, and it is suggested that hemodynamic reactivity may be specifically linked to clinical manifestations of coronary heart disease via mechanisms other than acceleration of the atherosclerotic process.
Heart Rate Biofeedback and Cold Pressor Pain
Authors: Reeves John L. , Shapiro David
Published: February 2007

This study addressed the relative contributions of self‐regulated heart rate change and belief that heart rate is changing in an instructed direction to the perception of cold pressor pain. Forty male volunteers were each assigned to one of four combinations of increase or decrease heart rate instructions and increase or decrease feedback conditions. Subjects were given an initial 45‐sec cold pressor test, 25 feedback trials, and a final cold pressor in which they were told to change their heart rate in the instructed direction, but without the aid of feedback. Subjects were instructed specifically that increased heart rate was associated with increased pain and decreased heart rate with decreased pain. The veridical groups (consistent instructions and feedback) showed appropriate heart rate changes during biofeedback training and parallel changes in heart rate and pain perception during the final cold pressor. The non‐veridical (reverse) feedback groups showed no heart rate change during biofeedback training and no relationship between heart rate and pain perception changes during the final cold pressor test. EMG, respiration, and skin conductance data are presented, and several mechanisms are proposed to explain the physiological and subjective changes.
Autonomic Myocardial Influences as a Factor Determining Inter‐Task Consistency of Heart Rate Reactivity
Authors: Bunnell David E.
Published: February 2007

This study assessed the consistency of subjects’relative heart rate (HR) responsivity across four tasks and examined the role played by autonomic myocardial influences on this consistency. HR responses across tasks were predicted to covary to the extent that they reflected a similar autonomic mediation, assessed by measurement of pulse transit time (PTT).

Forty‐eight male subjects performed two sensory intake (Tones and Lights RT) and two sensory rejection (Mental Arithmetic and Word Formation) tasks. Consistency of HR responsivity was revealed by significant positive correlations observed between HR changes during all task pairs. High HR reactors in rejection tasks displayed HR decreases during an intake task (Tones), whereas low reactors displayed the expected bradycardia. Significant correlations between HR and PTT changes suggested that SNS influences were evoked by mental arithmetic, whereas a dissociation of these indices in the Tones task implied a predominance of PNS influence in that task. Nevertheless, HR changes covaried reliably between these tasks, suggesting that HR responsivity is consistent across situations evoking different patterns of autonomic influence on the heart.
Electrodermal and Electro‐oculographic Activity in a Hypnagogic State
Authors: Hori Tadao
Published: February 2007

The present study investigated whether or not changes in spontaneous skin potential activity (SPA) could be used to identify the tendency to fall asleep. Skin potential level (SPL) and skin potential response (SPR) on the palm and on the dorsal hand were studied in 20 male subjects during a transition period (hypnagogic state) from wake to sleep. The negativity of palmar SPL significantly decreased during this transition period. This decline in SPL started 3.5 min before stage 1 onset and terminated 1.5 min before stage 1 onset. Similar anticipatory changes were found in palmar SPR and slow eye movements, suggesting the existence of common central underlying mechanisms. The dorsal hand did not show changes.
Behaviorally Signalled Awakenings in Relationship to Duration of Alpha Activity
Authors: Anch A. Michael , Salamy Joseph G. , McCoy Gerald F. , Somerset J. Scott
Published: February 2007

This study examined the relationship between behavioral awakening as Indicated by motor responses and electroencephalographic (EEG) measures of awakening as reflected by the duration of alpha (8‐12 Hz) activity.

Young adult males were monitored polygraphically as they slept in the laboratory for three successive nights. They were instructed to press a button three times whenever they awakened from sleep. Latency from the appearance of alpha activity to subsequent button‐presses was determined.

Mean latency to button‐press across subjects, nights, and sleep stages was 6.54 (±4.38) sec. Differences In latencies as a function of prior sleep stage or night of the study were not statistically significant. It is concluded that the amount of alpha activity preceding behavioral acknowledgement of an awakening is somewhat less than that required to constitute wakefulness by conventional scoring systems.
Heart Rate Discrimination Viewed as a Perceptual Process: A Replication and Extension
Authors: Grigg Lyn , Ashton Roderick
Published: February 2007

Two experiments are reported which investigate the efficacy of Ashton, White, and Hodgson's (1979) two‐alterative‐forced‐choice discrimination technique for training accuracy in perception of heart rate. In the first study, subjects were assigned to either a knowledge of results (KR) or no‐knowledge of results condition (noKR). In the second study a third condition, augmented feedback (AFB), was added. The two studies differed essentially in the timing of the commencement of training, and in the number of training sessions employed. Transfer of training was assessed in both studies by testing all subjects on a heartbeat discrimination task modified from Brener and Jones (1974). The pattern of results was consistent in indicating that providing subjects with information about the accuracy of their decisions is an effective means of training cardiac awareness, and that transfer of the trained awareness to a more commonly used exteroceptive discrimination procedure occurs. The data also point to the possibility that allowing subjects to “practice” prior to any training may be a procedural measure best avoided in discrimination training experiments.
Does the Menstrual Cycle Play a Role in Sexual Arousal?
Authors: Hoon Peter W. , Bruce Katherine , Kinchloe Bradford
Published: February 2007

Menstrual cycle effects on erotic arousability were tested in 13 women aged 20–28. Vaginal blood volume and pulse amplitude were measured with a light emitting diode photoplethysmograph, labial temperature was measured by a small thermistor, and subject self‐report of arousal was estimated on a 7‐point Likert scale in response to audio erotic tapes and fantasy over five different phases of the menstrual cycle. Pre‐session levels of blood volume and labial temperature showed no important changes across the cycle, but pooled blood volume, pulsatile blood volume and labial temperature reliably demonstrated sexual arousal during tape and fantasy sessions. Repeated measures analyses of variance and covariance of physiological change scores from baseline and subjective ratings failed to demonstrate that significant changes in self‐reports, vaginal blood volume, vaginal pulse amplitude, or labial temperature occurred as a function of menstrual cycle phase. This study provides objective physiological evidence that there appears to be no one phase in the menstrual cycle during which women are more sexually arousable to erotic stimuli as detected by these physiological measures.
The Application of the Preparatory‐Response Hypothesis to Changes in Base Skin Resistance
Authors: Champion R. A. , Hodge R.
Published: February 2007

It is deduced from physical principles that the physical intensity (and presumably the painfulness or rated intensity) of a constant‐current shock should decrease with lowered skin resistance whereas that of a constant‐voltage shock should increase. In terms of the preparatory‐response hypothesis, therefore, base skin resistance should fall as a tonic response to background cues with constant‐current shocks and rise with constant‐voltage shocks. By the same token, interpolated shocks of the opposite kind in each case should be rated as more intense than those of the same kind. These predictions were confirmed experimentally.