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THE EFFECTS OF VERBALIZATION INSTRUCTIONS AND VISUAL ATTENTION ON HEART RATE AND SKIN CONDUCTANCE
Author(s) -
Campos Joseph j.,
Johnson Harold J.
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1966.tb02658.x
Subject(s) - psychology , skin conductance , stimulus (psychology) , heart rate , conductance , audiology , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , communication , neuroscience , endocrinology , mathematics , medicine , combinatorics , blood pressure , biomedical engineering
ABSTRACT This study investigated the effects of verbalization instructions and amount of visual attention on direction of change of heart rate (HR) and skin conductance (SC). Little evidence for directional fractionation of SC and HR was found with the conditions used. The variable of verbalization instructions produced a highly significant effect on HR and SC, and conditions of no‐verbalization produced a consistent but non‐significant decrement in HR. Other degrees of verbalization produced increments in HR. A visual attention variable produced no significant effect on either HR or SC, although means were arranged in order of increasing activation with increase in visual attention (stimulus complexity). Results were interpreted as being opposed to an intake‐rejection hypothesis such as has been proposed by Lacey to account for directional fractionation of response and for HR decrements. Instead, the authors suggest that the requirement to verbalize can produce important changes in degree and direction of autonomic activation.