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Paced Respiration as a Technique for the Modification of Autonomic Response to Stress
Author(s) -
Harris Victor A.,
Katkin Edward S.,
Lick John R.,
Habberfield Tedd
Publication year - 1976
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.1469-8986.1976.tb00850.x
Subject(s) - psychology , respiration , stimulus (psychology) , anticipation (artificial intelligence) , heart rate , aversive stimulus , heart rate variability , audiology , breathing , skin conductance , autonomic nervous system , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , blood pressure , medicine , biomedical engineering , artificial intelligence , psychiatry , computer science , anatomy
This study was designed to test the efficacy of a paced respiration procedure in reducing subjects' reactions to real and anticipated aversive events. The main hypothesis was that subjects who were taught how to pace their respiration at a slower than normal rate in accordance with a specified signal would show decreased autonomic responsiveness to an electric shock and its anticipation. Three groups of 13 subjects were employed. A Respiration Control group was compared with a group which received all the same stimuli but were instructed merely to pay attention to them without any respiration instructions (Attention Control group) and with a control group for whom the stimuli were or no significance. Results for electrodermal measurement, but not for cardiac measurement, indicated that the learning of a short series of breathing exercises can have significant facilitative effects on reducing autonomic responsivity to a stressful stimulus.