[Effects of arousal level on the physiological responding on the Concealed Information Test].

This study examined effects of arousal level on the physiological responses in a polygraph examination using the Concealed Information Test (CIT). Thirty-nine healthy college students were tested with or without evaluative observation. Electrodermal activity, blood pressure, heart rate, normalized pulse volume, and respiration were recorded. Observation elevated participants' arousal level, which was manifested in self-reports, high skin conductance level, and low normalized pulse volume (i.e., vasoconstriction). However, differential reactivity to critical and non-critical items on the physiological measures was less affected by observation. These results suggested that participants' arousal level has little effect on differential physiological reactivity on the CIT.

[The influence of cognitive appraisal on the duration of negative emotional experience and cardiovascular response].

The duration of a negative emotional experience is associated with delayed cardiovascular recovery. Cognitive appraisal is thought to play an important role in cutting off these responses, which are related to cardiovascular disease. This study examined the influence of cognitive appraisal on the duration of negative emotional experiences and cardiovascular responses. Before a speech task, participants were told that their performance would be evaluated by means of a video camera and that they would be given the score at the end of the experiment. To manipulate cognitive appraisal, participants were randomly assigned to a group that received one of three instructions following the speech task. The "non-threat" group was informed that there was no evaluation or feedback about the score; the "threat" group received that there were some obscurities in their speech and some questions were given while comparing with the video; the control group was given no instructions. After receiving their respective instructions, all groups were monitored for a post-task period of five minutes. The results showed that the "non-threat" group experienced a decreased negative emotional experience and had a speedy recovery for blood pressure, through the intermediary of a greater decline in total peripheral resistance, than the other groups in the post-task period. These results were discussed in connection with the function of cognitive reappraisal.

[Intensity of subjective responses in "agari" and cardiovascular and respiratory responses].

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the intensity of subjective responses, called "agari" (stage fright) and psychophysiological reactions. We considered "agari" as an internal state of psychological and physiological arousal which occurs in performance situations. In this study, heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and respiration rate (RR) were recorded in the rest period, the preparation period, before and after the task, together with some subjective measurements. Each of 31 students gave a speech in front of observers (experimental condition). They were divided into two groups, the high-arousal group (H-group) and low-arousal group (L-group), by the median of "Agari" scores, obtained at the preparation period. A different group of 16 students read an essay aloud without observers (control group). No differences were found on SBP, DBP and RR between H-group and L-group. As for HR, taken in the preparation period, H-group and the control group indicated significantly different values, but L-group and the control group did not. These results suggest the possibility that the intensity of subjective and physiological response of "agari" may be discrepant.