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Title:	Properties and Mechanisms of Instructed Heart Rate and Skin Conductance Control
Authors:	Wilton, Dale Terrance
Advisor:	Roberts, L.E.
Department:	Psychology
Keywords:	Psychology;Psychology
Publication Date:	1979
Abstract:
Description:	<p>Instructed control of skin conductance and heart rate was compared using experimental groups trained to produce changes in one or the other of these responses. Subjects were required to produce increases and decreases in the visceral target with the aid of visual analogue feedback for five training sessions. Differences arising between the groups were necessarily attributable to differences in the neural organization of the target responses, since the groups differed only with respect to the response that was identified by the feedback display.</p> <p>Instructed control of both targets was demonstrated. Subjects trained on the heart rate target produced both increases and decreases in response level, whereas only control<br />in the increase direction was demonstrated by the skin conductance group. Instructed changes in skin conductance were approximately three times larger than those  reported in previous studies of this response.</p> <p>Performance mechanisms underlying control also differed between the two groups. Increases in heart rate were associated with increases in somatomotor and respiratory activation, but control of skin conductance was manifested in varying physiological contexts.</p> <p>The bearing of the results on several issues in visceral learning was discussed.</p>
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/11375/9256
Identifier:	opendissertations/4396 5382 2041408
Appears in Collections:	Open Access Dissertations and Theses

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