Electrodermal Lability and Individual Differences in Simultaneous Monitoring and Tracking

Electrodermal (galvanic skin) responses conveniently index sympathetic arousal. Indivduals with high levels of resting electrodermal activity are designated “labiles,” while those with low levels, “stabiles.” Labiles appear resistant to performance decrement over time in vigilance tasks. Thus, increased electrodermal responsivity may represent enhanced attentional capacity during such tasks. The responses of 10 labiles and 10 stabiles were collected during a simple reaction time task and under single and dual task monitoring and tracking conditions. Subjects monitored an automatic tracking task for dynamic system failures. Tracking was the Critical Task with a subcritical level of instability. The reaction time data paralleled the previously reported findings of inferior performance for stabiles. The data for complex single and dual task conditions did not reveal a similar trend. Generally, stabiles performed better. The pattern of these results suggests that the proposed selective enhancement associated with electrodermal lability is only adaptive for tasks that require or profit from focused attention.

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Modeling Within-Person Variance in Reaction Time Data of Older Adults

GeroPsych ◽

10.1024/1662-9647/a000045 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 169-176 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Philippe Rast ◽

Daniel Zimprich

Keyword(s):

Reaction Time ◽

Cognitive Aging ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Reaction Time Task ◽

Reaction Time Data ◽

Scale Model ◽

Time Data ◽

Time Task ◽

The Mean ◽

Second Wave

In order to model within-person (WP) variance in a reaction time task, we applied a mixed location scale model using 335 participants from the second wave of the Zurich Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging. The age of the respondents and the performance in another reaction time task were used to explain individual differences in the WP variance. To account for larger variances due to slower reaction times, we also used the average of the predicted individual reaction time (RT) as a predictor for the WP variability. Here, the WP variability was a function of the mean. At the same time, older participants were more variable and those with better performance in another RT task were more consistent in their responses.

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Loss aversion in hotel choice: Psychophysiological evidence

Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research ◽

10.1177/10963480211025339 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 109634802110253

Author(s):

Robin Chark ◽

Brian King

Keyword(s):

Reaction Time ◽

Loss Aversion ◽

Decision Process ◽

Electrodermal Activity ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Reaction Time Data ◽

Cognitive Conflict ◽

Choice Data ◽

Time Data ◽

Psychophysiological Correlates

The authors investigate the psychophysiological correlates of loss aversion in hotel choice. Consumers are frequently found reluctant to shift their choice to a subsequent option from their first encountered hotel. The concept of loss aversion can explain this ordering effect. However, there is a knowledge gap about how exactly loss aversion leads to such inertia. The present study provides a more direct measurement of this decision process by examining electrodermal activities and reaction times when consumers are making hotel choices. The choice data provides evidence of reluctance to switch to higher quality hotels, though not to lower rated properties. Such a switch is found emotionally arousing as indicated by consumers’ electrodermal activity. The reaction time data further suggests that the swiftness of such decisions to “trade up” is associated with the greater vigilance and attention, rather than a cognitive conflict caused by the difficult tradeoff between the hotels.

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Manipulations of the Response-Stimulus Intervals as a Factor Inducing Controlled Amount of Reaction Time Intra-Individual Variability

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11050669 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 669

Author(s):

Paweł Krukow ◽

Małgorzata Plechawska-Wójcik ◽

Arkadiusz Podkowiński

Keyword(s):

Reaction Time ◽

Simple Reaction Time ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Reaction Time Task ◽

Assessment Method ◽

Individual Variability ◽

Simple Reaction Time Task ◽

Stimulus Interval ◽

Simple Reaction ◽

Response Stimulus

Aggrandized fluctuations in the series of reaction times (RTs) are a very sensitive marker of neurocognitive disorders present in neuropsychiatric populations, pathological ageing and in patients with acquired brain injury. Even though it was documented that processing inconsistency founds a background of higher-order cognitive functions disturbances, there is a vast heterogeneity regarding types of task used to compute RT-related variability, which impedes determining the relationship between elementary and more complex cognitive processes. Considering the above, our goal was to develop a relatively new assessment method based on a simple reaction time paradigm, conducive to eliciting a controlled range of intra-individual variability. It was hypothesized that performance variability might be induced by manipulation of response-stimulus interval’s length and regularity. In order to verify this hypothesis, a group of 107 healthy students was tested using a series of digitalized tasks and their results were analyzed using parametric and ex-Gaussian statistics of RTs distributional markers. In general, these analyses proved that intra-individual variability might be evoked by a given type of response-stimulus interval manipulation even when it is applied to the simple reaction time task. Collected outcomes were discussed with reference to neuroscientific concepts of attentional resources and functional neural networks.

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Analysis of Task Difficulty under Varying Conditions of Induced Stress

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1970.31.2.343 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 343-348 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jerry W. Thornton ◽

Paul D. Jacobs

Keyword(s):

Reaction Time ◽

Choice Reaction Time ◽

Reaction Time Task ◽

Simple Reaction Time Task ◽

Simple Task ◽

Practical Applications ◽

Time Task ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Task Relatedness ◽

Related Stress

Two tasks (simple and choice reaction time) were examined while varying three types of stressors (shock, threat of shock, and noise) and the stressor task relationship (i.e., task-related stress, task-unrelated stress, and no-stress). Four specific hypotheses were tested and 3 were supported in the simple reaction-time task. There were no significant differences among stressors for either task, although greater differences were reported in the simple than in the choice reaction-time task. A significant difference between the “task-relatedness” of stress levels in the simple task was interpreted as possibly due to a “coping” or “protective adaptive mechanism” in which increases in performance serve to reduce stress. Practical applications were examined.

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Reaction time and spinal excitability in a simple reaction time task

Physiology & Behavior ◽

10.1016/0031-9384(76)90138-4 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 311-315 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Patricia T. Michie ◽

Alex M. Clarke ◽

John D. Sinden ◽

Leonard C.T. Glue

Keyword(s):

Reaction Time ◽

Simple Reaction Time ◽

Reaction Time Task ◽

Simple Reaction Time Task ◽

Simple Reaction ◽

Time Task ◽

Spinal Excitability

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Absolute Pitch as a Learned Phenomenon: Evidence Consistent with the Hick-Hyman Law

Music Perception An Interdisciplinary Journal ◽

10.2307/40285656 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 267-270 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Jasba Simpson ◽

David Huron

Keyword(s):

Reaction Time ◽

Absolute Pitch ◽

Reaction Time Data ◽

Western Music ◽

Frequency Of Occurrence ◽

Time Data ◽

Expected Frequency ◽

Computer Based ◽

Additional Support

An analysis of reaction time data collected by Miyazaki (1989) provides additional support for absolute pitch as a learned phenomenon. Specifically, the data are shown to be consistent with the Hick- Hyman law, which relates the reaction time for a given stimulus to its expected frequency of occurrence. The frequencies of occurrence are estimated by analyzing a computer-based sample of Western music. The results are consistent with the view that absolute pitch is acquired through ordinary exposure to the pitches of Western music.

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Acceptable Levels of Tonal and Broad-Band Repetitive and Continuous Sounds during the Performance of Nonauditory Tasks

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1995.81.3.803 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 81 (3) ◽

pp. 803-816 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Ulf Landström ◽

Anders Kjellberg ◽

Marianne Byström

Keyword(s):

Reaction Time ◽

Sound Pressure ◽

Broad Band ◽

Reaction Time Task ◽

Simple Reaction Time Task ◽

Reasoning Test ◽

Band Noise ◽

Time Test ◽

The Difference ◽

Reaction Time Test

Three groups of 24 subjects were exposed to a 1000–Hz tone or broad band noise in a sound chamber. During the exposures subjects were engaged in an easy reaction time test or a difficult grammatical reasoning test. For each exposure and work subjects adjusted the noise to a tolerance level defined by its interference with task performance. During the simple reaction-time task significantly higher sound-pressure levels were accepted than during the reasoning test. At the tonal exposure, much lower levels were accepted than during the exposure to broad-band noise. For continuous sound exposures much higher levels were accepted than for noncontinuous exposures. For tonal exposures the difference was approximately 5 dB, for the broad-band exposures approximately 9 dB. In a separate study the effects of the noncontinuity of the noise and pauses were analysed. The raised annoying effect of the noncontinuous noise was not more affected by the noncontinuity of the noise periods than by the noncontinuity of the pauses. The results imply that the annoying reactions to the sound will be increased for repetitive noise and that the reaction is highly influenced by the over-all noncontinuity of the exposure.

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