Analysis on Physical Deformation and Subjective Discomfort of Spectacle Lens

Introduction: Conditioning is a key mechanism of placebo and nocebo effects in adults, but little is known about these effects in youth. This study investigated whether personalized verbal cues evoking a sense of high or low self-efficacy can induce conditioned placebo and nocebo effects on subjective discomfort of noxious heat in youth. Methods: In a structured interview, 26 adolescents (13–18 years) described personal situations in which they experienced a sense of high, low or neutral self-efficacy. Participants were then asked to recall these memories during a conditioning paradigm, in which a high thermal stimulus applied to the forearm was repeatedly paired with a low self-efficacy cue and a low thermal stimulus with a high self-efficacy cue. In a testing phase, high, low and neutral self-efficacy cues were paired with the same moderate temperature. We hypothesized that conditioned high and low self-efficacy cues would induce conditioned placebo and nocebo responses to moderate temperatures. Results: Moderate temperatures were rated as more uncomfortable when paired with the conditioned low compared with the neutral self-efficacy cue (nocebo effect). While in the whole-group analysis, there was no significant difference between ratings of moderate thermal stimuli paired with high compared with neutral self-efficacy cues (placebo effect), a sub-group of participants with a greater range of emotional valence between high and neutral self-efficacy cues revealed a significant placebo effect. The strength of the nocebo effect was associated with higher anxiety and lower hope. Conclusion: Conditioned associations using internal self-efficacy states can change subjective discomfort of thermal sensations.

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Subjective Discomfort of TMS Predicts Reaction Times Differences in Published Studies

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01989 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Nicholas Paul Holmes ◽

Lotte Meteyard

Keyword(s):

Reaction Times ◽

Subjective Discomfort

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Effect of Work Boot Characteristics on Vibration Transmitted to Workers’ Feet and Subjective Discomfort

Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing - Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2018) ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-96068-5_117 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 1043-1051

Author(s):

Marco Tarabini ◽

Tammy Eger ◽

Katie Goggins ◽

Filippo Goi ◽

Francesco Corti

Keyword(s):

Subjective Discomfort

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Impact of a Vibrotactile Belt on Emotionally Challenging Everyday Situations of the Blind

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s21217384 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (21) ◽

pp. 7384

Author(s):

Charlotte Brandebusemeyer ◽

Anna Ricarda Luther ◽

Sabine U. König ◽

Peter König ◽

Silke M. Kärcher

Keyword(s):

Emotional Impact ◽

Vibrotactile Stimulation ◽

Angular Rotation ◽

Straight Line ◽

Before And After ◽

Fixed Reference ◽

Behavioural Experiments ◽

Triangle Completion ◽

Subjective Discomfort ◽

Magnetic North

Spatial orientation and navigation depend primarily on vision. Blind people lack this critical source of information. To facilitate wayfinding and to increase the feeling of safety for these people, the “feelSpace belt” was developed. The belt signals magnetic north as a fixed reference frame via vibrotactile stimulation. This study investigates the effect of the belt on typical orientation and navigation tasks and evaluates the emotional impact. Eleven blind subjects wore the belt daily for seven weeks. Before, during and after the study period, they filled in questionnaires to document their experiences. A small sub-group of the subjects took part in behavioural experiments before and after four weeks of training, i.e., a straight-line walking task to evaluate the belt’s effect on keeping a straight heading, an angular rotation task to examine effects on egocentric orientation, and a triangle completion navigation task to test the ability to take shortcuts. The belt reduced subjective discomfort and increased confidence during navigation. Additionally, the participants felt safer wearing the belt in various outdoor situations. Furthermore, the behavioural tasks point towards an intuitive comprehension of the belt. Altogether, the blind participants benefited from the vibrotactile belt as an assistive technology in challenging everyday situations.

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