Exposure to high-rise buildings negatively influences affect: evidence from real world and 360-degree video

Cities are densifying at a rapid rate, and accordingly, are constructing high-rise buildings to accommodate more people. The aim of this study was to quantify the physiological and psychological impacts of being in the presence of high-rise buildings in Central London, in a real and virtual 360-degree video environment. Using a within-subjects design, participants were exposed to a low-rise and high-rise building. While exposed, participants were monitored for electrodermal activity. They were also administered the Self-Assessment Manikin measure and a cognitive appraisal questionnaire. Participants rated the high-rise building environment to be less open, less friendly and rated themselves to feel less happy and have less sense of control, as compared to low-rise buildings. We found these effects in both the real world (n = 16) and a 360-degree video setting (n = 121). These findings suggest that city environments populated with high-rise buildings can have negative impacts on urban dwellers. Furthermore, this study provides a methodology to examine how individuals respond to the built environment and stand to inform urban design and architectural practices

Psychophysiology in the digital age

The research I performed for my thesis revolved around the question how affect-physiology dynamics can be best measured in daily life. In my thesis I focused on three aspects of this question: 1) Do wearable wristband devices have sufficient validity to capture ANS activity? 2) To what extent is the laboratory design suitable to measure affect-ANS dynamics? 3) Are the affect-ANS dynamics subject to individual differences, both in the laboratory and in daily life? In chapter 2, I validated a shortened version of the Sing-a-Song Stress (SSST) test, the SSSTshort. The purpose of this test is to create social-evaluative stress in participants through a simple and brief design that does not require the involvement of multiple confederates. The results indicated that the SSSTshort was effective in inducing ANS and affective reactivity. This makes the SSSTshort a cost-effective alternative to the well-known Trier-Social-Stress task (TSST), which can be easily incorporated into large-scale studies to expand the range of stress types that can be studied in laboratory designs. In chapter 3, I validated a new wrist worn technology for measuring electrodermal activity (EDA). As expected, the overall EDA levels measured on the wrist were lower than those measured on the palm, likely due to the lower density of sweat glands on the wrist. The analysis demonstrated that the frequency measure of non-specific skin conductance response (ns.SCR) was superior to the commonly used measure of skin conductance level (SCL) for both the palm and wrist. The wrist-based ns.SCR measure was sensitive to the experimental manipulations and showed similar correspondence to the pre-ejection period (PEP) as palm-based ns.SCR. Moreover, wrist-based ns.SCR demonstrated similar predictive validity for affective state as PEP. However, the predictive validity of both wrist-based ns.SCR and PEP was lower compared to palm-based ns.SCR. These findings suggest that wrist-based ns.SCR EDA parameter has a promising future for use in psychophysiological research. In Chapter 4 of my thesis, I conducted the first study to directly compare the relationship between affect and ANS activity in a laboratory setting to that in daily life. To elicit stress in the laboratory, four different stress paradigms were employed, while stressful events in daily life were left to chance. In both settings, a valence and arousal scale was constructed from a nine-item affect questionnaire, and ANS activity was collected using the same devices. Data was collected from a single population, and the affect-ANS dynamics were analyzed using the same methodology for both laboratory and daily life settings. The results showed a remarkable similarity between the laboratory and daily life affect-ANS relationships. In Chapter 5 of my thesis, I investigated the influence of individual differences in physical activity and aerobic fitness on ANS and affective stress reactivity. Previous research has yielded inconsistent results due to heterogeneity issues in the population studied, stressor type, and the way fitness was measured. My study made a unique contribution to this field by measuring physical activity in three ways: 1) as objective aerobic fitness, 2) leisure time exercise behavior, and 3) total moderate-to-vigorous exercise (including both exercise and all other regular physical activity behaviors). In addition, we measured the physiological and affective stress response in both a laboratory and daily life setting. The total amount of physical activity showed more relationships with stress reactivity compared to exercise behavior alone, suggesting that future research should include a total physical activity variable. Our results did not support the cross-stressor adaptation hypotheses, suggesting that if exercise has a stress-reducing effect, it is unlikely to be mediated by altered ANS regulation due to repeated exposure to physical stress

A systematic review of physiological reactivity to stimuli in autism

Objective: The prevalence of abnormal behavioural responses to a variety of stimuli among individuals with autism has led researchers to examine whether physiological reactivity is typical in this population. The current paper reviewed studies assessing physiological reactivity to sensory, social and emotional, and stressor stimuli in individuals with autism. Methods: Systematic searches of electronic databases identified 57 studies that met our inclusion criteria. A novel measure of methodological quality suitable for use with non-randomised, non-interventional, psychophysiological studies was also developed and applied. Results: Individuals with autism were found to respond differently than typically developing controls in 78.6%, 66.7%, and 71.4% of sensory, social and emotional, and stressor stimulus classes, respectively. Conclusions: Individual differences in physiological reactivity are clearly present in autism, suggesting additional research is needed to determine the variables relating to physiological reactivity among those with ASD and to examine the possibility of physiological subtype responders in this population

Psychophysiology of the Stress Response and the Hierarchical Structure of Emotional Disorders

Physiological stress reactivity is closely linked to emotional disorders like depression and anxiety and is believed to play a causal role in their development. Similar patterns of exaggerated reactivity across a wide range of emotional disorders indicate that physiological hyperreactivity to stress may be a multifinal, or shared, risk factor for these disorders. However, current literature examines stress reactivity in only one or two disorders at a time and is based off categorical classification systems that assume mental disorders to be discrete entities. Recent research into the observed distribution of symptoms of mental illness contests this assumption and proposes that some mental disorders have shared developmental factors that can be revealed through dimensional models of psychopathology. One dimensional model of mental disorders, the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology, addresses this limitation by placing symptoms of internalizing disorders within a dimensional, hierarchically arranged model. The current study utilized this hierarchical model to investigate the relationship between physiological reactions to a laboratory stressor and symptoms of emotional disorders. in a sample of 201 college students, we used latent variable modeling techniques to parse symptoms of emotional disorders into their common (higher-order) and unique (lower-order) features, then examined the strength of the relationship between physiological stress reactivity and common versus unique elements. We hypothesized that common features of emotional disorders would be more strongly related to stress reactivity than any of the unique features. Our results suggested that neither common nor unique features were significantly related to physiological stress reactivity. This finding contradicts previous investigations that found evidence for exaggerated physiological responses in individuals with emotional disorders. Our study improves upon previous research by examining the full range of symptoms of emotional disorders, and our conclusion suggests that the relevance of physiological response in emotional disorders should be critically examined, particularly in light of the limitations of traditional classification systems

Comfort provided by parents versus strangers after eliciting stress in children with severe or profound intellectual disabilities: does it make a difference?

The relationships between children with severe or profound intellectual disabilities (ID) and their parents may fulfil attachment functions, such as regulating emotional responses to stress. This study examined the extent to which children with severe or profound ID differentiate between their parents and a stranger as a resource for stress-regulation. A home-based experimental paradigm was conducted and video-recorded in 38 families. Children (1–8 years) were exposed to four naturalistic stressors followed by comfort, randomly provided by the parents or the stranger. Emotional behaviour (arousal and valence) and the skin conductance level were simultaneously recorded. With regard to both emotional behaviour and skin conductance, children significantly differentiated between their parents as attachment figures and the stranger during stress and comfort, despite their impairments on various developmental domains. Behavioural observation and physiology show complementary manifestations of parent-child attachment in this population

Emotional activation in human beings: procedures for experimental stress induction

The study about the effects of stress on cognition and behavior is an area of special interest and research development for psychology and neurosciences. Stress induction is an essential element for these studies, because it enables the manipulation of this kind of emotional activation as an independent variable to prove its effect over behavior. Nevertheless, this induction must be enough to produce a significant increase in cortisol levels and, at the same time, to achieve the stablished ethical standards for experiments with human beings. This article aims to provide a general review about emotional activation in order to deepen the procedures used in the experimental induce stress in human beings. The conclusion is that the elaboration of more efficient protocols is required, and the use of simulation and other technologic tools could be very useful.O estudo dos efeitos do estresse sobre a cognição e o comportamento é uma área de especial interesse e desenvolvimento investigativo tanto para a psicologia como para as neurociências. A introdução de estresse constitui um elemento fundamental nestes estudos, pois permite a manipulação desta forma de ativação emocional como variável independente, para observar o seu efeito sobre o comportamento; porém, esta indução deve ser suficiente para gerar incrementos significativos nos níveis de cortisol e ao mesmo tempo cumprir os padrões éticos estabelecidos para a experimentação com humanos. O presente artigo tem como propósito aportar uma revisão geral sobre a ativação emocional, para afundar nos procedimentos utilizados na indução experimental de estresse em sujeitos humanos. Conclui-se que é requerido a elaboração de protocolos mais eficientes, e para tal, o uso de simulações e outras ferramentas tecnológicas pode ser de grande utilidade.L’étude des effets du stress sur la cognition et le comportement est un domaine d’intérêt particulier et de développement de la recherche tant pour la psychologie que pour les neurosciences. L’induction du stress constitue un élément fondamental de ces études, car elle permet la manipulation de ce mode d’activation émotionnelle en tant que variable indépendante, afin d’observer son effet sur le comportement; cependant, cette induction devrait être suffisante pour provoquer des augmentations significatives des taux de cortisol tout en respectant les normes éthiques établies pour l’expérimentation humaine. Le but de cet article est d’effectuer une revue générale de l’activation émotionnelle afin d’approfondir les procédures utilisées dans l’induction expérimentale du stress chez l’homme. Cet article conclut que la conception de protocoles plus efficaces est nécessaire; à cette fin, l’utilisation de simulations et d’autres outils technologiques peut être très utile.El estudio de los efectos del estrés sobre la cognición y el comportamiento es un área de especial interés y desarrollo científico, tanto para la Psicología como para las Neurociencias. La inducción de estrés constituye un elemento fundamental en estos estudios, pues permite la manipulación de esta forma de activación emocional, como variable independiente, para observar su efecto sobre la conducta; no obstante, esta inducción debe ser suficiente para generar incrementos significativos en los niveles de cortisol y cumplir los estándares éticos establecidos para la experimentación con humanos. El presente artículo tiene como propósito aportar una revisión general sobre la activación emocional, para profundizar en el conocimiento acerca de los procedimientos utilizados en la inducción experimental de estrés en sujetos humanos. Se concluye que se requiere el diseño de protocolos más eficaces, para lo cual, el uso de las simulaciones y otras herramientas tecnológicas puede ser de gran utilidad

Physiological Activation as a Mediator in the Relationship Between Perseverative Cognition and Somatic Symptoms

Somatic symptoms are a significant medical and mental health concern that affects healthy adults and places a significant burden on healthcare systems. The perseverative cognition hypothesis posits that perseverative cognition results in prolonged physiological activation that may be interpreted as somatic symptoms. The purpose of this study was to further examine this hypothesis in a sample of young adults. First, I hypothesized that perseverative cognition would prospectively predict somatic symptoms after controlling for anxiety and depression. Second, I hypothesized that parasympathetic nervous system functioning, measured as respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and sympathetic nervous system functioning, measured as electrodermal responding (EDR) would mediate this relationship. RSA and EDR were measured before, during, and after a stressor task to provide measures of basal levels, reactivity to the stressor, and recovery from the stressor respectively. These hypotheses were tested in a sample of 220 young adults. Participants ranged from 18 to 39 years old (M = 19.63, SD = 12.10), 84.5% of the participants were female, and 65.5% were Caucasian. Perseverative cognition predicted somatic symptoms in the unexpected direction in both hypothesized models (RSA: β = -0.23, p = 0.001; EDR: β = -0.23, p = 0.074). When anxiety and depression were removed as covariates, somatic symptoms were significantly predicted by perseverative cognition in the expected direction in both models (RSA: β = 0.38, p \u3c 0.001; EDR: β = 0.37, p = 0.003). Neither RSA nor EDR at any time point were significantly related to either perseverative cognition or somatic symptoms, and no indirect effects were observed. Individual mediations revealed that RSA recovery significantly predicted somatic symptoms (β = 0.16; p = 0.029) such that individuals whose parasympathetic nervous system re-engaged following the stressor experienced a higher level of somatic symptoms. Additionally, individuals who reported higher levels of perseverative cognition experienced greater increases in EDR during the stressor task (β = 0.17; p = 0.041). Overall, the findings of this study suggest that perseverative cognition is related to sympathetic nervous system functioning, while parasympathetic nervous system functioning is related to reporting of somatic symptoms. Future research directions and clinical implications are discussed

Physiological measures

Journal ArticleHistorically, psychophysiological measures have made an invaluable contribution to personality psychology. Questions regarding interindividual differences and intraindividual changes in emotion, cognition, motivation, arousal, and attention are core topics within personality psychology, and these questions are particularly amenable to a psychophysiological approach

Differential psychophysiologic reactivity and the Type A behavior pattern

Since 1975, many studies have attempted to show that Type As are sympathetically hyper-reactive to environmental stimuli compared to Type Bs. Inconsistencies in findings have led Holmes (1983} to 2 challenge the basic assumption that a link exists between the Type A behavior pattern and processes which precipitate development of coronary heart disease. The present.study was an attempt to isolate the organismic variable psycho-physiologic reactivity and demonstrate through a replication-extension of Holmes, McGilley, and Houston (1984} that individual psycho-physiologic reactivity rather than the personality profile of Type A is predictive of heightened arousal due to challenge. Reactive and nonreactive Type As and Type Bs were selected from a pool of 136 male undergraduates. All were exposed to increasingly difficult levels of the WAIS digits recall backwards and block design tasks, during which heart rate, blood pressure, and electrodermal response were measured. Results show reactives evinced significantly higher systolic blood pressure across challenges compared to nonreactives. Types As and Bs did not differ in their physiologic responses to challenges