Psychophysiology

Psychophysiology Overview
– Psychophysiology studies the psychological/physiological link in intact human subjects.
– It focuses on the impact of physiological states on psychological states and vice versa.
– Historically, it concentrated on autonomic nervous system responses but now includes central nervous system and advanced neuroimagery techniques.
– It is related to neuroscience, endocrinology, psychosomatics, and psychopharmacology.

Measures in Psychophysiology
– Evaluative reports involve participant introspection and self-ratings.
– Physiological responses measured include heart rate change, electrodermal activity, muscle tension.
– Modern psychophysiology indices include brain waves, fMRI, cardiovascular measures, muscle activity.
– Neurochemical methods study neurotransmitters and neuropeptides.
– Overt action or behavior can also be measured in psychophysiology studies.

Applications of Psychophysiological Measures
– These measures are used to study emotion, attention responses, exertion, and cognitive processes.
– Physiological sensors are used to detect emotions in schools and intelligent tutoring systems.

Psychophysiological Studies on Emotions
– Emotional episodes are partly constituted by physiological responses.
– Early work linked emotions to consistent autonomic nervous system responses.
– Variability exists in ANS responses to discrete emotions among individuals and over time.
– Factors influencing ANS responses include induction technique, context, and participant features.
– No definitive correlation links specific autonomic patterns to discrete emotions.

Psychophysiological Inference and Applications
– Physiological computing adapts software to user psychophysiological activity.
– The goal is to build a computer that responds to user emotion, cognition, and motivation.
– Methods to represent psychological state include psychophysiological indices.
– Advantages of using psychophysiological indices include continuous changes and covert measures.
– Physiological computing systems rely on an accurate representation of psychological dimensions.