Gabrielle Hildebrand, “Effects of Residual Arousal on Cognitive Appraisal and Psychophysiological Reactivity to Stress”
Mentor: Raymond Fleming, Psychology
Poster #75

Generalized cardiovascular arousal can amplify emotional responses to a stress task. Within the framework of The Biopsychosocial Model of Challenge and Threat (BPSM-CT), positive and negative appraisals can predict differing challenge and threat physiological reactions to a stress task, characterized by patterns of autonomic reactivity. This study investigated effects of residual cardiovascular arousal on emotional responses and physiological reactivity to a stress task when appraisals of the task differed. Differing conditions of arousal were also examined. In a pre-study questionnaire, participant endorsement of either a positive or negative attitude toward job interviews determined their experimental group. To manipulate cardiovascular arousal, participants pedaled a stationary bicycle for five minutes at a given heart rate range. To manipulate stress, participants were presented with a mock job interview task.  Cardiovascular reactivity was recorded throughout the study, while psychological self-reported measures assessed task appraisals and feeling states. Study results showed that primary appraisals of the job interview stress task predicted physiological reactivity during the interview, remaining consistent with the BPSM-CT. Residual cardiovascular arousal led to increased positive self-reports of the job interview task in both groups. As hypothesized, participants in the positive attitude group exhibited challenge-like cardiovascular reactivity to the task, defined by increased heart rate (HR), increased cardiac output (CO), and decreased total peripheral resistance (TPR) from baseline. Those in the negative attitude group exhibited threat-like reactivity, defined by increased HR, unchanged CO, and unchanged TPR. Findings demonstrate that residual cardiovascular arousal can improve subjective evaluations of a performance task, while pre-existing attitudes can influence physiological reactions to a task. This study is continuing to collect and analyze data to determine whether results differ with more participants, and contributes to a field of research exploring physiological, psychological, and emotional reactivity to stress and performance tasks.