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Influence of control and physical effort on cardiovascular reactivity to a video game task

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2002

SUZANNE E. WEINSTEIN ,
KAREN S. QUIGLEY  and
J. TOBY MORDKOFF
SUZANNE E. WEINSTEIN
Affiliation:
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
KAREN S. QUIGLEY
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey–New Jersey Medical School and VA Medical Center, East Orange, New Jersey, USA
J. TOBY MORDKOFF
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
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Abstract

This study investigated the influences of both perceived control and physical effort on cardiovascular reactivity. Undergraduates (N = 32) played a video game task interrupted by aversive noise. Perceived control of the noise was manipulated by instructions indicating the presence or absence of a contingency between performance and noise presentations. Physical effort was manipulated by controlling the physical force required to perform the task. There was a significant main effect of control on systolic blood pressure (SBP) and total peripheral resistance (TPR), with both increasing more during low than high control conditions. The results suggest that high perceived control over aversive noise in an effortful task reduces SBP and TPR reactivity relative to low perceived control. The results are consistent with the idea that control buffers the reactivity associated with task performance under aversive conditions.

Keywords

AutonomicPreejection periodBlood pressureTotal peripheral resistance
Type
Research Article
Information
Psychophysiology , Volume 39 , Issue 5 , September 2002 , pp. 591 - 598
Copyright
© 2002 Society for Psychophysiological Research

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