Date of Award

Spring 1988

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

Program/Concentration

Psychology

Committee Director

Frederick G. Freeman

Committee Member

Sarah Jane Beaton

Committee Member

Perry M. Duncan

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.P65P32

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of extraversion and task difficulty on heart rate reactivity, heart rate variability and task performance.

In order to select subjects with extreme extraversion and introversion scores, one hundred and one male undergraduate students between the ages of 18-30 were asked to complete the Eysenck Personality Inventory. Fifteen extraverts and fifteen introverts, as determined by the Eysenck Personality Inventory, participated in the physiological testing session. subjects listened to mental arithmetic problems which were presented by audio tape. The subjects task was to determine if the given answer to each problem was correct or incorrect. During the testing session, each subject's heart signal was recorded on electromagnetic tape. The heart signal was analyzed offline using Fourier analysis to determine the subject's heart rate variability.

Two way analysis of variance indicated that performance (t(2,56) =92.15,~

Since introverts showed larger heart rate reactivity to the task than extraverts, the present study supports Eysenck's physiological theory of extraversion. This study replicates the results of a previous study (Carroll, Turner and Hellawell, 1986) with regard to the performance and heart rate data for the mental arithmetic task. The mental arithmetic task appears useful for the study of heart rate reactivity. This study does not support previous research which has found heart rate variability and in particular the 0.10 component to be an indicator of mental workload. Future studies should continue to identify aspects of the experimental situation which moderate the relationship between mental workload and the 0.10 component of the heart rate variability power spectrum.

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DOI

10.25777/vt8a-4f18

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