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The present study employed an ex-Gaussian model of response times (RTs) to elucidate the cognitive processes related to experimentally induced state anxiety (SA) and vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV), an indicator of adaptive responses in both cognitive and affective domains. Participants (n = 110) completed a dual task composed of (i) a flanker attention and (2) working memory load task, while SA was induced by threat of noise. Electrocardiography was measured during the dual task and during four baseline periods in order to calculate vmHRV. RTs on the flanker task were fit to an ex-Gaussian distribution, which estimated three RT parameters: mu (Gaussian mean), sigma (Gaussian SD), and tau (combination of exponential mean and SD). First, findings indicate that threat of noise was associated with reductions in mu and tau, suggesting that SA might improve attention and motor responding. Second, higher resting vmHRV was associated with lower tau (averaged across conditions) and stronger threat-related decreases in tau. Third, intra-individual decreases in vmHRV were accompanied by concomitant decreases in tau. These findings support roles for trait and state vagal control in guiding adaptive anxiety-related (and anxiety-unrelated) attentional responses. Findings are consistent with extant theories that emphasize functional interrelations among emotion, cognition, and vagal function. ; Army Research LaboratoryUnited States Department of DefenseUS Army Research Laboratory (ARL) [W911NF-17-2-0100] ; Published version ; Research was sponsored by the Army Research Laboratory and was accomplished under Cooperative Agreement Number W911NF-17-2-0100. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Army Research Laboratory or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Government purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation herein.

The error-related negativity (ERN), a neural response to errors, has been associated with several forms of psychopathology and assumed to represent a neural risk marker for obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety disorders. Yet, it is still unknown which specific symptoms or traits best explain ERN variation. This study investigated performance-monitoring in participants (N = 100) recruited across a spectrum of obsessive-compulsive characteristics (n = 26 patients with OCD; n = 74 healthy participants including n = 24 with low, n = 24 with medium, and n = 26 with high OC-characteristics). Several compulsivity- and anxiety-associated characteristics were assessed and submitted to exploratory principal axis factor analysis. Associations of raw measures and derived factors with ERN and correct-related negativity (CRN) were examined. Patients with OCD showed increased ERN amplitudes compared to healthy participants. The ERN was associated with a variety of traits related to anxiety and negative affect. Factor analysis results revealed a most prominent association of the ERN with a composite measure of anxiety and neuroticism, whereas the CRN was specifically associated with compulsivity. Results support differential associations for the ERN and CRN and demonstrate that a dimensional recruitment approach and use of composite measures can improve our understanding of characteristics underlying variation in neural performance monitoring.

Enhanced amplitudes of the error-related negativity (ERN) have been suggested to be a transdiagnostic neural risk marker for internalizing psychopathology. Previous studies propose worry to be an underlying mechanism driving the association between enhanced ERN and anxiety. The present preregistered study focused on disentangling possible effects of trait and state worry on the ERN by utilizing a cross sectional observational and a longitudinal randomized controlled experimental design. To this end, we examined the ERN of n = 90 students during a flanker task (T0), which were then randomly assigned to one of three groups (worry induction, worry reduction, passive control group). Following the intervention, participants performed another flanker task (T1) to determine potential alterations of their ERN. Manipulation checks revealed that compared to the control group, state worry increased in the induction but also in the reduction group. ERN amplitudes did not vary as a function of state worry. An association of trait worry with larger ERN amplitudes was only observed in females. Furthermore, we found larger ERN amplitudes in participants with a current or lifetime diagnosis of internalizing disorders. In summary, our findings suggest that the ERN seems to be insensitive to variations in state worry, but that an elevated ERN is associated with the trait-like tendency to worry and internalizing psychopathology, which is consistent with the notion that the ERN likely represents a trait-like neural risk associated with anxiety.

The present study analyzed experimentally the association between the experience of psychological stress and the physiological stress response of prospective teachers. The experienced stress was assessed by self-reported data. Cortisol concentrations via saliva samples reflected the physiological response. The results show no difference between the stress and the control group in the experience of psychological stress. However, the stress group had significantly increased cortisol concentrations compared to the control group. The study could not show any correlation between the two stress parameters. The results suggest that a stress response should be validated based not only on the experience of psychological stress but also on the physiological stress response. This is particularly crucial in light of the fact that the majority of studies concerning stress in teachers are limited to experiences of psychological stress so far. Due to this, the results may provide a first important contribution to a more comprehensive stress assessment for teachers.

1. Psychophysiology in the context of media processes and effects research -- 2. Psychophysiology : theoretical assumptions and a history of the field -- 3. Key terms and concepts in psychophysiology -- 4. Psychophysiological measures of cognitive processing of media -- 5. Psychophysiological measures of emotional processing of media -- 6. Emerging psychophysiological measures for media research -- 7. Connecting psychophysiology to other measures of mediated message processing -- 8. On your own : setting up a media psychophysiology lab and conducting experiments -- 9. Psychophysiological measures and meaning : implications of current research and a peek at the future.

Background: It is commonly believed that the pathophysiology of obesity arises from adiposity. In this paper, I forward a complementary explanation; this pathophysiology arises not from adiposity alone, but also from the psychological stress induced by the social stigma associated with being obese. Methods: In this study, I pursue novel lines of evidence to explore the possibility that obesity associated stigma produces obesity-associated medical conditions. I also entertain alternative hypotheses that might explain the observed relationships. Results: I forward four lines of evidence supporting the hypothesis that psychological stress plays a role in the adiposity-health association. First, body mass index (BMI) is a strong predictor of serological biomarkers of stress. Second, obesity and stress are linked to the same diseases. Third, body norms appear to be strong determinants of morbidity and mortality among obese persons; obese whites and women – the two groups most affected by weight-related stigma in surveys – disproportionately suffer from excess mortality. Finally, statistical models suggest that the desire to lose weight is an important driver of weight-related morbidity when BMI is held constant. Conclusion: Obese persons experience a high degree of stress, and this stress plausibly explains a portion of the BMI-health association. Thus, the obesity epidemic may, in part, be driven by social constructs surrounding body image norms.

"The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between the tolerance for uncertainty level and several psychophysiological and psychological qualities of military specialists for determining additional approaches to occupational selection. The study was conducted on a group of servicemen who performed special tasks and were capable of responding to terrorism – 49 men (main group) and 19 military doctors (control group) – men aged 25-34 years. Tolerance for uncertainty was studied based on the modified S. Badnder's method. The level of manipulation score (MAC) was assessed by the adapted I.A. Romanova and O.O. Zhdanov questionnaire (estimated by the so-called ""MacScale""). Psycho-physiological parameters were determined using a special computer program. Statistical analysis of data was performed by descriptive and nonparametric statistics, as well as a cluster, stepwise discriminant, and correlation analysis. A personality trait "tolerance for uncertainty" was valuable for the occupational activity of servicemen performing special tasks. The such feature had 63.3% of servicemen in the studied group. The specificity of the occupational activity of military doctors was the quality of manipulation of people. Moreover, those who were the most tolerant of uncertainty had an inverse relationship with Machiavellianism, which indicates the existence of compensatory psychological mechanisms balancing and harmonizing service and personal relationships among micro-teams of servicemen. Servicemen with a lower level of tolerance for uncertainty had positive relationships with several psychophysiological functions (strength and mobility of nervous processes, quality of dynamic memorization), which confirms the idea of psychophysiological mechanisms to enhance tolerance for uncertainty by increasing the working capacity of these people. Such personal quality as tolerance for uncertainty is a valuable occupationally important feature that allows performing the selection of servicemen who are more efficient and reliable in the performance of official duties tasks. "

Our aim is to sketch the outlines of a new science which is to intermediate between the modern laboratory psychology and the problems of economics: the psychological experiment is systematically to be placed at the service of commerce and industry. So far we have only scattered beginnings of the new doctrine, only tentative efforts and disconnected attempts which have started, sometimes in economic, and sometimes in psychological, quarters. The time when an exact psychology of