Cardiac activity and information processing: the effects of stimulus significance, and detection and response requirements.

In two experiments, measures of heart rate and electromyographic activity were obtained from 40 male undergraduates while they performed two series of trials involving a sequential information processing task. Each trial consisted of a warning light, three successive tones, and a responded light, separated by 6-sec intervals. In Experiment 1, subjects responded only if the three tones were of different frequencies. Acclerative heart-rate responses to the last tone increased as a function of the significance of that tone. Subsequent cardiac decelerations were only observed if the subject was preparing to make a response. These results were replicated in Experiment 2, in which subjects responded only if two of the preceding tones were of the same frequency. Electromyographic activity was not significantly affected by stimulus significance or response anticipation. The data indicate that cardiac acceleration and deceleration reflect two independent psychological processes, associated with information-processing and decision-making activity on the one hand, and preparatory activity on the other.