Heart rate alteration and cognitive efficiency

Abstract

The present study examined cardiovascular change in relation to the variable triad of subject activation status, complexity of mental task and secondary stimulation. Results indicated that heart rate change was significantly related to the exercise/nonexercise variable and the white noise/nonnoise variable and nonsignificantly to task difficulty. Findings revealed that heart rate was greater in the easy task than in the difficult task during the exercise condition. Interpretative inconsistencies between the Lacey position and traditional arousal theory were explored in terms of the compounding effects of internal and external “noise.” © 1979, Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.