Effects of threat of shock and control over shock on finger pulse volume, pulse rate and systolic blood pressure

Abstract

Previous research has evaluated finger pulse volume (FPV) as a psychophysiological measure and found it to reflect anxiety, orienting, effort and anger. Controllable versus uncontrollable threats have been found to have different effects on cardiovascular parameters, including pulse rate (PR) and systolic blood pressure (SBP). To date, no studies have compared the effects of such coping efforts on FPV with their effects on PR and SBP. The present study examined the response of PR, SBP and FPV to conditions of controllable shock, uncontrollable shock and no shock. As expected, SBP and PR measures were elevated in the controllable as compared to uncontrollable shock conditions, replicating previous work on cardiovascular responses to coping demands. In contrast, FPV was sensitive to the threat of shock, but did not differ as a function of the coping demands of the task. The findings were discussed in terms of the interpretation of FPV as a psychophysiological measure.