Human psychobiology in Scandinavia: I. Psychophysiology--theory, method and empirical research.

Abstract

The present paper reviews Scandinavian contributions to the field of psychophysiology in a fifteen year perspective (1968–1983). Psychophysiology is defined as that domain within psychobiology where the investigator uses a physiological measure to indirectly assess a psychological construct, e.g. heart‐rate to index anxiety. Only research that fit this definition is reviewed. Thus, research belonging to physiological psychology and behavior pharmacology is excluded. The paper is divided into several areas covering studies related to attention and the orienting response (OR); classical autonomic conditioning and biofeed‐back learning; clinical psychology and behavior medicine; emotion and motivation, and methodological contributions. The review of studies related to attention and OR is focussed on the work by Näätänen and by Öhman who both have made distinguished contributions to this area of research. The so‐called “prepared‐learning” project is described as an example of Scandinavian conditioning studies. Other examples include Bohlin's research on attention and habituation, and the work by Schalling and by Fredrikson in clinical psychology and psychopathology. Norwegian research on muscle tension and respiratory activity done by Svebak is also reviewed. A total of 114 papers written by about 95 different researchers are reviewed. Thus, psychophysiology may be regarded as a firmly rooted research tradition in Scandinavia, both qualitatively and quantitatively. It is concluded that Scandinavian psychophysiology research is at the front line internationally concerning problem areas and methodology.