Cognitive Manipulations on Physiological Networks - Essay Example

According to the cited research, appraisals are a person’s beliefs about the ability to deal with a situation based on available resources, and they can lead to a challenge-response or a threat response. A challenge-response occurs when we believe that we have enough resources to address the situation, and may have beneficial cognitive and cardiovascular benefits. However, a threat response due to an appraisal of insufficient resources may cause damages that are associated with stress. The authors suggest that humans have a natural attentional bias to potential threats and that we may enter stress responses without a full appraisal of the situation. It is proposed that reappraising the resources available to deal with a potential threat may lead to a challenging response instead, and better psychophysical outcomes.

Methods

This research included fifty participants (25 male, 25 female) who were compensated with either $25 or class credit. The subjects were prescreened for cardiovascular problems and one was excluded from the analysis after requesting to leave the study. Sensors were used to gain a baseline cardiovascular reading from each subject. They were placed in one of three conditions (reappraisal of resources, ignoring external cues, and a non-intervention control) and were re-tested after reading information about physical stress in scientific journals. The reappraisal group was instructed to appraise the task based on the new information while the external cues group was told to ignore the stress during subsequent readings. A modified Stroop task was used to measure attentional bias, while a Tier Social Stress Test measured perceived threat and questionnaires provided additional information.

Results

The collected data was analyzed using a mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA). It was shown that reappraisal participants reported more perceived resources than the other groups along with less physiological reactivity. Reappraisal subjects also showed a less attentional bias for threats and emotionally negative information.
Discussion

The results support the predictions of the researchers. The authors discuss several implications of the results of this study. These findings add support to the concept that humans are capable of influencing their own physiology through cognitive interventions (Hofmann & Smits, 2008). More specifically, the results demonstrate the ability to cognitively control physiological responses to stress through the reappraisal of potential threats. It is stressed that the nature of this relationship cannot be inferred from this research, as several paths of influence may be possible within the cognitive framework of the brain, and future research is suggested that better illuminates this system.
This study was adequately conducted and should prove fruitful in encouraging the further examination of cognitive manipulations on physiological networks. However, the small sample size and limited controls make the results potentially unreliable, which is another issue that needs to be addressed with additional studies. Overall, this study would receive a grade of B. Read More