engleski

Effects of stimulus expectancy on heart rate and movement execution

Some investigations on stimulus expectancy situations have shown decreasing effects of expectancy intervals on heart rate and reaction time, which was interpreted as facilitating effects of such situations. The aim of this study was to find out whether the stimulus expectancy, followed by lower arm movement, would facilitate the execution of movements. Trained subjects executed lower arm movements of different amplitudes, on a kinaesthesiometer, without visual control, after a sound stimulus. Cardiac R-R intervals were continuously recorded during stimulus expectancy, movement execution and resting periods. Results showed cardiac deceleration for all expectancy intervals, but contrary to results of studies on reaction time, no effects of expectancy interval length were found on the movement time. This disagreement could be due to task complexities, where the reaction tasks were comparatively simple, while the movement tasks included, not only speed and precision, but also kinaesthetic information processing, which had its effects on sinus arrhythmia, as well.

stimulus expectancy ; heart rate ; movement execution

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