Two Procedures for Applied and Experimental Studies of Stress

Robert S. Kennedy

Jan 1970 · U.S. Naval Aerospace Medical Institute, Naval Aerospace Medical Center

About this ebook

To compensate for the low reliability of physiological manifestations of sympathetic nervous system activity two methods are offered. The first method requires a major research program by which a valid criterion of stress would be determined by experimentation, and then predictors of this criterion would be obtained empirically by correlational techniques. These predictors could then be crossvalidated. By using the predictors, the influences of psychological stress and physiological stress could be separated. Whether a functional relationship exists between the magnitude of the response to stress and the probability of its occurrence could then be determined. The second method is similar but less exact. It has been used successfully in motion sickness studies and avoids the necessity of a long exploratory program with numerous pilot studies. A procedure for the control and the regulation of the perception of the magnitude of the stress to the organism (human and infrahuman) is offered for use with the two methods. The lack of suitable control of this factor is discussed in connection with previous research. (Author).