Individual Differences in Heart Rate Responses to Affective Sound.

This article distinguishes between effects of feedback from the cardiovascular system and from other autonomic system and suggested that heart rate (HR) acceleration should be associated with stimulus "rejection" and HR deceleration with "attention" or stimulus "acceptance." The present study quantified certain attributes of the sound of the high speed dental engine and tested the effects of this sound on HR and measures of hostility, depression, and anxiety. Thirty-eight females enrolled at the University of Bridgeport were assigned to one of four groups predetermined by a questionnaire investigating their past experience and familiarity with the dental engine. Heart rate and measures of hostility, depression, and anxiety varied directly with the subjects' familiarity and subjective experience with the acoustic stimuli. Heart rate was found to be more accelerated in subjects who had less experience with and who rated the acoustic stimulus as more unpleasant. Similarly such subjects demonstrated higher scores on anxiety, depression, and hostility scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]