Reducing Heart Rate Reactivity to Stress with Feedback Generalization Across Task and Time

Abstract

Heart rate (HR) reactions to two behavioral stressors (videogame and mental arithmetic) were measured in 8 experimental subjects who received biofeedback training and 8 matched control subjects during three assessment periods: pretraining, posttraining, and one-week follow-up. Experimental subjects exhibited significant reductions in HR following a training session in which they received ongoing HR feedback while playing a videogame. Control subjects, who played the same number of videogames without HR feedback, showed smaller HR reductions. During the training session, all subjects were instructed to reduce HR while maximizing game performance. In comparison to controls, experimental subjects (a) maintained lower HRs during videogame presentations after a one-week period and (b) generalized these HR reductions to the mental arithmetic challenge at follow-up. Performance on the videogame declined from posttraining to follow-up for experimental subjects but not for control subjects. No group difference in mental arithmetic performance was observed.

Transfer of Heart Rate Feedback Training to Reduce Heart Rate Response to Laboratory Tasks

“…The mean HR response of those selected for the study ranged from 13 bpm (i.e., participant 13) to 22 bpm (i.e., participant 4) compared to a range of 0 bpm (i.e., participant 7) to 10 bpm (i.e., participant 12) for those not selected to participate in the study. Those selected for the study demonstrated HR responses within the ranges of HR responses observed in other studies (e.g., Goodie & Larkin, 2001;Larkin et al, 1992a). After participant 6 dropped out of the study (mean HR response = 20 bpm), participant 13 was selected to replace him.…”

“…Scores after each trial were recorded. This videogame task has been used to teach HR feedback in previous studies (Goodie & Larkin, 2001;Larkin et al, 1989Larkin et al, , 1990Larkin et al, , 1992aLarkin et al, , 1992b.…”

“…Participants were asked to work "as quickly and accurately as possible." Previous studies (Goodie & Larkin, 1999;Larkin et al, 1992a) used this mental arithmetic task to examine the transfer of skills learned during HR feedback training.…”

“…Overall, the results from Larkin et al (1992a), Goodie and Larkin (1999), and Sharpley (1994) provide mixed evidence about the efficacy of HR feedback training in the presence of stressors not used during training. One explanation for the inconsistent findings regarding the transfer of HR feedback training during non-training tasks is that individuals are unable to apply skills used during the training task to other tasks due to the incongruence between the stimulus and response features of the training task (e.g., videogame) and "testing" task (e.g., mental arithmetic).…”

“…Among all studies in this literature, only three studies (Goodie & Larkin, 2001;Larkin, Zayfert, Abel, & Veltum, 1992a;Sharpley, 1994) have examined the transfer of HR feedback training during stress; that is, these studies examined whether skills learned during HR feedback training could be used to reduce HR during the presentation of another stressor not used during training. Larkin et al (1992a) investigated whether HR feedback training during a videogame would transfer (a) to sessions conducted one week later, and (b) to a mental arithmetic task that was not used during feedback training. Larkin et al's findings suggested that HR reductions obtained with biofeedback training transferred to tasks not used in training as well as across time.…”