The Psychophysiology Primer: A Guide to Methods and a Broad Review with a Focus on Human–Computer Interaction

Abstract

Digital monitoring of physiological signals can allow computer systems to adapt unobtrusively to users, so as to enhance personalised 'smart' interactions. In recent years, physiological computing has grown as a research field, and it is increasingly considered in diverse applications, ranging from specialised work contexts to consumer electronics. Working in this emerging field requires comprehension of several physiological signals, psychophysiological states or 'indices', and analysis techniques. The resulting literature encompasses a complex array of knowledge and techniques, presenting a clear challenge to the practitioner.We provide a foundational review of the field of psychophysiology to serve as a primer for the novice, enabling rapid familiarisation with the core concepts, or as a quick-reference resource for advanced readers. We place special emphasis on everyday human-computer interface applications, drawing a distinction from clinical or sports applications, which are more commonplace. The review provides a framework of commonly understood terms associated with experiential constructs and physiological signals. Then, 12 short and precisely focused review chapters describe 10 individual signals or signal sources and present two technical discussions of online data fusion and processing. A systematic review of multimodal studies is provided in the form of a reference table. We conclude with a general discussion of the application of psychophysiology to human-computer interaction, including guidelines and challenges.

Eye tracking cognitive load using pupil diameter and microsaccades with fixed gaze

“…Yuksel et al [ 8 ] list the predominant measurement methods in CLT studies as self-reporting, the dual-task paradigm, and physiological measures (see also [ 9 ]). Eye tracking, a type of physiological measurement, may offer the greatest potential for a reliable, non-invasive estimate of cognitive load [ 10 ]. One eye-tracked measure recorded as a matter of course is pupil diameter, which has been exploited as a measure of cognitive load, termed the Task-Evoked Pupillary Response (TEPR) [ 11 ].…”

Electrodermal Activity Sensor for Classification of Calm/Distress Condition

“…Although comparison among works should always be considered with caution, since different ways to provoke the stress may trigger several cognitive processes [ 22 ], it is worth noting that the present study has achieved a comparable performance to other systems aimed at classifying calm and distress emotional states. Thus, while this work has reported a global accuracy around 89% when classifying calm and distress condition, other works based on electrodermal activity as reported in very interesting reviews on wearable sensors for remote health monitoring [ 37 , 38 , 39 ], state stress detection rates ranging from 75% to 95% [ 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 ]. Nevertheless, complex classifiers have been used to improve their performance.For instance, an approach throws a precision of 75% using EDA after classifying with k-means, Gaussian mixture models, SVM and decision trees [ 44 ].…”

Studying the integrated functional cognitive basis of sustained attention with a Primed Subjective-Illusory-Contour Attention Task

“…ERPs 31 and phase dynamics 32 ; and in frequency domain there are, e.g. ERSPs and frequency-band power 33 .…”

“…The P3 is among the most widely studied components, a positive wave appearing between 250 to 500 ms 33 . The P3 is an endogenous component independent of the physical properties of the eliciting stimulus, implying it is related to decision making and attention.…”