Les variables neurovégétatives permettent d’évaluer l’état fonctionnel de l’individu, et représentent un intérêt pour mieux comprendre le comportement du conducteur, facteur déterminant de la sécurité routière. Ce travail est centré sur l’évaluation de la charge mentale du conducteur automobile par l’analyse de l’activité électrodermale. L’objectif est d’extraire les meilleurs indicateurs du signal électrodermal pour différencier la charge mentale induite par des situations de conduite réelle. L’analyse d’une trentaine d’indicateurs phasiques a permis de différencier des situations de conduite nominale, comparables en termes d’exigence comportementale mais différentes au niveau cognitif. Après traitement approprié du signal, en particulier en appliquant des transformations log, l’amplitude des réponses électrodermales est apparue comme un des indices les plus discriminants. Toutefois, les différences de charge mentale induites par les situations de conduite n’ont pas exactement correspondu à celles qui avaient été supposées. Une explication alternative mettant en avant des processus d’anticipation est proposée. Trois indicateurs toniques, dont deux sont nouveaux, ont ensuite été testés dans une expérience de double tâche, où une activité secondaire distractive était effectuée simultanément à la conduite. L’un s’est révélé inadapté au profil des signaux, mais les deux autres ont permis d’établir une hiérarchisation partielle de la surcharge induite. Particulièrement sensible à l’aspect cognitif de la distraction, l’évaluation psychophysiologique de la charge mentale par l’activité électrodermale apparaît complémentaire de l’analyse de la performance de conduite. / As an assessment tool for individual’s functional state, autonomic indices can help improving our knowledge of drivers’ behaviour, which is a central road safety causal factor. This work is focused on driver’s mental workload assessment, relying on electrodermal activity analysis. This is an attempt to highlight the most reliable electrodermal indices with the aim to distinguish accurately mental workload elicited by actual driving situations. The analysis of about thirty phasic indices, led to differentiate nominal driving situations. These were selected on the basis of comparable behavioural requirements, but of differences cognitive processes. After appropriate signal processing, (using log transformations in particular), electrodermal responses amplitude has the most potential to distinguish among experimental conditions. However, some of the differences about mental workload were not exactly those which were previously expected. An alternative interpretation of results highlighting anticipation processes is thus proposed. Tonic variations were then studied in a dual task experiment, including two new indices. The distractive power of several secondary tasks, performed while driving, was to be evaluated using these indices. One of the indices was unrelated to signals’ profile. Conversely, the two others gave a clear distinction of potential distraction elicited selectively by each secondary task. Mental workload was thus showed as being evaluated accurately using electrodermal activity analysis. Using objective physiological data and defining new electrodermal indices brought more reliability in the field of mental workload. Thus, electrodermal activity is a good candidate to complete data usually brought by tests or questionnaires.

On the basis of the MMPI R Factor Scale, 16 subjects were classified as high repressed and 14 as low repressed. Subjects were compared on patterns of bilateral differences in skin conductance as a function of three cognitive tasks intended to produce specific manipulations in the relative activation of the two cerebral hemispheres. Tasks 1 and 2 examined the effects of Verbal (left hemisphere) and Spatial (right hemisphere) tasks on amplitudes of electrodermal responses. Task 3 examined the effects of the presentation of double-entendre and asexual stimulus words (designed to produce an emotional stimulus) on the high and low repressed groups. Results showed no tasks were accompanied by significant bilateral differences in electrodermal activity although high repressed subjects showed a consistent tendency toward greater amplitudes in both hands to the sexual portion of the word task. These findings are in direct contradiction to research suggesting that hemisphere activation is task dependent, but support the theoretical postulation of ''hemisphericity" (the individual preference for the use of one hemisphere or the other). Subsequent to the tasks, each subject completed a Sexual Activity Questionnaire to determine categories of orgasmic or non-orgasmic. These data proved to be highly related to the personality variables of high and low repression. All subjects self-reported to be orgasmic (n = 3) scored in the low repressed group. Of 16 subjects self-reported to be non-orgasmic, 11 (69%) scored in the high repressed group. These findings argue strongly that sexual conflicts in high repressors leads to psychosomatic sexual dysfunctions as postulated by traditional psychoanalytic theory. Present findings were discussed in terms of the relationships between personality, repression, and sexual conflict and how these .variables influence electrodermal functioning. Implications for future research and theoretical complexities in the interpretation of the present results suggesting support for the "hemisphericity" postulation were also discussed.

Background. Although treatments for dizziness as a result of visual-vestibular mismatch (VVM) exist, the lack of prognostic information about this population affects the quality of their rehabilitation care. Despite numerous studies showing that individuals presenting with non-specific dizziness are likely to have VVM, and despite VVM being recognized by to the international classification of vestibular disorders by the Bárány Society, it remains unknown how prevalent this condition is. The VVM diagnostic questionnaire has not yet been generally accepted as a useful tool for diagnosis. There are inadequate criteria for prescribed vestibular rehabilitation for individuals with VVM, and little evidence to support the selection of treatment programs among this population. Treatment outcomes are not particularly successful because of a lack of guidelines. Studies have been performed that address dizziness severity, but no reliable biometric measurement has been developed yet. A potential measure of VVM could be responses of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) during vestibulo-visual challenges given the anatomical relationship between the vestibular system and the ANS. Individuals with both peripheral and central vestibular dysfunction exhibit symptoms and signs of autonomic dysfunction as a result of vestibulo-autonomic interactions. Moreover, changes in postural sway are a tangible indicator of the balance during any disturbance to the vestibular system. In this dissertation the use of measures of electrodermal activity (EDA) of the ANS and postural acceleration are explored in vestibular migraine (VM) individuals both with and without VVM. Purpose. The aims of this dissertation were to examine, in VM adults: 1) the presence of VVM and visual dependency in individuals presenting with complaints of dizziness using the VVM questionnaire and the Rod and Frame protocol, respectively; 2) the potential of EDA activity and postural responses to differentiate between VM and healthy individuals when accommodating for postural instability and visual-vestibular conflict; and 3) the effect of exposure to different visual contexts of VR environments on EDA phasic and tonic responses and postural responses in identified VM adults with VVM. Participants. Seventy-four participants with dizziness were enrolled in Aim 1 (70% female, mean age 45.4 ± 14.8 years), and a total of 45 participants (23 healthy, 45.5% female, mean age 34± 9 years) and (22 VM adults, 61% female, mean age 34.4 ± 8, including 12 VM adults with VVM, 77% female, mean age 34±9) were enrolled in the experimental studies for Aims 2 and 3. Methods. In Aim 1, the VVM questionnaire and the Rod and Frame protocol were used to test the presence of VVM and visual dependency, respectively. In Aims 2 and 3, a Shimmer 3 IMU sensor accelerometer was used to assess trunk acceleration in the anterior-posterior, medial-lateral, and vertical directions with different VR environments (STREET and SPACE). EDA measurements were assessed with a wireless wearable Shimmer 3 GSR+. Clinical measures of dizziness and mobility were concurrently tested. A linear mixed model was used to examine the effect of VM with and without VVM on standing balance and EDA activity. Results. The presence of VVM, headache, and visual dependency demonstrated a strong association. EDA activity and postural acceleration significantly differed between VM and healthy individuals. Specific subjective reporting tools, including ABC, VSS-SF, VVAS, and DHI, were reliable for distinguishing between VM and healthy individuals. Lastly, VM individuals with VVM exhibited significantly greater NPL of trunk accelerations in the vertical plane than VM individuals without VVM with the STREET environment compared to the SPACE environment. Conclusion. VVM and visual dependency could be risk factors for developing vestibular migraine and should be included in the examination protocol of those populations. Combining measures of EDA and trunk acceleration may provide objective measures of the severity of dizziness related to VVM. Results of this dissertation suggest that the use of EDA measures combined with NPL-Vert could provide potential neurophysiological biomarkers in identifying VVM in adults with vestibular migraines. Further, the correlation between the characteristics of the visual environment and the subjective dizziness outcome measure may contribute to establishing a threshold-tolerance basis for designing a vestibular rehabilitation program that will more precisely target symptom severity. / Physical Therapy

[ES] El Trastorno del Espectro Autista (TEA) es una afección compleja que se encuentra dentro de los llamados Trastornos del Neurodesarrollo. Está caracterizada por la presencia de disfunciones en las interacciones sociales, en la capacidad comunicativa, pensamiento simbólico, así como, conductas estereotipadas y desregulación de carácter sensorial. Actualmente, dada su elevada prevalencia, ha despertado el interés científico para poder llevar a cabo diagnósticos más tempranos que repercutan en intervenciones más eficaces. Hasta el momento el diagnóstico del TEA se ha venido realizando mediante baterías diagnósticas estandarizadas basadas en criterios cualitativos, por lo cual, la respuesta puede distar de la obtenida en un contexto real. Es por ello que herramientas como la Realidad Virtual (RV), con la potencialidad de reproducir entornos con elevado grado de realismo, pueden ser un contexto válido tanto para la evaluación como para la intervención terapéutica. Se han aplicado entornos virtuales no inmersivos, dado el rechazo de la población TEA a utilizar visores RV, aunque con resultados observacionales. Dichas limitaciones pueden superarse con el uso de los llamados Entornos Virtuales Inmersivos (EVI), ya que suponen una solución tecnológica no invasiva, con mayor capacidad de inmersión y, por tanto, de generar respuestas con mayor similitud a las obtenidas en un contexto real. Las mediciones de carácter observacional pueden superarse con mediciones fisiológicas, tales como, la actividad electrodermal (EDA), que proporciona la respuesta de la excitación corporal en forma de sudoración ante un estímulo o el eye tracking, el cual muestra el comportamiento ocular. Ambas suponen respuestas implícitas, inconscientes y cuantificables, que pueden ayudar a definir la afección. Por todo ello, la presente Tesis Doctoral, compuesta de tres estudios, tiene como objetivo unir el uso de EVI, con capacidad de estimulación visual, auditiva y olfativa con medidas fisiológicas, focalizadas en la evaluación y entrenamiento del TEA, además de estudiar las relaciones entre las mismas y las baterías diagnósticas del TEA. El Estudio nº 1 valoró la adaptación de los participantes a los dispositivos y el EVI y los niveles EDA en un contexto de respuesta al saludo. Los resultados hallaron que los sujetos TEA mostraron una tolerancia similar en el uso del EVI y del dispositivo EDA. Aumentaron sus niveles de excitación con respecto al estado de reposo previo (Ratio), cuando intervino el sentido del olfato, no habiendo relaciones significativas con las baterías diagnósticas. El Estudio nº 2 profundizó en los niveles EDA en un contexto de imitación total o parcial. Los resultados mostraros que los sujetos TEA mostraron una menor activación (Ratio), ante procesos de imitación total, con estimulación olfativa, no encontrando relaciones significativas con las baterías diagnósticas. El Estudio nº 3 estudió el EDA y el comportamiento ocular en un EVI basado en un Centro Comercial. Los resultados EDA, no proporcionaron diferencias en la sesión de evaluación, pero descendieron en los sujetos TEA tras una sesión de entrenamiento. El comportamiento ocular en la sesión de evaluación discriminó entre los grupos, pero en el entrenamiento el comportamiento fue similar. Las relaciones entre dichas medidas y las baterías diagnósticas no mostraron relaciones significativas. Tecnologías inmersivas y medidas psicofisiológicas para la evaluación y entrenamiento de niños con Trastorno del Espectro Autista Como conclusión final cabe señalar que, la medida electrodermal que contó con mayor capacidad para identificar a la población TEA fue la medida Ratio. Mientras que el EDA, tras el entrenamiento, fue indicador de una mejora de la excitación ante situaciones de señalado, respuesta al nombre y atención conjunta, en el caso del comportamiento ocular, fue capaz de diferenciar entre los grupos únicamente en la / [CA] El Trastorn de l'Espectre Autista (TEA) és una afecció complexa que es troba dins dels anomenats Trastorns del Neurodesenvolupament. Està caracteritzada per la presència de disfuncions en les interaccions socials, en la capacitat comunicativa, pensament simbòlic, així com, conductes estereotipades i desregulació del caràcter sensorial. Actualment, donada la seua elevada prevalença, ha despertat l'interés científic per poder dur a terme diagnòstics més primerencs que deriven en intervencions més eficaces. Fins al moment el diagnòstic del TEA s'ha realitzat mitjançant bateries diagnòstiques estandarditzades basades en criteris qualitatius, és per això que la resposta pot ser diferent a l'obtinguda en un context real. Per tant, eines com la Realitat Virtual, amb la capacitat de reproduir entorns amb un elevat grau de realisme, poden ser un context vàlid tant per a l'avaluació com per a la intervenció terapèutica. S'han aplicat entorns virtuals no immersius, donat el rebuig de la població TEA a utilitzar visors RV, malgrat que amb resultats observacionals. Dites limitacions poden superar-se amb l'ús dels anomenats Entorns Virtuals Immersius (EVI), ja que suposen una solució tecnològica no invasiva, amb major capacitat d'immersió i per tant, de generar respostes amb major similitud a les obtingudes en un context real. Les mesures de caràcter observacional poden superar-se amb mesures fisiològiques, tals com, l'activitat electrodermal (EDA), que proporciona la resposta de l'excitació corporal en forma de sudoració enfront d'un estímul o l'eye tracking, el qual mostra el comportament ocular. Ambdues suposen respostes implícites, inconscients i quantificables, que poden ajudar a definir l'afecció. Per tot això, la present Tesi Doctoral, composta de tres estudis, té com a objectiu unir l'ús d'EVI, amb capacitat d'estimulació visual, auditiva i olfactiva amb mesures fisiològiques, focalitzades en l'avaluació i entrenament del TEA, a més d'estudiar les relacions entre les mateixes i les bateries diagnòstiques del TEA. L'Estudi nº 1 va valorar l'adaptació dels participants als dispositius i l'EVI i els nivells EDA en un context de resposta salutació. Els resultats van trobar que els subjectes TEA van mostrar una tolerància similar en l'ús d'EVI i del dispositiu EDA. Van augmentar els seus nivells d'excitació pel que fa a l'estat de repòs prEVI (Ràtio), quan va intervenir el sentit de l'olfacte, no havent-hi relacions significatives amb les bateries diagnòstiques. L'Estudi nº 2 va aprofundir en els nivells EDA en un context d'imitació total o parcial. Els resultats mostraren que els subjectes TEA mostraren una menor activació (Ràtio), davant de processos d'imitació total, amb estimulació olfactiva, no trobant relacions significatives amb les bateries diagnòstiques. L'Estudi nº 3 va estudiar l'EDA i el comportament ocular a un EVI basat en un Centre Comercial. Els resultats EDA, no van proporcionar diferències en la sessió d'avaluació, però van baixar en els subjectes TEA després d'una sessió d'entrenament. El comportament ocular en la sessió d'avaluació va discriminar entre els grups, però en l'entrenament el comportament va ser similar. Les relacions entre aquestes mesures i les bateries diagnòstiques no van mostrar relacions significatives. Com a conclusió final es pot assenyalar que, la mesura electrodermal que va comptar amb major capacitat per a identificar a la població TEA fou la mesura Ràtio. Pel quefa a l'EDA, després de l'entrenament, va ser un indicador d'una millora de l'excitació enfront de situacions d'assenyalament, resposta al nom i atenció conjunta, en el cas del comportament ocular, va ser capaç de diferenciar entre els grups únicament en la sessió d'avaluació. Finalment, l'EDA i el comportament ocular, no van ser mesures amb capacitat correlacional amb les bateries diagnòstiques. / [EN] Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex condition that falls under the category of so-called Neurodevelopmental Disorders. It is characterized by the presence of dysfunctions in social interactions, in the communicative capacity, symbolic thinking, as well as, stereotypical behaviours and deregulation of sensorial character. Currently, given its high prevalence, it has awakened scientific interest in order to carry out earlier diagnoses that will have an impact on more effective interventions. Until now, the diagnosis of ASD has been carried out by means of standardized diagnostic batteries based on qualitative criteria, so that the response may be far from that obtained in a real context. Therefore, tools such as Virtual Reality (VR), with the potential to reproduce highly realistic environments, can be a valid context for both assessment and therapeutic intervention. Non-immersive virtual environments have been applied, given the refusal of the ASD population to use VR viewers, although with bservational results. These limitations can be overcome with the use of so-called Immersive Virtual Environments (IVEs), since they represent a non-invasive technological solution, with a greater capacity for immersion and, therefore, for generating responses that are more similar to those obtained in a real context. Observational measurements can be overcome with physiological measurements, such as electrodermal activity (EDA), which provides the body's response in the form of sweating to a stimulus, or eye tracking, which shows the behaviour of the eye. Both involve implicit, unconscious and quantifiable responses, which can help define the condition. Consequently, the present Doctoral Thesis, composed of three studies, aims to unite the use of IVE, with the capacity of visual, auditory and olfactory stimulation with physiological measures, focused on the evaluation and training of ASD, as well as studying the relationships between them and the diagnostic batteries of ASD. The Study nº1 evaluated the adaptation of the participants to the deviIces and the IVE and the EDA levels in a context of response to the greeting. The results found that ASD subjects showed similar tolerance in the use of the IVE and EDA dEVIce. They increased their levels of arousal with respect to the prEVIous resting state (Ratio), when the sense of smell was involved, with no significant relationship with the diagnostic batteries. Study nº2 studied in depth the EDA levels in a context of total or partial imitation. The results show that the ASD subjects showed a lower activation (Ratio), when facing total imitation processes, with olfactory stimulation, finding no significant relations with the diagnostic batteries. The Study nº3 studied the EDA and the ocular behaviour in an IVE based in a Shopping Centre. The EDA results, did not provide differences in the evaluation session, but they decreased in the ASD subjects after a training session. Eye behaviour in the assessment session discriminated between the groups, but in the training the behaviour was similar. The relationships between these measures and the diagnostic batteries did not show significant relationships. As a final conclusion, it should be pointed out that the electrodermal measure that had more capacity to identify the ASD population was the Ratio measure. While the EDA, after the training, was an indicator of an improvement of the excitement in front of situations of signalling, response to the name and joint attention, in the case of the ocular behaviour, it was one able to differentiate between the groups only in the evaluation session. Finally, the EDA and the ocular behaviour, were not measured with correlational capacity with the diagnostic batteries. / Olmos Raya, E. (2021). Tecnologías Inmersivas y medidas psicofisiológicas para la evaluación y entrenamiento de niños con Trastorno del Espectro Autista [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/165871 / TESIS

Student Number : 9402348T - MSc(Med) dissertation - School of Medicine - Faculty of Health Sciences / My previous investigations have indicated that a connection exists between the state of health of specific internal organs and the electrical characteristics of related, although sometimes remote, skin areas. These skin areas are referred to as organ projection areas (OPA) and include acupuncture points. Pathology of a particular organ causes a related OPA to rectify electrical currents, once the resistance ‘breakthrough effect’ has been induced in the skin. The ‘breakthrough effect’ is a rapid reversible decrease in skin resistance which takes place under certain electrical stimulatory conditions. Only after it occurs, the skin resistance measured by means of a positively polarised point electrode is significantly higher for diseased organs’ projection areas, when compared to the resistance for the same but negatively polarised measuring electrode (rectification / diode phenomenon). For healthy organs’ projection areas, this phenomenon is not observed. The pathology of an internal organ also increases the impedance of the corresponding OPA. The location of the skin zone, where a high degree of rectification and increased impedance is observed, indicates which particular organ is diseased. The degree of rectification or difference in impedance indicates the extent of the pathological process within the organ. These findings created the basis for a new non-invasive diagnostic method – organ electrodermal diagnostics (OED). Although the electrical phenomena of the skin described above have been confirmed clinically, the resistance and impedance values involved have not been characterized statistically. Therefore, in order to determine the accuracy of OED, optimization of OED parameters was undertaken. Evaluation of electrical characteristics revealed that for AC measurements, low frequency and high amplitude were most suitable. Therefore 250Hz was selected as the measurement frequency, since lower frequencies produced uncomfortable sensations under the measuring electrode. Measuring current amplitude was chosen to be 25uA (peak) since it was observed to be below the perception threshold. For DC measurements, the highest amplitude of the measurement stimulus that does not cause uncomfortable sensations was the most suitable. Since the skin resistance is very low after the ‘breakthrough effect’, 25uA was chosen as optimal. According to these parameters the OED device ‘Diagnotronics’ was built. The device specifies the actual condition of the organ related to the investigated skin area as 'HEALTHY', 'WITHIN NORMAL LIMITS', ‘SUBACUTE’ and ‘ACUTE’. A special display graded according to percentage of the disease intensity, makes it possible to specify accurately the activity of organ pathology. The locations of skin areas corresponding to the examined organs and final results are displayed on a screen. A double-blind comparative study of OED results and clinical diagnoses, as a criterion standard, was performed on a group of 200 inpatients at Helen Joseph Hospital's surgical department. The study was restricted to the following organs: oesophagus, stomach, gall bladder, pancreas, colon, kidneys, urinary bladder and prostate. These organs are relatively easy to access clinically, and their pathologies represent a variety of aetiological and pathogenetic factors e.g. infections, inflammation, neoplasms, immunological and metabolic disorders. In total 630 true OED results were obtained from the 714 subjects considered: detection rate 88.2% (85,6-90,5%). Established OED sensitivity was 89.5% (85,2-92,8%) and OED specificity equaled 87.5% (84,0-90,4%). The predictive value for positive OED results was 81.7% (76,9-85,9%) and for negative OED results 93.0% (90,1-95,2%). There were no significant differences in the results obtained from various internal organs. Healthy organs usually display the OED result 'HEALTHY' or 'WITHIN NORMAL LIMITS’, while subacute pathology displays 'SUBACUTE' and acute pathology as an 'ACUTE'. The OED results were affected neither by the type nor the aetiology of disease i.e. OED estimates the actual extent of the pathological process activity within a particular organ but does not explain the direct cause of the pathology. The OED results were not influenced by a patient's muscle tension, emotional state, skin humidity, environmental temperature or by procedure duration. The pressure of the measuring electrode had a limited influence (up to 5%) on the OED results and did not affect the final diagnoses. No side-effects of the OED examinations were observed. The study confirmed the existence of OPA on the skin surface and proved that OED is a reliable bioelectronic method of non-invasive medical diagnostic testing, with high rates of sensitivity, specificity and predictive values. OED may detect diseased organs and estimate the activity of the pathological process.

Abstract This dissertation investigates high school students’ individual and interpersonal physiology of electrodermal activity (EDA) during collaborative learning in naturalistic settings. EDA is an index of sympathetic arousal, which is concomitant with cognitive and affective processes. Two data collections were organized with students working collaboratively in triads. The first one took place during the performance of a science task, and the second during two runs of a six-week advanced physics course. The data collected included EDA (measured unobtrusively using Empatica® E3 and E4 wristbands), performance measures (pre- and post-tests, task solutions, and course exam), and questionnaires on cognitive, affective, and collaborative aspects of learning. The work was reported in three articles. The results indicate that, on average, students spent more than half (60%) of the class at a low arousal level, possibly signaling relaxation, disengagement, or boredom. Most of the time (≈60–95% of the lesson), triad members were at a different arousal level, which might indicate that students took turns (alternating task-doers) in executing the task or applied some division of labor rather than truly collaborating. In terms of achievement, sympathetic arousal during the exam was a predictor of the exam grades, and pairwise directional agreement of EDA was positively and highly correlated to the dual learning gain. Arousal contagion could have occurred in up to 41% of the high arousal intervals found. The possible arousal contagion cases took place mostly on a 1:1 basis (71.3%), indicating that interactions in a collaborative learning triad seem to occur mainly between two members rather than among the three. The findings provide an ecologically-valid picture of the students’ EDA responses in the classroom, both individually and collaboratively, benefiting from the connection of arousal to cognitive and affective processes to increase the saliency of otherwise elusive phenomena. Methodologically, the study contributes to the exploration and exploitation of psychophysiological approaches for collaborative learning research. On a practical level, it provides physiological indices that could be incorporated into learning analytics dashboards to support students’ awareness and reflection, and teachers’ pedagogical practices. / Tiivistelmä Tässä väitöstutkimuksessa tarkastellaan elektrodermaalista aktiivisuutta (EDA) ja tästä johdettua sympaattista vireystilaa ja fysiologisia indeksejä, samanaikaisesti yksilöiden ja yksilöiden välisten kognitiivisten ja affektiivisten prosessien kanssa. Tutkimusaineisto kerättiin yhteisöllisen oppimisen tilanteista, joissa oppilaat työskentelivät kolmen hengen ryhmissä. Ensimmäinen osa aineistosta kerättiin oppilaiden suorittaessa luonnontieteiden alan tehtävää ja toinen kahden fysiikan syventävän kurssin aikana. Aineistoon sisältyi EDA (Empatica® E3- ja E4-rannekkeista), oppimisen mittaukset (alku- ja lopputestit, tehtävien ratkaisut ja kurssikokeet) sekä kyselylomakkeet oppimisen kognitiivisista, affektiivisista ja yhteisöllisen työskentelyn näkökulmista. Tutkimus on raportoitu kolmessa artikkelissa. Tulokset osoittavat, että opiskelijoiden sympaattisen hermoston vireystila oli keskimäärin yli puolet (60 %) luokkatyöskentelystä alhainen, mikä viittaa mahdolliseen rentoutumiseen, osallistumisen puutteeseen tai tylsistymiseen. Ryhmänjäsenet olivat suurimman osan ajasta (≈60-95 %) eri vireystilan tasoilla, mikä voi tarkoittaa, että he suorittivat tehtävää vuorotellen (tehtävän suorittajaa vaihdellen) tai jonkinlaista työnjakoa käyttäen, yhteisöllisen työskentelyn sijaan. Sympaattinen vireystila kurssikokeessa ennusti kokeen arvosanoja. Lisäksi oppilasparien EDA:n samansuuntaisuus korreloi vahvasti oppimistulosten kanssa. Yksilöiden välillä tapahtuvaa sympaattisen vireystilan ”tarttumista” on voinut esiintyä jopa 41 prosentissa todetuista korkean vireystilan intervalleista. Mahdolliset ”tarttumiset” ilmenivät enimmäkseen (71,3%) 1:1 suhteessa, mikä viittaa siihen, että vuorovaikutus yhteisöllisessä oppimisessa näyttäisi tapahtuvan pääasiassa kahden yksilön välillä kaikkien kolmen sijaan. Tulokset tarjoavat ekologisesti validin kuvan opiskelijoiden EDA-reaktioista luokkahuoneessa sekä yksilöllisesti että yhteisöllisesti tarkasteltuna, selventäen samalla kuvaa sympaattisen vireystilan yhteydestä kognitiivisiin ja affektiivisiin prosesseihin. Menetelmällisesti tutkimus kartoittaa psykofysiologisen lähestymistavan mahdollisuuksia yhteisöllisen oppimisen tutkimuksessa. Se esittelee fysiologisia indeksejä, jotka voitaisiin visualisoida oppimisen analytiikan sovelluksissa opiskelijoiden tietoisuuden ja reflektion sekä opettajien pedagogisten käytäntöjen tukemiseksi.

Le syndrome de Prader-Willi (SPW) est une maladieneurodéveloppementale rare d’origine génétique dont les manifestationspsychologiques incluent une déficience intellectuelle légère à modérée, descomportements ritualisés, une obsession pour la nourriture, des accès de colèreet une labilité émotionnelle. Le premier objectif de ces études est d’appuyer lalittérature suggérant un déficit des fonctions exécutives dans le SPW. Ledeuxième objectif est d’évaluer s’il existe un déficit du traitement émotionneldans le SPW. Le troisième objectif est de déterminer si les effets modulateurs dela valeur émotionnelle sur l’efficience du contrôle exécutif sont exprimésdifférentiellement dans le SPW comparativement à la population saine. Deuxpré-expériences et cinq expériences ont été menées en utilisant des mesurescomportementales (pré-expériences 1, 2, expériences 1 à 5) et une associationentre mesures comportementales et mesures électrodermales (expériences 1, 2,3, 5). Les mesures comportementales montrent un ralentissement du traitementde l’information et une plus faible précision des réponses dans le SPW. Lesmesures physiologiques montrent des réponses de plus faible intensité et defaçon surprenante, plus précoces dans le SPW. Dans la majorité des cas, letraitement émotionnel de l’information est identique dans les deux groupes auniveau des mesures objectives. En revanche, l’évaluation subjective d’images àconnotation émotionnelle montre un biais de positivité dans le SPW. Enfin,l’efficience de la capacité de mise à jour de l’information est singulièrementaltérée dans le SPW lorsque l’environnement comporte des références à lanourriture. / Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a rare neurodevelopmental geneticdisease whose psychological manifestations include mild to moderateintellectual disability, ritualistic behavior, obsession with food, temper tantrums,emotional lability and psychiatric disorders. The first aim of these studies is tosupport the growing evidence that PWS people show an impairment ofexecutive functions. The second aim is to investigate whether PWS people havean impairment of emotional processing. A third objective is to determine if themodulating effects of emotional significance on the efficiency of executivecontrol are differentially expressed in PWS in comparison to the healthypopulation. Two pre-experiments and five experiments were conducted usingbehavioral measures (pre-experiments 1, 2 and experiments 1 to 5) and bothbehavioral and electrodermal measures (experiments 1, 2, 3, 5). Behavioral datashowed a global slowness of processing and a lower response accuracy.Physiological data showed weaker but surprisingly earlier responses in the PWSgroup. In the majority of cases, emotional processing was identical in the twogroups at the level of objective measures. In contrast, the subjective rating ofpictures of emotional significance showed an overall positive rating bias in thePWS group. Finally, the updating capacity of working memory is singularlyhampered in PWS when the environment contains references to food.

Stress and parenting often go hand in hand, with high physical and emotional demands from children often coupled with pressures and responsibilities adults bear from work, school, and other involvements outside the home. Parents often prioritize their children's needs above their own physical, emotional, and social needs. While current literature addresses stress in mothers, it has yet to understand under what circumstances her children may modify her stress levels and whether her stress response, in turn, affects cognition. This study seeks to investigate the impact of such a taxing environment on mothers' stress and cognition using a challenging mnemonic discrimination paradigm. It was hypothesized that the auditory distraction of a mother's own children during the task would impair her ability to encode and retrieve images and also increase her physiological stress response. Prior research has outlined how irrelevant noise and induced stress modify behavioral outcomes, and how mnemonic discrimination of emotional stimuli differs from that of neutral stimuli. However, to our knowledge, there have been no tests in any group using distracting noise (a type of induced stress) during emotionally valenced mnemonic discrimination tasks. This led to the development of our task in order to better understand stress and distraction coupled with valenced imagery. Encoding was divided into two blocks, with one block occurring during the presentation of white noise and the alternate block occurring during the presentation of noise from children, either live audio feed to a mother's own children (experimental condition) or prerecorded audio of a group of children (control condition). We found that retrieval did decrease as a result of child noise, and that memory performance for neutral stimuli was greater than for negative or positive stimuli. Physiological measurements (electrodermal activity and heart rate) were also obtained to view the stress response, but only electrodermal activity showed significance. A significant relationship was found between electrodermal activity and behavioral scores in the experimental group. Our results also suggest that perceived and induced stress coupled with distraction leads to lower memory performance and increased physiological stress responses.

Thesis advisor: Elizabeth Kensinger / Individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) tend to have emotional memory biases in the encoding and retrieval of social memories. Research has shown reduced heart rate variability (HRV) in clinical populations suffering from anxiety, including social anxiety. Heightened sympathetic activation—as measured by the electrodermal activity (EDA)—has also been associated with anxiety disorders. The aim of the present study was to examine the relation between HRV, social anxiety, and re-experiencing of emotional autobiographical memories. 44 healthy young adults were recruited from the Boston College campus through SONA. Participants were given an online survey that instructed them to retrieve 40 specific events from the past in response to 40 socially relevant cues. For each event, participants were instructed to provide a brief narrative, make several ratings for the event (on a scale from 1-7), and indicate the specific emotions they experienced both at the time of retrieval and of the event. Approximately one month after the completion of the memory survey, participants engaged in a 2-hour memory retrieval session while undergoing psychophysiological monitoring (heart rate, skin conductance, and respiration). Following the retrieval task, participants completed self-report questionnaires of social anxiety symptom severity and trait emotion regulation strategy (i.e., tendency to reappraise or suppress emotions). The present study found that positive memories had higher re-experiencing ratings as compared to negative memories. Contrary to the original study hypothesis, however, there was no significant interaction between average re-experiencing (or arousal) ratings of positive or negative social autobiographical memories and SAD likelihood. A nonlinear, cubic relationship was found between one of three metrics of HRV and social anxiety symptom severity. A significant effect was found between skin conductance and SAD likelihood, which was likely driven by an almost significance difference in skin conductance between the SAD unlikely and the SAD very probable groups; these findings provide further insight into the relationship between autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning and social anxiety. Further, the present results suggest the intriguing possibility that there may be a nonlinear relationship between HRV and severity of social anxiety. Future research with a larger sample size is needed to corroborate these findings. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Psychology.

To determine whether children with selective mutism (SM) withhold speech to regulate their emotional arousal and decrease automatic distress, the current study examines the behavioral and physiological responses of children with SM in comparison to children with social phobia (SP) and children with no psychiatric disorder (TD) as they participate in two social situations. A single case design strategy is used to compare behavioral and physiological responses both within and across groups. Examining the temporal sequencing of behaviors and physiology provides a direct test of the utility of emotion regulation theory as it pertains to children with social phobia/selective mutism. The results indicate that children with SM show elevated arousal and emotional reactivity across all interaction segments relative to other children. Unique affective, behavioral and physiological responses occur between and within groups in relation to situational demands. The temporal sequencing of behavioral and physiological responses suggests that behavioral deficits may be related to underutilized and/or deficient physiological response systems and that not speaking represents a primitive avoidance strategy by children with SM to regulate extreme physiological arousal.