This thesis was concerned with the effects of shock intensity on discriminative escape conditioning. At the lowest shock intensity there was a bimodal distribution of nonresponding animals at one mode and responders at the other mode. Optimum performance occurred at the lowest shock intensity at which 100% of the animals responded. At higher shock intensities performance deteriorated. An attempt to test the Yerkes-Dodson Law failed to yield conclusive results. Finally, it was found that shock intensity affected performance rather than learning. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Title: The dynamic of changes of the arousal level like the component of motory docility. Objectives: The aim of this disertation work is to detect if there has been the relationship between the dynamic of changes of the arousal and the effectiveness of sensomotory learning (motory docility). Along with the next complementary examinations we would like to formulate proposals how to diagnose the motory docility. Thete is derivate from the subject"s ability to control its psychophysiology processes during the executing of unknown coordination task. Methods: The arousal of subject was objectificate throuth test of bimanual coordination, test of "mirror drawing" and expert testimony of motory docility. Results: It was detect, that the changes of arousal influence the running and quality of the sensomotory learning. Obtained data are corresponding with the expert testimory of motory docility. Keywords: electrodermal activity, coordination ability, sensomotory learning

Title: The dynamic of changes of the arousal level like the component of motory docility. Objectives: The aim of this disertation work is to detect if there has been the relationship between the dynamic of changes of the arousal and the effectiveness of sensomotory learning (motory docility). Along with the next complementary examinations we would like to formulate proposals how to diagnose the motory docility. Thete is derivate from the subject"s ability to control its psychophysiology processes during the executing of unknown coordination task. Methods: The arousal of subject was objectificate throuth test of bimanual coordination, test of "mirror drawing" and expert testimony of motory docility. Results: It was detect, that the changes of arousal influence the running and quality of the sensomotory learning. Obtained data are corresponding with the expert testimory of motory docility. Keywords: electrodermal activity, coordination ability, sensomotory learning

Most computer interfaces are designed in a one-size-fits-all fashion, which does not account for individual differences in abilities and preferences. Some computer users thrive with one software application while another user may struggle to use the same software. Some people tend to perform very well amidst distraction whereas others have a difficult time concentrating on a primary task when distracting agents are present. Much work has been done in quantifying a person's performance, but it has typically been difficult to quantify how difficult a task was for a person to perform. This thesis looks into the stress exhibited by various computer users while performing tasks in both their preferred and non-preferred modalities. The paper surveys the current physiological methods for analyzing human stress and delineates the hardware and software design and implementation of some of these methods. The physiological data-collecting hardware and software were deployed to collect physiological samples from test subjects engaging in memorization and recollection tasks in both an undistracted and a distracted setting. An analysis of the data shows the correlation between preferred modality and performance of tasks in that modality and other modalities. This analysis also shows the correlation between user arousal level and performance with and without distraction. Individual differences are considered by normalizing the physiological data collected for each subject prior to comparison with other subjects. The work presented herein gives insight into the individual differences of various types of computer users and is a precursor to work in adaptive user interface technology. / Master of Science

<p>Experiment One: The Effect of Noise on Autonomic Arousal</p><p><br></p><p>In response to the growing demand for research that helps us understand the complex interactions between Autonomic Arousal (AA) on behavior and performance there is an increasing need for robust techniques to efficiently utilize stimuli, such as sound, to vary the level of AA within a study. The goal of this study was to look at the impact of several factors, including sound intensity, order of presentation, and direction of presentation on skin conductance level, a widely utilized technique for approximating levels of AA. To do this we had 34 young adults ages 18- 34 listen to a series of 2-minute blocks of a sound stimuli based off a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC). Blocks included 5 single intensity conditions each block differing in 10 dBA steps ranging from 35-75 dBA. We presented blocks in both rising and falling level of intensity, with half the participants hearing them in a rising order first and half in a falling order first. The evidence found by this study suggests that increasing the sound level plays an important role in increasing AA and habituation is an extremely important factor that must be accounted for as it, in the case of typical young adults, quickly dampens the response to stimuli and subsequent stimuli. These findings suggest that researchers can best efficiently maximize the range of AA they can use while keeping their participants comfortable by starting out with the most intense stimuli and proceeding to the less intense stimuli, working with habitation instead of against it.</p><p> </p><p><br></p><p> Experiment Two: The Effect of Autonomic Arousal on Visual Attention</p><p><br></p><p>The goal of this study was to better understand how various levels of autonomic arousal impact different components of attentional control and if ASD-related traits indexed by Autism Quotient scores (AQ) might relate to alterations in this relationship. This study had 41 young adult participants (23 women, 17 men, 1 prefer not to say), ages ranging from 18 to 38 years old. Participants listened to varying levels of noise to induce changes in AA, which were recorded as changes in skin conductance level (SCL). To evaluate attentional control, participants preformed pro and anti-saccade visual gap–overlap paradigm tasks as measures of attentional control. The findings of this study suggest that increased levels of autonomic arousal are helpful for improving performance on anti-saccade tasks, which are heavily dependent on top-down attentional control. Additionally, increases in AQ scores were related to having less of a benefit from increasing levels of arousal on anti-saccade tasks. Additional interactions were also found and are discussed in this paper.</p>