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A survey of the literature on human salivation is presented with emphasis upon the influence of normal and psychopathologic emotional states as they affect alterations in factors relating to flow rate. Discussion includes neurolollical and physiological features of the gland, individuality of response, results of classical and operant conditioning, and suggested areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical, psychophysiological, and psychometric measurements were made on 20 normal controls and 30 anxious patients during rest and experimental stress. Resting forearm blood flow, a relatively new physiological index of anxiety, was found to correlate significantly with clinical and subjective ratings of anxiety, and with heart rate, number of spontaneous fluctuations of skin resistance, and amplitude of forearm EMG. It did not correlate significantly with any of the measures of depression. Resting forearm blood flow and heart rate were found to be better measures of arousal in this study than skin resistance, EMG, or cutaneous vasomotor status, since the latter did not show significant differences between anxious patients and normal controls. The psychological traits of the two groups were also assessed by the Maudsley Personality Inventory, Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, and Zung Depression Scale; and their emotional state evaluated by the Clyde Mood Scale and Semantic Differential Scale. Twenty-one variables showed significant differences between the two groups. Some of these measures have subsequently been used, with advantage, to monitor emotional changes brought about by psychiatric treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a proposed standard nomenclature for psychophysiologic measures, proposed as a tentative set of standard terms for psychophysiology for the guidance of individuals writing articles for Psychophysiology. Soon after the establishment of this journal it became evident that authors used a confusing variety of terms to refer to the phenomena they were measuring. The editors were faced with the difficult problem of interpreting and often translating the terms of one writer into a commonly acceptable form, which would be not necessarily definitive but intelligible to others with less expertise in a particular field.

Punched paper tape readers, frequently used for machine control and computer input, are readily adaptable for the purposes of presenting extremely complex signal sequences such as those used in psychophysiology. A description of basic operating principles is given together with an explanation of the minor modifications necessary to adapt this instrument to signal control. Complete schematics are presented of an instrument with seven channel control capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Part II. Determines the effect of varying the interval between the onset of conditional stimulus (CS) and unconditional stimulus on human salivary conditioning. Increase in the duration of the salivary unconditional response; Importance of the temporal spacing within the conditioning paradigm; Frequency of response to unreinforced CS presentations.

This study was concerned with the relationship between stimulus intensity (concentration of citric acid) and parotid salivary response in man as reflected in four measures. Although this relationship varied with the measure employed, it was in no case linear. It was concluded that optimum concentration of citric acid for stimulating parotid salivary secretion in man was 1.0% and that the measure which differentiated best between the weakest acid stimulus and water as a control and between the two lowest concentrations of acid was the average quantity of evoked saliva per trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychophysiology is made up of a concatenation of specialties peopled by immigrants from psychology, psychiatry, physiology, and engineering, those gentle dissidents who found themselves at a difference with the established practices in their area and who sought less constraining fields of work. As a consequence, our composite talents are impressively diverse, ranging from a familiarity with the murky depths of the unconscious to an intimacy with electronic computers. Skills we have brought with us are various, and the range of problems we can attack and the means by which we may approach them are numerous. Advances in electronics have provided us with elaborate, sophisticated instrumentation. While it is possible to measure the most subtle physiological responses there is need for improvement in many simple, important ways.

Four plethysmographic techniques- rheoplethysmography, electrical impedance plethysmography, girth plethysmography, and photoplethysmography are described and their theoretic bases discussed. Advantages and limitations are noted, and particular emphasis is given to the optical methods and the use of glass fiber light guides in the construction of the transducer. Typical examples of current plethysmographic research are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the basics of digital logic operations, discusses the functional operation of electronic circuits which accomplish these operations and analyzes the operation of complexes of these circuits which may be used for counting, timing, and amplitude registration of the phenomena of interest in psycho-physiological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Editorial. Comments on the value of research in psychophysiology in the U.S. Growth in the emphasis upon the form of a communication to be used; Characteristics of the true communication of ideas; Promotion of important speculations.

The circuit described represents a relatively simple and economical solution to the problem of presenting to the human S his heart rate data in the form of an auditory signal. The requirements of portability, low cost, and long-term unattended operation have been met. In addition, portions of the circuit have additional uses in the general area of psychophysiological instrumentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A photoelectric triggering device has been developed with the aim of providing a minimum or maximum trigger on a blood pressure wave. The output from a strain gauge which measures blood pressure is displayed on an oscilloscope, and triggering is done by means of a miniature photocell mounted on a micrometric advance. A transistor circuit transforms the photocell pulse into a relay contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]