Accession Number:

ADA186931

Title:

Brain Potentials and Personality: A New Look at Stress Susceptibility.

Descriptive Note:

Final rept.,

Corporate Author:

HUMAN ENGINEERING LAB ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND MD

Personal Author(s):

• Mullins, Linda F.
• Lukas, Jeffrey H.

Report Date:

1987-09-01

Pagination or Media Count:

21.0

Abstract:

Todays soldier is confronted with physiological and psychological hardships that can affect the soldiers ability to function effectively and appropriately. This is seen as a breakdown of performance when sustained stress exceeds the soldiers capacity to cope. This experiment investigates an underlying constitutional factor, involving the central nervous system, that plays a role in how excitable an individual will be during any stressful or arousing situation. Subjects listened to 1,000-Hz tone bursts ranging 40 to 85 dB sensation level SL in 5-dB steps in a block-randomized fashion. The brains electrical response to the tones was averaged and collected online. The peak amplitudes were measured and the slope of the line of best fit between evoked potential amplitude and intensity was computed. Auditory augmenters have positive slopes, that is, as intensity increases so does the evoked potential amplitude. Reducers show the opposite effect. The brain potentials become smaller or reduce as intensity increases, producing a negative slope. In addition, each subject completed Zuckermans Sensation Seeking Scale SSS and Vandos Reducer-Augmenter R-A Scale. The slope measure was significantly correlated with the experience seeking subscale of the SSS. The results indicate that auditory augmenters prefer and seek out novel and exciting experiences. And in conjunctions with previous human and animal research, the results also suggest that the augmenter may cope better with stress and high workloads.

Descriptors:

• *ARMY PERSONNEL
• *PERSONALITY
• *STRESS(PHYSIOLOGY)
• *STRESS(PSYCHOLOGY)
• *NOISE(SOUND)
• AMPLITUDE
• BRAIN
• CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
• HIGH RATE
• INTENSITY
• PEAK VALUES
• SCALE
• SCALE MODELS
• SENSES(PHYSIOLOGY)
• SLOPE
• WORKLOAD
• EXPOSURE(PHYSIOLOGY)
• ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY
• ATTENTION
• AUGMENTATION
• ADJUSTMENT(PSYCHOLOGY)
• TOLERANCE
• PERFORMANCE(HUMAN)

Subject Categories:

• Stress Physiology
• Psychology

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE