NCJ Number
52638
Date Published
1978
Length
76 pages
Annotation
HYPOTHESES CONCERNING STRESS AS IT RELATES TO VISUAL STIMULI OF POTENTIALLY STRESSING SITUATIONS ARE INVESTIGATED.
Abstract
CLINICAL RESEARCH INVESTIGATED THE INTER-RATER RELIABILITY OF TRAINED RATERS TO INTERPRET VOICE PRINTS MADE FROM VOCAL RECORDINGS, THE ELICITATION OF STRESSFUL RESPONSES BY MEANS OF EXPOSURE TO POTENTIALLY STRESSFUL VISUAL STIMULI, THE VALIDITY OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS EVALUATOR (PSE-101) AS A STRESS INDICATOR, AND THE EFFECT OF THE CLINICAL EXPERIENCE ON STRESS. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT TRAINED RATERS CAN INTERPRET VOICE PRINTS WITH A SATISFACTORY DEGREE OF INTER-RATER RELIABILITY, THAT POTENTIALLY STRESSFUL VISUAL STIMULI ARE CAPABLE OF ELICITING A STRESSFUL RESPONSE, THAT THE PSE-101 IS A VALID INDICATOR OF STRESS, AND THAT CLINICAL EXPERIENCE DOES NOT DECREASE STRESS. NINE GROUPS OF SUBJECTS, DIFFERENTIATED BY THEIR EXTENT OF EXPERIENCE IN PEDODONTICS WERE SHOWN SLIDES OF POTENTIALLY STRESSING AND NONSTRESSING PEDODONTIC SITUATIONS. RESPONSES FROM THE SUBJECTS WERE RECORDED ONTO MASTER TAPES FROM WHICH VOICE PRINTS WERE MADE. DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS AND INDEPENDENT T-TESTS WERE USED TO EXAMINE THE RESULTANT DATA. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS EVALUATOR, WHICH CAN REPRODUCIBLY RETRIEVE THE MICRO-MUSCLE TREMOR FROM THE SPOKEN VOICE OF AN INDIVIDUAL, AND DISPLAY THIS STRESS-RELATED COMPONENT OF THE HUMAN VOICE WAS USED TO PROVIDE OBJECTIVE MEASUREMENTS OF STRESS. THE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF THIS DEVICE IS DISCUSSED, AND THE METHOD OF ITS OPERATION AS A RESEARCH INSTRUMENT IS DETAILED IN A REVIEW OF THE RELEVANT LITERATURE. APPENDED MATERIALS INCLUDE THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN TO THE RESEARCH SUBJECTS, AND THE VOICE PRINT SCORING SYSTEM. A LIST OF REFERENCES IS PROVIDED.