Abstract
Relationship between changes in psychological and psychophysiological responses to “Agari” (stage fright) during oral examinations was investigated. The heart rate (HR) of undergraduate students (n = 17) at an oral defense of their graduation thesis was recorded with ambulatory monitoring equipment for 75 minutes while waiting for the examination to start, during the examination, and in the recovery period from the examination. They were also asked to complete questionnaires on psychological responses to Agari, as well as on subjective arousal throughout the experiment. Results indicated that the Agari score was highest before beginning the examination and decreased gradually after finishing it. Subjective arousal scores also indicated temporal changes similar to the Agari score. HR was highest during the examination and decreased after finishing it. These results suggest that psychophysiological responses were more saliently activated than psychological responses, though subjective responses and psychophysiological response showed almost similar temporal changes in actual Agari situations.
