Successive Changes of Psychophysiological Responses during a Speech Task: Comparative Study of Explicit and Implicit Cognitive Measures

Abstract

This study investigated successive changes of psychophysiological responses related to social anxiety using a speech task. Fifteen university students completed the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (FNE) and the Go/No-go Association Task (GNAT) which measured their implicit associations between social situations and emotions. During a speech task, psychophysiological responses (electro-dermal activity: EDA; heart rate: HR) were assessed. The results showed that both EDA and HR were reduced through the speech task. For EDA, however, there was a significant difference between high and low GNAT groups. The implications for implicit variables are discussed.