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Abstract

The present study investigated heart-rate response to internally and externally elicited stressful imagery as a function of field dependence. 40 female undergraduates were divided into five field-dependent groups. Both the internal and the external modes of presentation included a stimulus block followed by an image block. The internal-stimulus block was an internally elicited thought, while the external-stimulus block was a visually presented typewritten statement. Half of the Ss within each field-dependent group experienced the external mode and half experienced the internal mode. A tone served as the time-locked cue to signal the thoughts and the images. The results indicated that the internal mode produced significantly greater heart-rate response than the external mode, and there was a trend toward field-independent Ss reacting with higher heart rate to both modes. These findings and trends are discussed in terms of the importance of internally elicited cognitive activity in the experience of fear, the Lacey hypothesis of directional fractionation, and the relationship between field dependence and various autonomic and personality characteristics.

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Cardiac Response to Internally and Externally Elicited Stressful Imagery as a Function of Field Dependence

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