mullins@pitt.UUCP (Paul M. Mullins) (04/06/88)
This is a duplicate of earlier requests to sci.research,
sci.misc, and sci.psychology (na distribution). Results --
a couple of requests for information, but no offers.
I would really be interested in just opinions at this point.
----
A few years ago, voice stress analyzers (PSEs) were fairly
popular with prospective employers, et cetera. I am aware
of the debate about the usefulness of "lie detectors", but
I have seen little about the stress analyzers, and proponents
continue to claim accuracies of 80-93% (i.e. an experienced
operator will correctly identify the 'liar' over 90% of the
time - I know, not good if you are one of the errors :-<).
Can anyone point me to any study indicating a fair amount
of correlation between actual stress levels and those indicated
by such a device? A lack of correlation? Most of the information
I have found in this regard is for polygraphs. Note that I am
interested in an indicator of general stress level, not a
lie detector.
I am considering the use of such a device in determining
how comfortable users are with software interfaces. This
would be used in conjunction with voice/video protocols.
The idea is that such an objective measure would aid the
trained observer in analyzing the protocols. The advantage
to voice stress analyzers is the relatively low cost and ease
of use (a high quality recording can be obtained unobtrusively).
Some implicit assumptions are that people have a hard time
identifying stress and its causes, that the physiological
responses measured by these devices (FM modulations in the
voice, BP, HR, respiration, and galvanic response) are actually
indicative of stress, and that the indicated stress can be
attributed to a specific environmental cause (lots of background
noise to be considered).
Specific questions:
Are you aware of an previous attempts similar to this?
(I do recall an experiment where at least two of these
variables were measured for computer users, but I cannot
locate the source - results were inconclusive though.)
It seems obvious that stress causes measurable physiological
responses (sympathetic and parasympathetic). Can it be assumed
that parasympathetic ('play-dead') responses are the result of
extreme stress and are therefore unlikely to interfere with
the measurement of sympathetic responses normally associated
with polygraphs.
Some current research seems to indicate that relationship
between relaxation (I read that as low stress/anxiety)
and physiological responses. Has anyone shown anything
significant here?
Other suggestions would also be appreciated.
Please e-mail responses. If there is a significant response
I will summarize for the net. Thanks in advance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Mullins UUCP: psuvax1!pitt!mullins or {allegra,cadre}!...
Univ. of Pittsburgh mullins@pitt.uucp
Computer Science Dept. Internet: mullins%pitt@relay.cs.net
313 Alumni Hall BITNET: MULLINS@PITTVMS
Pittsburgh, PA 15260 CSNET: mullins@pitt
Disclaimer: I'm not a psychologist, and I need help ...