title: Differential relations between heart rate and skin conductance, and public speaking anxiety.
abstract: The present pilot study tested whether the lack of consistent findings of relations between autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and non-clinical levels of public speaking anxiety (PSA) can be explained by methodology. An ambulatory protocol was utilised to test whether the interaction of belief structure with each of an undergraduate student speaker's heart rate and skin conductance level predicted state speech anxiety better than their linear summation. Results suggest that in a non-clinical population, the interaction of ANS activity and belief structure is an important determinant of PSA, and may account for variable findings in the literature.
authors.affiliation: Brain & Behaviour Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong 2522, Australia. rcroft@bsi.swin.edu.au
authors.forename: Rodney J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Croft
authors.forename: Craig J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Gonsalvez
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gander
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lechem
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Barry
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics; D013060:Speech