Education Psychophysiology Kit

Investigate the effects of the diving response on heart rate and peripheral circulation in humans during simulated dives as well as breath holding.

Students will learn about the electrodermal response. They will measure skin conductance, heart rate, and respiratory rate. Students will complete a classical conditioning experiment, in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an adverse stimulus to try and elicit a conditioned response.

This experiment can follow “Electrodermal Response (EDR)” or can stand alone.

Students will be introduced to EDR. They will test the effects of emotion, stress, and lying (polygraph test), on physiological responses. Students will measure and analyze skin conductance, skin temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate.

Students explore the electrical activity of the brain. They record electroencephalograms, and analyze: the effect of various interfering signals; the changes to alpha and beta waves with eyes open and shut; and the effects of mental and auditory activity on alpha and beta waves.

In this laboratory students record electro-oculograms (EOG’s) in the horizontal plane. They will examine different eye movements including: angular displacement, saccades, smooth tracking, gaze-holding and gaze-shifting, and nystagmus.

In this module students learn how to record and analyze data in Lt. A "Pre-Lab" lesson shows students what to expect in Lt labs and lets them explore the types of signals they might record. They also practice their data analysis skills prior to the lab, where they record and analyze their own pulse.

Students use basic techniques to record psychophysiological variables and learn the principles behind the galvanic skin response (GSR), respiratory rate, blood pressure and electromyography.

Record EMG during voluntary muscle contractions and investigate how coactivation and contractile force changes with increasing demand. Measure the decline in your Grip force during a sustained contraction and examine muscle fatigue. Discover how visual feedback, verbal feedback, and rest, impact our ability to sustain muscle contractions.

Students explore the similarities and differences of reflexes and reactions. Students first examine simple reflexes, and then use the PowerLab to examine their reaction times to stimuli under different conditions.

Over a series of exercises students investigate mechanisms of sensory perception and discover techniques that send conflicting information to the central nervous system.

Students familiarize themselves with their senses and experiment with sensory illusions. Learn how the body detects and perceives different sensations including touch, sight, taste, and movement. These activities are suitable for students at all levels, and can be performed without a PowerLab.

Students are introduced to the basic concepts of perception through an exploration of the size-weight illusion. The laboratory begins with the traditional size-weight illusion, and then takes students through a series of manipulations that lead to a more interpretive analysis of the illusion in the final exercise.

Students will familiarize themselves with the Stroop Test. They will investigate the interference of conflicting messages, and examine the effects of the Stroop Test as an experimental stressor. This lab is suitable for students at all levels.

In this lab students will record a visual evoked potential using ECG. Students will complete two activities in which a volunteer watches a series of light flashes and then a checkerboard pattern reversal. Students will compare the two visual evoked potential waveforms to determine which stimulus elicits the greater response.