ABSTRACT
The topic of this chapter is a basic research one related to the field of cardiac psychophysiology. But I wish to emphasize in the context of this basic research some critical issues that affect the relationships between basic and applied psychology. In particular, I would like to question why many psychologists, especially those who deal with people’s problems and try to help them with psychological treatments and interventions, pay so little attention to current basic research on the psychological processes involved in the disorders they are trying to treat. Surprisingly, this gap between basic and applied psychology is even evident in many psychologists who call themselves behaviorally or cognitively oriented. This movement by behavior and cognitive therapists away from current experimental research, both in animals and humans, on psychological processes relevant to the therapeutic programs they are trying to implement, means a clear breakdown of the original commitment of behavior therapy, in the 1950s and 60s, to establish a solid bridge between experimental psychology and applied psychology. But the gap is also evident in the work of many psychologists dedicated to basic experimental research. Indeed, experimental psychology seems to have contributed very little, especially in the last few decades, to the understanding of clinical problems related to emotion and stress.
