ABSTRACT
Is it possible to use psychophysiological approaches to solve practical problems? This is the question that is examined in the next three chapters. Over the years, psychophysiologists have developed, or stimulated the development of, increasingly sensitive and sophisticated instruments to measure the physiological variables in their psychological studies. The refined instruments and techniques have led to a precision that allows the measurement of physiological responses in many practical applications. The next three chapters explore the types of research done in applied psychophysiology and address the question posed at the beginning of this section. In order to find answers about applications of psychophysiology, we examine a number of research studies in a variety of areas. The main difference between the studies described here and those in earlier chapters is that applied research is generally performed to provide an answer to a specific problem, the solution of which has practical value. This is not to say that basic research is “valueless,” because it often leads to applications of information or techniques that eventually prove to be very useful as well as leading to advances in science. Thus, applied and basic research often support and complement each other.
