ABSTRACT
Why should the heart be of interest in psychophysiological research? After all, it is merely a muscular pump that pushes out blood to the rest of the body. This is true, but as we noted in chapter I, there are written records to show that very early scientists observed that changes in cardiac activity were related to psychological phenomena and emotions such as "love sickness." In fact, it is more than likely that changes in heart activity that occurred in amorous or fear-producing situations were noticed by cavepeople thousands of years ago. The association of the heart with love, cupid's bow, and Valentine's day also reflects individual perceptions of heartbeat changes that occur with emotional reactions. Contemporary cardiovascular psychophysiologists (and cardiovascular is a subspecialty within psychophysiology) are not usually concerned with heart activity on Valentine's day. Rather, they are interested in more general issues; for example, whether perceptual accuracy varies with changes in heart activity, or if differential changes in heart rate occur in various emotional states, whether individuals are capable of accurate detection of changes in their own cardiac responses, or if perception of heart rate change can influence the emotion experienced by a person.
