Effects of the presentation of false heart-rate feedback on the performance of two common heartbeat-detection tasks

Research has indicated that performance on heartbeat counting tasks may be influenced by beliefs about heart rate. Sixty male subjects were administered the Schandry heartbeat counting task after viewing fast, slow, or no heart rate feedback. Subjects were also administered the Whitehead signal-detection type task. Results indicated that subjects who received fast or no heartbeat feedback performed better on the Schandry task than subjects who received slow feedback. Feedback presentation did not affect performance on the Whitehead task. These results suggest that the Schandry task is influenced by external variables (expectations, beliefs) beyond pure awareness of “discrete” visceral sensations and, thus, may not be as powerful a method for determining awareness of individual heartbeats as some other paradigms.