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Abstract

The present study investigated the influence of sex and body
position on respiratory characteristics and the effects of thoracic,
abdominal and paced breathing, and relaxation training on psychological
and physiological indices of arousal. Two separate experiments were
conducted, each using equal numbers of male and female subjects. The
psychological measures of arousal used were: the Taylor Manifest
Anxiety Scale, a self-report measure of arousal, and Time Estimation.
Physiological data collected included: Skin Conductance, Heart Rate,
Respiratory Rate, thoracic-abdominal index and the
inspiration/expiration ratio. Respiratory characteristics were
measured using mercury-in-rubber strain gauges.
In Experiment 1 the respiratory patterns of 28 subjects were
assessed in two body positions: sitting and supine. Subjects were
divided according to sex, and allocated randomly to either the
sitting-supine order, or the supine-sitting order. In this way four
experimental groups were formed. The differences in respiratory
patterns, psychological measures, and physiological indices could,
therefore, be attributed to either: sex, body position, or the order
in which assessment occurred.
Experiment 1 revealed that in the sitting position female subjects
breathe relatively more thoracically than do male subjects. In the
supine position both sexes breathe predominantly abdominally. Thoracic
I/E ratios were found to be higher in male subjects than in female
subjects and both thoracic and abdominal I/E ratios were effected by
•body position and order of position. In the supine position subjects
displayed longer inspiratory times than in the sitting position.
Similarly, in the sitting-supine order subjects displayed longer
inspiratory times than in the supine-sitting order. It was shown that predominantly abdominal breathing was associated with longer thoracic
and abdominal inspirations than was thoracic breathing.
• Experiment 2 used 48 subjects who were also divided according to
sex and randomly allocated to one of four treatment conditions:
thoracic, abdominal or paced breathing, or relaxation training. In
this experiment subjects were assessed only in the sitting position.
Thoracic and abdominal training was accomplished with the aid of visual
and auditory feedback procedures. Subjects in the paced breathing
treatment were required to inhale and exhale as indicated by the sweep
of an analogue meter indicator. Relaxation training required subjects
to perform tape-recorded relaxation exercises. Subjects in the paced
breathing condition served as attention controls, whilst the subjects
in the relaxation training condition served as an arousal control
group.
Experiment 2 revealed that training subjects to breathe
thoracically or abdominally failed to produce consistent changes in the
indices of arousal. Both male and female subjects reported feeling
less aroused following relaxation training. Time Estimation and the
physiological indices failed to parallel the self-report data.
The present results are discussed in respect to current respiratory
literature and major methodological issues were identified for future
research.

Item Type:	Thesis - Coursework Master
Authors/Creators:	Budzyna-Dawidowski, Przemyslaw Krzysztof
Copyright Holders:	The Author
Copyright Information:	Copyright 1985 the Author - The University is continuing to endeavour to trace the copyright owner(s) and in the meantime this item has been reproduced here in good faith. We would be pleased to hear from the copyright owner(s).
Additional Information:	Thesis (M.Psych.)--University of Tasmania, 1986. Bibliography: leaves 121-130
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