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 administer ed the Schandry heartbeat counting task after viewing fast, slow, or no hea rt rate feedback. Subjects were also administered the Whitehead signal-dete ction type task. Results indicated that subjects who received fast or no he artbeat feedback performed better on the Schandry task than subjects who re ceived slow feedback. Feedback presentation did not affect performance on t he Whitehead task. These results suggest that the Schandry task is influenc ed by external variables (expectations, beliefs) beyond pure awareness of " discrete" visceral sensations and, thus, may not be as powerful a method fo r determining awareness of individual heartbeats as some other paradigms.