Generalizing from laboratory studies to field studies of human stress physiology

In studying physiologic responses to behavioral stressors, there are two competing strategies. Laboratory studies offer greater experimental control but less provocation. Field studies provide poorer experimental control but potentially greater provocation. Despite these differences, comparison within subjects of neuroendocrine responses to these different settings has not been performed. We studied 11 healthy young men in the field during public speaking and in the laboratory during carefully controlled mental arithmetic calculations. There were marked differences in self-report and in plasma levels of catecholamines in the two settings.