The effect of vocalization on the heart rate response to mental arithmetic

The heart rate (HR) responses to verbal and nonverbal mental arithmetic tasks were studied in twenty undergraduate males. The two problem-sets were presented in counterbalanced order to the subjects. Greater HR responses to verbal, in contrast to nonverbal, arithmetic were only observed when the verbal arithmetic task was presented first. The peak (maximal) HR response was also the highest when the verbal arithmetic was presented first to the subjects. It is concluded that physiological or mechanical components of vocalization do not affect the HR response to mental arithmetic. However, certain psychological components, including test-anxiety or motivation, may increase the HR when subjects have to provide verbal answers during a first exposure to a challenge. This effect dissipates during the second exposure to the challenge due to habituation.