?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=User-hostile+systems+and+patterns+of+psychophysiological+activity&rft.creator=Muter%2C+Paul&rft.creator=Furedy%2C+J.J.&rft.creator=Vincent%2C+A.&rft.creator=Pelcowitz%2C+T.&rft.subject=Human+Computer+Interaction&rft.description=Psychophysiological+measures%2C+which+are+not+contaminated+by+demand+characteristics%2C+are+potentially+useful+for+improving+systems+and+for+examining+psychological+processes+in+human-computer+interaction.+In+this+study+we+report+the+use+of+minute-by-minute+scored+heart-rate+(HR)+and+skin-conductance+level+(SCL)+in+a+25-subject+experiment.+Each+subject+was+presented+with+two+simulated+bank-transaction+tasks%2C+one+user-friendly+and+the+other+user-hostile.+To+check+whether+any+differences+were+due+simply+to+sheer+difficulty%2C+easy+(forward+digit-span)+and+hard+(backward+digit-span)+memory+tasks+were+presented+to+all+subjects.+The+HR+was+higher+during+the+computer+(problem-solving)+tasks+than+the+memory+tasks%2C+but+was+unaffected+by+task+difficulty%2C+whereas+SCL+was+uniquely+elevated+during+the+hard+(user-hostile)+computer+task.+The+HR+result+is+interpreted+as+reflecting+parasympathetic+withdrawal%2C+while+the+SCL+result+suggests+that+the+user-hostile+software+produced+sympathetic+excitation+of+the+sort+associated+with+the+fight-or-flight+reaction.+SCL+may+serve+as+a+good+measure+of+user-friendliness.&rft.publisher=Computers+in+Human+Behavior&rft.date=1993&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4429%2F1%2FAbs1993.htm&rft.identifier=++Muter%2C+Paul+and+Furedy%2C+J.J.+and+Vincent%2C+A.+and+Pelcowitz%2C+T.++(1993)+User-hostile+systems+and+patterns+of+psychophysiological+activity.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4429%2F