CROWDING,TASK PERFORMANCE,AND COMMUNICATIVE INTERACTION IN YOUTH AND OLD AGE

Following Altman's privacy regulation model, this research was based on the assumption that the relationship between achieved and desired levels of privacy is a major determinant of the experience of crowding in small groups. Further, on the basis of evidence that advancing age is associated with a chronic lack of communicative interaction, it was assumed that the achieved level of privacy among elderly persons generally is greater than that experienced by young adults. Given these assumptions, it was predicted that the crowding threshold of young adults would be significantly lower than that of older persons. To test this hypothesis, the research varied conversation distance (close, far) and density (small room, large room) and assessed the quality of communicative interaction and task performance among small groups of college-age females and retired women over 60 years of age. Results showed that task performance among younger subjects deteriorated in close interaction conditions, whereas the performance of older subjects was improved by spatial intrusion. Further, older subjects exhibited positive communication behaviors in response to close conversation, high-density conditions, while younger subjects responded either with negative communication behaviors or were unaffected by spatial restriction. Finally, the research confirmed previous findings that conversation distance is a more important determinant of the experience of crowding in small groups than physical density. The significance of the results for Altman's privacy regulation model and their implications for the study of human communication behaviors were discussed.     

Links between physical fitness and cardiovascular reactivity and recovery to psychological stressors: A meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis of published studies with adult human participants was conducted to evaluate whether physical fitness attenuates cardiovascular reactivity and improves recovery from acute psychological stressors. Thirty-three studies met selection criteria; 18 were included in recovery analyses. Effect sizes and moderator influences were calculated by using meta-analysis software. A fixed effects model was fit initially; however, between-studies heterogeneity could not be explained even after inclusion of moderators. Therefore, to account for residual heterogeneity, a random effects model was estimated. Under this model, fit individuals showed significantly attenuated heart rate and systolic blood pressure reactivity and a trend toward attenuated diastolic blood pressure reactivity. Fit individuals also showed faster heart rate recovery, but there were no significant differences in systolic blood pressure or diastolic blood pressure recovery. No significant moderators emerged. Results have important implications for elucidating mechanisms underlying effects of fitness on cardiovascular disease and suggest that fitness may be an important confound in studies of stress reactivity.