A theory is that stress can be caused by unpredictability. Geer and Maissel conducted a lab experiment with 60 psychology students, at the state university of new york. The participants were shown unpleasant stimuli. These were photo's of victims who had suffered violent deaths.
Electronic timers were used either to warn participants that a new stimulus will be presented (predictability group) or photos random sequence and no timer (no control group) One group both experienced the timer ticking, and were allowed to click a button to remove the photograph at will (control group).The only measurement taken by Geer and Maissel was a physiological measure - a galvanic skin response (GSR) which is an indicator of emotional arousal linked to stress.
It was found the predictability group responded at a higher level than the other 2 groups. So participants who could predict unpleasant stimuli and heard the timer were more strongly affected. (predictability group)
During the actual showing of the photograph, both prediction and no control groups, showed a significantly higher level of emotional arousal than control group, because they could press the button and change it
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