Multiple Stressors: Performance, Psychophysiological and Affective Responses

Environmental demands rarely occur in isolation. Two studies examine the interactive effects of multiple, sequential stressors on cognitive performance and psychophysiological indices. The negative effects of noise on both concurrent and aftereffect performance and blood pressure are exacerbated by prior exposure to either a laboratory stressor (speech) or to a naturalistic stressor (university final examination). Participants also perceive greater workload demands when performing a laboratory task during the final examination period. Conceptual and public policy implications for studying stress within a more ecologically valid context of multiple environmental demands are discussed.