An attempt to evaluate changes in heart rate in situations induce by symbolic stimuli in children.

Ninetyfive 10 year-old pupils were shown 4 film scenes about first aid in accidents arousing anxiety about possible injuries and fear about the fate of the protagonists. Simultaneously with showing the film heart rate was recorded in the boys who had been previously divided in three groups with a different level of anxiety, according to their rating in the CMAS questionnaire. HR response was observed during the course of the whole film as well as in the sections related to the critical moments of the event -- the moments of injury. -- The mean HR values during projection of the film had a differently steeply rising tendency according to the groups with a different level of anxiety, however, interindividual HR variability as a whole was not influenced by the film. Mean group HR values around the critical moments of the story did not differ statistically significantly (they decreased moderately from the little anxious to the more anxious group). However, after a sufficiently effective scene the group of more anxious children exhibited a significant increase in interindividual variability.