Eight years ago, four psychologists with varying backgrounds but a common in terest in the impact of environmental stress on behavior and health met to plan a study of the effects of aircraft noise on children. The impetus for the study was an article in the Los Angeles Times about architectural interventions that were planned for several noise-impacted schools under the air corridor of Los Angeles Interna tional Airport. These interventions created an opportunity to study the same chil dren during noise exposure and then later after the exposure had been attenuated. The study was designed to test the generality of several noise effects that had been well established in laboratory experimental studies. It focused on three areas: the relationship between noise and personal control, noise and attention, and noise and cardiovascular response. Two years later, a second study, designed to replicate and extend findings from the first, was conducted."

Eight years ago, four psychologists with varying backgrounds but a common in terest in the impact of environmental stress on behavior and health met to plan a study of the effects of aircraft noise on children. The impetus for the study was an article in the Los Angeles Times about architectural interventions that were planned for several noise-impacted schools under the air corridor of Los Angeles Interna tional Airport. These interventions created an opportunity to study the same chil dren during noise exposure and then later after the exposure had been attenuated. The study was designed to test the generality of several noise effects that had been well established in laboratory experimental studies. It focused on three areas: the relationship between noise and personal control, noise and attention, and noise and cardiovascular response. Two years later, a second study, designed to replicate and extend findings from the first, was conducted."

This book provides an illustrative overview of some of the key methodological and technical innovations that form the cutting edge of current research in behavioral medicine. It is divided into three sections. Part I consists of six chapters describing the impact on behavioral medicine research of novel developments in diverse areas such as molecular genetics, neuroendocrine assessment, laboratory radionuclide measurement of cardiac function, and the development of electronic event monitors for measuring compliance with medication regimens. In addition, new applications of long-available assessment techniques in clinical neuropsychology to behavioral issues in cardiovascular disease are reviewed. Part II includes four chapters which review methods and programs of research dealing with aspects of the ambulatory monitoring of moods and behavioral activities in conjunction with a variety of physiological processes and/or disease states. Finally, Part III provides two chapters which focus on novel theoretical and/or conceptual approaches--instead of the typical methodological innovations--that have guided recent research in behavioral oncology and in cardiovascular disease and the clustering syndrome of cardiovascular risk factors that relate to insulin metabolism.