1. The U.S. Census Bureau (2005) found that college-aged adults (18-24 years) were the most likely of any age group to use computers (75%) and the internet (71%). Research shows a positive relationship between the expectation of immediate information and higher frustration levels in human-computer interaction (Timmel, et al., 2003; Scheirer, 2002; Ramsay, et al. 1998). The current study assessed whether higher internet use would increase expectations for immediate information and subsequent frustration levels (as measured by autonomic state) when expectations were not met. Primary Hypotheses:  As download time becomes slower, heart rate (HR) will increase and heart rate variability (HRV) will decrease, as a reflection of autonomic activation.  The HR and HRV relationships will be most pronounced in students who report high levels of internet use. Regarding HR, there were no main effects, but there was a significant internet use X download condition interaction, F(1,53)=7.96, p<.01. Regarding HRV, there were no main effects, but there was a marginally significant internet use X download condition interaction, F(1,53)=3.53, p<.07. To examine the interaction effects, we used LSD post-hoc tests to compare each of the four groups on HR and HRV (difference score of task minus baseline). We found that the low internet use/fast download condition differed from all other groups (see Figures), in the direction of showing larger increases in HR and decreases in HRV from baseline to task. Students from high and low internet use groups were randomly assigned to fast (ranging from 1-4 seconds) or slow (ranging from 28-40 seconds) download conditions, forming 4 groups: Duplicated from a similar computer task used by Ramsay et al. (1998), websites were delayed by a Firefox extension, used with Mozilla Firefox version 1.5.0.6. Subjects participated in an online scavenger hunt searching for specified items on the following websites: vt.edu, weather.com, facebook.com, cheaptickets.com, google.com, and youtube.com (lasting approximately 8 minutes). HR and HRV were measured using ambulatory monitors, and were averaged over baseline (during a 3-minute neutral video) and throughout the 8-minute computer task. Michelle A. Patriquin, B.S., Michael M. Knepp, M.S., Anthony O. Wells, M.S.., Angela Scarpa, PhD, Bruce H. Friedman, PhD INTRODUCTION PARTICIPANTS METHODOLOGY Virginia Tech Psychology Department The Effect of Internet Use on Autonomic Responses in Undergraduates Phase I: 397 undergraduates participated in an online survey, including the Internet Use Questionnaire (Campbell, 2006). From this, high and low internet use groups were determined. Phase II: 57 participants (male=17, female=40) aged 18-23 (M= 19.38, SD= 1.31), were selected from the screening. A power analysis was conducted for this study, finding that groups must include between 12 to 15 subjects or between 48 to 60 total subjects for adequate power to detect a medium effect. Presented at the 2007 GSA Research Symposium RESULTS Our hypotheses that slow download times would increase autonomic activity, especially in high internet-users, were not supported. Instead, we found that the largest activation (increased HR and decreased HRV) occurred in low internet-users who experienced fast download times. Differences in HR and HRV may be attributed to unfamiliarity with the internet, which is potentially invoking a stressed and activated state. This could be due to the low internet user’s inexperience with the internet thus making doing this internet task a novel or unusual experience. CONCLUSIONS Internet Use/Download ConditionNumber of Subjects High/Slow18 High/Fast13 Low/Slow13 Low/Fast13 Total57 Virginia Tech Psychology Department Presented at the 19th Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington DC RESULTS p<.01p<.005 p<.001 High Internet- Fast Download High Internet- Slow Download Low Internet- Fast Download Low Internet- Slow Download p<.02 p<.05p<.06