Heartbeat Detection Task¶
HED task ID: hedtsk_heartbeat_detection
Family: Metacognition, agency and interoception tasks
Also known as: Heartbeat Counting Task, Heartbeat Perception Task, Heartbeat Tracking Task, Schandry Task, Cardiac Interoceptive Accuracy Task, Whitehead Heartbeat Discrimination Task
Participants count or discriminate their own heartbeats without external feedback; the correspondence between perceived and actual heartbeat counts (or discrimination accuracy) indexes interoceptive sensitivity.
Description¶
The Heartbeat Detection Task is the standard paradigm for measuring interoceptive accuracy — the ability to perceive internal physiological signals. In the Schandry (1981) heartbeat counting variant, participants silently count their heartbeats during timed intervals (e.g., 25, 35, 45 seconds) without taking their pulse; an interoceptive accuracy score is computed from the discrepancy between counted and actual heartbeats (recorded via ECG or pulse oximetry). In the Whitehead heartbeat discrimination variant, participants judge whether an external stimulus (tone or light) is presented synchronously or asynchronously with their heartbeat; d-prime indexes perceptual sensitivity. Interoceptive accuracy is central to theories of emotion (the somatic marker hypothesis; Damasio, 1994), anxiety (interoceptive hypersensitivity models), and embodied cognition (predictive interoception). Individual differences in heartbeat detection correlate with emotional intensity, anxiety sensitivity, and decision-making quality. The paradigm has generated substantial methodological debate: the counting variant may partially reflect beliefs about heart rate rather than true perception, motivating the discrimination variant and newer alternatives.
Inclusion test¶
An experiment is an instance of this task when its procedure matches, it manipulates at least one of the listed variables, and it records at least one of the listed measures.
Procedure |
Participants perceive their own heartbeats — either counting them during timed intervals (counting variant) or judging synchrony between external stimuli and cardiac events (discrimination variant) — while actual heartbeats are recorded physiologically. |
Manipulation |
Task variant (counting vs. discrimination); interval duration; stimulus timing relative to R-wave (synchronous vs. delayed); attention condition (interoceptive focus vs. exteroceptive distraction); pharmacological manipulation (beta-blockers, isoproterenol). |
Measurement |
Interoceptive accuracy score (1 - |counted - actual| / actual); heartbeat discrimination d-prime; confidence ratings (interoceptive sensibility); heart rate variability as a covariate; heartbeat-evoked potential (HEP) amplitude as a neural index. |
Variations¶
Named versions that change what the participant experiences or does. The identifier
of a variation is hedvar_<task>__<variation>.
Variation |
Description |
Justification |
|---|---|---|
Heartbeat Counting (Schandry)
|
Count heartbeats silently during timed intervals. The most widely used variant. Criticized for confounding true perception with beliefs about heart rate. |
Count heartbeats over interval; canonical interoception measure |
Heartbeat Discrimination (Whitehead)
|
Judge whether a tone is synchronous or asynchronous with the heartbeat. Signal-detection measure (d-prime). Less susceptible to belief confounds than counting. |
Judge whether tone is synchronous with heartbeat; different detection task |
Confidence-Accuracy Paradigm
|
Garfinkel et al. (2015) three-dimensional model: accuracy (objective performance), sensibility (self-report belief about interoceptive ability), and awareness (metacognitive correspondence between accuracy and sensibility). |
Sole confidence-rating exception per §5.5; Garfinkel et al. (2015) interoception model |
Interoceptive Attention Manipulation
|
Alternate between interoceptive focus (attend to heartbeat) and exteroceptive focus (attend to external stimuli). Compares directed vs. incidental cardiac processing. |
Instructions to attend to vs. distract from heartbeat; changes attentional focus |
Respiratory Interoception Variant
|
Breathing resistance detection (inspiratory loading) as a complementary interoceptive channel. Tests whether interoceptive accuracy is domain-general or modality-specific. |
Respiratory signals instead of cardiac; different physiological channel |
Cognitive processes¶
This task is designed to engage the following processes:
Key references¶
Schandry, R. (1981). Heart beat perception and emotional experience. Psychophysiology, 18(4), 483-488. (DOI, PubMed)
Whitehead, W. E., Drescher, V. M., Heiman, P., & Blackwell, B. (1977). Relation of heart rate control to heartbeat perception. Biofeedback and Self-Regulation, 2(4), 371-392. (DOI, PubMed)
Garfinkel, S. N., Seth, A. K., Barrett, A. B., Suzuki, K., & Critchley, H. D. (2015). Knowing your own heart: Distinguishing interoceptive accuracy from interoceptive sensibility. Biological Psychology, 104, 65-74. (DOI, PubMed)
Further references¶
Murphy, J., Brewer, R., Catmur, C., & Bird, G. (2017). Interoception and psychopathology: A developmental neuroscience perspective. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 23, 45-56. (DOI, PubMed)
Zamariola, G., Maurage, P., Luminet, O., & Corneille, O. (2018). Interoceptive accuracy scores from the heartbeat counting task are problematic: Evidence from simple bivariate correlations. Biological Psychology, 137, 12-17. (DOI, PubMed)
Desmedt, O., Luminet, O., & Corneille, O. (2018). The heartbeat counting task largely measures non-interoceptive processes: Better alternatives exist. Biological Psychology, 137, 80-84. (DOI, PubMed)