This book is an articulate, concise, contemporary introduction to the
study of important variables underlying cardiovascular reactivity. Its
strength is in the combination of a scholarly but nonpedantic approach
to cardiovascular psychophysiology and a solid understanding of be-
havioral medicine approaches to the study of hypertension. The topics
covered are central to the study of relationships between behavior and
cardiovascular reactivity; the list of suggested readings at the end of
each chapter provides excellent guidance for more detailed study of
specific issues. It has now been more than a dozen years since Plenum
Press published Paul Obrist's seminal monograph Cardiovascular Psycho-
physiology. The volume had a major impact in relating cardiovascular
regulation to behaving individuals and in developing thoughtful hy-
potheses concerning such factors as they might pertain to hypertension.
The impact of that work extended across scientific disciplines as well
as aross continents. At the time the Obrist book was published, a young
psychologist, J. Rick Turner, was completing his Ph. D. thesis in
psychol- ogy at the University of Birmingham, England, on heart rate
reactions to psychological challenge. After continued collaboration for
the next several years with his former Ph. D. mentor, Douglas Carroll,
Turner joined the Obrist laboratory at the University of North Carolina.
Al- though Obrist unfortunately died during Turner's tenure in the
labora- tory, collaboration continued with Kathleen Light and Andrew
Sher- wood. The enlightened legacy of the North Carolina laboratory can
clearly be seen in this text.