Progress in Electrodermal Research

Electrodennal activity refers to electrical changes across the skin in areas of the body that are psychologically responsive. The eccrine sweat glands are the primary detenninant of electrodennal activity, and these are psychologically active especially on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. As a matter of convenience, electrodennal activity is most often recorded from the palms. Over the years, the electrodennal response has been known as the psychogalvanic reflex, the galvanic skin response, the skin resistance response, the skin conductance response, and the skin potential response. The tenns psychogalvanic reflex and galvanic skin response have fallen into disuse among scientists, but are still to be found in psychology text books. of its early discovery, ease of measurement, and often easily observable Because response to experimental manipulations, the recording of electrodennal activity is one of the most frequently used methods in psychophysiology. Indeed, in the early years following the founding of the Society for Psychophysiological Research, electrodennal research so dominated the field that people worried that the society was simply an electrodennal society. Although other psychophysiological techniques have emerged as equally strong contributors to psychophysiology, electrodennal research continues to be important throughout the world. As a result of this massive research investment, there has been great progress in understanding electrodennal phenomena, as well as major advances in recording methods since the phenomenon was discovered.

Klappentext

Proceedings of a NATO ARW held in Chateau de Tilques, Saint-Omer, France, May 20-23, 1992

Inhalt
Introductory conference: On the Centennial of the Discovery of Electrodermal Activity.- Methodological Issues.- Electrodermal Mechanisms: A Critique of the Two-Effector Hypothesis and a Proposed Replacement.- Methodological Issues in Electrodermal Measurement.- A New Approach to Circumventing the Conductance-Resistance Choice: Recording of Phase Angle Between Alternating-Current and -Voltage.- Electrodermal Activity and Psychopathology: The Developement of the Palmar Sweat Index (PSI) as an Applied Measure for Use in Clinical Settings.- Electrodermal Activity as a Tool for Differentiating Psychological Processes in Human Experimental Preparations: Focus on the Psyche of Psychophysiology.- Neural Control of Eda.- Neural Control of Electrodermal Activity: Spinal and Reticular Mechanisms.- Cortical and Hypothalamo-Limbic Control of Electrodermal Responses.- Brain Imaging Research on Electrodermal Activity in Humans.- General Psychophysiology.- Gateways to Consciousness: Emotion, Attention, and Electrodermal Activity.- Electrodermal Habituation Patterns: Effect of Relative Refractoriness, Extrapolation of Stimulus Conditions, or Gestalt Perception?.- Electrodermal Response Lability-Stability: Individual Difference Correlates.- Psychopathology.- Electrodermal Indices as Markers for the Development of Schizophrenia.- The Skin Conductance Orienting Response, Attention and Schizophrenia.- Electrodermal Activity and Antisocial Behavior Empirical Findings and Theoretical Issues.- Electrodermal Nonresponding in First-Episode Psychosis as a Function of Stimulus Significance.- Electrodermal Activity and Hemispherical Asymetry.- The Laterality of Electrodermal Responses: A New Perspective on Individual Differences in Personality and Psychopathology.- Brain Asymmetry and Autonomic Conditioning: Skin Conductance Responses.- Electrodermal Amplitude Asymmetry and Orienting Response-Non-Response in Psychopathology.- Hemispheric Differences and Electrodermal Asymetry Task and Subject Effects.- Electrodermal Activity in Patients with Unilateral Brain Damage.- Participants to the ARW: Electrodermal Activity : from Physiology to Psychology.- Author Index.