Electrodermal Activity

Description

Electrodermal activity is one of the most frequently used psychophysiological evaluations in psychology research. Based on the 1992 edition of this work Electrodermal Activity covers advances in the field since the first publication in 1992. The current volume includes updated information on brain imaging techniques such as PET and fMRI, which provide further insight into the brain mechanisms underlying EDA. In addition, this volume is able to describe more reliably hypotheses that have been successfully tested since the first publication. 001Download PDF (66.7 KB)front-matter Electrodermal Activity Foreword to the Second Edition Preface to the Second Edition Foreword to the First Edition in 1992 Preface to the First Edition Contents 002Download PDF (1.3 MB)fulltext Chapter 1: Principles of Electrodermal Phenomena 1.1 Terminology and History 1.1.1 Definitions and Terminology 1.1.2 Early History of Electrodermal Research 1.1.3 Recent Developments in Electrodermal Research 1.2 Anatomy of Skin and Sweat Glands 1.2.1 Vertical Structure of the Skin 1.2.1.1 The Epidermis 1.2.1.2 Dermis and Hypodermis 1.2.1.3 Vascular System of the Skin 1.2.2 Horizontal Structure of the Skin 1.2.3 Distribution and Structure of Sweat Glands 1.2.4 Other Effector and Sensor Organs in the Skin 1.3 Physiology of the Electrodermal System 1.3.1 Efferent Innervation of the Skin 1.3.2 Innervation of Sweat Glands 1.3.2.1 Peripheral Aspects of Sweat Gland Innervation 1.3.2.2 Central Aspects of Sweat Gland Innervation 1.3.2.3 Questions of Double Innervation and Resting Activity in Sweat Glands 1.3.2.4 Specific Innervations of Sweat Glands in Different Regions of the Skin 1.3.3 Functions of Sweat Gland Activity 1.3.3.1 Mechanism of Sweat Secretion and Contents of Sweat 1.3.3.2 Thermoregulatory Function of Sweating and Skin Blood Flow 1.3.3.3 Other Functions and Special Features of Sweating 1.3.4 Specific Physiological Mechanisms Underlying Electrodermal Activity 1.3.4.1 Central Origins of Electrodermal Activity Subcortical Control of EDA Cortical Control of EDA Three Different CNS Originating Pathways for EDA 1.3.4.2 Properties of Skin and Sweat Glands Influencing Electrodermal Activity The Role of the Epidermal Barrier Layer The Role of Skin Components and of Membrane Processes 1.3.5 Suggested Biological Relevance of Electrodermal Phenomena 1.4 Biophysics of Electrodermal Measurement 1.4.1 Resistor- and Capacitor-Based Systems 1.4.1.1 Some Fundamental Electrical Properties 1.4.1.2 Application of Direct Current to RC Circuits 1.4.1.3 Application of Alternating Current to RC Circuits 1.4.1.4 Determining System Properties of Unknown RC Systems 1.4.2 Electrophysical Properties of Skin and Sweat Glands 1.4.2.1 Resistive Properties of Skin and Sweat Glands 1.4.2.2 Capacitive Properties of Skin and Sweat Glands 1.4.2.3 Origins of Active Electrical Properties in the Skin and in Sweat Glands 1.4.3 Models of the Electrodermal System 1.4.3.1 Models Based Exclusively on Resistive Properties 1.4.3.2 Models Going Beyond Single Resistive Properties 1.4.3.3 Specific Advantages of AC Methods in Model Building 1.5 Summary of Electrodermal Phenomena 003Download PDF (1.3 MB)fulltext Chapter 2: Methods of Electrodermal Recording 2.1 Introduction to Electrodermal Measurement 2.1.1 Measuring Electrodermal Activity with Voltage Dividers 2.1.2 Measuring Electrodermal Activity with Operational Amplifiers 2.1.3 Circuitries for Separating Electrodermal Responses from Levels 2.1.4 Specific Problems of Electrodermal Measurement 2.1.5 Measuring Electrodermal Activity with Alternating Current 2.1.6 Summary of Measurement Principles 2.2 Recording Techniques 2.2.1 Recording Sites 2.2.1.1 Choice of Sites 2.2.1.2 Pretreatment of Sites 2.2.2 Electrodes and Electrolytes 2.2.2.1 Forms of Electrodes and Their Attachment 2.2.2.2 Bias Potentials and Polarization of Electrodes 2.2.2.3 Choice or Assembling of Electrodes 2.2.2.4 Cleaning, Maintenance, and Storage of Electrodes 2.2.2.5 Electrolytes and Electrolyte Media 2.2.3 Recording Devices 2.2.3.1 Endosomatic Recording 2.2.3.2 Exosomatic Recording with Direct Current 2.2.3.3 Exosomatic Recording with Alternating Current 2.2.3.4 Ambulatory Monitoring of Electrodermal Activity 2.2.3.5 Recording of EDA Within a Magnetic Field 2.2.4 Methods of Storage and Evaluation of the Electrodermal Signal 2.2.4.1 Paper Recording and Evaluation by Hand 2.2.4.2 Off-Line Computer Analysis 2.2.4.3 On-Line Computer Analysis 2.2.5 Sources of Artifacts 2.2.5.1 Artifacts Stemming from Recording 2.2.5.2 Physiologically Based Artifacts 2.2.6 Techniques of Electrodermal Recording in Specific Contexts 2.2.6.1 Long-Term Recording 2.2.6.2 Recording Simultaneously with Different Techniques 2.2.6.3 Recording with Dry Electrodes or Liquid Electrolytes 2.2.6.4 Other Specific Electrode Arrangements 2.2.7 Summary of Recording Techniques 2.3 Analytic Procedures 2.3.1 Parameters of Phasic Electrodermal Activity 2.3.1.1 Latency Times and Windows 2.3.1.2 Amplitudes Amplitudes of Endosomatic Responses Amplitudes of Exosomatic Responses Recorded with Direct Current Choice of Amplitude Criteria Amplitudes of Exosomatic Responses Recorded with Alternating Current 2.3.1.3 Shape of Electrodermal Responses Parameters of Ascent Recovery Parameters 2.3.1.4 Area Measurements 2.3.1.5 Mathematical Solutions for Overlapping EDRs 2.3.2 Parameters of Tonic Electrodermal Activity 2.3.2.1 Electrodermal Level 2.3.2.2 Tonic Parameters Derived from Phasic Changes 2.3.3 Transformation of Electrodermal Parameters 2.3.3.1 Taking the Electrode Area into Account 2.3.3.2 Transforming Resistance into Conductance Units 2.3.3.3 Improving Distributional Characteristics 2.3.3.4 Reduction of Interindividual Variance Evaluating EDR with Respect to EDL Range Corrections Transformation into Standard Values Using Autonomic Lability Scores 2.3.4 Removing Artifacts and Treatment of Missing Data 2.3.4.1 Identification of Artifacts During Recording 2.3.4.2 Missing Data Treatment and EDR Magnitude 2.3.4.3 Correction for EDL Drift 2.3.5 Summary of Analytic Procedures 2.4 External and Internal Influences on Recordings 2.4.1 Climatic Conditions 2.4.1.1 Ambient Temperature 2.4.1.2 Other Environmental Conditions 2.4.2 Physiological Influences 2.4.2.1 Skin Temperature and Skin Blood Flow 2.4.2.2 Evaporative Water Loss and Skin Moisture 2.4.3 Demographic Characteristics 2.4.3.1 Age Differences 2.4.3.2 Gender Differences 2.4.3.3 Ethnic Differences and Heritability 2.5 Statistical Properties of Electrodermal Parameters 2.5.1 Characteristics of Endosomatic Measures 2.5.1.1 Skin Potential Responses 2.5.1.2 Skin Potential Levels 2.5.1.3 Relationships Between Endosomatic and Exosomatic Measures 2.5.2 Characteristics of Exosomatic Measures with Direct Currentƒ 2.5.2.1 Results of Skin Conductance Measures Skin Conductance Responses Tonic Skin Conductance Measures 2.5.2.2 Results of Skin Resistance Measures Skin Resistance Responses Tonic Skin Resistance Measures 2.5.2.3 Latency and Rise Time Parameters 2.5.2.4 Measures of Recovery 2.5.2.5 Relationship Between Measures of Amplitude and Shape 2.5.3 Characteristics of Exosomatic Measures with Alternating Current 2.5.3.1 Recordings with Sinusoidal Current 2.5.3.2 Recordings with Square Wave Current 2.5.4 Level Dependence 2.5.4.1 Dependence of Treatment Recordings on Baseline Recordings 2.5.4.2 Dependence of Phasic on Tonic Electrodermal Measures 2.6 Summary of Conceptual Discussions 2.6.1 Endosomatic vs. Exosomatic Recording 2.6.2 Constant Current vs. Constant Voltage Recording 2.6.3 The Use of Direct vs. Alternating Current 2.6.4 The Use of DC vs. AC-Coupling 2.6.5 Resistance vs. Conductance Units 2.6.6 Emerging Methodological Issues 004Download PDF (1.7 MB)fulltext Chapter 3: Applications of Electrodermal Recording 3.1 Stimulus-Related Psychophysiological Paradigms 3.1.1 Electrodermal Indices of Orienting and Habituation 3.1.1.1 Differential Influences of Novelty and Significance on the OR 3.1.1.2 Differentiation Between Orienting, Defensive, and Startle Responses 3.1.1.3 Electrodermal Indices of Habituation 3.1.2 Conditioning of Electrodermal Responses 3.1.2.1 Classical Conditioning of Electrodermal Responses in Humans Cognitive vs. Noncognitive View of EDR Conditioning Components of EDR Conditioning UCR Diminution, Preception, and Preparedness Recent Developments in EDR Conditioning 3.1.2.2 Instrumental or Operant Conditioning of Electrodermal Responses 3.1.2.3 Biofeedback of Electrodermal Activity 3.1.3 Electrodermal Indices of Information Processing 3.1.3.1 Neurophysiological Considerations on EDA and Information Processing 3.1.3.2 The EDR and Information Processing Capacity 3.1.3.3 EDA and Decision Making 3.1.3.4 EDR and Memory Storage 3.1.4 Electrodermal Lateralization and Hemispheric Asymmetry 3.1.4.1 Methodological Considerations 3.1.4.2 The Laterality of CNS Influences on EDA 3.1.4.3 EDA as a Measure of Hemispheric Asymmetry 3.2 Generalized Psychophysiological States 3.2.1 Electrodermal Indices of Arousal 3.2.1.1 EDA as an Indicator of General Arousal 3.2.1.2 EDA and Multidimensional Arousal Modeling 3.2.1.3 Diurnal Variation and EDA in Different Sleep Stages 3.2.2 Electrodermal Indices of Emotion and Stress 3.2.2.1 EDA in Emotional States 3.2.2.2 EDA as an Indicator of the Course of Laboratory Stress Responses 3.3 Personality and Individual Differences 3.3.1 General Personality Traits 3.3.1.1 EDA and Extraversion/Introversion 3.3.1.2 EDA and Emotional Lability 3.3.2 Specific Personality Traits 3.3.2.1 Traits Based on Questionnaire Data 3.3.2.2 Electrodermal Lability as a Trait 3.4 Psychopathology 3.4.1 EDA in the Assessment of Anxiety, Psychopathy, and Depression 3.4.1.1 EDA of Patients with Generalized Anxiety, Phobias, and Panic Disorders 3.4.1.2 EDA in Psychopathic or Antisocial/Conduct Disorders Observable Electrodermal Phenomena Neurophysiological Considerations 3.4.1.3 EDA in Depressive Patients 3.4.2 Electrodermal Indices in Schizophrenia Research 3.4.2.1 Electrodermal Recovery and Vulnerability for Schizophrenia 3.4.2.2 Electrodermal Nonresponding in Schizophrenics 3.4.2.3 Other Issues in Schizophrenia Research Related to EDA 3.4.3 EDA as an Indicator in the Psychopharmacological Treatment of Anxiety Disorders 3.4.3.1 Studies with Benzodiazepines 3.4.3.2 Studies with Beta-Blockers and Neuroleptics 3.5 The Use of EDA in Applied Psychology and in Medicine 3.5.1 EDA in Engineering Psychophysiology 3.5.1.1 EDA in Human-Computer Interaction 3.5.1.2 EDA in Traffic and Automation 3.5.1.3 EDA in Marketing and Product Evaluation 3.5.2 EDA in the Detection of Deception 3.5.3 EDA in Dermatology 3.5.4 EDA in Neurology 3.5.4.1 Brain Lesions 3.5.4.2 Degenerative Diseases 3.5.4.3 Disorders with Primary Psychological Relevance 3.5.5 EDA in Other Medical and Psychological Applications 3.6 Summary and Outlook 005Download PDF (730.2 KB)back-matter Appendix: EDR_PARA: A Computer Program for Interactive Evaluation of Electrodermal Recordings (Version 3.7) Program Description Initial Control Input Setup File EDR File Additional Channel Display Interactive Display Setup Information Recording Period(s) Sampling Rate muS or kOmega/AD Units Graphic Display User Interaction Low-Pass Frequency Display Range Additional Channel Display EDR Editor Batch-Mode Output Files Output File Names Contents of the .EDP File Contents of the .LEV File Purchasing Information References Index