Empirical Study of Physiological Characteristics Accompanied by Tactile Thermal Perception - Relationship Between Changes in Thermal Gradients and Skin Conductance Responses

This paper presents empirical results regarding emotional changes represented using different thermal gradients by measuring skin conductance responses (SCRs), when providing thermal information with various gradients. Participants attached a probe in their right forearm for thermal stimuli, and SCR measurements were conducted when participants perceived the time to detect a temperature change. The SCR amplitude showed a significant tendency to vary between +0.5 and �0.5 (°C/s) and between +0.5 and �0.3 (°C/s) of thermal gradients. The results of this study showed that differences in clear thermal gradients, such as the comparison between warm and cold stimuli, affected emotion, and differences in detailed thermal gradients, such as the comparison between 0.3 and 0.5 (°C/s) of thermal gradients, did not affect the changes in emotion.