SOME MEASURES OF ELECTRODERMAL ACTIVITY AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS AS AFFECTED BY VARIED TEMPERATURES.

PREVIOUS studies on the effects o f the temperature upon basal skin resistance have given contradictory results. While Duffy and Lacey [6] and Wenger [19] found no relationship between temperature and basal resistance, Conklin [4] claimed positive findings. Venables [18] and Eysenck [8] found a relationship between temperature and skin conductance in a neurotic group, but not in a comparable normal group. Preliminary experiments preceding the present investigation indicate that extreme temperatures affect not only basal skin resistance, but even the electrodermal amplitudes (EDRA's ) and the number o f spontaneous fluctations per minute (SF's). The aim of the present investigation was, therefore primarily to confirm the preliminary results. Possible variations in the relationships between variables during different temperatures is another interesting problem. According to the so-called " law" of initial value, there is a negative relationship between the prestimulus values o f an au tonomic effector system and the response amplitudes brought about by a certain stimulus [20, 21, 13, 9, 7]. However, contradictory results have also been reported [14, 15, 10]. Recently Block and Bridger [1] found that the extent o f operat ion o f the " law" of initial value was dependent upon such factors as the strength o f the stimulus, the reactivity o f the subjects, and the number o f previous applications o f the stimulus. However, in this investigation, as in other similar studies, the range of the prestimulus values was limited. I f the range of the basal skin resistance can be increased by varying the temperature, there would be a possibility of studying the relationships between the variables even during more extreme pre-stimulus values.