Arousal and activation in a continuous performance task: An exploration of state effects in normal children

Abstract: The concepts of arousal and activation have had a confused history in Psychophysiology, and there is no widely accepted consensus on their usefulness in the field. This study aimed to explore whether these concepts could be separated in terms of their effects on the phasic Orienting Response (OR) and behavioral performance. We defined arousal at a particular time to be the energetic state at that time, reflected in electrodermal activity and measured by skin conductance level. Task-related activation was defined as the change in arousal from a resting baseline to the task situation. A continuous performance task was used with normal children. The magnitude of the mean phasic OR elicited by target stimuli was dependent on arousal, but not on task-related activation. Two performance measures (mean reaction time and number of errors) improved with increasing activation, but not with arousal. These data suggest the value of conceptualizing arousal and activation as separable aspects of the energetic...

[1]  E. N. Sokolov.  Higher nervous functions; the orienting reflex. , 1963, Annual review of physiology.

[2]  K. Pribram,et al.  Arousal, activation, and effort in the control of attention. , 1975, Psychological review.

[3]  J. Lacey.  Somatic response patterning and stress : some revisions of activation theory , 1967 .

[4]  B. C. Lacey,et al.  10 – SOME AUTONOMIC-CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM INTERRELATIONSHIPS , 1970 .

[5]  E. Gordon,et al.  Sex differences in adult ADHD: a double dissociation in brain activity and autonomic arousal , 2004, Biological Psychology.

[6]  P. Venables,et al.  Direct measurement of skin conductance: a proposal for standardization. , 1971, Psychophysiology.

[7]  E. N. Sokolov,et al.  Perception and the Conditioned Reflex , 1965 .

[8]  M. Eysenck,et al.  Attention and Arousal , 1982 .

[9]  M. Gordon.  How Is a Computerized Attention Test Used in the Diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder , 1987 .

[10]  A. Raine,et al.  Reduced prefrontal gray matter volume and reduced autonomic activity in antisocial personality disorder. , 2000, Archives of general psychiatry.

[11]  Robert J Barry,et al.  Stimulus significance effects in habituation of the phasic and tonic orienting reflex , 2004, Integrative physiological and behavioral science : the official journal of the Pavlovian Society.

[12]  Richard Trumbull,et al.  Psychological stress : issues in research , 1967 .

[13]  R. Barry,et al.  Stimulus omission and the orienting response: Latency differences suggest different mechanisms , 1987, Biological Psychology.

[14]  E. N. Sokolov,et al.  Habituation of phasic and tonic components of the orienting reflex. , 1993, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[15]  R. Barry,et al.  Elite pistol shooters: physiological patterning of best vs. worst shots. , 2001, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[16]  C. Rennie,et al.  Elicitation and habituation of the electrodermal orienting response in a short interstimulus interval paradigm. , 1993, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[17]  K H Pribram,et al.  Attention and Para‐Attentional Processing. Event‐Related Brain Potentials as Tests of a Model , 1992, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[18]  W. F. Prokasy,et al.  Electrodermal Activity in Psychological Research , 1973 .

[19]  C. Gonsalvez,et al.  Differential relations between heart rate and skin conductance, and public speaking anxiety. , 2004, Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry.

[20]  H. Jasper,et al.  Habituation of the arousal reaction. , 1956, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[21]  S. Mednick,et al.  Increased psychophysiological arousal and orienting at ages 3 and 11 years in persistently schizotypal adults , 2002, Schizophrenia Research.

[22]  H. Critchley,et al.  Brain activity during biofeedback relaxation , 2001 .

[23]  R. Stelmack,et al.  Sensation-seeking and the electrodermal orienting response in young and elderly females , 1986 .

[24]  R B MALMO,et al.  Activation: a neuropsychological dimension. , 1959, Rassegna giuliana di medicina.

[25]  Mark H. Anshel,et al.  Sport Psychology: From Theory to Practice , 1990 .

[26]  H. Critchley,et al.  Cerebral correlates of autonomic cardiovascular arousal: a functional neuroimaging investigation in humans , 2000, The Journal of physiology.

[27]  M. Zuckerman,et al.  DEVELOPMENT OF A SENSATION-SEEKING SCALE. , 1964, Journal of consulting psychology.

[28]  M. Harris,et al.  Annual Reviews of Physiology , 1945 .

[29]  P. Venables,et al.  Relationships between central and autonomic measures of arousal at age 15 years and criminality at age 24 years. , 1990, Archives of general psychiatry.

[30]  David C. Raskin,et al.  CHAPTER 2 – Attention and Arousal , 1973 .

[31]  A. Damasio.  Descartes’ Error. Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain. New York (Grosset/Putnam) 1994. , 1994 .

[32]  R. Barry,et al.  EEG differences in children as a function of resting-state arousal level , 2004, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[33]  Hugo D. Critchley,et al.  Brain activity during biofeedback relaxation: a functional neuroimaging investigation , 2001, NeuroImage.

[34]  R. Barry,et al.  Methylphenidate effects in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: electrodermal and ERP measures during a continuous performance task , 2005, Psychopharmacology.

[35]  P. Groves,et al.  Habituation: a dual-process theory. , 1970, Psychological review.

[36]  A. Damasio.  Descartes' error: emotion, reason, and the human brain. avon books , 1994 .

[37]  Elizabeth Duffy,et al.  Activation and behavior , 1962 .

[38]  R. Barry.  Scoring criteria for response latency and habituation in electrodermal research: a study in the context of the orienting response. , 1990, Psychophysiology.

[39]  Hugo D. Critchley,et al.  Volitional Control of Autonomic Arousal: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Study , 2002, NeuroImage.

[40]  H. Critchley.  Review: Electrodermal Responses: What Happens in the Brain , 2002 .

[41]  M Williams,et al.  High autonomic arousal and electrodermal orienting at age 15 years as protective factors against criminal behavior at age 29 years. , 1995, The American journal of psychiatry.

[42]  R. Barry,et al.  Cardiovascular and electrodermal responses to simple stimuli in autistic, retarded and normal children. , 1984, International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology.

[43]  D. Lykken,et al.  Range correction applied to heart rate and to GSR data. , 1972, Psychophysiology.

[44]  A. Raine,et al.  Serious Delinquent Behavior, Sensation Seeking, and Electrodermal Arousal , 2002, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[45]  R. J Dolan,et al.  Activity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex covaries with sympathetic skin conductance level: a physiological account of a “default mode” of brain function , 2004, NeuroImage.