The skin conductance orienting response to semantic stimuli: Significance can be independent of arousal

Abstract

The characteristics of stimuli that elicit skin conductance responses (SCRs) have been conceptualized in varied ways, with strong emphasis on the significance or arousing quality of stimuli. Our goal was to determine whether "significance" can be shown to have an effect on SCRs independent of "arousal," using words as stimuli. Ratings of words indicated that significance is partially independent of arousal. In Study 1, SCRs from 43 participants during presentation of 20 significant, nonarousing words with a negative valence that were either depression related or potentially self-referent and 20 nonsignificant words matched on valence and arousal showed a main effect of significance. In Study 2 (N=44), significant, nonarousing words were sampled more broadly to examine the effects of self-reference and valence. Significance, rather than just negativity or self-reference, elicited SCRs independently of arousal. SCRs to significant words may reflect cognitive and attentional processes that, in turn, might prove useful for the assessment of the cognitive aspects of anxiety.

Unraveling the roles of orienting and inhibition in the Concealed Information Test

“…Hence, one may speculate that the present findings are specific to the CIT paradigm. However, as more evidence has been accumulated over time, only the SCR consistently showed the expected effects of novelty, intensity, and significance (e.g., Barry, ; Dindo & Fowles, ). Specifically, while some studies found the HR to decelerate in response to novel stimuli (e.g., Bradley, ; Siddle & Turpin, ), others found the HR to be insensitive to stimulus novelty (Barry, ; Barry & James, ; Barry & Maltzman, ).…”

The effect of musical experience on emotional self‐reports and psychophysiological responses to dissonance

“…Several lines of evidence in non‐musical domains showed that the relevance of the task for a given subject plays a role in modulating the SCR (Dindo & Fowles, 2008; Epstein & Fenz, 1962; Fenz & Epstein, 1962; Lang et al, 1998; Ohman & Soares, 1994; Perpina, Leonard, Bond, Bond, & Banos, 1998; Stormark, Laberg, Nordby, & Hugdahl, 2000). These studies, carried out with psychiatric patients and normal volunteers, revealed that higher SCRs specific to a given object were dependent on individual experience.…”

Mood Induction in Depressive Patients: A Comparative Multidimensional Approach

“…Both positive mood induction procedures aimed at elevating the current mood, but by completely different means. Skin conductance is known to be related to arousal and strongly reacts to novelty; [23], [24] the mood induction procedure via cartoons confronted our participants with new and potentially arousing emotional stimuli, which might explain elevated skin conductance. Diminished SCRs in the happy mood induction might have been brought about by habituation to the rather invariant facial stimuli, self-paced presentation and the comparatively rather constant and more steady mood state reached by intentional attempts to get into the mood via autobiographical imagination [23], whereas in the cartoon condition, the mood change was much more stimulus driven and largely dependent upon emotional reactivity.…”

“…Somatic markers contribute emotional activation to cognitive processing and have primarily been introduced into decision making using skin conductance as physiological measure of somatic marker activity. Skin conductance generally relates to arousal and reacts to novelty of a stimulus [23], [24] as well as to omission of an expected stimulus [25]. Emotional, significant or intense stimuli also commonly result in elevated skin conductance responses (SCR) [24].…”