The Galvanic Skin Response

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From the 21/10/13 Human Physiology prac.
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Flashcards by sophietevans, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by sophietevans over 10 years ago
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Question Answer
What are the electrical properties of the surface tissues influenced by? What are these factors in turn influenced by? By blood supply to the tissue, and by sweat gland activity, which in turn are influenced by autonomic activity, which again can be influenced by the limbic system/emotions.
Why do we not have much conscious control over the autonomic nervous system? Because we don't have conscious feedback from our autonomic nervous system.
What equipment did we use to explore the Galvanic Skin Response in this lab? We attached electrodes to the index and middle fingers of the subject's non-dominant hand attached to a Biopac in order to detect and record changes in electrical activity in response to a slideshow of distressing and normal images.
Why might the results of this practical not have been consistent? The experimental conditions were fairly relaxed so a full response to the images was not likely given that subjects were talking to friends and colleagues. However, it could also have been that the different images invoked different emotions, for example repulsion, shock, and sadness.
What type of tests are Galvanic skin responses a part of? How do they supposedly work? What faults do they have? The Galvanic skin response is one aspect of polygraph tests, which are used in psychological and legal settings. Supposedly, they can show if a person is lying because autonomic nervous activity cannot be consciously controlled – however, a person must have an autonomic response to a lie in order for it to be measured (for instance, psychopaths do not) and external conditions such as room temperature can affect the response. Further, there is a 1-3 second delay in Galvanic responses.
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