ISSN:
1469-8986
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
,
Psychology
Notes:
Alert and drowsy subjects (by EEG criterion) were compared in two experiments for psychophysiological habituation of the orienting response. Subjects in Experiment I (N = 30) received 10 presentations of a doorbell-type buzzer, and in Experiment II (N = 69) they received 10 presentations of a 500-cps tone. Comparisons were made of: (I) galvanic skin response (GSR); (2) spontaneous GSRs between trials; (3) heart rate (HR) responses; (4) finger vasoconstriction responses; (5) finger temperature responses; and (0) respiration. Results showed that there were no differences between groups in GSR; however, the drowsy group showed consistently fewer spontaneous GSRs. Cardiovascular response measures of the drowsy groups showed consistently and significantly greater responses on the later trials and, therefore, no habituation of these responses. This finding was more consistent for HR than vasomotor response. In the discussion of these results, the authors were able to rule out several possible explanations, hence the reasons for this differential autonomic response are as yet unknown.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.1964.tb03231.x
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