P.

yychiatry Research, 4, 347-356 (1981) 347

Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press

Electrodermal and Cardiac Orienting in Psychometrically

Defined High-Risk Subjects

Robert F. Simons

Received October 3, 1980; revised version received March 11, 1981; accepted March 24, 1981.

Abstract. The vast majority of research programs investigating subjects at high risk
for psychopathology have relied on genetic criteria for subject selection. Recent
reports, however, have begun to suggest alternative definitions and sets of criteria
for the selection of high-risk subjects. One such alternative is a psychometric
definition of risk-the selection of subjects on the basis of psychological test data.
The present experiment used this strategy to study orienting and habituation to
simple auditory stimuli in groups of young adult subjects reporting either physical
anhedonia or perceptual aberrations. The study provided support for the hypo-
thesized continuity between anhedonic subjects and the autonomically hypores-
ponsive group of patients frequently described in the literature on schizophrenia.
Results are discussed in light of recent appeals to identify biologically homogene-
ous subgroups of schizophrenic patients.

Key Words. Anhedonia, perceptual distortion, orienting response, schizophrenia.

The strategy adopted by researchers investigating the etiology of schizophrenia has

undergone a striking change during the course of the past decade. A substantial
number of investigators have followed Mednick and McNeil (1968) and begun using
high-risk paradigms in their research programs (Garmezy, 1974). This methodology
involves the intensive investigation of individuals who have not yet developed the
clinical form of the disorder, but who have a greater likelihood of developing the
disorder in the future than a randomly selected person from the same community
(Garmezy and Streitman, 1974).
There are now sufficient data in hand for investigators to undertake high-risk
investigations with some confidence when risk is defined in terms of genetic related-
ness to schizophrenic patients (Heston, 1966; Gottesman and Shields, 1972; Ros-
enthal, 1970; Kety et al., 1978). Most frequently this type of project investigates
children with schizophrenic mothers (Mednick and Schulsinger, 1968; Anthony, 1972)
or children having two schizophrenic parents (Erlenmeyer-Kimling, 1975). In addi-
tion, studies have recently appeared in the literature that attempt to identify individu-
als at risk by other than genetic criteria. The investigation of young adults at risk has
long been advocated by Meehl(l962, 1964) and reiterated more recently by Grinker
and Holzman (1973). These suggestions have spawned a number of attempts to
identify groups of young adults whose high-risk status can be determined psychomet-
rically. Encouraging results, for example, have been reported by investigators who

This article is based on portions of adissertation project submitted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree in clinical psychology. Robert F. Simons,
Ph.D., is now Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 1971 I.

Olfj5-1781/81/0000-0000/$02.50 @ Elsevier/North-Holland BiomedicalPress

348

have studied individuals with schizotypic code types (Koh and Peterson, 1974;
Steronko and Woods, 1978) on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
(MMPI).
Recently, Chapman and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin have reported
the successful development of psychometric instruments that assess the presence of
personality characteristics thought to be closely associated with schizophrenia. The
two scales they have most thoroughly researched are the Physical Anhedonia Scale
(Chapman et al., 1976) and the Perceptual Aberration Scale (Chapman et al., 1978).
These scales have been very successful in differentiating groups of schizophrenic and
normal subjects, and have also been useful in the identification of individuals in the
normal population who deviate from control subjects in a number of ways analogous
to schizophrenics. For example, both anhedonic and perceptual aberration subjects
report psychotic symptoms when administered the Schedule for Affective Disorders
and Schizophrenia-Lifetime Version (SADS-L) structured psychiatric interview (J.
Chapman, personal communication) and produce evidence of schizophrenic-like
thought disorder when administered the Rorschach test (Edell and Chapman, 1979).
One of the more ubiquitous findings of psychophysiological investigations with
schizophrenic subjects is their consistent deviance on electrodermal measures of
orienting and habituation to simple stimuli. The nature of these differences has been
hotly debated, however. Some investigators have found schizophrenics to be overres-
ponsive and very slow to habituate-that is, hyperaroused (Zahn et al., 1967), while
other investigators report hypoarousal and rapid habituation (Bernstein, 1970).
Gruzelier and Venables (1972; see also Venables, 1977) have helped clarify these
discrepancies by reporting a bimodality of responsivity in schizophrenic patients; a
substantial part of the population is hyperresponsive, while a second group is hypores-
ponsive, often failing to respond to even the first presentation of the orienting stimulus
(nonresponders). Evidence for this bimodality has been independently obtained by
Rubens and Lapidus (1978). Patterson and Venables (1978) have made a case for a
third group of schizophrenics who produce only one or two small, parametrically
unusual responses before complete habituation.
The present experiment investigated electrodermal and cardiac orienting behavior
in subjects defined as schizotypic on the basis of their responses to the Chapman
scales. Three groups of subjects were studied: Subjects reporting physical anhedonia,
subjects reporting body-image distortions, and a group of normal controls. It was
hypothesized that since the anhedonic and perceptual aberration subjects were pre-
sumed to be continuous with schizophrenic subjects (i.e., at high risk), they would
differ from normal controls as schizophrenics do. Specifically, it was hypothesized
that the bimodality proposed by Venables might be demonstrated by these two groups
of schizotypic subjects. If this hypothesis were correct, anhedonic subjects, with a
proposed deficiency in autonomic arousal or arousability, would be hyporesponsive
to nonsignal orienting stimuli, while the perceptual aberration subjects, with a pro-
posed defect in arousal control, would show the opposite, or hyperresponsive pattern
of electrodermal activity. Changes in heart rate were also recorded in response to the
orienting stimuli to determine more clearly the nature of the hypothesized group
differences.
 349

Methods

Subjects. Sixty-six undergraduate volunteers participated in the present experiment and

received monetary remuneration at the rate of $4 per hour. Subjects were selected for participa-
tion on the basis of high scores obtained on the Physical Anhedonia Scale and the Perceptual
Aberration Scale. Subjects were assigned to Group A (anhedonic) or Group B (perceptual
aberration) when their scores were greater than two standard deviations above the mean on the
respective questionnaires. Group C (control) subjects were randomly selected from among
those individuals scoring near the mean on each of the two scales. Before their participation in
the experimental procedure, subjects spent one session in the laboratory devoted to a short
interview and a brief familiarization with general laboratory procedures. Subjects were
excluded from subsequent participation if during the interview they reported consistent use of
any drugs or medications, or reported any documented history of cardiovascular, seizure, or
psychiatric disorder.
Subjects ranged in age from 18 to 3 1 with a mean age of 20 years. Eighteen subjects (9 male)
comprised the anhedonic group (A), 26 subjects (13 male) comprised the perceptual aberration
group (B), and 22 subjects (10 male) were selected as normal controls (C).

Apparatus. The orienting stimulus was a 1,000 Hz pure tone with a l-second duration
generated by a Hewlett-Packard Model 200 AB oscillator. An electronic switch assured a rise
and fall time of 2 msec. The tone was amplified to 75 dB (SPL) by a Sherwood Model S-9500b
stereo amplifier and presented binaurally to subjects through VanCo Model HF-3 stereo
headphones. A LINC-8 laboratory computer was used for experimental control.

Physiological Recordings. Skin conductance and heart rate were continuously monitored on
a Beckman Type R Dynograph and simultaneously stored on FM magnetic tape. Measurement
of skin conductance was accomplished with Beckman Ag-AgCl standard electrodes placed on
the second phalanges of the first and second fingers of the subjects nonpreferred hand (palmar
surface). The skin was rinsed with distilled water before electrode application. A Beckman Type
9844 constant voltage skin conductance coupler was used for recording purposes with Johnson
and Johnson K-Y Jelly as the electrolyte.
Beckman miniature Ag-AgCl electrodes were used for recording the electrocardiogram
(EKG) with Beckman electrode paste used as the conducting agent. The two electrodes were
placed on the lower antero-lateral rib cage on each side of the heart and the EKG was recorded
with a Beckman 9806A A-C coupler.

Procedure. Subjects were seated in a comfortable reclining chair in the upright position.
Following the attachment of all electrodes and inspection of the recordings, subjects were read a
standard set of instructions. The instructions simply informed the subjects that following a short
rest period they would be presented a series of pure tones. They were instructed to relax and
listen to the tones as they were presented. They were also asked to keep movements to a
minimum once the experimenter returned to an adjacent room housing the recording
apparatus.
The experiment began with a S-minute rest period during which base level information was
gathered. At the completion of this base period, the LINC-8 delivered a series of 15 pure tone
stimuli with intertrial intervals (ITIs) semirandomly determined. The mean IT1 was 45 seconds
and varied from 30 to 60 seconds.

Data Reduction. Analog skin conductance data, stored on magnetic tape, were played into a
PDP-12 laboratory computer and digitized at the rate of 20 conversions per second. This
digitization resulted in 15 single trial response curves which served as input to a second program
which scored the amplitude of each skin conductance orienting response (SCOR). A SCOR was
defined as a change in skin conductance of at least 0.05 pmhos with an onset latency from 0.5 to
4.5 seconds following stimulus delivery.
The EKG, stored on FM tape, was converted into heart period using the LINC-8 computer to
detect the occurrence of each R wave and measure the R-R intervals in msec. Subsequently,
350

these interval data were converted into heart rate by computer and expressed in beats per minute
(BPM) for each half-second interval following stimulus onset. Each beat was weighted accord-
ing to the proportion of the half-second interval it occupied (Graham, 1980). These data were
reduced further by averaging every three successive trials into a total of five trial blocks to assess
changes in the heart rate response with repeated stimulus presentations. Components of these
averaged evoked heart rate responses were identified and scored according to the criteria
described by Gatchel and Lang (1973). Statistical analyses on all measures were performed on a
UNIVAC 1110 computer using an unweighted means solution for an unequal n mixed design
analysis of variance. Hypotheses regarding the differences among the three groups were tested
by constructing two orthogonal planned comparisons. These a priori comparisons were used
consistently to test group differences on both electrodermal and heart rate measurements. Other
analyses will be reported only when specifically relevant. The two orthogonal comparisons took
the following form:

Comparison 1 HO:
Perceptual Aberration = Controls

Comparison 2 HO:
Anhedonic = Perceptual Aberration and Controls.

Results

Skin conductance. The results of the Group X Sex X Trial analysis of variance on
SCOR magnitudes yielded a highly significant TRIAL effect (F= 26.20, df = 14,840,~
< 0.001). As Fig. 1 indicates, the significant TRIAL effect reflects the customary large
magnitude response to the first presentation of the stimulus and the rapid diminution
of responding with subsequent exposures. Since the SCOR is normally a rapidly
habituating response, early trials are most likely to reflect between-group differences
in the orienting response. The two orthogonal comparisons were conducted to test the
important variable of group responsivity to the first presentation of the orienting
stimulus. A significant Comparison 2 confirmed the impression from Fig. 1 that
anhedonic subjects were significantly less responsive to the initial stimulus than their
nonanhedonic counterparts (F= 4.62, df = 1,59, p < 0.05). Perceptual aberration and
control subjects did not differ in response to the initial or any subsequent stimulus
presentation (Comparison 1, F < 1). By trial 2, differences between groups no longer
reached statistical significance, although anhedonic subjects continued to remain the
least responsive.
The nature of the difference between anhedonic, control, and perceptual aberration
subjects is clarified further by inspection of Table 1, which presents the relative
frequency of normal and hyporesponsive orienting patterns which occurred in these
groups. Subjects assigned to the hyporesponsive category were either nonresponders
or fast habituators. Fast habituation was defined as a response to the first stimulus
presentation with no response observed on subsequent trials.1 A chi-square analysis
conducted on these data revealed that much of the response magnitude difference

I. The inclusion of a fast habituation category was suggested by the report of Patterson and Venables (1978).
The definition of fast habituation used here, however, does not correspond precisely to that offered by
Patterson and Venables whose criteria contained parameters of the skin conductance response not mea-
sured in the present study.
 351

illustrated in Fig. 1 is due to a significantly greater incidence of the nonresponder and

fast habituator pattern of electrodermal activity appearing in the anhedonic group
relative to the groups of normal and perceptual aberration subjects (~2 = 13.07, df= 2,
p < 0.01).

Fig. 1. Skin conductance response magnitude as a function of group

membership and presentation trial

l.OO- It!.I
;,I
fl - ANHEDONIC
f\
.80- ;\ a.. .__ .p PERCEPTUAL
\\ ABERRATION
;,1
:\ o----o CONTROLS
;\
:I

.60-
1:: ~._~~~

I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 IO II I2 I;

TRIAL

Table 1. Electrodermal response pattern as a

function of arouo membershir,
Electrodermal pattern
Group Normal Hyporesponsive
Anhedonic 6 12

Control 19 3

Perceptual aberration 20 6

Analysis of the electrodermal data collected during the initial base period again
suggests a general hypoarousal among anhedonic subjects. Although the finding was
not statistically significant, anhedonics showed the lowest skin conductance level (7.48
pmho/cmZ vs. 11.38 and 9.84 for groups B and C, respectively) and the fewest number
of spontaneous fluctuations exceeding criterion (2.9 vs. 4.9 and 3.2 for groups B and C,
respectively).
 352

Heart Rate.2 Fig. 2 depicts the change in heart rate which followed the tone
presentation averaged across all groups and trial blocks.3 The basic morphology of
this response was similar for each group and did not show evidence of significant
change over trial blocks. Such triphasic responses have been shown to be composites
of a number of separable and independent components (Headrick and Graham, 1969).
Those components reflecting cardiac deceleration are particularly relevant in the
present context since Graham and Clifton (1966) have convincingly argued that heart
rate slowing is the cardiac reflection of orienting behavior. Gatchel and Lang (1973)
have shown that a measure of total deceleration (analogous to the shaded area in Fig.
2) may best index a subjects orienting or attention toward an external stimulus, and
this composite measure was chosen as the primary dependent heart rate variable in the
present study. Statistical analysis was conducted to parallel that performed on the
electrodermal data and revealed very similar results. While no differences were
apparent between perceptual aberration and normal control subjects (Comparison I),
Comparison 2 showed once again that anhedonic subjects do demonstrate the hypo-
thesized deficiency in orienting (F= 5.04, df = 1,59, p < 0.05).This pattern was similar
in each of the two individual measures of deceleration which comprised the composite
dependent variable (Table 2). While sex of subject was not a significant factor in the
statistical analysis, the effect of group membership on both the heart rate and skin
conductance measures was most clearly displayed by anhedonic females.

Fig. 2. Average heart rate response of all subjects to the 15 pure tone stimuli

1234567

Seconds
Heart rate change (in beats per minute! was measured from the half-second prestimulus. Shaded areas were
summed to index cardiac orienting.

2. Resting heart rates were virtually identical among the three groups, varying from 65.4 to 67.6 beats per
minute.

3. Respiration was not recorded during the present experiment. However, the basic heart rate response to
simple stimuli of the type reported here is quite reliable across laboratories and is unlikely to be due to
stimulus elicited respiratory changes (see Hart, 1975).
 353

Table 2. Amplitude of deceleratory components of the evoked

heart rate response
Measure
Composite Initial Secondary
Group (B-Dl) + (B-D2) (B-Di) (B-Dn)
Anhedonic 2.9 2.0 0.9

Perceptual aberration 5.4 3.0 2.4

Control 4.9 3.0 1.8

Discussion

The present study was designed to compare psychophysiological concomitants of

orienting and habituation in anhedonic, perceptual aberration, and normal control
subjects. It was hypothesized that normal volunteer subjects scoring high on the
Physical Anhedonia Scale would demonstrate a hyporesponsive pattern of electroder-
ma1 orienting. The data do provide support for this hypothesis. First trial SCORs
produced by anhedonic subjects were less than one-half the magnitude of those
produced by nonanhedonic subjects. In addition, the heart rate response produced by
anhedonic subjects was significantly less deceleratory than that produced by nonanhe-
donic subjects. Both systems, therefore, contain evidence for an orienting deficit in the
anhedonic subjects-a deficit analogous to that observed by Bernstein (1970) and
Bernstein et al. (1980) in samples of schizophrenic patients and in about half the
schizophrenic patients tested by the Venables group (Venables, 1977).
These results substantially add to the construct validity of the Physical Anhedonia
Scale as a measure of schizotypy, and support the continued investigation of this
particular group of subjects. The present data may also help to explain the failure of
some investigators to locate the hyporesponsive phenomenon in all samples of schizo-
phrenics. Chapman et al. (1976) have shown that only a subset of clinical schizo-
phrenics are anhedonic. It may be that anhedonic subjects in clinical investigations are
systematically excluded by idiosyncracies in patient diagnoses (labeled schizoaffective
or depressed), or by their own failure to volunteer for participation (being unable to
anticipate pleasant consequences). It may be necessary to include information on
Physical Anhedonia as a routine part of population descriptions, in order to make
conflicting results of different investigations explicable.
Buchsbaum and Haier (1978) have argued that grouping or diagnosing individuals
on biological variables instead of symptoms may be a way to decrease the heteroge-
neity problem in schizophrenia research. The results reported here, and by others
discussed above, suggest that autonomic hyporesponsivity to novel stimuli may serve
as part of a useful biological categorization. The recognition of such biological
variables may then lead to the development of new high-risk projects such as those
reported by Venables et al. (I 978) or Buchsbaum et al. (1976) in which screening for
subjects is conducted on the basis of the identified biological characteristic.
The hypothesis that subjects scoring high on the Perceptual Aberration Scale would
evince the hyperresponsive pattern of electrodermal activity was not confirmed.
354

Perceptual aberration subjects demonstrated normal orienting behavior as reflected in

both the skin conductance and heart rate measurements. However, this group does
respond to questionnaire items indicating very unusual perceptual experiences, often
involving distortions of the body image, and as mentioned above, these questionnaire
data are augmented by evidence of thought disorder on the Rorschach and by reports
of psychotic symptoms obtained during psychiatric interview. Many perceptual aber-
ration subjects report hearing voices at least once a week. In terms of the present
paradigm, it may be that the schizotypy characterized by perceptual aberrations does
not map neatly onto the hyperresponder-hyporesponder dichotomy, or that simple
orienting stimuli will not elicit autonomic hyperresponsivity in prodromal schizo-
phrenics. Some support for this latter possibility can be seen in studies reported by
Mednick and Schulsinger (1968) and Salzman and Klein (1978) in which hyperrespon-
sivity was observed in high-risk subjects, but only in the context of classical aversive
conditioning. Hyperresponding did not appear during the orienting phase of the
experiment which preceded the conditioning procedure. It may be that general hyper-
responsivity in schizophrenia is a progressive development and not readily observed in
high-risk subjects until high levels of stimulus intensity are reached. This question
merits further research.
In summary, the present study strengthens the evidence for a possible relationship
between physical anhedonia and future schizophrenia. Specifically, the results suggest
a continuity between anhedonia and the phenomenon of autonomic hyporesponsivity
observed in a subgroup of clinical schizophrenics. While evidence for a relationship
between perceptual aberrations in college students and future schizophrenia is not
similarly augmented, the bulk of the evidence suggests that both groups merit further
investigation. While these subjects have not been followed long enough to ascertain
their ultimate risk status, studies reported thus far are encouraging and may prove
valuable to researchers interested in the process and etiology of schizophrenia.

Acknowledgment. This research was supported by grants to Peter J. Lang, Ph.D.,

and Loren J. Chapman, Ph.D., from the National Institute of Mental Health and the
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

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