Notes on GSR

His researches with lie-detectors in the 1940's made it possible for Volney Mathison
to go on and invent the modern type of portable transistorised GSR meter - a type
that has survived with very little change, until the present day. The current GSR
meters take advantage of state-of-the-art electronics to be completely automatic in
operation, very sensitive and extremely reliable, with ideal ballistics and very low
power consumption, but the fundamental principles remain the same.

Mathison went on to develop a word-list to be used in conjunction with the psycho-

galvanometer. He would ask the subject under analysis to take hold of the meter's
electrodes, then he would read this list of words to him. Without fail, some of these
words would trigger a read on the meter, and in some cases violently. Whenever this
was the case, Mathison knew that these words were associated with violent and
negative fear or resentment that had its origin in unconscious (reactive) complexes in
the subject's mind. Most of the time, the subject was completely unaware that he
was reacting on the meter in this way.

The Galvanic Skin Response

First a little bit of history. The simple psycho-galvanometer was one of the earliest
tools of psychological research. A psycho-galvanometer measures the resistance of
the skin to the passage of a very small electric current. It has been known for
decades that the magnitude of this electrical resistance is affected, not only by the
subject's general mood, but also by immediate emotional reactions. Although these
facts have been known for over a hundred years and the first paper to be presented
on the subject of the psycho-galvanometer was written by Tarchanoff in 1890, it has
only been within the last 25 years that the underlying causes of this change in skin
resistance have been discovered.
The Tarchanoff Response is a change in DC potential across neurons of the
autonomic nervous system connected to the sensori-motor strip of the cortex. This
change was found to be related to the level of cortical arousal. The emotional charge
on a word, heard by a subject, would have an immediate effect on the subject's level
of arousal, and cause this physiological response. Because the hands have a
particularly large representation of nerve endings on the sensori-motor strip of the
cortex, hand-held electrodes are ideal. As arousal increases, the 'fight or flight' stress
response of the autonomic nervous system comes into action, and adrenaline
causes increased sweating amongst many other phenomena, but the speed of
sweating response is nowhere near as instantaneous or accurate as the Tarchanoff
response.

The most advanced layers of the cortex, unique to man, link to the thumb and
forefinger especially, and there is a further complex physiological response which
occurs when the forebrain is aroused: changes in Alpha rhythms cause blood
capillaries to enlarge, and this too affects resistance.

By virtue of the Galvanic Skin Response, autonomic nervous system activity causes
a change in the skin's conductivity. The overall degree of arousal of the whole brain,
is shown by the reads of the GSR Meter, which does not differentiate between the
hemispheres, or between cortical and primitive brain responses. Higher arousal
(such as occurs with increased involvement) will almost instantaneously (0.1 - 0.5
sec) cause a fall in skin resistance; reduced arousal (such as occurs with withdrawal)
will cause a rise in skin resistance.

Thus a rise or fall on the GSR Meter directly relates to reactive arousal, due to
reactivation of repressed mental conflict, releasing emotional charge. When the
conflict or unknowingness is resolved, by confronting objective reality, there is
understanding and the charge dissipates.

The Being is involved, because it is the causative Being that knows the objective
truth and therefore is in conflict with distorted mental contents. The Being, however,
is not part of the brain; the Higher Self is a quality not a quantity, and is essentially
not anywhere, except by consideration. The Being is a non-verbal knowingness that
lies back of mental awareness and activity, but which is capable of influencing the
composite human being, through will and creative choice, by postulate.

Jung and Mathison

One of the first references to the use of GSR instruments in psychoanalysis is in the
book by Carl Gustav Jung, entitled 'Studies in Word Analysis', published in 1906.
Here the Swiss psychologist describes a technique of connecting the subject, via
hand-electrodes, to an instrument that measures changes in body resistance via the
skin: a psycho-galvanometer. Words on a list were read out to the subject one by
one. If a word on this list was emotionally charged, there was a change in body
resistance causing a deflection of the needle of the psycho-galvanometer. Any words
which evoked a larger than usual read on the meter were assumed to be indicators
of possible areas of conflict in the patient, and these areas were then explored in
more detail with the subject in session. Jung used observed deflections on the meter
as a monitoring device to aid his own judgment in determining which particular lines
of enquiry were most likely to be fruitful with each subject.
Without amplification, this device was difficult to use, thus it remained as little more
than a laboratory curiosity until the development of sophisticated valve amplifiers in
the 1930s. Once a portable psycho-galvanometer with amplification was available,
the idea of using a psycho-galvanometer was picked up with enthusiasm by
criminologists. These meters became known as 'lie detectors', and have been used
by various police forces, in this manner, for more than 60 years. On the other hand,
little further work was done in psychotherapy with the psycho-galvanometer, until
Biofeedback Research in the 1970s using the GSR meter in connection with
meditation and relaxation became popular.

Biofeedback is the technique of self-regulation of awareness states by the subject.

The level of cortical arousal is central to a person's level of awareness, so a machine
that can measure this factor is of the first importance in biofeedback. Many papers
have been presented on this subject over the last 25 years, and the most important
findings of this research are:

1. A low level of cortical arousal is desirable for relaxation, hypnosis, and the
subjective experience of psychic states and unconscious manifestations.

2. A high level of cortical arousal gives increased powers of reflection, focused

concentration, increased reading speed, and increased capacity for long-term recall.
3. Cortical arousal has a simple relationship to skin conductivity. Arousal of the
cortex increases the conductivity of the skin and conversely, a drop in arousal
causes a drop in skin conductivity. With a sensitive GSR Meter the level of arousal
can be brought under conscious control. With a few hours' practice the level of
arousal can be consciously controlled over wide limits. It is a biological response.

Volney Mathison was a pioneer in the discovery that all fears, feelings and
resentments - all thought and emotion - were electrical in their nature. He found
through experiments with lie-detectors during the 1940s that when a person was
reminded of certain past events, or when a change of mood was induced in him, the
needle in the psycho-galvanometer would jump erratically; the degree of jump was in
proportion to the strength of unconscious reaction. In skilled hands the psycho-
galvanometer could be used to locate a particular mental content, the nature of that
content, the location of that content in space and time, and the amount of force
contained within it.

His researches with lie-detectors in the 1940's made it possible for Volney Mathison
to go on and invent the modern type of portable transistorised GSR meter - a type
that has survived with very little change, until the present day. The current GSR
meters take advantage of state-of-the-art electronics to be completely automatic in
operation, very sensitive and extremely reliable, with ideal ballistics and very low
power consumption, but the fundamental principles remain the same.

Mathison went on to develop a word-list to be used in conjunction with the psycho-

galvanometer. He would ask the subject under analysis to take hold of the meter's
electrodes, then he would read this list of words to him. Without fail, some of these
words would trigger a read on the meter, and in some cases violently. Whenever this
was the case, Mathison knew that these words were associated with violent and
negative fear or resentment that had its origin in unconscious (reactive) complexes in
the subject's mind. Most of the time, the subject was completely unaware that he
was reacting on the meter in this way.

According to Eysenck’s (1967) theory of personality, neuroticism is associated

with increased reactivity of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) specifically with the
limbic system along with low tolerance for stress or aversive stimuli. Neurotics are
thought to be more psychologically reactive to emotional events (Larsen & Ketelaar,
1991); they might also be more physiologically reactive to emotional events. The
ANS is controlled by brain areas related to emotions such as the amygdala and the
hippocampus (Critchley et al., 2002, 2003; Matthews et al., 2004). Specifically, the
sympathetic nervous system, a part of the ANS, acts to increase output in certain
emotional situations. Therefore, the activity of the ANS refers to the internal state of
arousal, vigilance, alertness, and even cognitive information processing (http://
[Link]/[Link]).
There is ample evidence that the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is capable of a
number of different patterns of activation. Support for this notion has been found in
the neural structure of the ANS (Groves & Rebec, 1992), the neurochemistry of the
ANS (see Wagner, 1989) and of course empirical ndings (e.g., Lacey, Kagan, Lacey
& Moss, 1963). In the context, arousal maybe considered as the intensity aspect of
behavior (Biswas, 1998). The concept of arousal as a function of cognitive
stimulation is an old one. Arousal charts a hypothetical continuum ranging from sleep
to heightened emotions. Malmo (1957), associated ampli ed arousal with anxiety,
Spence & Spence (1966) considered anxiety as determining arousal and later,
Hovarth et. al., (1980) posited it to be the psychological counterpart of arousal. Lader
& Wing (1966) pointed out that arousal is the physiological counterpart of anxiety but
anxiety may not always be the psychological counterpart of arousal, but may
underlie various other emotions – anxiety being a narrower term. Arousal, as the only
dimension rendering itself for quanti cation of behavior, based on physiological
measures, gives some objective explanation of behavior (Biswas, 1998).

In that case the autonomic nervous system reaction patterns may prove as indicators
of
arousal, emotion, and psychological
stress. Arousal is a physiological and psychological state of being awake or reactive
to stimuli. It involves the activation of the reticular activating system in the brain
stem, the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system, leading to increased
heart rate and blood pressure and a condition of sensory alertness, mobility and
readiness to respond with the ‘fight or flight’ response ([Link]
Arousal).

Psychological measures when combined with some objective measures, like those
of psychophysiological nature prove useful in research activities. The Central
Nervous System related measure of EEG has also been considered as a good index
of arousal along with the Autonomic Nervous System measures like Galvanic Skin
Response. Since the ANS is considered as the seat of emotions and functions
independently (autonomously) and continuously, without conscious effort, any
measure of it would provide a good objective indicator. Skin Conductance Response
is one of the most well researched physiological measures.

ROLE OF GALVANIC SKIN RESPONSE IN THE MEASUREMENT OF

AUTONOMIC AROUSAL:
Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), a measure of skin conductance, is based on Ohm’s
law – V=I/R ((where, V=voltage, I=current and R=resistance). The relation of
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Conductance (C) to Resistance (R) is expressed as: C=I/R (where, C=conductance,
I=current and R=resistance). Skin conductance is measured in microsiemens (µS).
Other measures of EDA are distinguished based on technical aspects of the
assessment: electrodermal activity recordings that do not use an external current are
called endosomatic, while recordings that do use an external current (such as skin
conductance) are called exosomatic. Exosomatic techniques are further
distinguished by whether a direct current (DC) or an alternative current (AC) is used.
In this study the DC measurement has been used. DC measurement that keeps the
voltage constant is called skin conductance, as it reflects how well the skin conducts
a current. DC measurement that keeps the current constant is called skin resistance,
as it reflects the electrical resistance of the skin (Figner & Murphy, in press). The
next question that would come to mind is which kind of measurement is more
reliable? There have been claims from researchers using both kinds, about the
reliability issue. However, Kircher et al., (2001) comment that their findings show
none to be superior to other.

The Skin Conductance Response is a change in direct current (DC) potential across
neurons of the autonomic nervous system connected to the sensori-motor strip of the
cortex. This change is related to the level of cortical arousal and is a measure of
generalized measure of autonomic arousal (Reeves, Lang, Thorson, & Rothchild,
1989). Thus, in other words, The SCR is triggered by an increase in sympathetic
activity of the autonomic nervous system (norepinephrine stimulation of the sweat
glands) following the onset of a startling event or stimulus (Gutrecht, 1994;
Shibagaki, M., et. al., 1993) and also a measure of attention (Prokasy & Raskin,
1973) to the same, with sweat gland function working as a parameter (Fowles, 1974;
Venables & Christie, 1980). The GSR measures the activity of eccrine sweat glands
that are controlled by the sympathetic nervous system (Lazarus et al., 1963; Fowles
et al., 1981), which indirectly measure emotional arousal, attention and cognitive
effort, causing by rapid, tiny increases in readings. Also, sweating does not occur
equally on all parts of the body. Two fundamentally different stimuli trigger sweating
(Kuno, 1956), namely, thermal sweating and emotional stimuli. “Thermal” sweating
results from ambient heat and occurs over the entire body, except for the palm and
sole. There is a marked time lag after exposure to the stimulus (heat) before
sweating begins. Psychological and emotional sweating, on the other hand, occurs
mainly on the palm and sole, but the forehead and axilla may also become involved
if the stress is of sufficient intensity. Because the hands have a particularly large
representation of nerve endings on the sensori-motor strip of the cortex, hand-held
electrodes are ideal.

Biologically, Galvanic skin response “ . . . is a change in the electrical resistance of

the skin. It is determined by passing a weak current through the skin and measuring
changes in electricity flow or by measuring the current generated by the body itself.
It has been correlated with emotion, attention, and stress..." (Academic Electronic
Encyclopedia, 1993). In other words resistance is defined as opposition of an object
to the flow of electric current and is measured in terms of potential difference applied
between two points; its unit of measurement being Ohms. Resistance is proportional
to applied potential difference (voltage).

The physiological phenomenon in GSR is intriguing. The hypothalamus directs these

responses through the autonomic nervous system of the body, as well as triggering
cortical arousal through the Reticular Activating System (RAS), a process that is
enormously important because of its role in arousal and awareness. Two especially
important responses are the fight-or-flight response, which is accompanied by a
decrease in skin resistance (as indicated by a fall on the GSR Meter); and the
relaxation response, which is accompanied by an increase in resistance (a rise on
the GSR Meter).

A survival function of the amygdala is in detecting danger or emotion associated with

incoming stimuli. Past experiences were stamped within the brain as being
dangerous or emotionally significant. If the amygdala detects incoming stimuli that
match these stamps, then it will alert us to potential danger before sending the
stimuli on to the appropriate processing center. The amygdala learns its repertoire
during childhood and this is supplemented at later times of physical or emotional
trauma. Le Doux (1992) suggests that it is the amygdala that lies down and 'records'
unconscious memory, whilst it is the hippocampus that 'records' conscious memory.
A sensory input is sent to both the cortex and the amygdala at the same time. The
response of the amygdala is almost immediate and that of the cortex is much slower.
This causes the 'instant' reaction of the GSR needle in comparison to the slow and
delayed response to normal cognitive thoughts originating from the cerebral
hemispheres. So we know whether the GSR response to a question is from either
the amygdala or the cortex by whether it produces an instant read or a slower, latent
read.

The conductance is affected, not only by the subject's general mood, but also by
immediate emotional reactions. Given this relationship, some researchers have
argued that discrete emotions such as disgust or sadness should reflect specific
autonomic activity (e.g., Ekman, Levenson, & Friesen, 1983; Levenson et al., 1990).
For example, Levensen et al. (1990) found that skin conductance discriminated
negative emotions (fear, disgust, sadness, anger) from positive emotions (happiness,
surprise) during a directed facial action task. Ruckmick in 1933 reported GSR
differences for subjects viewing comedic, conflictual, and romantic film segments
(reported in Schwartz & Shapiro, 1973). In contrast, other researchers have shown
that skin conductance is more sensitive to the arousal or activation dimension of
emotion (e.g., Bradley, Cuthbert, & Lang, 1990; Greenwald et al., 1989; Lang et al.,
1993; Winton, Putnam, & Krauss, 1984). That is, increases in reports of arousal vary
directly with changes in skin conductance, regardless of the valence (positive or
negative) of the stimuli. Thus, the literature strongly supports the relationship
between skin conductance and emotional reactivity despite the existence of differing
theoretical positions regarding the nature of this relationship (i.e., discrete emotions
vs. emotion dimensions).

Higher arousal of the cortex is thought to increase the conductivity of the skin (such
as occurs with increased involvement) will almost instantaneously (0.2 - 0.5 sec)
cause a fall in skin resistance; reduced arousal of the cortex decreases the
conductivity of the skin (such as occurs with withdrawal) will cause a rise in skin
resistance. GSR is capable of generating multiple measures –

• Magnitude of Skin Conductance Level: It maybe defined as average of all skin

conductance readings.
• Orienting Response: Pavlov first introduced the concept of orientation in 1927
as a reflex that brings about an immediate response to the slightest change in
the environment, and in case of GSR arousal as orienting response will occur
only if the change is perceived to be significant by the individual (Bernstein,
1969). (Williams et al., 2000)
• Spontaneous Fluctuations: The number of spontaneous fluctuations (SF) in
skin conductance is considered as a measures of tonic ANS activity
(Boucsein, 1992) and is thought to reflect variations in arousal generated by
various of cognitive and emotional processes in absence of stimuli. SF are
sensitive to small changes in arousal (Boucsein, 1992), and play an important
role in inferring stress Boucsein, 1992) and anxiety (Erdmann & Baumann,
1996).
• Fluctuations: The number of fluctuations (F) in skin conductance is considered
as a measures of tonic ANS activity (Boucsein, 1992) and is thought to reflect
variations in arousal generated by various of cognitive and emotional
processes in presence of stimuli.
• Recovery Time: The term recovery refers to an organism's efforts to make
itself detached from the stimuli in the external world. The locus of control of
recovery function could be found both in peripheral as well as central nervous
system (Venables & Christie, 1975).
• Amplitude: It is the highest level of current produced by a response.
• Habituation Response: It is the decrement in response amplitude with
repetitions of the same stimuli (Lader & Wing, 1964).
• Latency: It refers to a time frame in which a skin conductance response
occurs.
• Rise Time: It refers to the time between the onset of skin conductance
response and its peak amplitude.
 Volney Mathison was a pioneer in the discovery that all fears, feelings and
resentments - all thought and emotion - were electrical in their nature. He found
through experiments with lie detectors during the 1940s that when a person was
reminded of certain past events, or when a change of mood was induced in him, the
needle in the meter would jump erratically; the degree of jump was in proportion to
the strength of unconscious reaction. The meter could be used to locate a particular
mental content, the nature of that content, the location of that content in space and
time, and the amount of force contained within it. The GSR has been used as lie
detectors, in the eld of criminology.

One obvious query about GSR would be – what of the unconscious processes? One
of the rst people to use the GSR was Carl G. Jung (1907). He had participants
read words and would not their reaction. The more the word affected the participant
the higher the GSR measures. Beginning in the 1940s and 1950s, psychoanalytically
inspired researchers began using subliminal presentation of stimuli to test
hypotheses about unconscious processes, many of which document the existence of
unconscious affective processes (see Dixon, 1971, 1981; Erdelyi, 1985). Berlyne
(1960) states that arousal is a function of cognitive bombardment, greater the
bombardment, higher the arousal. In a classic study, McGinnies (1949)
demonstrated, first, that people tend to recognize neutral words more rapidly than
taboo words presented briefly on a screen; and second, that skin conductance
(GSR) is higher during presentation of the taboo words prior to conscious recognition
of them. These results suggests a preconscious stage of processing in which
information is evaluated for its affective content, a position arrived at more recently
by Bargh (1997). Thus from dynamic stance a rise or fall of GSR relates directly to
reactive arousal, due to re-stimulation of repressed mental conflict. This is similar to
Freud's early findings, that high arousal in a neurotic is experienced as internal
excitement, which is unpleasant, whereas a person who is substantially free from
neurosis experiences arousal as energy for incitement, i.e. energy for action.

Since biofeedback research, it is believed that meditation and relaxation procedures

cause a rise in skin resistance. It has therefore been assumed that high and low skin
resistance correlate directly with relaxation and stress respectively, and that a high
resistance indicates a pleasant relaxed state of mind, whereas low resistance
indicates tension. However, the reverse is true in a psychotherapy session. When
repressed material is surfacing (e.g. material associated with guilt or pain), the skin
resistance rises and the client experiences feelings of tension. This is because the
emerging, previously repressed, material is fought against; thus in a therapy session,
high skin resistance indicates tension, and not relaxation as in meditation. Then,
when the repressed material reaches the surface and the conflict is resolved, by the
objective viewing of objective reality – the truth of exact time, place, form and event –
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 there is catharsis and negative emotional charge dissipates; there is usually a
release of energy, resulting in sudden large drop in skin resistance and the client
experiences relief. This demonstrates a correlation between low skin resistance and
relaxation of tension, which is in contradiction to the pattern of research findings in
meditation.

The contradiction has been noted by Dr. Apter (1989) of Bristol University, in his
book "Reversal Theory". He refers to this as Paradoxical Arousal. His discoveries are
that high arousal can be pleasant and exciting when a person is in the (active)
Paratelic state, whereas high arousal is experienced as unpleasant in the (thinking)
Telic state.

To resolve this paradox, Shepherd (2014) suggests that it would be more effective to
correlate high and low skin resistance, not with "relaxation" and "stress" but with
"withdrawal and "involvement" respectively; both these terms can refer either to a
relaxed or to a tense state.

The following figure depicts the phenomena discussed above.

Figure 7: "Reversal Theory" (Apter, 1989)

What the above figure indicates is that when:

1. High arousal suggests involvement and conversely low arousal suggests
withdrawal.
2. The feeling tone of an individual is low and the physiological arousal is also
low it indicates repressed content related to the stimuli.
3. The feeling tone of an individual is high and the physiological arousal is also
high it indicates detachment with the stimuli.

 4. The feeling low of an individual is low and the physiological arousal is also
high it indicates anxiety related to the stimuli.
5. The feeling tone of an individual is high and the physiological arousal is also
low it indicates awareness related to the stimuli.

In 1959 John Lacey envisioned psychophysiological assessments as providing an

objective means for evaluating psychotherapeutic process and outcome. He
published an influential review entitled "Psychophysiological approaches to the
evaluation of psychotherapeutic process and outcome” (Lacey, 1959). He envisioned
four substantive uses of psychophysiological assessment in psychotherapy
research. To begin with,

1. Physiological events might detect subtle and otherwise not-easily-detectable

changes in affect or arousal in the course of therapeutic
interview.
2. Physiological events might reveal conflict areas and their interrelationships
relatively in advance (or in the absence) of their emergence in the verbal
exchange.
3. Physiological responses as a function of psychotherapeutic techniques and
therapist behaviors may provide clues to the differential effectiveness of
therapists and techniques.
4. Physiological events might provide an objective means of. Evaluating
changes that purportedly occur during psychotherapy.

The psychophysiological literature on therapeutic outcomes was inconsistent, and

Lacey (1959) identified statistical and methodological problems that plagued many of
these early investigations. One of the disadvantages of psychophysiological studies
is that this kind of reaction may represent a varied number of processes. Lacey
(1959) observed that increases in physiological tension were commonly interpreted
as signifying increases in psychological tension, conflict identification, or a
heightening of affect, anxiety, or hostility, whereas decreases in physiological
response were interpreted as marking decreases in psychological tension, catharsis,
conflict resolution, or reductions in affect, anxiety, or hostility. This theoretical
framework, Lacey argued, was overly simplistic, was contradicted by low or negative
inter-correlations among autonomic responses, and thus contributed to the
impression that psychophysiological relationships were unreliable. But this opinion is
ancient, so to say. One of the disadvantages of psychophysiological studies is that
this kind of reaction may represent a varied number of processes.

Methodology
 Description:
Psychological indices are very important as here the individual's personal
experiences are directly taken into consideration. But again to evaluate the effect of
anxiety completely on the basis of self-report would be subject falsi cation for
various reasons (Lader, 1975). This is because self-reports are highly subjective,
and the meaning of an item varies from individual to individual and often in the same
individual at different times. Again sometimes the patient may show a lack of
motivation to read and understand carefully and then only ll in the forms properly.
Thus, though the psychological scales used in the present study are valid and
reliable and have been used innumerable in the Indian setup, to overcome the
dif culties of the psychological measures, a third measure psychophysiological in
nature has been employed. Psychophysiological measures are many like, EEG,
Heart rate etc., however skin many in our laboratory have usually utilized response
as one of the most reliable psychophysiological measures by many researchers and
also. It is held that the level of anxiety an individual experiences within must have an
in uence on the physiological system of the individual (Lader and Wing, 1966;
Chattopadhyay et al 1975). The relationship of skin conductance with anxiety has
been elaborated in Introductory Chapter. The idea of including it as a measure
besides the psychological measures is to observe whether the self-reports are
reliable and correlated to the physiological arousal system of the individual.

The relationship between psychological experiences and physiological change is not

a new one The present study has employed a standardized psychophysiological
method developed n the Western laboratories (Lader & Wing, 1966) and further used
in our laboratories (eg. Chattopadhyay et. al. 1979, 1980; Roy and Chattopadhyay,
1980; Das 1992 ; De, 1995).

To study the phenomena of emotion and arousal, the physiological measures which
have been found to be particularly effective are broadly classi ed into (a) Central
Nervous System or CNS measures and (b) Autonomic Nervous System or ANS
measures. The CNS measures include electroencephalograph (EEG), spinal after
effect etc., and the ANS measures include skin conductance (SC), as it has been
proved to be the best indicator of arousal (Lader & Wing, 1966) and has been widely
used by many investigators abroad (Chattopadhyay, Bond & Lader, 1975;
Chattopadhyay, Cooke, Toone and Lader, 1980) and by various researches by
Chattopadhyay in laboratory in India (Chattopadhyay, Das & Basu, 1985, Das, 1992,
De, 1995). EEG has also been considered as a good index of arousal, but as our
laboratory condition does not permit us to measure it in more than two channels,
which cannot give adequate information, so it has not been taken in the present
study.
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The other good measure that spontaneously comes to mind is that of skin
conductance, thus keeping in mind the laboratory situation and the applicability of
GSR, it was taken as psychophysiological measure in this study.

There is ample evidence that the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is capable of a
number of different patterns of activation. Support for this notion has been found in
the neural structure of the ANS (Groves & Rebec, 1992), the neurochemistry of the
ANS (see Wagner, 1989) and of course empirical ndings (e.g., Lacey, Kagan, Lacey
& Moss, 1963). In the context, arousal maybe considered as the intensity aspect of
behavior (Biswas, 1998). The concept of arousal as a function of cognitive
stimulation is an old one. Arousal charts a hypothetical continuum ranging from sleep
to heightened emotions. Malmo (1957), associated ampli ed arousal with anxiety,
Spence & Spence (1966) considered anxiety as determining arousal and later,
Hovarth et. al., (1980) posited it to be the psychological counterpart of arousal. Lader
& Wing (1966) pointed out that arousal is the physiological counterpart of anxiety but
anxiety may not always be the psychological counterpart of arousal, but may
underlie various other emotions –anxiety being a narrower term. Arousal, as the only
dimension rendering itself for quanti cation of behavior, based on physiological
measures, gives some objective explanation of behavior (Biswas, 1998).

If we consider the continuum of psychological disorder then arousal has been

detected in all the disorders, thus, interpretatively anxiety exists at the core of all
forms of disorders, whether it is manifest or not. Lader & Wing (1969) showed the
presence of arousal, of increased level in agitated depressed patients and
decreased level in retarded depressed patients; the ndings later supported by a
study in our laboratory by Roy & Chattopahyay (1980). Galvanic Skin Response
would be an ideal forti cation of elicited constructs. One such measure of clinical
psychophysiology is called the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), recorded on a
psycho-galvanometer.

Measure of Skin Resistance:

The electrical conductance (SC) of skin has been widely used as a measure of
arousal for many decades. For the advantage of recording and the easy availability
of the resistance instrument, generally the skin resistance (SR) are recorded and
then it is transformed in SC. SC is inversely related to SR. Greater the SC lesser will
be the SR. There have been claims from researchers using both kinds, about the
reliability issue. However, Kircher et al., (2001) comment that they their findings
show that none is superior to the other.

Until 1960s, no general agreement in the method of recording SR was established.

In 1962, Lader and Montague showed that SC or SR levels were dependent upon
the sweat gland activities. Such a nding was probably a guideline for Lader & Wing
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(1966), who later attempted an accurate and artifact free management of SR. The
basic principle underlying this concept is based on the Ohm’s law, which states that
V=I/R (V=voltage, I=Current and R=Resistance), where I is constant and V is
inversely proportional to R. If I is kept constant, the voltage recorded is directly and
linearly related to the SR. In practice, a constant current is passed through the
subject via two electrodes and the voltage engendered across he skin is recorded. In
the present study, the technique adopted by Lader and Wing (1966) and
subsequently used by other researchers in India and also in our laboratory
(Chattopadhyay & Das, 1983, Chattopadhay & Biswas, 1983; etc.) and abroad
(Nobel & Lader, 1972, Chattopadhyay et al 1975; Chattopadhyay et al 1980) has
been adopted.

The measurement of SR requires two electrodes to measure resistance between two

points of a conductor. But a polarization effect may arise an artifact between the two
electrodes. The use of a tetra-polar electrode system can obviate this dif culty. In
this system, the measuring current is passed through the two ends of the resistor
and consequently polarization potential build up at these two sites. The voltage
engendered across the resistor is measured through two separate wires thus
bypassing the polarization potentials. In the present experiment, to obviate
polarization dif culties, double elements lead electrodes were used. The ‘active’
electrode consisted of the two lead elements, a central disc of 5 mm diameter, and a
surrounding annulus of internal diameter of 8 mm and external diameter of 14 mm
(Lader & Wing, 1966, Ghosh, 2010). The two elements were mounted in a perplex
holder. The inactive electrode was also similar, but larger. The central lead disc
measured 8 mm in diameter and annulus was of 11 mm internal diameter and 23
mm external diameter. The electrodes have a removable polythene ange, which
provided a space for the electrode jelly. Neither the dimensions nor the shape of the
electrodes is essential, provided both the elements of each electrodes is essential,
provided both the elements of each electrode are in good contact with the jelly.

Location of Electrodes:
The anatomical region from which SR is measured is of great importance. The most
convenient site o record it would be the area of the hand having highest density of
the sweat glands. Kuno (1956), in this connection reported that the area of maximum
density occurs on the palmer aspects of the distal phalanges of the digits. In the
present experiment unilateral measurement of the skin resistance sight, as it
presents a more extensive and atter surface than the ngers. The site of the
inactive electrode is immaterial (Lader and Wing, 1966) and the lateral surface of the
right arm about 10 c.m. above the lateral epicondyle of the humerus was used.
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 Figure 9: Electrodes Location Sites

Preparation of the Electrode Sites:

Many investigators to prepare the skin under the active electrode have used grease
solvent such as carbon tetrachloride or either. This method is effective in removing
surface grease, but such organic solvents may have deleterious action on the semi-
permeable membranes of the sweat-glands (Lader and Wing, 1966). In the present
experiment the selected sites of the thumb was wiped dry with a cotton wool, as was
recommended by previous researchers (Lader and Wing, 1966; Chattopadhyay,
1976; Chattopadhyay & Biswas, 1983, Ghosh, 1975). The inactive electrode site
must be prepared in such a way that the resistance of the underlying skin is
minimized (Lader and Wing, 1966) and thus, it should ensure that the resistance
measured is a function of the skin at the ‘active’ site alone. In the present
experiment, the skin of the arm was rubbed briskly with emery broad until a marked
arrhythmia was elicited before placing the inactive electrode there.

Constant Areas of the sites:

Blank and Finesinger (1946) con rmed experimentally that the skin resistance is
expected to vary with the area of the skin from which it is measured. They also
demonstrated that ‘dry’ electrode system, i.e., one using the subject’s own sweat as

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 contact medium is unsatisfactory for accurate work, as the sweat may spread over
the skin and increase the effective area of measurement. To avoid this, foam plastic
corn plaster, as recommended by Lader and Wing (1966) was used as masking
devices in the present study. Each corn plaster consists of annules of 3mm thick
foam plastic with an outside diameter of 22mm and inside diameter of 9.5 mm. The
under surface is coated with an adhesive tape and the upper surface is faced with
waterproof plastic. Corn plaster were placed on the dried skin of the thumb in such a
way that the center of the whole coincided with the center of the arch of the thumb
print. This enabled the area of the ‘active’ electrode site to be kept constant. Thus a
constant area of the skin of 0.71 sq cm was recorded.

Contact Medium:
It is preferable to use a contact medium between the electrode and the skin. The
most important electrolyte in sweat is Sodium chloride. The usual concentration of
Sodium chloride in sweat is of the order of 0.05 mm. (Lobitz and Ostrberg, 1947). In
the present experiment, a contact medium containing 0.05 mm sodium chloride was
used. This contact medium is available commercially as KY jelly.

Recording Instrument - GSR biofeedback instrument:

This is an instrument for measuring skin resistance after applying a Direct Current of
14 micro amp/sq cm of skin (electrode area) (Electrolab, Calcutta, India).

It has two parts:

1. A pre amplier and Direct Current generation unit comprising of:
i. A constant current generator which produces 14 amp constant current
ii. Range for skin resistance setting from 10 kohm’s to 1000 kohm’s
(k=kilo)
iii. ^R CAL facility – Usual calibration introduce a 50 kohm’s 1% metal
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iv. xed resistance at input; ^ R CAL produce + 10 kohm’s added with it.
It is
v. useful for calibrating the recording gain.
vi. An LCD display which shows the actual skin resistance.
vii. Filter – it lters the 50 H2 A C interferences.
viii. Input – Active and inactive electrode receptors.

2. Power ampli er, recorder and biofeedback unit comprises of:

i. Power – On-off switch
ii. Fuse – 1 amp.

Design and Development:

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 The experimental procedure used for the recording of SR was essentially the same
as that described by Lader and Wing (1966). The electrodes were sanded bright and
were lled with electrode jelly. The appropriate area of the right arm was absorbed
and the inactive electrode was applied and held in position with an adjustable rubber
strap. The right thumb was wiped dry and the active electrode was positioned on it
and secured with adhesive tape. Both the electrodes were plugged in and the skin
resistance instruments were calibrated. After this, the instrument was switched on
and a resistance instrument was calibrated. After this, the instrument was calibrated.
After this, the instrument was switched on and a constant current of 14u am/cm2
was passed through the electrodes and voltage across the subject was balanced.
The sensitivity was increased usually to 25 or 50-kilo ohms full-scale de ection.

The Skin Resistance (SR), formerly known as the Galvanic Skin Response, is a
reliable method of measuring activity of the autonomic division of the nervous system
as a parameter of sweat gland function (Fowles, 1974; Venables & Christie, 1980).

Skin conductance is perhaps the most sensitive and widely used measure in
psychophysiology for a number of reasons. First, it is a reliable, peripheral indicator
of sympathetic nervous system activity that is relatively easy to measure
unobtrusively (see Dawson, Schell, & Filion, 1990, for a review). Second, skin
conductance is sensitive to changes in psychological state, and in particular to
changes in emotion (e.g., Averill, 1969; Geen & Rakosky, 1973; Greenwald, Cook, &
Lang, 1989; Lang, Greenwald, Bradley, & Hamm, 1993; Levenson, Ekman, &
Friesen, 1990, Chattopadhyay, 1976; Chattopadhyay & Biswas, 1983). It is said that
the electrical charge is not only in uenced by the person's mood at the time but also
on immediate emotional reactions. The charge of a word affects a participant
physiological response. Thus the rise and fall measured by the GSR relates to
arousal levels. One of the rst people to use the GSR was Carl G. Jung (1907). He
had participants read words and would not their reaction. The more the word
affected the participant the higher the GSR measures. The GSR has been used as
lie detectors, in the eld of criminology.

Skin conductance has been characterized as a pure measure of sympathetic activity,

as most of the electro-dermal system is controlled exclusively by the sympathetic
nervous system (Bradley, 2000; Dawson, Schell, & Filion, 2000). Thus, the literature
strongly supports the relationship between skin conductance and emotional reactivity
despite the existence of differing theoretical positions regarding the nature of this
relationship (i.e., discrete emotions vs. emotion dimensions). Also, GSR has been
used as a measure that re ects “psychophysiological trait re ecting individual
differences in electrodermal activation as measured by the frequency of occurrence
of either speci c or non-speci c EDR (electro-dermal response, the former term
used for GSR) activity. Thus, the measure may be used in a pre-post study to assess
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 changes.

BIOFEEDBACK

The Use of Biofeedback in Therapy

The GSR Meter is used in therapeutic sessions to measure the energetic charge that
exists in the mind on any item or topic being examined. The Ability Meter measures
the resistance of the body, which varies extremely rapidly according to the degree of
arousal of the autonomic nervous system, whether reaching towards (' ght ') or
moving away (' ight') causing a tension response; or alternatively the GSR Meter will
re ect the reduced arousal of a relaxation response. The overall (basal) reading of
body resistance, itself provides the practitioner with useful information about the
subject. Values lower than 5K ohms ('2' on the GSR Meter's Balance control using
two hand electrodes) indicate a high level of brain arousal, with high anxiety (towards
overwhelm) and concentrated introspection. At the other extreme, values higher than
100K ohms ('4.5' on the Balance scale using two hand electrodes) indicate low
arousal and withdrawal from the mind (dissociated states of poor concentration,
limited self awareness, non-confront, over-reactivation, boredom, fantasy, switch-off,
apathy).
Readings between these extremes indicate progress of the case during a session.
When repressed material is coming to the surface (e.g. material associated with
guilt), initially the body resistance rises as the material is resisted, but as the client
begins to confront the material he naturally experiences feelings of tension. There
will be a fall of the needle as the material becomes accessible, often causing some
anxiety in the process, but with the help of the practitioner this can be overcome and
the material confronted - that is, if the client is 'in session': interested in his own case
and in good communication with the practitioner. Then, when the repressed material
is fully confronted and communicated to the practitioner, the negative emotion
discharges. There is usually a large drop in body resistance and the client
experiences relief. The same phenomena occurs in individual work. A question may
cause the needle to fall on the GSR Meter indicating that charge is accessible, but
as the material in answer to the question is examined there may be resistance,
causing a rising needle; with further confront, more falls will occur. When fully
confronted (viewed with equanimity) - the objective truth realized - there is a long fall
and corresponding relief, followed by a 'periodic' needle. For this to occur the client
must be 'in session': interested in the subject being examined, in touch with his inner
feelings and willing to reveal and confront them. reactivation (stimulation of reactive
mental content) may occur in session due to the materials being examined, or out of
session due to environmental occurrences or random chains of thought. reactivation,
if slight, may cause detachment as an effort to withdraw and be relaxed, but when
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the reactivation increases so that the reactive content is very real, anxiety arises and
inevitably, tension. The state of withdrawal is relaxed when it results from
detachment from worldly cares or abandoning responsibility; or alternatively,
withdrawal is experienced as tense, when there is an inability to fully confront
repressed material or circumstances. Involvement is experienced as tense when
matters are confronted but unresolved, or it becomes relaxed when there is a ash of
insight and the blockage is cleared away. If that which is being confronted becomes
overwhelming, arousal may become too high and the person may revert to
withdrawal and detachment again. When reactivated mental content is confronted,
repression dissolves into awareness. When not confronted, detachment may suf ce
but if further involvement is enforced, anxiety results. These, then, are basic
functions of the mind and are clearly represented by the GSR Meter.
A high level of arousal can be pleasant and exciting when a person is relaxed and
aware, with integrated hemispheric arousal, such as when insight has been gained in
session; or high arousal may be experienced as unpleasant when tension exists,
trauma is being repressed and one hemisphere is aroused more than the other.
Proportional to a person's erasure or transcendence of traumatic material, there is
an increased capacity to operate at high arousal, in a relaxed state without
discomfort. The object of psychotherapeutic procedures is to bring into the light of
inspection, old inappropriate programs or behavior patterns and their corresponding
imprinted decisions and postulates. This does not necessarily demand looking into
the past; the patterns and decisions will be active in the present, especially if the
topic being addressed is one that the client particularly has his attention on, or is
concerned about. The GSR Meter helps the Practitioner to discover these key items,
since when one's attention is drawn to an item, the charge on the item will cause an
increase in brain arousal, which is visible on the GSR Meter as a sudden fall in body
resistance, i.e. an instantaneous fall of the needle. (The needle is much quicker to
fall in response to tension than to rise in response to relaxation, this being a
characteristic of the autonomic nervous system; 'reads' on the GSR Meter are
therefore easily distinguishable from hand movements or dgeting, which causes an
equally fast rise and fall). The needle will rst react to items when they are just below
conscious awareness, i.e. in the Preconscious mind and therefore accessible to
conscious inspection. There will always be a minimum response time of 0.1 to 0.5
second (varying between individuals), depending on the time taken for mental
processing and for the nervous system to conduct the impulse to the hand electrode.
The Preconscious response will however come within 0.75 second at most. A
response time of approximately 1.0 seconds or more correlates with the rst aware
(i.e. conscious) reaction: this is called a 'latent' response. It is the initial Preconscious
reaction that is of most interest, since we are trying to coax into awareness the
repressed parts of mental content. A fast needle movement that stops very suddenly
as though the needle had hit a wall indicates material that is heavily repressed with a
defense mechanism (this may correspond to guilt) and has been forced back into the
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 Subconscious. The faster the needle reaction, the greater the emotional content. A
large read ('long fall') indicates that the item is both near to the surface and also that
it is ready to be faced. When the read is noted by the Practitioner, he will have more
than an inkling of what the buried item is and be able to 'pull' the material and
examine it objectively. It should be noted that even a 'tick', a tiny read of the needle,
means that an item is available. While a tick or small fall may not be related to
signi cant problems, very often such items are actually more heavily repressed and
are the 'tip of an iceberg', connecting with the primary case of the unconscious. It is
therefore also important to spot the feelings, emotions, appearance and comments
of the person on the GSR Meter, as these re ect the depth of the charge that is
being contacted. The GSR Meter is an invaluable aid but it does not necessarily tell
the whole story; as a Practitioner you should not ignore your feelings and
'knowingness' on any item being examined. The following diagram illustrates
different types of needle reads, and what depth of case the read may relate to:
A 'Balance Drop' is a long fall of resistance that stays down for a period, and usually
accompanies a conscious realization about the material being viewed. When the
therapeutic process begins, the reactivation of the unfaced reactive mental content
will tend to cause an increase of body resistance (felt subjectively as 'mass') and the
Balance Point (position of the Balance Control) rises. As introspection occurs and the
item is confronted and cleaned of charge, the Balance Point drops. This means
arousal increases but also, in this context, it means less withdrawal, less inhibition
from past patterns and therefore the subjective feeling is one of greater freedom.
Insight will have been gained and when the client feels that the problem is solved
and the charge has been released, his attention is unattached in the present and a
' oating' needle action results: oscillating gently and evenly over an area that may be
as much as a dial wide. This corresponds with nding a truth - an understanding,
which has no charge (further lies) attached to it.
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