Thesis

A pilot study on the suitability of the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) as a measure of emotional state

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2015
Thesis identifier
  • T14237
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 201454104
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Abstract
  • The Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) is a measure of change in the electrodermal properties resulted from the change in the sweat glands activity in response to the modulation of the autonomic nervous system. For this reason it has begun to be of interest as a signal that can be used to monitor emotional states and stress. The aim of this project was to investigate the reliability of the GSR as a marker to judge a person's emotional state by measuring the changes in the skin conductance (SC) during viewing series of photographs that could provoke a change of mood. Three groups of photographs representing sad, neutral and happy were used as a stimulus during GSR monitoring over two skin areas (hand and scapula), whereas a blank screen was used for baseline measurements. The hypothesis behind the study was that having subjects imagining the emotion portrayed by photographs would evoke a GSR change via altered sudomotor activity driven by the sympathetic nervous system. To record the GSR two battery powered GSR amplifiers were built and calibrated to record the EDA from 8 healthy subjects. GSR was also measured form subjects during treadmill walking as this mild exercise efficiently stimulates sudomotor activity. Correlation analysis of the GSR signals from the hand and scapula showed that both recording sites measure very similar changes in GSR. However, the signals at both locations are highly variable and no significant differences could be detected from the presumed moon changes associated with viewing the images. The effect of exercise provoked a large increase in GSR. These results demonstrate that using the GSR signal to judge a person's emotional state is not reliable when using emotional photos as the stimulus. In conclusion, it would appear that due to the lack of a consistent mood or emotional response compared to baseline GSR measures or exercise and that the ability to use GSR as a measure of emotional state is highly dubious.
Resource Type
DOI
Date Created
  • 2015
Former identifier
  • 1248146

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