The Measurement of Autonomic Arousal

Abstract

There is no true relationship between such physiological measures as heart rate and skin conductance; depending on circumstances, heart rate and skin conductance covary directly, inversely, or not at all. A solution to the general measurement of arousal will not be found by transforming single measures, innovations in data reduction, or combining measures. Instead, the solution lies in learning more about the unique properties of different physiological systems by establishing how they vary as a function of the parameters of stimulus input, such as intensity, rate of stimulation, and time since stimulus onset.