The effects of electrodermal lability and stimulus intensity on skin conductance habituation: A preliminary report

A between-subjects design (N=60) was used to investigate the effects of electrodermal lability and auditory stimulus intensity on habituation of the skin conductance response (SCR). Subjects were subdivided into "labile" and "stabile" groups on the basis of frequency of nonspecific electrodermal responses during the prestimulation period. They received 20 presentations of a 1,OOo-Hz tone of 15, 35, 55, 75, 95, or 110 dB. There were significant effects of stimulus intensity on all three habituation measures (number of trials to habituation, reciprocal of SCR frequency to the first 10 stimuli, slope of the regression of SCR amplitude on log stimulus number). Additionally, significant effects of lability on the number of trials to habituation and the slope scores were found. Conclusions about the direction of influence of lability and intensity on SCR habituation, however, differed, depending on the habituation measure used.