Skin Conductance Measures in Neuroeconomic Research

Abstract

Skin conductance responses (SCR) are an established component of the psychological methods toolkit, and increasingly popular in neuroeconomics. This chapter discusses how SCR are generated by the sympathetic nervous system, the underlying central processes, and provides practical guidelines for SCR research. These guidelines are based on the existing methodological literature and recommendations by the Society for Psychophysiological Research. Analysis strategies for SCR are presented in the light of contemporary, model-based approaches that yield optimal statistical power to make inference on central states. The chapter then gives an overview over applications of SCR in neuroeconomics and outlines current research directions. Because emotional, cognitive, and motor processes can all elicit SCR, interpretation in economic experiments is sometimes challenging. It is therefore recommended to experimentally control possible cognitive and motor confounds. Finally, it would be useful to complement SCR with other peripheral measures of sympathetic/parasympathetic activity, in particular heart period and pupil size. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)