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Comparisons of Sweat Gland Counts, Electrodermal Activity, and Habituation Behavior in Young and Old Groups of Subjects
Author(s) -
Catania Jeffrey J.,
Thompson Larry W.,
Michalewski Henry A.,
Bowman Thomas E.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1980.tb00127.x
Subject(s) - habituation , psychology , skin conductance , sweat gland , analysis of variance , laterality , audiology , age changes , developmental psychology , young adult , sweat , medicine , physiology , neuroscience , biomedical engineering
The present experiment utilized a habituation paradigm to investigate age differences in sweat gland counts (SGC), skin conductance responses (SCR), and skin conductance levels (SCL). The 12 young subjects (mean age 25.3 yrs) and the 12 old subjects (mean age 69.5 yrs) exhibited no reliable age differences in habituation of the SCR or in the magnitude of the SCRs measured. Bilateral conductance recordings revealed no laterality effects for SCR or SCL in either age group. Age differences were found for both SGC and SCL. Correlations of SGC with SCL revealed a strong relationship in the young ( r = 74) and a relatively weak correspondence in the elderly ( r = .22). The reverse was observed for SGC and SCR correlations, with the old sample showing consistently high correlations and the younger sample consistently low correlations. A stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the variance in SCL predicted by age was not independent of the variance predicted by differences in SGC. The data are discussed in terms of age‐related change in peripheral factors which affect electrodermal behavior.