The suitability of the Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) as a measure of emotions and the possibility of using the scapula as an alternative recording site of GSR

Abstract

Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) is a physiological marker that have been used to monitor the Electro-dermal activities (EDA) due to the change in the sweat glands activities. The autonomic nervous system is the responsible about most of the sweat glands activities; as a result, the GSR has been used to study the emotions and stress. This paper is focusing on three researching variables: firstly, examine the possibility of using the GSR as a physiological marker to monitor the emotions and stress of participants during presenting three groups of photos (sad, happy and neutral). Secondly, checking the reliability of a long term recording site rather than the hands; and finally, investigating the GSR signal while doing mild exercise (treadmill walking). The scapula has been chosen to record the GSR and to check the possibility of using it as long term recording site. Statistical analyses have shown that using the GSR signals to examine subjects’ emotions was not reliable when using emotional images as stimuli. On the other hand, correlations between the GSR signals from hands and scapula have shown high similarity between them with the correlation value (0.729). However, mild exercise has significantly altered the GSR signal making it difficult to interpret in the presence of stimuli.