Modification of Galvanic Skin Responses by Reaction Time Measurements

Galvanic skin responses (GSRs) were measured on 12 male S s under four conditions: rest, reaction time measurements, a cold pressor, and a combination of cold pressor and reaction time measurements. Both reaction time measurements alone and cold pressor alone caused increased sympathetic activity, but when the former was combined with cold pressor the ongoing autonomic activity was depressed.