PSYC 2740 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Electrodermal Activity, Psychopathy

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2740
• Professor: Stephen P Lewis

Document Summary

Common physiological measure in personality research: electrodermal activity (skin conductance, provides a measure of sympathetic nervous activity, nock & mendes: skin conductance & self-injury. Emotional reactivity: intensity & persistence of emotion in response to stimuli. Thought to be elevated among those who self-injure ( in response to negative events/ Induced stress in 2 groups and measured skin conductance stressful tasks: individual with a history of self-injury, individuals without a history of self-injury. Stress induction: matching game in which failure feedback is given ( even when a response is correct): determine how long people stay in game & tolerate distress from negative (failure) feedback. Main findings: individuals with a history of self-injury heave elevated skin conductance & more negative emotional reactivity to stress, individuals who self-injured also quit game sooner which also might indicate lower distress tolerance. Implication: emotional reactivity & distress tolerance may be key to understanding self-injury.