Anxiety and the Habituation of the Skin Conductance Response

The effect of threat of shock on the habituation of the skin conductance response (SCR) to a series of auditory stimuli was assessed. Skin resistance and heart rate were recorded during the presentation of 20, 1 sec, 1000 Hz tones in a control session and in a session at the end of which subjects were led to expect a painful electric shock. The effects of the threat of shock consisted of recovery of the SCR and an increase in skin conductance level and heart rate. They were restricted to the period during which subjects believed the shock to be imminent. Two possible reasons for the SCR recovery were offered, one in terms of Lader and Mathews' (1968) ‘maximal habituation’ hypothesis and a second in terms of a change in the stimulus complex.