LATERALIZATION IN THE ELECTRODERMAL SYSTEM AS A FUNCTION OF COGNITIVE-HEMISPHERIC MANIPULATIONS

Three experiments examined patterns of bilateral differences in skin conductance as a function of cognitive tasks intended to produce specific manipulations in the relative activation of the two hemispheres. Experiments 1 and 2 employed right‐handed subjects, and examined the effects of Verbal (left‐hemispheric) and Spatial (right‐hemispheric) tasks. In both experiments response amplitudes were substantially smaller in the hand contralateral to the more activated hemisphere than in the ipsilateral hand. Experiment 2 also examined the effects of Music and Number tasks, intended to produce a similar level of activation in the two hemispheres: these tasks were not accompanied by reliable bilateral differences in electrodermal activity. Experiment 3 consisted of a replication of Experiment 2 with subjects (sinistrals) known, as a group, to exhibit little functional hemispheric specialization. In these subjects, bilateral electrodermal differences did not vary systematically as a function of tasks. These findings argue strongly for the presence of lateralized cortical influences on electrodermal activity, and their implications for psychological and neurophysiological models of electrodermal functioning are discussed. Copyright © 1979, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved