The information content of the recovery limb of the electrodermal response.

TLDR: The reabsorption process represents an adaptation for goal-directed behavior and can differentiate between spontaneous responses during rest and during a task, between orienting responses to a light flash and responses to the same flash when it takes on signal properties.

Abstract: Recent observations suggest that skin conductance or resistance responses manifest, in the shape of the recovery limb, two components, a slow one associated with the negative skin potential response and sweating, and a faster one associated with the positive skin potential response and with the recently reported sweat reabsorption response. Part of the recovery limb has an exponential form, and its recovery rate is interpreted as a measure of the relative participation of these two components. Two simple manual methods, utilizing overlays, allow rapid determination of recovery half-time or time constant. Recovery rate is not determined by amplitude. It can differentiate between spontaneous responses during rest and during a task, between orienting responses to a light flash and responses to the same flash when it takes on signal properties, and between responses to an alerting signal and to an execution signal for a task. Individuals with fast recovery rates during a task also tend to show slower habituation of electrodermal responses. It is concluded that the reabsorption process represents an adaptation for goal-directed behavior.