Electrodermal activity and temperament in preschool children

This study had two objectives: To examine poorly understood patterns of you ng children's electrodermal reactivity and to test thr hypothesis that this reactivity reflects individual differences in the behavioral inhibition sy stem (BIS). We recorded skin conductance responses (SCRs) from 92 4-year-ol d children during a laboratory session that encompassed physiological and p sychological stimuli. Physiological stimuli (breaths), moderately loud to l oud sounds (expected and unexpected) and, to a lesser extent, stimuli with psychological significance elicited clear SCRs. Induction of psychological conflict and exposure to emotional film clips for the most part did not eli cit increases in skin conductance (SC). Children's temperament dimensions o f fearfulness and effortful (or inhibitory) control-two components of the B IS-were assessed using robust observational batteries at age 2 and 4 years. The theoretically expected correlations between overall SC lability (refle cting SC levels) and both dimensions of temperament were significant, albei t modest and limited to the contemporaneous measures at age 4.