About Faces: The Investigation of Electrodermal Activity (EDA) as it Relates to the Recognition and Naming of Faces

This study investigates and replicates the occurrence of a "W" pattern or compound electrodermal activity (EDA) response as it relates to the perception and naming of faces first found in Shearer and Mikulka (1991). Thirty-four male and thirty-four female subjects were randomly assigned to two conditions. The two conditions were balanced for sex having 17 males and 17 females each. The subjects were each presented 40 facial stimulus slides and the accompanying EDA responses were recorded. In the experimental condition subjects were required either to name (identify) the face or give a "feeling of knowing" rating of the face. In the control condition subjects were asked to rate the attractiveness of each face. Analyses of EDA amplitudes and latencies provided information about the possible sequence of recognition and naming of faces as well as a model of three processes proposed by Ellis (1986). It was found that the assumption that an EDA response was automatically generated to facial stimuli was possibly incorrect and that task-specific instructions to divert the subjects' attention from the naming/identification task significantly reduced EDA amplitudes to familiar facial stimuli.