Attention of preschool children: temporal variation of electrodermal activity during auditory stimulation

Temporal variation of electrodermal activity during passive and active listening tasks of 43 healthy preschool children was studied. The procedure included the baseline recording, a passive listening task, instruction, and an active listening task. The frequency of spontaneous skin-conductance responses (SCRs) showed a significant negative correlation with SCR latency and rise time. Mean SCR amplitude, moreover, displayed a significant negative correlation with the SCR latency and rise time. Reaction time exhibited a significant negative correlation with age. A decrease in the SCR latency was noted during the active listening task below that for the passive listening task over 10 trials. The children seemed to pay more attention as SCR latency and rise time decreased, and the younger children seemed to pay attention later than the older ones. Children seemed to pay more attention during the active than during the passive listening tasks, since the need to press the key should require and perhaps increase general attention.