University of Twente Student Theses
Differences in electrodermal activity between a night of recovering sleep compared to a night of poor sleep induced by partying: an explorative study
Michels, Franziska (2013) Differences in electrodermal activity between a night of recovering sleep compared to a night of poor sleep induced by partying: an explorative study.
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| Abstract: | The present study aimed at acquiring more knowledge about electrodermal activity in relation to sleep research. Polysomnography has been the gold standard in sleep research. However, lots of limitations go along with this method as for example being (almost always) bound to a laboratory. EDA is a measurement known since over one hundred years already, but has not been used frequently in sleep research yet. Since this measurement can bring many advantages into sleep research, more should be known about it in this conjunction. The differences in EDA have been compared between a night of recovering sleep and a night of disturbed sleep which was induced by partying. It was expected that the average SCL as well as number of SCR’s and total amplitude of SCR’s would be higher in a night of good sleep compared to a night of poor sleep. This was measured by means of the Q-Sensor which needed to be worn around the wrist by participants during the particular nights. Moreover, participants had to perform a vigilance task the following morning, were asked to fill in subjective questionnaires (KSS and PSQI) and to keep a sleep diary. This included subjective ratings of sleep quality for the four nights of the experiment. The results of the study confirmed the hypothesis concerning SCL, but not for the number of SCR and total amplitude of SCR’s. In addition, the results of the study reveal tendencies concerning the number of sleep storms that have been found in earlier studies. Further expectations that have been formulated had reference to hit-rate, miss-rate, false-alarm rate and sensitivity as well as reaction times on the vigilance task, at which only the hypothesis expecting a higher hit-rate after a night of good sleep was confirmed. The other hypothesis that had reference to the vigilance task could not be confirmed; the number of SCR’s, total amplitude of SCR’s and SCL were not found to be significantly higher during the vigilance task after a night of poor sleep compared to a good night. For future research, the number of SCR’s as well as the total amplitude of SCR’s are two concepts that should be studied more deeply, since great individual differences have been found. Moreover, it would be of advantage to find a manipulation assuring that people actually experience a night of poor sleep (accordance with subjective ratings and conditions assigned), to be sure that it really comes to a night of poor respectively good sleep. Then it would be possible to find out more about, amongst others, the tendencies concerning sleep storms which have been displayed in the current study. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology BSc (56604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/64125 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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