Skin Conductance as an In Situ Marker for the Degree of Concentration in a First Person Shooting Training Game: Some Preliminary Findings

Abstract: It is known that varying degrees of concentration could lead to the change of body property such as skin conductance level. Through our experiments in the present study, assuming concentration related to skin conductance level, we use skin conductance variety detected using a compact and wearable galvanic skin response (GSR) sensor to investigate the possible link between the degree of concentration and the level of skin conductance for college students involving one of the most favored daily activities-game playing. In our experiment, four adults (four men) completed a specific mode of web-based game requiring a certain degree of concentration. Mixed results had been obtained. Preliminary results revealed that when players are concentrated (exhibited by relatively low level of skin conductance value), their performance tends to be better. Our results also showed that such pattern might vary as a function of both internal and external factors; no conclusive results can be obtained on whether skin conductance can be used a reliable in situ marker for the degree of concentration. Despite these, our study serves as a preliminary yet promising one down the research path.