Which physiological measure is used to indicate anticipatory anxiety in Bechara's Gambling Task?

• A. Skin conductance
• B. Heart rate
• C. EEG activity
• D. Functional MRI signal

Answer: (A)

Anticipatory arousal before a risky choice in Bechara’s Gambling Task is indexed by skin conductance responses because they directly reflect sympathetic arousal in the moment a decision is contemplated. This fits with the idea that bodily states help guide choices under uncertainty—the somatic marker idea. When a participant weighs a risky deck, the skin conductance tends to rise in anticipation, signaling emotional tension that nudges them away from options that will—with experience—prove disadvantageous. Skin conductance offers a fast, noninvasive readout of this automatic arousal.

Other measures exist, such as heart rate, EEG, and fMRI, but they don’t capture this immediate autonomic arousal as directly or sensitively. Heart rate can be driven by many factors, EEG reflects cortical electrical activity with less direct link to autonomic emotion, and fMRI shows brain activity rather than the quick bodily signals that encode anticipatory anxiety used to guide decisions.