Use of temperature stress with cool air reinforcement for human operant conditioning.

Abstract

This study was concerned with a technique for producing operant conditioning of human motor responses with special emphasis on conditioning without awareness. Female Ss who thought they were participating in a "space" experiment were enclosed in a chamber at 105[degree]F and relative humidity of 85%. A 10-sec. stream of cool air served as a reward for operant responses. Two of the three experimental groups (designated by response class) demonstrated conditioning and intensive investigation of Ss'' awareness revealed that conditioning was apparent only in those Ss who were able to verbalize mediational steps that intervened between the experimental variables and the changes in their behavior.