Why the study?
Does operant conditioning via contingent delay of shock increase heart rate accelerations in human subjects compared to noncontingent shock?
Does operant conditioning via contingent delay of shock increase heart rate accelerations in human subjects compared to noncontingent shock?
Heart rate can be modified through operant conditioning in humans, though respiratory changes present a significant confounder.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May support operant HR conditioning in humans; hypothesis-generating given Level 5 evidence and respiratory confounds.
Delay of shock was made contingent upon acceleration of heart rate in human subjects. The number of accelerations rose across sessions for these subjects and fell for their yoked-controls who received equal amounts of noncontingent shock. A shorter delay produced more accelerations but faster adaptation. Interpretation of changes in heart rate is confounded by related respiratory changes.
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Donald Shearn (1962) studied this question.
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