"This study has attempted a verification of the following hypothesis: the conditioning of the galvanic skin response in the human adult differs from the customary conditioning procedure in that, under the conditions of this experiment, (a) this response is established by means of a process of verbal conditioning, and (b) it is therefore not established as a result of a series of paired inadequate-adequate stimuli combinations. The experimental findings confirming this hypothesis are as follows: (1) A conditioned galvanic response was obtained by merely instructing the subject that electric shock (adequate stimulus) would follow a green light (inadequate stimulus). (2) The actual presentation of a series of inadequate-adequate stimuli combinations did not increase the strength of the conditioned response beyond its strength following the verbal association made during the instructions. (3) No consistent difference in strength of conditioned response was found after conditioning series of 1, 15, and 30 trials. (4) Despite a conditioning series of 30 light-shock combinations, either a marked weakening or complete elimination of the conditioned response resulted from instructing the subject that the shock would not longer follow the light." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)