Further studies of conditioned vasomotor responses in human subjects.

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Abstract
Continuous measurements were taken, by means of a thermopile, of the skin temp. of the hand in a variety of training situations. Over 3,000 stimulus tests were made upon 22 young [male][male]. Ice-water applied to one hand produced a fairly regular drop in skin temp. of the other hand, presumably due to reflex vasoconstriction. This response was conditioned to a visual stimulus (a pattern of light) and to the subject''s vocal activity by Pavlov''s method of combined stimuli. Attempts to condition the response to the visual stimulus alone, without the subject''s vocal activity, resulted negatively. Control expts. showed that the essential feature of the training consisted in the repeated presentation of the compound stimulus (cold-light-vocal activity) and not in the repetition of any one of the components alone. Thus true conditioning was demonstrated to occur, as contrasted with sensitization, through simple repetition of a stimulus. Some correlations between thought processes and vasomotor responses were observed. The study may have a bearing upon certain functional disturbances of the blood vessels.

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