Individual differences in autonomic learning: a quarter century of reflection

Abstract

A series of studies carried out over the past two decades has shown selected group differences in the speed and final level of learned control of various autonomic functions. The Pavlovian and operant conditioning of as many as 6 physiological variables have revealed varying ability for this form of control. Studies were performed on subject populations that included drug-free chronic schizophrenics and healthy controls, psychopathic and non-psychopathic male juvenile delinquents, and a clinical population that included migraine sufferers and persons undergoing psychotherapy. Also studied were school dropouts in vocational training, inner-city high school seniors and junior high school students at a university school. These studies carried out on normal and abnormal individuals of strikingly different social backgrounds have lent consistent support for the hypothesis that an aptitude for autonomic learning is basic to social motivation, achievement, emotional control, and empathy.