Operant autonomic conditioning and rod-and-frame test performance

Abstract

Forty subjects were administered the portable rod-and-frame test (RFT) before and after operant autonomic conditioning training or control experiences. Ten subjects were assigned to each of four groups: a heart rate conditioning group; a false heart rate feedback group; a galvanic skin-response conditioning group; and a control group. Half of the subjects in the three experimental groups were informed of the response-reinforcement contingencies, and half were not informed. Informed subjects in the conditioning groups exhibited significantly lower portable RFT scores after conditioning. The results suggest that awareness of and control over autonomic functioning may be an important determinant of RFT performance.