Abstract
This experiment was attempted to investigate the effects of the Heat Tolerance (HT) relating with individual emotionality and of the Stroop Color-Word task on itching. Fifteen high-HT subjects and 14 low-HT subjects were selected by the scores of the Cold and Heat Tolerance Scales (Dienstbier et al., 1987) . Itching was produced by glue made from Japanese yam powder. Yam was applied on the subjects' dorsal forearm. Each subject was exposed to all five of the following conditions: itch stimulus plus the Stroop C-card task, itch plus the A-card task, itch only, the C-card task only, and the A-card task only. The C-card task reduced itch in the low-HT subjects whereas it raised itch in the high-HT subjects. Those results suggest that the high-HT subjects would be the “Sensitizers” and the low-HT subjects would be the “Repressors” when they experience both the physical stressor of itch stimulus and the mental stressor of the Stroop C-card task.
