THE EFFECTS OF TENSION AND RELAXATION ON VERBAL CONDITIONING

Abstract

The present experiment was designed to determine the effects of tensioned and relaxed states of the subjects on verbal conditioning. Excluding the extremely high-anxiety scorers and low-anxiety scorers, 90 undergraduates were chosen as the subjects. They were randomly assigned to one of the three experimental conditions: tensioned, relaxed, or neutral. A Taffel-type task was employed with 80 index cards, each of which contained a different three-syllable verb and the same four personal pronouns: I, YOU, HE, and SHE. A curtain was set out across the table in the experimental room, separating the subject from the experimenter to prevent nonverbal communication.
Following three practice trials, the subjects' level of tension were measured by means of a questionnaire, which consisted of 20 statements describing the tensioned or relaxed states. After the subjects were given 20 operant trials, they were assigned to one of the three conditions. In the Tensioned group, the subjects were attached to two electrodes of GSR apparatus on their right-hand fingers, and were told that these were used to catch their delicate mental activities. In the Relaxed group, the subjects were trained to relax their muscles and to regulate their breathing. In the Control group, the subjects did not receive any experimental manipulation.
Immediately after the subjects received the differential experimental manipulations, the subjects' levels of tension were measured in terms of the same questionnaire as in the first measurement. During the subsequent 60 conditioning trials, each subject's critical pronouns were reinforced by means of a verbal approval,“Hmm-hmm”. After the subjects completed the conditioning trials, the subject's levels of tension were again measured. The last session of this experiment was set to assess the subject's awareness of the response-reinforcement contingency and his positive or negative attitude toward the experimental task.
The main results obtained were as follows; (a) the differential manipulations in the three groups were successfully reflected on the tension scores in the second and third measurements,(b) a significant verbal conditioning was obtained when the performances of the three groups were pooled, but no significant difference were found among the groups, and (c) the subjects who were interested in the experimental task showed better performance than those not interested in that.