I know distraction works even though it doesn't!

Resistance is high to findings negating commonsense beliefs. If McCaul, Monson, and Maki's (1992) four studies are taken seriously, we will address new questions about the components of analgesic interventions--specifically, whether distraction works only when combined with a competing affect, an analgesic cognition, or both. Addressing these questions should increase our understanding of the mechanisms involved in pain processing and may increase our ability to intervene and modify chronic as well as acute pain. Laboratory studies offer an efficient route to such understanding, although the question of generalization will always lurk in the background.