Effects of operant reinforcement on the GSR.

Each of nine Ss was run for 11 daily sessions. Except for the first (operant level) and last two (extinction) sessions, 500-ohm drops in skin resistance were followed by reinforcement (light). These reinforcement periods lasted 20 min and were preceded by 10-min control periods during which no reinforcement was administered. Although the results showed no evidence for operant conditioning of the GSR, they did indicate that increased emission of GSR's occurred during the reinforcement period. This effect was shown to hold for Ss with low operant levels of GSR's but not for Ss with high operant levels.