PERCEPTUAL MODE AND CARDIAC CONDITIONING

ABSTRACT Conditional heart rate responses were measured for field‐dependent and field‐independent subjects. The conditional stimulus (CS) was a colored light and the unconditional stimulus (US) was an electric shock delivered to the finger. The CS‐US interval was 10 sec. The field‐independent subjects demonstrated an initial cardiac acceleration followed by a cardiac deceleration, whereas the field‐dependent subjects showed only the cardiac deceleration. When these data are compared with the previously reported galvanic skin response (GSR) data, a model of sympathetic‐parasympathetic reactivity is evolved wherein the field‐independent group shows both conditioned sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic activity, while the field‐dependent group shows only parasympathetic activity.