Visceral Learning: Cardiovascular Conditioning in Primates

Behavior science developments over the past decade (Honig & Staddon, 1976), coupled with rapid advances in techniques for monitoring the circulation (Obrist, Black, Brener, & DiCara, 1974) have contributed substantially to the systematic experimental analysis of interacting cardiovascular-behavioral processes which define psychophysiological aspects of stress, anxiety, and emotional arousal. The results of rapidly expanding laboratory investigative efforts in this complex domain appear to reflect the emergence of two general models for the experimental analysis of such psychophysiological relationships (Brady & Harris, 1976). The first and more traditional concurrent model emphasizes the effects of antecedent or concurrent behavioral interactions upon the elicitation of physiological responses and has provided a productive framework for laboratory studies since at least the time of Pavlov (1879) and Cannon (1929). The second and more contemporary contingent model, in contrast, focuses upon the controlling effects of environmental-behavioral consequences which follow such physiological changes and bear a close temporal relationship to their occurrence.