Verbal conditioning as a function of experimenter characteristics.

An investigation was conducted to test the hypothesis that differences in the characteristics of experimenters can lead to differential learning effects when the experimental session involves verbal conditioning without awareness. "Two experimenters of different sex and markedly different height, weight, age, appearance, and personality ran separate groups of Ss." Results indicated that "the response 'Good' was reinforcing for the class of behavior consisting of the use of hostile words in sentences. In addition, it was found that the rates of learning for the Ss of the two experimenters differed significantly, with a steeper slope for the female experimenter's group." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)