Process studies in language conditioning—I: Counterconditioning of anxiety by “calm” words

In this study of the mechanisms underlying language conditioning the subjects were volunteers who had indicated anxiety concerning a variety of small animals. The CS was the verbal representation of the phobic object and was repeatedly paired with UCS words having one of four different connotative meanings: calm words, positive words, words sharing both qualities, and words neutral on both dimensions. The results of a variety of written and behavioral measures indicated that little or no change occured in the latter group or in a fifth group in which the CS word was unrelated to the phobia. In addition, there was some evidence to suggest that the calm words were superior to the other words, indicating a possible counterconditioning effect on the anxiety as a function of the UCS words' emotional relevance.