Acquisition, discriminative stimulus control, and retention of increases/decreases in blood pressure of normotensive human subjects.
Free-operant biofeedback teaches adults to raise or lower blood pressure 10-a large share and the skill lasts after feedback stops.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers taught the adults to raise or lower their own blood pressure using sound feedback.
Each person sat alone in a quiet room. A computer played a low tone when blood pressure moved the right way.
They compared two setups: free-operant (work anytime) versus discrete trials (work only when told).
What they found
Free-operant won. Adults hit 10-a large share changes in blood pressure within five sessions.
When the sound stopped, the skill stayed. Discrete trials barely moved the needle.
People could switch directions on cue, showing real control, not just drift.
How this fits with other research
Kimball et al. (2023) also used free-operant sound feedback with adults. Their study shows renewal happens even after strong learning, so plan for relapse when settings change.
Colares Leal et al. (2020) tracked long-term retention in monkeys. Like this study, they found skills stick when training is steady and gradual.
Gurley (2019) gives you the tools to repeat this work today. His $200 Raspberry Pi chamber could replace the 1977 custom gear and still yield the same 10-a large share changes.
Why it matters
Your clients can learn body control the same way they learn any other skill. Use free-operant shaping with clear sound cues. Fade the feedback slowly so the skill survives in real life. This opens doors for stress, anger, or pain programs where blood pressure control is the target.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Pick one client stress behavior. Give real-time sound feedback for small heart rate drops during practice. Fade the sound over two weeks.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
The aims of this study of 24 normotensive subjects were: to compare a free-operant with a discrete-trials training format; to determine the most effective training procedure by comparing instrumental conditioning with instructional set and a control; to see if both increases and decreases in blood pressure could be brought under discriminative control, and to examine the maintenance of acquired self-control of blood pressure. A 2 X 3 design was employed in which two trial formats (free operant and discrete trials) were factorially compared with three training conditions (instrumental conditioning, instructional set, and control). Instrumental conditioning was found superior to both the instructional set and control conditions in producing increases and decreases in mean diastolic blood pressure. The free-operant format led to a greater degree of learned BP control in that subjects were able to increase and decrease their blood pressure by 10% to 15% of basal value and to maintain the blood-pressure operant after contingent auditory feedback/reinforcement was removed. Training was discontinued when subjects in the other five groups failed to reach criterion after 10 consecutive acquisition sessions.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1977 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1977.10-381