Generalization of skills between operant control and discrimination of EEG alpha.

While biofeedback is often said to increase self-control of physiological states by increasing awareness of their subjective correlates, relatively few studies have analyzed the relationship between control (standard biofeedback) and awareness (a discrimination paradigm). We hypothesized that the two skills would generalize and facilitate each other for 8-12Hz EEG amplitude (alpha). Participants were given 7 sessions of training to either control or discriminate Pz alpha followed by 3 sessions of the other paradigm.