Situational and psychophysiological factors in psychologically induced pain.

To investigate pain that occurs in the absence of painful stimulation, normal subjects were connected to a sham stimulator and were told that a headache could occur as a result of the electrical current they would receive. Half of the subjects who received this suggestion reported pain. The frequency and intensity of pain reports in a group which was given prior pain experience as a reference point in reporting pain and in a group which was exposed to a manipulation designed to reduce intentional deception were not significantly different from the pain reports of a group not exposed to these manipulations.