Magnitude scales for cold pressor pain

Subjects in two experiments immersed a hand and forearm in ice water (cold pressor test) for 60 sec and gave magnitude estimates of pain every 5 sec. Forty subjects immersed an arm for three trials in Experiment 1, and 60 subjects immersed an arm for two trials in Experiment 2. Linear, power, or additive constant functions fitted the data almost equally well. Exponents of the two-constant power function differed from those of the additive constant function. Individual differences in exponents were marked, but various psychological manipulations aimed at reducing pain failed to affect the exponents. The utility of power functions to describe cold pressor pain has yet to be determined.