Researchers often formulate different definitions for the same construct variable when it is used in different experiments. Schachter’s experiment illustrated one kind of experimental operational definition for anxiety. In effect, Schachter said that “high anxiety” is the feeling experienced in a particular kind of situation—namely, one in which the person expects pain. In the low—anxiety condition, the subjects saw no equipment and did not expect pain. By definition, the feeling they experienced in this setting is “low anxiety.” You may or may not agree with Schachter’s decision to define anxiety in this way, but you do know definitions apply in this particular experiment.