A 40 year old man with far advanced coronary heart disease consistently experienced pain and exhibited marked S-T segment depression after 44 crossings during a Master two-step test. When the number of times traversed was miscounted so that he exercised less, the pain occurred at the precise count of 44 and he showed the same marked degree of S-T depression. However, when the count was accurate, he had neither pain nor S-T segment deviation at the reduced exercise level. The possible basis for verbal conditioning provoking angina pectoris is explored.