Examined the phenomenon that words previously associated with shock elicit electrodermal responses (EDRs) when presented in the nonattended channel of a dichotic listening task, and closely monitored for shifts in attention to the nonattended channel. 60 undergraduates verbally shadowed a series of unrelated words presented to the attended channel while words made significant by previous association with shock (and semantically related words) were occasionally presented to the nonattended channel. When EDRs were averaged across all trials and Ss, it was found that EDRs were elicited by the significant words presented in the nonattended channel. For Ss who had the significant words presented to the right ear (activating the left cerebral hemisphere), EDRs were elicited by the significant words only on trials where there were independent indications of shifts in attention to these words. For Ss who had the significant words presented to the left ear (activating the right cerebral hemisphere), EDRs were elicited by the significant words even on trials on which there were no apparent shifts in attention. Results indicate the importance of closely controlling and monitoring for shifts in attention and suggest the potential importance of cerebral laterality in mediating EDRs to stimuli presented in a nonattended channel.