AbstractChanges in volume resistivity with temperature of carbon‐black‐filled polymers and a random copolymer of styrene and butyl methacrylate were measured. For polystyrene containing 20 wt % carbon black, of surface area 24 m2/g, the resistivity changes abruptly from 1013to 106ohm‐cm above 150°C. Poly(butyl methacrylate) did not show well‐defined changes in resistivity on heating. The random copolymer containing 16.7 or 28.6 wt % carbon black, of surface area 24 m2/g, showed a resistivity exceeding 1013ohm‐cm, that decreased to about 107ohm‐cm on heating above 120°C. This Copolymer containing 16.7 wt % carbon black, of surface area 625 m2/g, shows a resistivity of about 108 ohm‐cm that decreases sharply to 103ohm‐cm by 150°C. Decreases in resistivity on increasing the temperature in the quiescent state are correlated with the observation of a yield stress at low shear rates in rheological studies. It is suggested that carbon black agglomerates at elevated temperature and forms an independent conductive network