In the analysis of thermoluminescence and thermoconductivity curves the capture cross-sections, S, of traps are generally taken to be independent of temperature or to vary according to an inverse square law. The analysis is extended for the case of no retrapping to allow the trapping cross-section to depend on the temperature according to a simple power law T − a . A single thermo-luminescence heating run is sufficient to obtain S, a, and the trap depth E, Similar considerations apply to thermoconductivity provided the recombination lifetime is not strongly temperature dependent. If trapping states are filled at low temperature in the dark by applying a voltage above that corresponding to the trap's filled limit, it is shown that under certain conditions the analysis applies independently of retrapping or recombination lifetime. The results of thermoconductivity measurements on a copper-doped CdS crystal containing trapping centres for which a ≈ − 5 2 are discussed.