70(7), 704–714 (2014) Published online in Wiley Online Library (/journal/jclp). E-mail: JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Vol. ¨ Please address correspondence to: Andreas Muhlberger, University of Regensburg, Department of Experimental Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Universit¨atsstrasse 31, D-93053 Regensburg. This research is part of the doctoral thesis of Henrik Peperkorn. ¨ Muller for excellent technical assistance and Preeti Sareen for careful proofreading. This research was supported by the German Research Foundation (FOR 605, MU2299/1-2). Several findings suggest that such phobia-relevant perceptual However, experimental studies on fear reactions have generally been limited to the presentation of specific perceptual cues or to instructions to imagine these cues. Under real life circumstances, visual cues and conceptual information are usually available at the same time and activate the fear network from several inputs. From this perspective, it has been hypothesized that the extent of activation of the fear network depends on the congruency between conceptual information and perceptual input. conceptual elements), they should eventually trigger other elements and thus associated self-reported and physiological fear responses. Thus, even if specific visual cues or conceptual information (about the presence of a spider) activate the fear network through different entry routes (e.g., cue vs. Theoretically, these two triggers can be regarded as activators of different elements of the affective network and are believed to integrate different aspects of fear into a strongly interconnected neural network comprising cue, response, and conceptual elements (Foa & Kozak, 1998). So far, the effects of these two aspects of phobias, perceptual cues and conceptual information, on phobic fear reactions have not been examined in a systematic manner. Patients with a specific phobia, such as spider phobia, frequently report that fear reactions can be activated not only when they see a spider (i.e., the perceptual cue) but also if they learn about the presence of a spider (i.e., conceptual information). Keywords: spider phobia virtual reality exposure perceptual cues conceptual informationĪlthough the characteristics of phobic stimuli have been well described (Hofmann, Alpers, & Pauli, 2009), the relative contribution of perceptual fear-related cues and cognitive fear-related representations on the activation of fear networks is not fully understood. In combinaC tion with fear-relevant information, perceptual cues activate an intense and persistent fear reaction. Conclusions: Perceptual cues are essential for phobic fear reactions in spider phobia. Skin conductance in phobic patients was significantly higher in the combined than in the cue or the information condition. Across exposures trials, these reactions diminished. Results: In conditions with a fear-relevant perceptual cue, phobic patients reported increased fear compared to the condition with information only. Forty-eight phobic patients and 48 healthy participants were repeatedly exposed to either a perceptual cue, information, or a combination of both. Method: We used virtual reality to manipulate the available cues and information. Matching perceptual fear cues and fear-related information were expected to result in maximal fear responses, perceptual fear cues alone in less fear, and information alone in the weakest responses. University of W¨urzburg University of Mannheim, School of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology 3 University of W¨urzburg University of Regensburg 2įear reactions in spider-phobic patients can be activated by specific perceptual cues or by conceptual fear-related information. Triggers of Fear: Perceptual Cues Versus Conceptual Information in Spider Phobia 3 ¨ Henrik M.
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