Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:54:00.612Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Contribution of Arousal and Performance in Reducing Spider Avoidance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2009

Roger C. Katz ,
Anna Stout ,
C. Barr Taylor ,
Michael Horne  and
W. Stewart Agras
Roger C. Katz
Affiliation:
University of the Pacific and Stanford Medical Center
Anna Stout
Affiliation:
University of the Pacific and Stanford Medical Center
C. Barr Taylor
Affiliation:
University of the Pacific and Stanford Medical Center
Michael Horne
Affiliation:
University of the Pacific and Stanford Medical Center
W. Stewart Agras
Affiliation:
University of the Pacific and Stanford Medical Center
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

To determine the role played by peripheral autonomic arousal in reducing avoidance behavior, 16 spider phobics were randomly assigned in a double blind fashion to either a propranolol (a drug which blocks beta-adrenergic activity) or to a placebo group. Subjects in the propranolol group performed significantly better than those given placebo although the magnitude of the effect was small. All subjects later received 90 min of participant modeling. They performed significantly better with participant modeling and there were no differences between the groups in their final performance. Implications of the data for theories of fear and avoidance behavior are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , April 1983 , pp. 127 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agras, W. S., Sylvester, D. and Oliveau, D. (1969). The epidemiology of common fears and phobia. Comprehensive Psychiatry 10, 151–156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Agras, W. S., Kazdin, A. and Wilson, T. (1979). Behavior Therapy: Toward an Applied Clinical Science, San Francisco: W. H. Freeman & Co.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review 84, 191–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bandura, A. (1978). Reflections on self-efficacy. Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy 1, 237–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bandura, A. and Adams, N. (1977). Analysis of self-efficacy theory of behavioral change. Cognitive Therapy and Research 1, 287–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bandura, A., Jeffrey, R. and Wright, C. (1974). Efficacy of participant modeling as a function of response induction aids. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 83, 56–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bandura, A., Adams, N. and Beyer, J. (1977). Cognitive processes mediating behavioral change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 35, 125–139.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eysenck, H. (1960). Learning Theory and the Neuroses, Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Kathol, R., Noyes, R., Slymen, D., Crowe, R., Clancy, J. and Kerber, R. (1980). Propranolol in chronic anxiety disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry 37, 1361–1365.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kazdin, A. and Hersen, M. (1980). The current status of behavior therapy. Behavior Modification 4, 283–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leitenberg, H., Agras, W. S., Barlow, D. and Oliveau, D. (1969). Contribution of selective reinforcement and therapeutic instructions in systematic densensitization. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 74, 113–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marks, I. (1978). Living with Fear, New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Mathews, A. (1978). Fear-reduction research and clinical phobias. Psychological Bulletin 85, 390–404.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morris, R. (1980). Fear reduction methods. In Helping People Change, Kanfer, F. and Goldstein, A. (Eds), New York: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Mowrer, O. (1950). Learning Theory and Personality Dynamics, New York: Ronald Press.Google Scholar
Rabavilas, A., Boulougouris, J. and Stefanis, C. (1976). Duration of flooding session in the treatment of obsessive compulsive patients. Behaviour Research and Therapy 14, 349–355.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stern, R. and Marks, I. (1973). A comparison of brief and prolonged flooding in agoraphobics. Archives of General Psychiatry 28, 210–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, C. B. (1977). Heart rate changes in improved spider phobic patients. Psychological Reports 41, 667–671.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Telch, M. (1981). The present status of outcome studies: a reply to Frank. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 49, 472–475.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tyler, C. and Lader, M. (1974). Response to propranolol and diazepam in somatic and psychic anxiety. British Journal of Medicine 2, 14–16.Google Scholar
Wilson, T. and O'Leary, K. D. (1980). Principles of Behavior Therapy, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Wolpe, J. (1958). Psychotherapy by Reciprocal Inhibition. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.