THE EFFECTS OF VERY BRIEF EXPOSURE ON SUBJECTIVE FEAR AND PHOBIC BELIEFS

Abstract

Prior studies have shown that very brief exposure (VBE) to masked phobic images reduces avoidance of a live tarantula immediately after exposure. However, those studies only focused on the effects on avoidance of the tarantula. The purpose of the current study was to explore if VBE also affected the conscious mind of a phobic participant, specifically how much fear they are experiencing, and their phobic beliefs about spiders. The sample of phobic participants consisted of 43 undergraduates (32 females, 9 males, and 2 who identified themselves as other) who were identified by a fear questionnaire and a Behavioral Avoidance Test (BAT) in which they gradually approach a live tarantula. One week later after exposure, they were administered one of two types of exposure: VBE to masked spider images (30-ms each), or control exposure to masked/ very brief flower images (VBF). Then participants engaged in the BAT to measure if they got closer to the tarantula (i.e., if they reduced avoidance of it). The results showed that VBE reduced the spider-phobic participants subjective fear when approaching the tarantula. However, VBE did not significantly reduce the participants’ phobic beliefs about spiders. These finding suggests that the unconscious effect of VBE on behavior is spilling over into consciousness: as spider-phobics see that they are getting closer to the tarantula, they report less fear of it. VBE may not have affected beliefs because beliefs are conservative. It would likely take multiple exposure sessions to change a persons’ phobic beliefs.