You see what you fear: Spiders gain preferential access to conscious perception in spider-phobic patients

DOI:	https://doi.org/10.5127/jep.033212
URL:	http://jep.textrum.com/index.php?art_id=156#.WLloJ...
Weitere URL:	http://jep.textrum.com/pdfs/156.pdf
Dokumenttyp:	Zeitschriftenartikel
Erscheinungsjahr:	2014
Titel einer Zeitschrift oder einer Reihe:	Journal of Experimental Psychopathology : JEP
Band/Volume:	5
Heft/Issue:	1
Seitenbereich:	14-28
Ort der Veröffentlichung:	Hove
Verlag:	Textrum
ISSN:	2043-8087
Sprache der Veröffentlichung:	Englisch
Einrichtung:	Fakultät für Sozialwissenschaften > Klinische u. Biologische Psychologie u. Psychotherapie (Alpers 2010-)
Fachgebiet:	150 Psychologie
Abstract:	In phobic individuals, behavioral responses to phobia-related cues are facilitated and brain responses are augmented. It has rarely been investigated whether this preferential processing is accompanied by an altered conscious perception of phobia-related cues. We used binocular rivalry to investigate conscious perception of phobia-related cues in phobic individuals. 21 spider-phobic patients and 20 non-anxious control participants viewed pictures of spiders or flowers, each paired with a neutral pattern under conditions of binocular rivalry. Spider-phobic patients more often reported that they saw spider pictures as the first percept, and the total duration of seeing spider percepts was significantly longer in patients than in non-anxious participants. A second experiment was conducted to rule out that these differences were caused by different response criteria. Results support the validity of self-report in Experiment 1. In sum, predominance of phobia-related cues in binocular rivalry provides evidence that phobia-related cues gain preferential access to visual awareness in phobic individuals.
Zusätzliche Informationen:	Online-Ressource