Field A P, Argyris N G, Knowles K A
School of Cognitive and Computing Science, University of Sussex, Brighton, East Sussex, UK.
Behav Res Ther. 2001 Nov;39(11):1259-76. doi: 10.1016/s0005-7967(00)00080-2.
Rachman's theory [The conditioning theory of fear insition: a critical examination. Behav. Res. Ther. 15 (1977) 375-387] of fear acquisition suggests that fears and phobias can be acquired through three pathways: direct conditioning, vicarious learning and information/instruction. Although retrospective studies have provided some evidence for these pathways in the development of phobias during childhood [see King, Gullone, & Ollendick, Etiology of childhood phobias: current status of Rachman's three pathway's theory. Behav. Res. Ther. 36 (1998) 297-309 for a review], these studies have relied on long-term past memories of adult phobics or their parents. The current study was aimed towards developing a paradigm in which the plausibility of Rachman's indirect pathways could be investigated prospectively. In Experiment 1, children aged between 7 and 9 were presented with two types of information about novel stimuli (two monsters): video information and verbal information in the form of a story. Fear-related beliefs about the monsters changed significantly as a result of verbal information but not video information. Having established an operational paradigm, Experiment 2 looked at whether the source of verbal information had an effect on changes in fear-beliefs. Using the same paradigm, information about the monsters was provided by either a teacher, an adult stranger or a peer, or no information was given. Again, verbal information significantly changed fear-beliefs, but only when the information came from an adult. The role of information in the acquisition of fear and maintenance of avoidant behaviour is discussed with reference to modern conditioning theories of fear acquisition.
拉赫曼的恐惧习得理论[《恐惧诱发的条件作用理论：批判性审视》。《行为研究与治疗》15 (1977) 375 - 387]表明，恐惧和恐惧症可通过三种途径习得：直接条件作用、替代性学习以及信息/指导。尽管回顾性研究已为童年期恐惧症发展过程中的这些途径提供了一些证据[见金、古洛内和奥伦迪克所著《儿童恐惧症的病因：拉赫曼三种途径理论的现状》。《行为研究与治疗》36 (1998) 297 - 309中的综述]，但这些研究依赖于成年恐惧症患者或其父母对过去的长期记忆。当前研究旨在开发一种范式，以便能够前瞻性地探究拉赫曼间接途径的合理性。在实验1中，向7至9岁的儿童呈现关于新刺激物（两个怪物）的两种信息：视频信息和故事形式的语言信息。由于语言信息而非视频信息，与恐惧相关的对怪物的信念发生了显著变化。在确立了一种操作性范式后，实验2研究了语言信息的来源是否会对恐惧信念的变化产生影响。使用相同的范式，关于怪物的信息由教师、成年陌生人、同龄人提供，或者不提供任何信息。同样，语言信息显著改变了恐惧信念，但仅当信息来自成年人时才会如此。结合现代恐惧习得条件作用理论，讨论了信息在恐惧习得和回避行为维持中的作用。
