Control and attention during exposure influence arousal and fear among insect phobics.

Heart beats, skin conductance, and subjective fear levels were recorded among eight pairs of DSM-III-R spider-phobic subjects (Experiment 1) and among eight pairs of DSM-III-R cockroach-phobic subjects (Experiment 2) who were exposed simultaneously to an approaching specimen during eight 4-minute trials. Control over the approach of the specimen alternated between subjects over trials. On different trials, both subjects were instructed either to attend closely to the features of the specimen or to attend closely to their bodily fear reactions. Among spider-phobic subjects (Experiment 1), Self-Control over the specimen produced higher skin conductance during exposure than did Partner-Control over the specimen; instructions to attend closely to the features of the specimen produced higher skin-conductance than did instructions to attend closely to one's bodily fear reactions. Among cockroach-phobic subjects (Experiment 2), Self-Control over the specimen produced higher skin conductance and higher self-reported fear than did Partner-Control over the specimen during the early exposures. Instructions to attend closely to the specimen produced higher skin conductance and higher self-reported fear throughout the experiment and higher heart rates early during the experiment than did instructions to attend to one's bodily reactions. Empirical generalizations based on these data are intended as contributions toward a fund of experimental information that, in due course, will be used to conceptualize the means by which exposure to feared stimuli leads to fear reduction.