Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T13:40:14.866Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cognitive Processing in Phobias

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2009

Fraser N. Watts
Fraser N. Watts
Affiliation:
MRC Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

A programme of research is described which investigates the cognitive processing of phobic stimuli. Phobics show good perceptual “pick-up” of phobic words on a version of the Stroop test. However, their encoding appears to be poor, as indexed by recognition memory for phobic stimuli. Consistent with this, cognitive representations of phobic stimuli are poorly elaborated and differentiated. Brief desensitization was found to have stronger effects on perceptual and encoding phenomena than on cognitive representations. Finally, spider phobics were found to have poor recall of phobic words. This contrasts with the opposite phenomenon that has been reported for agrophobics and depressives.

Type
Special Issue: The Cognitive Revolution
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 14 , Issue 4 , October 1986 , pp. 295 - 301
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 1986

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

Beck, A. T., and Emery, G. (1985). Anxiety Disorders and Phobias: A Cognitive Perspective. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Grayson, J. B., Foa, E. B. and Steketee, G. (1982). Habitation during exposure training: distraction vs. attention focusing. Behavior Research and Therapy 20, 323–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kazdin, A. E. and Wilcoxon, L. (1976). Systematic desensitization and nonspecific treatment effects: A methodological evaluation. Psychological Bulletin 83, 729–759.Google Scholar
Landau, R. J. (1980). The role of semantic schema in phobic word interpretation. Cognitive Therapy and Research 4, 427–434.Google Scholar
Last, C. G. (1984). Cognitive treatment of phobia. In Progress in Behaviour Modification. Vol. 16. Hersen, M., Eisler, R. M. and Miller, P. M. (Eds), London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Nunn, J. D., Stevenson, R. J. and Whalan, L. (1984). Selective memory effects in agoraphobic patients. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 23, 195–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Powell, G. E. (1973). Transfer of imaginal desensitization: Two analyses in terms of mental practice and the acquisition of expectations. M. Phil dissentation, University of London.Google Scholar
Ray, C. (1979). Examination stress and performance on a color-word interference test. Perceptual and Motor Skills 49 400–402.Google Scholar
Watts, F. N. (1974). The control of spontaneous recovery of anxiety in imaginal desensitization. Behavioural Research and Therapy 12, 57–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watts, F. N. (1979). Habituation model of systematic desensitization. Psychological Bulletin 86, 627–637.Google Scholar
Watts, F. N., McKenna, F., Sharrock, R. and Trezise, L. (1986a). Colour naming of phobia-related words. British Journal of Psychology 77, 97–108.Google Scholar
Watts, F. N. and Sharrock, R. (1984). Questionnaire dimensions of spider phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy 22, 575–580.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watts, F. N. and Sharrock, R. (1985). Relations between spider constructs in phobics. British Journal of Medical Psychology 58, 149–153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watts, F. N., Sharrock, R. and Trezise, L. (1986b). Detail and elaboration in phobic imagery. Behavioural Psychotherapy 14, 115–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, F. N., Trezise, L. and Sharrock, R. (1986C). Processing of phobic stimuli. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, in press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.