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Biomedical subjects

H Merckelbach

Publications and source records attributed to H Merckelbach.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1997

The etiology of childhood spider phobia.

Twenty-six girls with a clinical spider phobia and 26 matched control girls were interviewed about conditioning, modeling, and negative information experiences in connection with spiders. In addition, parents of the phobic girls were independently interviewed about the origins of their child's phobia. Phobic children more often reported aversive conditioning experiences with spiders than did control children. Also, in a number of cases, conditioning events described by the phobic children were confirmed by their parents, a result that replicates the findings of Merckelbach, Muris and Schouten (1996; Behaviour Research and Therapy, 34, 935-938). Taken together, the results contradict a strong version of the non-associative account of phobias and suggest that in at least some cases, conditioning events may contribute to the development of (childhood) spider phobia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Effects of thought suppression on episodic memory.

Subjects were shown a short film fragment. Following this, one group of subjects (n = 26) was instructed to suppress their thoughts about the film, while the other group (n = 24) received no instructions. After 5 hrs subjects returned to the laboratory and completed a questionnaire testing their memory about the film. Results showed that suppression subjects reported a higher frequency of thoughts about the film than control subjects. No evidence was obtained for Wegner, Quillian, and Houston's (1996; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 680-691) claim that suppression has an undermining effect on memory for chronology. Possible causes for the differences between the results as obtained by Wegner et al., and those found in the present study are discussed. These causes may pertain to the experimental design, but also to differences in emotional impact of the stimulus material that was used in both studies.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing versus exposure in vivo. A single-session crossover study of spider-phobic children.

BACKGROUND: Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) is a relatively new therapeutic technique that has been proposed as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety complaints. METHOD: We compared the efficacy of EMDR with that of exposure in vivo in the treatment of a specific phobia. Twenty-two spider-phobic children who met the DSM-III-R criteria for specific phobia participated in the study. Children were treated with one session of exposure in vivo and one session of EMDR in a crossover design. Treatment outcome was evaluated by self-report measures, a behavioural avoidance test and a physiological index (skin conductance level). RESULTS: Results showed positive effects of EMDR, but also suggest that it is especially self-report measures that are sensitive to EMDR. Improvement on a behavioural measure was less pronounced, and exposure in vivo was found to be superior in reducing avoidance behaviour. With regard to skin conductance level, EMDR and exposure in vivo did not differ. CONCLUSIONS: EMDR has no additional value in treatment of this type of animal phobia, for which exposure in vivo is the treatment of choice.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

UCS inflation and human aversive autonomic conditioning.

Fifty students participated in a differential conditioning paradigm. In the first part of the experiment, one neutral slide (CS+) was paired with a tone (UCS) and another neutral slide (CS-) was never followed by a tone. During the subsequent inflation phase, unsignalled UCSs gradually increased in strength for the inflation group while they were kept constant for the control group. During extinction trials, the inflation group initially showed relatively stronger UCS expectancies on the CS+ trials than the control group. In contrast to what was predicted, the UCS inflation procedure did not result in stronger conditioning effects of the skin conductance response compared to the control procedure. The effectiveness of the UCS inflation procedure was not related to trait anxiety.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1996

The role of parental fearfulness and modeling in children's fear.

The present study investigated the contribution of parental modeling to the fearfulness of children. Forty children (aged 9-12) who were referred to an outpatient treatment centre filled out the trait version of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) and the revised version of the Fear Survey Schedule for Children (FSSC). The parents of the children completed adult versions of the STAI-trait and the FSS. In addition, parents rated to what extent they generally expressed fears to their children. Results showed that trait anxiety in children was positively associated with trait anxiety of both the mother (r = 0.34, P < 0.05) and the father (r = 0.31, P < 0.05). Fearfulness of the children was only related to fearfulness of the mother (r = 0.56, P < 0.001). Most importantly, the data showed that modeling played a role in this relationship. A linear association between FSSC scores and mothers' rating of expressing fears to their children was found. That is to say, children of mothers who never expressed their fears had the lowest FSSC scores, children of mothers who often expressed their fears had the highest FSSC scores, whereas children of mothers who sometimes expressed their fears scored in between.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed1996

A comparison of two spider fear questionnaires.

The present studies compared the psychometric properties of two self-report measures of spider fear: Fear of Spiders Questionnaire (FSQ) and Spider Phobia Questionnaire (SPQ). In the first study, adequate test-retest stability and internal consistency was found for both FSQ and SPQ. In the second study, both instruments were able to differentiate between phobic and non-phobic subjects. Furthermore, FSQ as well as SPQ were sensitive to therapeutic change and correlated in a meaningful way with other subjective and behavioral indices of spider fear. Data suggest that the FSQ is superior to the SPQ in measuring fear in the non-phobic range. Also, the FSQ taps a somewhat different aspect of subjective spider fear (i.e., fear of harm) and, consequently, may provide additional information.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Defence style and behaviour therapy outcome in a specific phobia.

The Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) was administered to patients with a specific phobia (animal type; N = 54) and to control subjects (N = 29). Results indicated that specific phobia patients and non-phobic control subjects exhibit a similar pattern of defences. Also, the study investigated whether specific DSQ defence styles affect behaviour therapy outcome. It was found that an immature defence style, and especially the defence mechanism projection, was related to less favourable treatment results.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Disgust and spider phobia.

Twenty-four women with spider phobia and 45 nonphobic women completed the Disgust Questionnaire (DQ; P. Rozin, A. E. Fallon, & R. Mandell, 1984) and the Spider Phobia Questionnaire (SPQ; R. Klorman, T. C. Weerts, J. E. Hastings, B. G. Melamed, & P. J. Lang, 1974). Participants also underwent behavioral tests concerning disgust sensitivity and fear of spiders. Spider phobic women showed stronger disgust sensitivity than nonphobic women, and spiders were found to have a disgust-evoking status that was related to participants' fear of spiders. The relationship between DQ and SPQ was independent of neuroticism and introversion. DQ scores were not associated with a global measure of phobic complaints (i.e., Fear Questionnaire; I. M. Marks & A. Mathews, 1979). Results are consistent with a disease-avoidance model of spider phobia (G. Matchett & G. C. L. Davey, 1991), which emphasizes the role of disgust in spider phobia.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

The placebo effect in pain reduction: the influence of conditioning experiences and response expectancies.

We investigated the role of conditioning experiences and response expectancies in the generation of placebo effects. On 3 sequential days (Test 1, Experimental Session, Test 2), 66 female undergraduates were presented with a series of pain stimuli. For the experimental group, placebo administration (analgesic cream) was paired with a decrease in the painful stimulus. Two control groups were used to explore the relative contributions of verbally induced expectancies and contingent unconditional stimulus experiences per se. The results show that placebo-induced pain reduction can he obtained as a result or a conditioning procedure, independent of verbally induced expectancies. Mere verbal persuasion was not sufficient to elicit placebo-induced pain reduction. Irrespective of the experimental manipulations, the placebo effect was related to both reduced pain expectations and reduced fear of pain. Although conditioned placebo responses were evident at the subjective level, no placebo effects emerged at the physiological level.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

Exposure therapy outcome in spider phobics: effects of monitoring and blunting coping styles.

The present study examined whether monitoring (i.e. seeking out threat-related information) and blunting (i.e., avoiding threat-related information) coping styles affect therapy outcome. The sample consisted of 36 spider phobics who underwent one 2.5 hr session of exposure in vivo. Monitoring and blunting were assessed with the Miller Behavioural Style Scale (MBSS) at two points in time: before and after (i.e. at 2 years follow-up) treatment. It was found that coping styles did not change dramatically over a 2-year period. Furthermore, pre-treatment and follow-up coping style scores essentially produced the same results: monitoring was associated with less favourable therapy outcome, whereas blunting was related to better treatment results.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1995

Responding to subliminal threat cues is related to trait anxiety and emotional vulnerability: a successful replication of Macleod and Hagan (1992)

Macleod and Hagan (1992) [Behaviour Research and Therapy, 30, 151-161] reported that threat-relevant interference on a masked Stroop task, where neutral and negative words cannot be consciously perceived, is positively correlated with trait anxiety and emotional vulnerability to stressful life events. Their findings were obtained from subjects who were currently stressed. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the Macleod and Hagan findings could be replicated in a sample that was not currently stressed. Using a sample of 32 volunteers, we found a significant correlation between trait anxiety and threat-relevant interference on a masked Stroop. Furthermore, it was found that the single best predictor of vulnerability to life stress was the interference on the masked Stroop. The findings of the present study correspond quite closely to those reported by Macleod and Hagan (1992).

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Covariation bias and the return of fear.

Several studies have indicated that phobic fear is accompanied by a covariation bias, i.e. that phobic Ss tend to overassociate fear relevant stimuli and aversive outcomes. Such a covariation bias seems to be a fairly direct and powerful way to confirm danger expectations and enhance fear. Therefore, it has been suggested that covariation bias is an important factor in the maintenance of phobic fear. However, thus far there are no empirical data available to exclude the alternative possibility that covariation bias is a mere epiphenomenon of fear. To explore the "causal" status of covariation bias, successfully treated spider phobics who participated in an earlier study on covariation bias were asked to complete a Spider Phobia Questionnaire at 2 yr follow up. Results indicate that Ss who displayed a covariation bias immediately after treatment are more vulnerable to relapse than Ss who did not show such a bias. This finding strengthens the idea that covariation bias may enhance fear, thereby contradicting the suggestion that covariation bias is a mere epiphenomenon of phobic fear.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Covariation bias in phobic women: the relationship between a priori expectancy, on-line expectancy, autonomic responding, and a posteriori contingency judgment.

Thirty-eight people with spider phobias (19 untreated and 19 treated) were exposed to a series of 72 slides of pictures of spiders, weapons, and flowers that were randomly paired with either a shock, a siren, or nothing. A posteriori, untreated participants reported an illusory correlation (IC) between spiders and shock. Although the IC was not significantly smaller in treated as compared to untreated participants, no significant IC could be shown in treated participants. For untreated people enhanced shock expectancies were already present on the first spider trials. The IC was paralleled by heightened skin conductance responses (UCRs) on shocks that were preceded by spider slides compared to shocks preceded by other slides. There were positive correlations between IC, on-line expectancies, and UCRs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Hemisphere preference and EEG.

This study examined the association of scores on a paper-and-pencil test of hemispheric preference and EEG measures. No significant relationships between these two measures were found.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Knowledge of basic emotions in adolescent and adult individuals with autism.

An experiment was carried out in which 30 adolescent and adult patients with autism and 30 age- and IQ-matched Down syndrome patients were instructed to choose one of the chocolates that were hanging near four pictures displaying facial expressions of basic emotions (fear, anger, happiness, and sadness). As predicted, most of the Down syndrome patients took the chocolate near the happy face picture. Unexpectedly, however, autistic patients made more responses to the fearful face picture. Also, Down syndrome patients were more capable of naming the four basic emotions than autistic patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Startle responses of spider phobics to masked stimuli: a pilot study.

The present study tested the hypothesis that briefly flashed and backwardly masked phobic stimuli potentiate startle reflexes in phobic subjects. Spider phobic (n = 17) and normal control (n = 12) subjects were exposed to short (30 ms) and backwardly masked presentations of phobic slides (i.e., spiders) and neutral slides (i.e., flowers, mushrooms, snakes). On half the trials, eyeblink startle reflexes were elicited with auditory probes following presentation of the slides. In spite of the degraded stimulus conditions, there were some indications that phobics exhibited a startle pattern different from control subjects. More specifically, phobic subjects tended to react with larger startles during the second block of spider trials than control subjects. No such group differences were found for the neutral trials. As the eyeblink startle reflex is closely linked to the thalamo-amygdala pathway, the present findings provide some preliminary support for the idea that the preattentive processing of phobic cues is located at the subcortical level.

Adult↗