Relaxation and distraction in experimental desensitization.
Compared experimental desensitization with a procedure that replaced relaxation with a distraction task and with an approach that combined both relaxation and distraction (N = 50). Each of these treatments reduced snake phobia to a greater extent than control procedures; desensitization generally was more effective than the other two procedures. The results are discussed in terms of their relevance for "distraction" or "attentional" accounts of desensitization.
D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003887:Desensitization, Psychologic / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012911:Snakes