Misattribution in a fearful situation following different modes of arousal.
52 female college students were exposed to procedures expected to produce some physical or emotional arousal (viewing a sexually-explicit film or riding an exercise bicycle) and were subsequently asked to approach a snake, of which they had previously reported being afraid. Their performance was compared to that of control subjects who had been exposed to non-arousing tasks (viewing a film about sunspots or reading an article about exercise). The prediction that prior arousal would produce misattribution and reduce snake avoidance was not supported.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D004882:Erotica; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D005082:Physical Exertion