Phylo- and ontogenetic fears and the expectation of danger: differences between spider- and flight-phobic subjects in cognitive and physiological responses to disorder-specific stimuli.
To compare specific phobias with an assumed phylogenetic or ontogenetic origin in responses to fear-relevant (FR) stimuli, 17 spider- and 17 flight-phobic participants were exposed to pictures of spiders, flight accidents, or mushrooms randomly followed by either a startling noise or nothing else. While both groups showed a disorder-specific expectancy bias, only spider-phobic participants exhibited a disorder-specific covariation bias. Spider-phobic participants also showed enhanced skin conductance responses (SCRs), event-related brain potentials (ERPs), and startle responses triggered by disorder-specific FR pictures while flight-phobic participants showed only disorder-specific enhanced SCRs. In sum, our direct comparison between ontogenetic and phylogenetic phobias revealed that the former is characterized by biased and enhanced responses triggered by disorder-specific FR stimuli presumably based on a biological preparedness.
Mühlberger
Andreas
A
Department of Psychology, Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy, University of Wurzburg, Germany. muehlberger@psychologie.uni-wuerzburg.de
Wiedemann
Georg
G
Herrmann
Martin J
MJ
Pauli
Paul
P
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D000401:Aircraft; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004576:Electromyography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception; D010698:Phobic Disorders; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D010802:Phylogeny; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology; D013112:Spiders; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires