title: Task-irrelevant spider associations affect categorization performance.
abstract: In two studies, the Single Target Implicit Association Test (STIAT) was used to investigate automatic associations toward spiders. In both experiments, we measured the strength of associations between pictures of spiders and either threat-related words or pleasant words. Unlike previous studies, we administered a STIAT version in which stimulus contents was task-irrelevant: The target spider pictures were categorized according to the label picture, irrespective of what they showed. In Study 1, spider-fearful individuals versus non-fearful controls were tested, Study 2 compared spider enthusiasts to non-fearful controls. Results revealed that the novel STIAT version was sensitive to group differences in automatic associations toward spiders. In Study 1, it successfully distinguished between spider-fearful individuals and non-fearful controls. Moreover, STIAT scores predicted automatic fear responses best, whereas controlled avoidance behavior was best predicted by the FAS (German translation of the Fear of Spiders Questionnaire). The results of Study 2 demonstrated that the novel STIAT version was also able to differentiate between spider enthusiasts and non-fearful controls.
authors.affiliation: Radboud University Nijmegen, Behavioural Science Institute, PO Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. M.Woud@psych.ru.nl
authors.forename: Marcella L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Woud
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ellwart
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Langner
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rinck
authors.forename: Eni S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Becker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013112:Spiders; D014936:Word Association Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*