title: Less is still more: maintenance of the very brief exposure effect 1 year later.
abstract: This study tested the hypothesis that an immediate effect of exposure to masked phobic stimuli on avoidance of the corresponding feared object would be maintained 1 year later. Fifty-three spider-phobic participants were identified with a questionnaire and a Behavioral Avoidance Test (BAT) with a live tarantula. One week later, they were administered 1 of 3 types of exposure: very brief (25-ms, masked) or clearly visible (125-ms, unmasked) images of spiders, or very brief images of flowers. They engaged in the BAT again immediately thereafter. One year later, they returned for a follow-up BAT. The immediate effect of exposure to very brief spiders on reducing avoidance of the tarantula was still evident 1 year later. Endurance of an effect by masked stimuli of this duration has not been reported before. Potential theoretical implications are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Sciences, SUNY/Westchester, NY, USA. paul.siegel@purchase.edu
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Siegel
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Warren
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D005239:Fear; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D013112:Spiders; D013360:Subliminal Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult