title: Attention bias modification in specific fears: Spiders versus snakes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Attention Bias Modification (ABM) is used to manipulate attention biases in anxiety disorders. It has been successful in reducing attention biases and anxious symptoms in social anxiety and generalized anxiety, but not yet in specific fears and phobias.
  
  
  METHODS
  We designed a new version of the dot-probe training task, aiming to train fearful participants' attention away from or towards pictures of threatening stimuli. Moreover, we studied whether the training also affected participants' avoidance behavior and their physical arousal upon being confronted with a real threat object.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In Experiment 1, students with fear of spiders were trained. We found that the attention manipulation was successful, but the training failed to affect behavior or arousal. In Experiment 2, the same procedure was used on snake-fearful students. Again, attention was trained in the expected directions. Moreover, participants whose attention had been trained away from snakes showed lower physiological arousal upon being confronted with a real snake.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study involved healthy students with normal distribution of the fear of spider/snake. Future research with clinical sample could help with determining the generalizability of the current findings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The effect of ABM on specific phobia is still in question. The finding in the present study suggested the possibility to alter attentional bias with a dot-probe task with general positive stimuli and this training could even affect the behavior while encountering a real threat.
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: x.luo@psych.ru.nl.
authors.forename: Xijia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Nessa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ikani
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barth
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rengers
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Eni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rinck
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D015982:Bias; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012911:Snakes; D013112:Spiders; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attention bias; Attention bias modification; Attention training; Snakes; Specific phobia; Spiders