Counterconditioning versus relaxation in the desensitization of test anxiety.

Laxer, Robert M.; Walker, K.

doi:10.1037/h0029876

Cited by 34 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Other Litvak(80), and Obler and Terdliger("J0) have all found that the relaxation aspect was unnecessary. On the other hand, Laxer and Walker (78) found that only the relaxation aspect was necessary. Three researchers (*O.…”

Section: The Placebo Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

The power of behavior control: A critique of behavior modification methods

Russell

1974

J. Clin. Psychol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Great potential power has been claimed for the methods of behavior modification and control.(1) Behavior therapies, especially systematic desensitization, derive most of their power and effect from non-specific, placebo effects; (2) In a non-coercive situation such as verbal conditioning, the S must be both aware of and cooperate with the experimenter's intention. Thus, the S has the ultimate control. (3) I n a coercive situation, for example, token economies and "brainwashing," behavior technologies do little beyond refining the control that is already delegated to the behaviorist and there is little generalization. These results indicate that behavior modification techniques do not now nor potentially provide psychologists with a new powerful method of control. Concerns about the possibility of creating a Skinnerian utopia with subtle behavioristic totalitarian control and the attendant ethical problems of control are largely unfounded.The investigation of recent research in this area found: C H A P T E R O N EI n the last two decades, psychology has witnessed a meteoric rise in the prestige and influence of the application of behavior theory. Behaviorism appears to be on the way to domination of applied psychology similar to its past domination of the experimental area. The success of these methods has resulted in a rapid expansion of behavior modification methods of treatment, in an increasing concern with the ethics of the control of behavior, and even in an interest in designs for a utopian society.The major support for this behavioristic ferment in psychology is the apparent power that behavioral methods have in controlling human actions. Such behavior control power has implications related to three major areas of concern for psychoogists: therapy, ethics and social control.The implications related to therapy have been extensively examined by Ullman and Krasner(lZ7). The apparent power of behavioral methods is their primary argument for the exclusive acceptance of behavior modification replacing the more traditional insight therapies. In fact, they stress that even the slight power that insight therapy may have is derived from the unrealized use of behavior modification principles. It should also be pointed out that Ullman and Krasner utilize the apparent power of behavior control to support the scientific status of behavior modification methods. They believe that since the ability to control is one means of verifying a scientific principle, the apparent power of behavioral methods supports the scientific status of behavioral methods.A renewed interest in ethics is also related to the belief in the power of behavior methods. Krasner summarized this problem a decade ago. He says, "If we see him (psychologist) as one who is in a position to change or modify others' behavior, .

show abstract

Section: The Placebo Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

The power of behavior control: A critique of behavior modification methods

Russell

1974

J. Clin. Psychol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In all of these studies, dependent measures of anxiety showed improvement in treated compared with non-treated populations; however, results were by no means consistent and reports (Laxer, Quarter, Kooman and Walker, 1969;Laxer and Walker, 1970) suggest that various measures of anxiety were differentially affected, with manifest anxiety measures, usually self-reported showing the greatest change (Andrews, 1971;Johnson, Tyler, Thompson and Jones, 1971;Laxer et al, 1969) and physiologic measures somewhat less (Barabasz, 1973;Kondas, 1967). Tests of school performance documented improved marks in three of six studies (Deffenbacher, 1974;Mann and Rosenthal, 1969;Mann, 1972).…”

Section: Sub-clinical Studiesmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Although several studies used more than one therapist (Andrews, 1971;Deffenbacher, 1974;Laxer and Walker, 1970) only two analyzed their data taking this into account (Mann and Rosenthal, 1969;Miller et al, 1972). In neither of these investigations was there a significant therapist effect on the desensitization process.…”

Section: Methodologic Considerationmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…1967Laxer. et al 1969Laxer and Walker 1970Mann and Rosenthal 1969Mann, 1972 Clinical Studies Moore, 1965 ObJer and Terwilliger, 1970Miller et al 1972Hampe et al 1973 4-5 N=40 of a model (RIGV 2 ), or (6) CN. The two authors (opposite sexed and widely disparate in age) treated half each group and the dependent mesures used were a test anxiety scale and the Gates McGinnitie Reading test.…”

Section: Sub-clinical Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…GPA's and the other anxiety measure did not show appreciable improvement in any of these groups. To further elucidate the active components of desensitization and to clarify these findings Laxer and Walker (1970) assigned groups of subjects to one of six conditions: (1) Rx, (2) RI, (3) a group that wrote numerous simulated school tests (Si), (4) RxSi (relaxation undertaken for twenty minutes then simulated school tests for twenty minutes, no graduated exposure to aversive stimuli), (5) placebo control (CP), or (6) CN. Pre-and posttreatment anxiety scores differed significantly following RI and Rx.…”

Section: Sub-clinical Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Desensitization in children and adolescents: A review

Firestone

Waters

Goodman

1978

Journal of Clinical Child Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Applications of desensitization procedures for school-related problems: A review

Prout

Harvey

1978

Psychol. Schs.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A variety of desensitization and counterconditioning procedures have been utilized to deal with school-related problems. These procedures are reviewed with respect to applications for treating school phobia, test anxiety, and other academic anxieties. The case and experimental studies reviewed indicate that desensitization procedures in combination with other techniques are most effect,ive. Guidelines for using these procedures in the schools are suggested. University of Wisconsin -MadisonVarious fears and anxiety reactions are exhibited by children in the school setting, which range from extreme cases of school phobia to test and other performance-related anxieties. Such difficulties present serious management problems and may interfere with school learning and performance.Counterconditioning as a treatment modality for a child's fear reaction was first reported by Jones (1924), who successfully eliminated a child's fear of a rabbit. Wolpe (1958) developed ~1 therapeutic procedure known as systematic desensitization, based on the principle of reciprocal inhibition, according to which the strength of an anxiety-evoking stimulus may be weakened by pairing that stimulus with a response antagonistic to anxiety. In his procedure, Wolpe paired deep muscle relaxation with imagined successive approaches (i. e., a hierarchy) to the feared stimulus. Subsequently, a number of variations of the procedure have been developed, including in vivo desensitization, implosive therapy, conditioned relaxation, differential relaxation, and anxiety relief conditioning (Paul & Bernstein, 1973). These variations have been applied to a wide range of phobic disorders and anxiety-related problems (Paul & Bernstein, 1973; Ullman & Krasner, 1975).To date, most of the applications of behavioral techniques in the schools have focused on operant procedures. The purpose of this review is to examine the use of desensitization and counterconditioning procedures in the school setting. Applications for dealing with school phobias, test anxieties, and other schoolrelated anxieties will be reviewed, followed by discussions of implications for use of these techniques in the schools and considerations for future research. School PhobiaSchool phobia is a serious problem, with an estimated occurrence rate of 17 per 1000 school-age children per school year (Kennedy,l965). Although the child's refusal to go to school or remain a t school once he is there is the most obvious symptom, it is often seen in combination with other social, emotional, and somatic symptoms, and a variety of subtypes have been hypothesized (McDonald & Sheperd, 1976).A number of desensitization techniques have been employed to treat school phobia successfully, including systematic desensitization, implosive therapy, in Requests for reprints should be sent to H.

show abstract

Counterconditioning versus relaxation in the desensitization of test anxiety.

Cited by 34 publications

References 8 publications

The power of behavior control: A critique of behavior modification methods

The power of behavior control: A critique of behavior modification methods

Desensitization in children and adolescents: A review

Applications of desensitization procedures for school-related problems: A review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About