Psychophysiological responses to presentation of a caged snake among behaviorally avoidant non-avoidant college students

Abstract

Sixty-six coeds who reported fear of snakes on a paper-and-pencil fear inventory were exposed to a Physiological Response Test, during which their electrodermal and cardiac responses to a neutral stimulus and a caged snake were recorded. Half of these coeds then were exposed to a representative Behavioral Avoidance Test, on the basis of which they were classified as avoidant, as non-avoidant, or as neither. Those remaining were classified similarly with an Incentive Behavioral Avoidation Test, before which each was offered an incentive for displaying non-fearfulness. The electrodermal response data showed that students classifed as avoidant had not been more responsive to snake confrontation than the the students classified as non-avoidant. The cardiac response data showed that avoidant Ss had been relatively more responsive to the snake cue, but that differential responsiveness was not robust. These results held for both behavioral avoidance tests.