Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T08:34:02.673Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fear Reduction Processes in Imaginal and In Vivo Flooding: A Comment on James' Review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2009

Jeffrey E. Hecker  and
Geoffrey L. Thorpe
Jeffrey E. Hecker
Affiliation:
University of Maine
Geoffrey L. Thorpe
Affiliation:
University of Maine
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The research comparing imaginal and in vivo exposure in the treatment of clinically significant fear, recently reviewed by James (1986), is reexamined from the perspective of bioinformational theory and the concept of emotional processing. Fear is assumed to be stored in long term memory as a network of propositionally-coded information, which has to be processed if treatment is to be successful. Emotional processing is indicated by activation of fear responses and their habituation within and across treatment sessions. Consistent with the theory, our review indicates that successful treatment via imaginal and in vivo exposure is indeed related to activation and habituation of fear responses; interference with processing has a negative impact upon fear reduction, regardless of the specific treatment techniques employed. Furthermore, some apparently discrepant findings in the available research literature can be understood in terms of the theories cited. These ideas provide a useful perspective from which to plan future research efforts and to advance our understanding of the processes underlying reduction of pathological fear.

Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , July 1987 , pp. 215 - 223
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barlow, D. H. and Wolfe, B. (1981). Behavioural approaches to anxiety disorders: A report on the NIMH-SUNY research conference. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 49, 448–454.Google Scholar
Chambless, D. L., Foa, E. B., Groves, G. A. and Goldstein, A. J. (1979). Flodding with Brevital in the treatment of agoraphobia: Countereffective? Behaviour Research and Therapy 17, 243–251.Google Scholar
Chambless, D. L., Foa, E. B., Groves, G. A. and Goldstein, A. J. (1982). Exposure and communication training in the treatment of agoraphobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy 20, 319–328.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emmelkamp, P. M. G. and Wessels, H. (1975). Flooding in imagination versus flooding in vivo A comparison with agoraphobic. Behavior Research and Therapy 13, 7–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foa, E. B. and Kozak, M. J.Emotional processing of fear: Exposure to corrective information. Psychological Bulletin 99, 20–35.Google Scholar
James, J. E. (1986). Review of the relative efficacy of imaginal and in vivo flooding in the treatment of clinical fear. Behavioural Psychotherapy 14, 183–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lang, P. J. (1977). Imagery in therapy: An information processing analysis of fear. Behavior Therapy 8, 862–868.Google Scholar
Lang, P. J. (1979). A bioinformational theory of emotional imagery. Psychophysiology 16(6), 495–512.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lang, P. J. (1984). Cognition in emotion: Concept and action. In Emotion, Cognition, and Behavior Izard, C., Kagan, J. and Zajonc, R. (Eds), pp. 192–225. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lang, P. J. (1985). The cognitive psychophysiology of emotion: Fear; and anxiety. In Anxiety and the Anxiety Disorders, Tuma, A. H. and Maser, J. D. (Eds), pp. 131–170. Hillsdale N. J.: Lawrence E. Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Lang, P. J., Kozak, M. J., Miller, G. A., Levin, D. N. and McLean, A. (1980). Emotional imagery: Conceptual structure and patterns of somato-visceral response. Psychophysiology 17, 179–192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lang, P. J., Levin, D. N., Miller, G. A. and Kozak, M. J. (1983). Fear behavior, fear imagery, and the psychophysiology of emotion: The problem of affective response integration. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 92, 276–306.Google Scholar
Levin, D. N., Cook, E. W. and Lang, P. J. (1982). Fear imagery and fear behavior: Psychophysiological analysis of clients receiving treatment for anxiety disorders. Psychophysiology 19, 571–572 (abstract).Google Scholar
Mathews, A. M., Johnston, D. W., Lancashire, M., Munby, M., Shaw, P. M. and Gelder, M. G. (1976). Imaginal flooding and exposure to real phobic situations: Treatment outcome with agoraphobic patients. British Journal of Psychiatry 129, 362–371.Google Scholar
McNeil, D. W., Melamed, B. G., Cuthbert, B. N. and Lang, P. J. (1983). Emotional imagery and psychophysiological responsivity in simple phobic and agoraphobia. Psychophysiology 20, 459 (abstract).Google Scholar
McNeil, D. W., Vrana, S. R., Melamed, B. G. and Lang, P. J. (1985). Affective response to fear imagery: Individual differences in phobic populations. Poster presented at the meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy. Houston, Texas, November.Google Scholar
Rabavilas, A. D., Boulougouris, J. C. and Stefanis, C. (1976). Duration of flooding sessions in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive patients. Behaviour Research and Therapy 14, 349–355.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stern, R. and Marks, I. (1973). Brief and prolonged flooding: A comparison in agoraphobic patients. Archives of General Psychiatry 28, 270–276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watson, J. P., Mullett, G. E. and Pillay, H. (1973). The effects of prolonged exposure to phobic situations upon agoraphobic patients treated in groups. Behaviour Research and Therapy 11,. 531–545.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.