Believing is seeing: Changes in visual perception following treatment for height fear

Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
Sarah E Dreyer-OrenShari A Steinman

Abstract

People who are afraid of heights may have a perceptual bias, such that they see heights as higher than they truly are. The current study tested if there is a causal relationship between treatments for height fear and changes in perceptual bias. Specifically, the effects on perceptual bias following three height fear interventions (exposure, cognitive bias modification for interpretations, and a combination of exposure and cognitive bias modification) and a control condition were examined in individuals with an extreme fear of heights (N = 107). Results provided preliminary evidence that some height fear interventions reduce perceptual bias. Specifically, participants that completed exposure had a significant decrease in perceptual bias, and participants in the cognitive bias modification and combination conditions had decreases in perceptual bias at the level of non-significant trends, while no reduction occurred for the control condition. Limitations of this study include that the hypothesis was largely informed by data from a parent study and that the effect sizes were small; thus, replicating these results is warranted. These findings suggest that there may be a causal relationship between height fear treatments and altered ...Continue Reading

Citations

Apr 1, 2020·F1000Research·Christabel E W ThngChoon Guan Lim
Sep 11, 2019·Acta otorhinolaryngologica Italica : organo ufficiale della Società italiana di otorinolaringologia e chirurgia cervico-facciale·R TeggiE Mira
Dec 23, 2019·Journal of Anxiety Disorders·Nur Givon-Benjio, Hadas Okon-Singer
Nov 28, 2020·Depression and Anxiety·Nur Givon-BenjioHadas Okon-Singer
Aug 3, 2021·Journal of Anxiety Disorders·Sophie H Li, Bronwyn M Graham

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Anxiety Disorders

Discover the latest research on anxiety disorders including agoraphobia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder here.

Related Papers

Psychoanalytic Review
E BERGLER
Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic
J Curlee, H Stern
Journal of Anxiety Disorders
Elise M ClerkinBethany A Teachman
Journal of Neurology
Matthias BauerThomas Brandt
© 2022 Meta ULC. All rights reserved