The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Preattentive bias for snake words in snake phobia?

På svenska

Author

  • Jenny Wikström
  • Lars-Gunnar Lundh
  • Joakim Westerlund
  • Lennart Högman

Summary, in English

Stroop interference and skin conductance responses (SCRs) for words related to snakes, spiders, flowers, and mushrooms were studied in a group of women (n=40) with snake phobia who were randomised to a stress or no-stress condition. The 21 low-stress snake phobics showed Stroop interference for unmasked (but not for masked) snake words, compared with 21 age- and sex-matched controls. Stroop interference was not significantly different between high-stress and low-stress snake phobics. No support for stronger SCRs for masked snake words was found in snake phobics in a lexical decision task with masked presentations of the same words. The lack of a masked Stroop interference in snake phobics suggests a possible difference in cognitive–emotional mechanisms underlying specific phobia vs. other anxiety disorders that deserves further investigation.

Publishing year

2004

Language

English

Pages

949-970

Publication/Series

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Volume

42

Issue

8

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Elsevier

Topic

  • Psychology

Keywords

  • Emotional Stroop task
  • Masked words
  • SCR
  • Specific phobia
  • Preattentive bias

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1873-622X