Citation

Luo X, Becker ES, Rinck M. Cogn. Emot. 2018; 32(6): 1291-1303.

Affiliation

Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen , Nijmegen , The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/02699931.2017.1411784

PMID

29303052

Abstract

We used an immersive virtual environment to examine avoidance learning in spider-fearful participants. In 3 experiments, participants were asked to repeatedly lift one of 3 virtual boxes, under which either a toy car or a spider appeared and then approached the participant. Participants were not told that the probability of encountering a spider differed across boxes. When the difference was large (Exps. 1 and 2), spider-fearfuls learned to avoid spiders by lifting the few-spiders-box more often and the many-spiders-box less often than non-fearful controls did. However, they hardly managed to do so when the probability differences were small (Exp. 3), and they did not escape from threat more quickly (Exp. 2). In contrast to the observed performance differences, spider-fearfuls and non-fearfuls showed equal competence, that is comparable post-experimental knowledge about the probability to encounter spiders under the 3 boxes. The limitations and implications of the present study are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

Avoidance learning; competence; fear of spider; performance