@article{ref1,
title="What you cannot see can help you: The effect of exposure to unreportable stimuli on approach behavior",
journal="Consciousness and cognition",
year="2011",
author="Weinberger, Joel and Siegel, Paul and Siefert, Caleb and Drwal, Julie",
volume="20",
number="2",
pages="173-180",
abstract="We examined effects of exposure to unreportable images of spiders on approach towards a tarantula. Pretests revealed awareness of the stimuli was at chance. Participants high or low (top and bottom 15%) on fear of spiders were randomly assigned to receive computer-generated exposure to unreportable pictures of spiders or outdoor scenes. They then engaged in a Behavioral Approach Task (BAT) with a live tarantula. Non-fearful participants completed more BAT items than spider-fearful individuals. Additionally, as predicted, a significant interaction (F(1,48)=5.12, p<.03) between fear of spiders and stimulus demonstrated that spider-fearful participants exposed to spiders completed more BAT items than spider-fearful participants exposed to control stimuli (but not as many as non-fearful participants). The findings support the hypothesis that exposure to unreportable feared stimuli promotes approach towards the feared object. Future research and clinical implications were discussed.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1053-8100",
doi="10.1016/j.concog.2011.01.003",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2011.01.003"
}