TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2018//
TI  - Believing is seeing: Changes in visual perception following treatment for height fear
JO  - Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry
A1  - Dreyer-Oren, Sarah E.
A1  - Clerkin, Elise M.
A1  - Edwards, Cierra B.
A1  - Teachman, Bethany A.
A1  - Steinman, Shari A.
SP  - 1
EP  - 6
VL  - 62
IS  - 
N2  - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: 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. <br><br>METHODS: 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). <br><br>RESULTS: 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: 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. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that there may be a causal relationship between height fear treatments and altered perception of heights.<br><br>Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0005-7916
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2018.08.001
ID  - ref1
ER  -