The process of fear reduction through systematic desensitization

Investigated the process of fear change during a course of systematic desensitization therapy with 15 female snake-phobic undergraduates. Behavioral, subjective (e.g., Subjective Anxiety Scale and the S-R Inventory of Anxiousness), and physiological measures of fear were taken following each of 8 therapy sessions. Generally, linear reductions were found on behavior and subjective measures, whereas a cubic trend was detected for baseline heart rate. Changes in 1 fear system did not appear to be primary in initiating changes in the other systems. Real-life nonavoidance exposure to the feared stimulus appears to provide an important steering function during the fear change process. High baseline heart rate was a good predictor of behavioral change.