Epidemiological Study About Fear

Introduction

Fear is a very interesting human emotion to study. The range of fear is very wide, at one end it can be something minor being a result of one stimulus, and then on the other end it can lead to panic attacks, and anxiety. Epidemiological studies suggested that at least 25% of the population will develop some sort of anxiety disorder anytime during their lifetime (Luck 2015.) One of the biggest problems in this study is a relapse after successful intervention. The author constructed three different studies to measure the conditional stimulus in different reactions to fear. The purpose of this study is to show the different reactions to fear. Also to see if there are positive or negative valences after cognitive intervention that …show more content…
In experiment one the participants were seated in front of a monitor (experimental room which was near the control room.) The participants were asked to wear a respiration belt (measured the perspiration the participant due to response to the electrode), which contained two electrodes, which were placed on the participants forearm (Luck 2015.) Soon after the participants were shocked they then had to be subject to physiological responding that was then recorded. In experiment two the participants were put into two different distinct groups (instruction/ removal, control.) This time instead of the participants having the electrode on their forearm it was moved to their head. The fear measured in this experiment were by how many blinks the participant made/ their blink startle response (Luck 2015.) In experiment three new participants were asked to participate, and fill out a questionnaire on how they think the outcomes will be by the end of the study. The experimenter then would score the questionnaires based on the responses of the participants. Whether the “pleasantness” would show decrease or if there would be an increase with the face that was pared with shock (Luck