| Abstract: | Compared systematic desensitization with 2 attention-placebo control treatments-one taken from G. L. Paul's 1966 technique and one currently devised as an elaborate, highly impressive therapeutic experience-and no treatment. It was hypothesized that (a) fear reductions following desensitization would be no greater than those associated with an equally compelling placebo treatment and (b) fear and control measure changes following the previously used attention-placebo treatment would be less than those following desensitization and the present placebo control manipulations. In an experiment with 39 female undergraduates both hypotheses were supported, although support for the 1st was more consistent than for the 2nd hypothesis. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
