Abstract
An experiment was conducted to separate the effects of anxiety relief conditioning from other variables which may be operative within that paradigm. A review of the literature revealed that no definitive investigations had been conducted, and critiques of these investigations were offered. Also, the distinction between aversion relief and anxiety relief conditioning procedures was detailed.
In an attempt to offer evidence supportive of the efficacy of anxiety relief conditioning as a therapeutic technique per se, an experiment was conducted which attempted to control those variables which presumably may have confounded the findings of previous research. Two groups of snake phobic subjects were matched on the basis of an objective snake approach task, and were subjected to three, 15-min. sessions of either anxiety relief conditioning, or pseudoconditioning. It was hypothesized that the anxiety relief conditioning group would demonstrate therapeutic efficacy while the pseudoconditioning group would show no appreciable change. Analysis of the results revealed a statistically significant difference in the predicted direction. Experimental support for the effectiveness of anxiety relief conditioning as a separate and distinct therapeutic technique was thereby obtained.