40 Ss were identified who could not pick up a snake despite an incentive to do so. These Ss were then used to study the fear-reducing capability of semi-automated desensitization and of dismantled procedural components of desensitization. For the “genuinely fearful” Ss neither desensitization nor component procedures reduced fear/avoidance more than did a behaviorally inert “treatment.” This result calls into question the interpretive status of much previous research and suggests guidelines for the methodology of future research.
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