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Graded imagination and relaxation as components of experimental desensitization: A psychophysiological evaluation
Author(s) -
McGlynn F. Dudley,
Solomon Gary S.,
Barrios Billy A.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(197907)35:3<542::aid-jclp2270350313>3.0.co;2-z
Subject(s) - desensitization (medicine) , psychology , relaxation (psychology) , systematic desensitization , cued speech , phobias , cognitive psychology , psychotherapist , social psychology , medicine , anxiety , receptor , psychiatry
Studied the effects of aversive imagery gradation and muscular relaxation as procedural variables within desensitization by using (pre‐vs. posttreatment) peripherally cued electrodermal responsivity as the dependent‐variable measure of fear. There was no evidence that experimental desensitization or any of its procedural components yielded attenuated electrodermal responsivity to the peripheral fear cue. Because this result derives from a relatively welldone study, it poses a challenge to widespread notions about the vehicle of therapeutic effects from desensitization.