Despite what we may like to think about our human ability to recognize and face our fears, a new study suggests we're more like our animal cousins than we may think, and our ability to rationally analyze the things that scare us may not be enough to overcome our subconscious.
A team at the University of Exeter showed participants a screen upon which a colored shape would sometimes appear. Some of the time the appearance of the shape would be accompanied by an electric shock, and sometimes not. The team measured the participants' galvanic skin resistance throughout the trials to determine each person's state of emotional arousal.
When asked to predict whether the next shape would be accompanied by a shock, the volunteers were more likely to assume it would happen shortly if there had been a long period without shocks, and thought they'd be "safe" if they had just received one, despite knowing the shocks were random.
The skin conductance values showed a contradictory pattern; the participants' body would quickly assume that if they had just received a shock, another was on the way, but if nothing had happened for a while, the body calm and didn't expect a shock. This is known as "associative conditioning" and has been well-documented in animals.
The researchers interpret their data to show that while we might consciously expect certain things based on rational thought, our physiological responses are still governed by our "animal brains", and often occur at a subconscious level. The Exeter team hopes this will aid in the treatment of anxiety disorders like phobias, where addressing the conscious fears may be only the beginning.
Source: The University of Exeter
Follow LivingWithAnxiety.com on:
Facebook:
Twitter:
Share on:
Reddit
StumbleUpon