Credibility ratings for desensitization and pseudotherapy among moderately and mildly snake-avoidant college students.
Twenty moderately avoidant and 20 mildly avoidant Ss were chosen as though they were to participate in a snake-avoidance desensitization experiment. After relaxation training, Ss listened to a taped excerpt of either desensitization or pseudotherapy and responded to a 5-item questionnaire that assessed the credibility of the treatment. Mildly avoidant Ss rated desensitization as more credible than pseudotherapy. The implication of this finding is that a great many experimental studies of systematic desensitization have failed to control satisfactorily for the operation of expectancy effects and nonspecific forms of behavioral influence.
Credibility ratings for desensitization and pseudotherapy among moderately and mildly snake-avoidant college students. Twenty moderately avoidant and 20 mildly avoidant Ss were chosen as though they were to participate in a snake-avoidance desensitization experiment. After relaxation training, Ss listened to a taped excerpt of either desensitization or pseudotherapy and responded to a 5-item questionnaire that assessed the credibility of the treatment. Mildly avoidant Ss rated desensitization as more credible than pseudotherapy. The implication of this finding is that a great many experimental studies of systematic desensitization have failed to control satisfactorily for the operation of expectancy effects and nonspecific forms of behavioral influence.