Ao. Hamm et al., FEAR AND THE STARTLE REFLEX - BLINK MODULATION AND AUTONOMIC RESPONSEPATTERNS IN ANIMAL AND MUTILATION FEARFUL SUBJECTS, Psychophysiology, 34(1), 1997, pp. 97-107
The present study was designed to examine the pattern of startle refle
x modulation and autonomic responses for individuals high in animal or
blood-injury fear when viewing pictures of their feared objects. Sixt
een individuals in each fear group and 16 low-fear control individuals
viewed 32 color slides depicting fear-relevant, unpleasant but fear-u
nrelated, neutral, and pleasant scenes. Free viewing times were assess
ed in a second phase of the procedure as an index of avoidance behavio
r. Exposure to pictures of feared objects resulted in a consistent sta
rtle reflex potentiation and behavioral avoidance in both fear groups.
This activation of the basic aversive system was independent of the a
utonomic pattern of the fear responses, which differed for the high-fe
ar groups. These results suggest that the probe startle response index
es the organism's basic motivational disposition and add new informati
on to the assessment of fear.