FEAR AND THE STARTLE REFLEX - BLINK MODULATION AND AUTONOMIC RESPONSEPATTERNS IN ANIMAL AND MUTILATION FEARFUL SUBJECTS

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.