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Fear as a Magnifying Glass: The Relationship Between Fear Intensity and Size Perception

Vilensky, Michael
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1329237590

Abstract Details

2012, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Psychology.
The present study tested the association between fear and perception in individuals across a range of spider fear (n = 60). Participants first reported their level of spider fear and then completed six Behavioral Approach Tasks (BATs). In the first three BATs, participants approached a series of inanimate objects (a rectangular block, a dead spider encased in plastic, and a plastic flower). In the final three BATs, participants approached three different live spiders. During each BAT, participants reported their level of fear. At the end of each BAT, while the approached stimulus was still in view, participants estimated the size of that stimulus by drawing a horizontal line on a piece of paper. Consistent with predictions, results indicated that high levels of spider fear were associated with magnified perceptions of live spiders and dead spiders encased in plastic. Taken together with past investigations, these results further support the notion that fear is involved in the encoding and processing of perceptual information, such that individuals tend to overestimate the size of threat-relevant stimuli when in a fearful state. Surprisingly, we also found that high levels of spider fear were associated with magnified perceptions of the rectangular block. Moreover, we found that that fear ratings during each BAT (for live spiders and all inanimate objects presented) were significantly associated with size ratio for that stimulus. These findings suggest that the perceptual properties and direct threat-relevance of the object being viewed may not be the only factors associated with perceptual bias. Rather, it appears that a more generalized state of anxious arousal drives perceptual processing; when a perceiver is in this state, any object may be capable of appearing magnified.
Michael Vasey, PhD (Advisor)
Russell Fazio, PhD (Committee Member)
Julian Thayer, PhD (Committee Member)
41 p.
Clinical Psychology; Cognitive Psychology; Psychology; Social Psychology
anxiety; perception; perceptual bias; spider fear; information processing

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Vilensky, M. (2012). Fear as a Magnifying Glass: The Relationship Between Fear Intensity and Size Perception [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1329237590

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Vilensky, Michael. Fear as a Magnifying Glass: The Relationship Between Fear Intensity and Size Perception. 2012. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1329237590.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Vilensky, Michael. "Fear as a Magnifying Glass: The Relationship Between Fear Intensity and Size Perception." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1329237590

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1329237590
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© 2012, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.