Do fears summate?—III

The primary purpose of this investigation was to learn whether fears summate. Thirty Ss who reported and displayed fear in response to a snake and to a spider were shown each stimulus separately and then both stimuli simultaneously, in order to see if their fear responses would summate. They did, overall; however, if Stimulus 1 provoked greater fear than Stimulus 2, the simultaneous presentation of both stimuli was followed by a subtraction. Summation occurred when the second stimulus produced a larger fear response than the first stimulus, and the two were then presented simultaneously.     

A simple method for determining the functional independence of two or more fears—IV

A rationale for a simple method for determining the inter-relatedness of two discrete fears was developed and subjected to experimental test. A system for making such distinctions proved to be satisfactory, but we found no relationship between the person's own estimation of the similarity of the two fears and the index of independence that was derived experimentally. Possible uses of the method are suggested.     

The experimental analysis of agoraphobia

A concerted move towards the use of experimental analyses is proposed. It is suggested that our understanding of agoraphobia can best be advanced by taking this step. The argument in support of such a move is illustrated and developed in respect of the role of safety signals in maintaining and influencing agoraphobic behaviour. A detailed analysis is given of the factors postulated to determine the strength of safety signals, and the complex inter-relations between fear and safety are examined.