29 Jun
1994
29 Jun
'94
3 a.m.
Below is the abstract of a forthcoming target article by:
Graham Davey
on:
PREPAREDNESS AND PHOBIAS
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____________________________________________________________________
PREPAREDNESS AND PHOBIAS:
SPECIFIC EVOLVED ASSOCIATIONS OR A GENERALIZED EXPECTANCY BIAS?
Graham Davey
Psychology Division,
Department of Social Science,
The City University,
Northampton Square,
LONDON EC1V 0HB U.K.
J.A.Fildes(a)city.ac.uk
ABSTRACT Most phobias are focussed on a small number of
fear-inducing stimuli (e.g. snakes, spiders). A review of the
evidence supporting biological and cognitive explanations of this
uneven distribution of phobias suggests that the readiness with
which such stimuli become associated with aversive outcomes arises
from biases in the processing of information about threatening
stimuli rather than from phylogenetically based associative
predispositions or "biological preparedness." This cognitive bias,
consisting of a heightened expectation of aversive outcomes
following fear-relevant stimuli, generates and maintains robust
learned associations between them. Some of the features of such
stimuli which determine this expectancy bias are estimates of how
dangerous they are, the semiotic similarity between them and their
aversive outcomes, and the degree of prior fear they elicit.
Ontogenetic and cultural factors influence these features of
fear-relevant stimuli and are hence important in determining
expectancy bias. The available evidence does not exclude the
possibility that both expectancy biases and specific evolved
predispositions co-exist, but the former can explain a number of
important findings that the latter cannot.
KEYWORDS: Preparedness, phobias, biological preparedness, selective
associations, information processing biases, classical
conditioning, covariation assessment, cross-cultural studies.
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