A comprehensive look at phobic fear in inhibition of return: Phobia-related spiders as cues and targets

Abstract

Background and objectives: The so called inhibition of return (IOR) effect refers to a bias against returning attention to a location which was previously investigated. Because emotionally salient material has the capacity to capture and hold attention it has been suggested that this material may disrupt this otherwise impressively stable phenomenon.

Methods: 40 students participated in the experiment. Black and white schematic drawings of a spider, a butterfly or a cross were used as cues. A black dot, a spider, a butterfly or a cross were used as targets. Participants were required to press a key whenever the target picture appeared. Subsequently, they rated the pictures on valence and arousal.

Results: Results showed that the IOR effect remained stable and did not diminish with either fear-related cues or fear-related targets. This data adds strong arguments for the stability of IOR.

Limitations: The spider fearful participants were not diagnosed patients. They still meet the criteria for spider fear but follow-up studies should pursue the same question with a specific focus on participants' levels of anxiety.

Conclusions: This study is a contribution to the debate on how emotions affect or do not affect attentional processes such as the IOR. IOR appears to be a robust phenomenon and the emotional valence of neither the cue nor the emotional valence of the target can override it.

Keywords: Anxiety; Attention; Attentional bias; Emotion; Inhibition of return; Spider fear.