A Preliminary Study of Fear Incubational Mechanism: A Proposal of Dual Coding Process
本研究旨在探討恐懼反應在何種條件下容易有孵化的現象。在實驗一裏，以恐懼相關刺激(FRS) 為制約刺激(CS)時，不管其呈現方式是象徵式或全圖式，均較以恐懼無關刺激(FIS)為CS者有高幅的恐懼反應，因此，命題網路被視為恐懼孵化的條件之一。在實驗二裏，檢驗受試者分别在高低威脅的認知基模狀態，面對電擊的訊息量多寡的情況下，其恐懼孵化的現象，結果發現受試者只有在高威脅基模與電擊刺激不確定的情況，才有恐懼孵化的現象。為了進一步尋求恐懼孵化的條件，實驗三提出模擬動作碼(SMC)為起動恐懼孵化的輸入刺激，搭配高低威脅的認知基模，結果發現:SMC 的效應並不明顯，主要仍然受認知基模化的影響。因此，進一步探討命題網路的成份，可能有助於恐懼機轉的進一步瞭解。
Propositional network and simulated motor coding are hypothesized to be the dual coding process of fear incubation. In Experiment I, thirty normal college subjects were randomly assigned to three groups:(1) stimuli with fear-relevant slide pictures consisted of a real snake and a human's hand approaching to the snake's mouth;(2) with symbolic fear-relevant slide pictures copied from the slide of the first group; (3) with fear-irrelevant slide pictures consisted of mushroom of varied sizes. Using those pictures as CS and shock as US, the experimental result showed that the fear-relevant groups, whether real or symbolic ones, were more easily conditioned measured in electrodermal activity, but no difference was found between two fear-relevant groups. This result is interpreted as due to the same propositional representation. In Experiment II, propositional network is assumed to be represented in schematizing the fearful stimulus. Twenty-seven college subjects were assigned to two groups with different schematizations: (1) high threat schema: subjects were told that high intensity shock were delivered in four conditions: (a) known when and whether the shock will be presented; (b) known when but not sure whether the shock will be presented; (c) known whether the shock will be presented but not sure when; (d) both whether and when the shock will be presented are unknown; (2) low threat schema: subjects were told that "some kind of vibration" will be delivered, but actually the same one in high threat group, and also received the four conditions as the first group. With split-plot design, two groups were found differences in EDR activity only under higher uncertain conditions (in 6 and d conditions). The result was interpreted as monitoring function of schematization not essential to fear incubation mechanism, thus simulated motor coding was introduced to Experimental III.