Gromer, Daniel and Madeira, Octavia and Gast, Philipp and Nehfischer, Markus and Jost, Michael and Mueller, Mathias and Muehlberger, Andreas and Pauli, Paul (2018) Height Simulation in a Virtual Reality CAVE System: Validity of Fear Responses and Effects of an Immersion Manipulation. FRONTIERS IN HUMAN NEUROSCIENCE, 12: 372. ISSN 1662-5161,
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Acrophobia is characterized by intense fear in height situations. Virtual reality (VR) can be used to trigger such phobic fear, and VR exposure therapy (VRET) has proven effective for treatment of phobias, although it remains important to further elucidate factors that modulate and mediate the fear responses triggered in VR. The present study assessed verbal and behavioral fear responses triggered by a height simulation in a 5-sided cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE) with visual and acoustic simulation and further investigated how fear responses are modulated by immersion, i.e., an additional wind simulation, and presence, i.e., the feeling to be present in the VE. Results revealed a high validity for the CAVE and VE in provoking height related self-reported fear and avoidance behavior in accordance with a trait measure of acrophobic fear. Increasing immersion significantly increased fear responses in high height anxious (HHA) participants, but did not affect presence. Nevertheless, presence was found to be an important predictor of fear responses. We conclude that a CAVE system can be used to elicit valid fear responses, which might be further enhanced by immersion manipulations independent from presence. These results may help to improve VRET efficacy and its transfer to real situations.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | EXPOSURE THERAPY; ANXIETY DISORDERS; ACROPHOBIA; ENVIRONMENTS; OUTCOMES; DESENSITIZATION; METAANALYSIS; AGORAPHOBIA; TECHNOLOGY; COMPONENTS; anxiety; fear behavior; virtual reality; presence; immersion; acrophobia |
| Subjects: | 100 Philosophy & psychology > 150 Psychology |
| Divisions: | Psychology and Pedagogy > Institut für Psychologie |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Dec 2019 12:58 |
| Last Modified: | 12 Dec 2019 12:58 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/13830 |
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