A 15-years-old boy, electively mute, was picked up for discussing effectiveness of stimulus fading procedure and in vivo systematic desensitization. And speech training was also introduced in order to activate the therapy procedure. The patient had been in the special school for the handicapped for 8 years, and had never in the school situations. Outside the school, however, he was observed to be able communicate with his school friends. The goal of the treatment was to get him to respond verbally to the classmates' and homeroom teacher's call in the school situations. The treatment procedures were as follows; 1) Making the patient have some conversation with the thepapist at his home. 2) Dividing the way to his school into some steps. On each step, making him speak to the therapist with the "Robot Play". In the "Robot Play", the sub-therapist acted as the robot according to the patient's verbal orders. 3) Making him have the "Robot Play" with the therapist at the gate and the grounds of his school. Then, making him carry out some verbal orders and free conversation with the therapist. 4) Introducing him into the school building and measuring his tension levels (using the check list for tensions of his speech and face) at various places in his school. 5) Arranging of the hierarchy on the basis of the factors of person, place, and time. 6) Desensitizing and making verbal responses with the "Robot Play", according to the hierarchy. 7) Shaping his verbal responses up at the formal interaction in the class-room, after the patient could speak with his friend outside school. As a result of 34 treatment sessions, the patient has been able to make the reactions to the homeroom teacher's call in the classroom at recess time. Body contacts appeared to be effective for reducing his tension and activating his spontaneous speech. Those procedures don't appear, however, to be so effective on the classroom sessions. It would be suggested that shaping of his active speech in the school situation does not need only the stimulus fading procedure and the systematic desensitization, but also the operant training of the speech skills.

View full abstract

Currently a considerable number of therapists are using both AT and PR randomly without any rationale as an antianxiety response in their conducting Systematic Desensitization, and it is difficult to find any preference for either AT and PR from their experiences. This situation has urged the author to undertake a controlled study for comparing AT and PR in terms of the potency and usefulness as antianxiety responses and the easiness of trainings. 120 neurotic patients with anxiety symptoms were randomly put on either AT or PR training, which were conducted in similar fashions concerning the time and frequency of sessions and the trainer. After one month of trainings, the trainees who claimed to be successful in the trainings were evaluated in terms of their decreased arousal levels, through self-assessment ratings and the examinations of EMG changes on frontal muscles and forearm extensors. As a result, AT proved significantly superior to PR in terms of antianxiety responses and the easiness of the exercises. Some possible reasons for the results were speculated from the viewpoints of the differences of the nature and intervention mode of the training.

View full abstract

The purpose of this study was to confirm the relation of the state anxiety and the various anticipative conditions for the avesive stimulus. Next 3 points was examined. 1) Did whether there was the warning signal or not affect the state anxiety arroused by anticipation for the arrival of electric shock? 2) Did the different of warning methods affect the state anxiety? 3) What the relation between the approach of electric shock and increasing state anxiety could be observed? The 45 subjects were divided into 3 experimental groups. Ss were given a electric shock and measured heart rate as a index of state anxiety. Condition were as follows. 1) No-signal condition : given a electric shock without warning. 2) Bell condition : given a electric shock after warning with bell at 10 seconds before the arrival of shock. 3) Watch-gazing condition : instructed to continue gazing watch during 90 seconds till the arrival of shock. Results were as follows. 1) There was not clear distinction among 3 conditions. 2) It was seemed that there were considerable meaningful distinction between Bell and Watch-gazing condition through both conditions took the role of warning signales. 3) Under Watch-gazing condition, heart rate increased gradually according to the access of shock. Under another two conditions, heart rate changed in U shaped curve according to the access of shock.

View full abstract

A 24-year-old female dental hygienist who had suffered from aichmophobia for about 10 years was successfully treated by the modified method of systematic desensitization. The following hierarchy was used upon treating the patient. 1. Five needles are placed in front of the patient with their tips pointing at her face. 2. Four needles are placed in front of the patient with their tips pointing at her face. 3. Two needles are placed in front of the patient with their tips pointing at her face. 4. Three needles are placed in front of the patient with their tips pointing at her face. 5. One needl is placed in front of the patient with its tip pointing at her face. 6. One needle is placed in front of the patient with its tip turned 45° counter-clockwise from a vertical line to her face. 7. One needle is placed in front of the patient with its tip turned 90° counter-clockwise to her face. 8. One needle is placed in front of the patient with its tip turned 135° counter-clockwise to her face. 9. One needle is placed in front of the patient with its tip pointing in the opposite direction to her face. The patient was given autogenic training by the method of first standard exercise (heaviness) before learning the condition of muscular relaxation adequate for desensitization and comfortably sat on a reclining chair with her eyes closed. The patient was informed of the presence of a needle actually being placed before her eyes in the condition of the hierarchy order No.9 and was instructed to image it with her eyes closed. When she no longer felt fear, she was told to open her eyes and sense the actual stimulation. However, when she felt any fear, the preceding desensitization procedure was repeated until her fear had disappeared. Similar steps were repeated in this way in the reverse order of the desensitization hierarchy up to No.1. Approximately 3 months after the patient was treated by the modified method of desensitization, she was relieved from her aichmophobia which had lasted for nearly 10 years.

View full abstract