Table Of ContentBestMasters
Springer awards „BestMasters“ to the best master’s theses which have been com-
pleted at renowned universities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
The studies received highest marks and were recommended for publication by
supervisors. They address current issues from various fields of research in natural
sciences, psychology, technology, and economics.
The series addresses practitioners as well as scientists and, in particular, offers guid-
ance for early stage researchers.
Hannah Genheimer
Fear and Anxiety
in Virtual Reality
Investigations of cue and context
conditioning in virtual environment
Hannah Genheimer
Würzburg, Germany
BestMasters
ISBN 978-3-658-08202-4 ISBN 978-3-658-08203-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-658-08203-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014956936
© Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden 2015
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or
part of the material is concerned, speci(cid:191) cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illus-
trations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on micro(cid:191) lms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by
similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a speci(cid:191) c statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained
herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
Printed on acid-free paper
Springer is a brand of Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden
Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden is part of Springer Science+Business Media
(www.springer.com)
Preface
This interdisciplinary master thesis combines biological and psychological research. The
study was implemented at the University of Würzburg in the Department of Psychology
I (Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy).
Our department includes research groups focusing on experimental clinical psychology,
affective neuroscience, clinical psychophysiology, imitation behavior, eating behavior,
cardiopsychology and fMRI, associative learning and virtual reality research.
Our research tracks are two-fold: The biopsychological and experimental research
addresses basic as well as application-oriented questions. The latter refers mainly to the
field of clinical psychology.
One focus is directed towards emotional and motivational phenomena such as anxiety,
pain, substance abuse, and addiction. Here, we examine the underlying behavioral and
psychophysiological mechanisms in healthy and clinical samples using various study
designs and methods. Furthermore, we investigate the physiological basis of social
perception, verbal communication and interaction (Social Cognitive Neuroscience).
A very special methodological feature at our department is the research in virtual
environments (computer simulations) in order to induce and measure affective states in
humans. Within the applied research, we investigate the efficacy of exposure in virtual
environments for the therapy of different phobias (flight phobia, tunnel phobia, spider
phobia, height phobia, social phobia) as well as the essential components for treatment
efficacy. In basic research we examine the psychophysiological and neuropsychological
correlates of stress, fear and nausea. Dependent measures include beside subjective data
physiological measures such as heart rate, skin conductance, facial muscle activity
(EMG), blood pressure, respiration, and startle response. To measure brain activity we
apply EEG and fMRI technology.
vi Preface
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The study presented in this book combines the advantages of virtual reality and the
research on neurophysiological and behavioral mechanisms of experimentally induced
fear and anxiety. Eventually, the research will help to understand basic mechanisms in
the development of fear and anxiety disorders.
Prof. Dr. Paul Pauli Prof. Dr. Matthias Wieser
Acknowledgements
Conducting this master thesis was very enjoyable and demanding in the kind and
boosting atmosphere at the department of psychology. Many people supported me
during this work and earn my special gratitude:
Thank you very much
Dr. Evelyn Glotzbach-Schoon
... for your fantastic supervision of this master thesis. You supported me with your help
and advice at best and at any time.
Prof. Dr. Andreas Mühlberger
... for your great research idea, critical remarks and especially for the enablement of this
work despite your move to Regensburg.
Prof. Dr. Paul Pauli
... for encouraging my work at the institute and the always very helpful discussions.
Prof. Dr. Matthias Wieser
... for your help with the EEG in this study. Special thanks for getting me enthusiastic
about science and for the fabulous dedicated supervision during 4 years.
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Rössler
... for unproblematic and smart supervision of this master thesis on behalf of biology.
the whole fear and anxiety-workgroup
... for your kind help, the fruitful discussions and new suggestions.
all subjects
... for your courageous participation in the pilot study as well as in the main experiment.
my girls from Würzburg
... for many wonderful and unforgettable evenings with you. Many thanks for your
hardworking shared proofreading and all the helpful comments.
Uli, Andy and Julian
... for your always very, very critical comments about scientific work and your
‘voluntary’ participation as test subjects.
my parents
... for your backing all along my life, your support and everything you do for me.
Table of contents
Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 1
Zusammenfassung ............................................................................................................................ 3
1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 Fear, anxiety and behavioral responses ...................................................................................... 5
1.2 Clinical insights ..................................................................................................................................... 7
1.3 From classical conditioning to contextual fear conditioning ............................................... 8
1.3.1 Classical conditioning ................................................................................................................. 8
1.3.2 Fear conditioning ......................................................................................................................... 9
1.3.3 Contextual and cued fear conditioning............................................................................. 10
1.4 Neural correlates of fear, anxiety and conditioning ............................................................. 11
1.5 Physiology ............................................................................................................................................ 14
1.5.1 Electrodermal activity (EDA) ............................................................................................... 15
1.5.2 Electroencephalography (EEG) ........................................................................................... 15
1.6 Fear conditioning in virtual reality............................................................................................. 18
1.7 Hypotheses and goals of the recent experiment .................................................................... 19
2 Methods ......................................................................................................................................... 23
2.1 Preparation of the experiment – pilot study ......................................................................... 23
2.1.1 New stimulus material ............................................................................................................ 23
2.1.1.1 Rebuilding the virtual environment ...................................................................................................23
2.1.1.2 New screenshots ..........................................................................................................................................25
2.1.2 Evaluation of the stimulus material................................................................................... 26
2.1.2.1 Sample and procedure ..............................................................................................................................26
2.1.2.2 Results and conclusions ............................................................................................................................26
2.2 Sample ................................................................................................................................................... 27
2.3 Material ................................................................................................................................................. 28
2.3.1 Stimulus material ...................................................................................................................... 28
2.3.1.1 Aversive electric stimulation..................................................................................................................28
2.3.1.2 Screenshots in test-phase ........................................................................................................................29
2.3.2 Data acquisition ......................................................................................................................... 29
2.3.2.1 Subjective data .............................................................................................................................................29
2.3.2.1.1 Questionnaires ........................................................................................................................... 29
2.3.2.1.2 Explicit ratings: Valence, arousal, anxiety, US-expectancy, US-contingency and
screenshot affiliation .................................................................................................................................. 31
2.3.2.2 Physiological recordings ..........................................................................................................................32
2.3.2.2.1 Skin conductance level ............................................................................................................ 32
2.3.2.2.2 Electroencephalography ........................................................................................................ 32
2.4 Experimental procedure and design .......................................................................................... 33
2.4.1 The laboratory ........................................................................................................................... 33
2.4.2 Experimental design ................................................................................................................ 33
x Table of contents
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2.5 Data reduction and analysis .......................................................................................................... 36
2.5.1 Analysis of subjective data .................................................................................................... 37
2.5.2 Analysis of physiological data .............................................................................................. 38
2.5.2.1 Skin conductance level ..............................................................................................................................38
2.5.2.2 Electroencephalography ..........................................................................................................................38
2.5.3 Explorative analyses ................................................................................................................ 39
3 Results ............................................................................................................................................ 41
3.1 Sample characteristics .................................................................................................................... 41
3.2 The unconditioned stimulus ......................................................................................................... 42
3.3 Explicit ratings.................................................................................................................................... 42
3.3.1 Valence .......................................................................................................................................... 43
3.3.2 Arousal .......................................................................................................................................... 44
3.3.3 Anxiety .......................................................................................................................................... 45
3.3.4 US-Expectancy............................................................................................................................ 45
3.3.5 Contingency ratings ................................................................................................................. 46
3.3.6 Context ratings ........................................................................................................................... 47
3.4 Physiological Data ............................................................................................................................. 47
3.4.1 Electrodermal activity ............................................................................................................. 47
3.4.2 Electroencephalography ........................................................................................................ 49
3.4.2.1 P100 ...................................................................................................................................................................50
3.4.2.2 EPN ....................................................................................................................................................................51
3.4.2.3 LPP .....................................................................................................................................................................52
3.5 Explorative analyses ........................................................................................................................ 52
4 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 55
4.1 The virtual environments .............................................................................................................. 55
4.2 Choosing the kind of unconditioned stimuli ........................................................................... 55
4.3 Contextual fear conditioning ......................................................................................................... 56
4.4 Cue conditioning ................................................................................................................................ 58
4.5 No cue conditioning or inappropriate method? ..................................................................... 61
4.6 Contextual conditioning and anxiety disorders ..................................................................... 64
4.7 Limitations and future directions ............................................................................................... 65
4.8 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................................... 67
5 References .................................................................................................................................... 69
