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Fear of heights linked to vertical perception
00:01 25 February 2009 by Ewen Callaway
People who shudder atop skyscrapers or feel their knees buckle going over bridges have troubling perceiving vertical dimensions, two new studies suggest.
Those with an extreme fear of heights - a condition called acrophobia and often mislabelled "vertigo" - significantly overestimate vertical distances. The stronger their fear, the bigger the error, say researchers.
This runs counter to traditional theories of acrophobia, says Russell Jackson .. http://www2.csusm.edu/psychology/faculty.html#jackson , a cognitive psychologist at California State University in San Marcos, who led one of the studies. Psychologists generally hold that "acrophobia is an excessive fear in response to something that's perceived normally," he says.
But Jackson's new results indicate otherwise. "An important component of acrophobia appears to be that they are perceiving something different in the first place" and reacting normally, he says.
Jackson tested 43 students who had previously filled out a psychological survey that included questions to gauge acrophobia. The survey asked subjects to rate their anxiety over situations such as crossing a bridge or riding a Ferris wheel.
Universal fear
To test perception, Jackson's team asked each volunteer to approximate the height of a five-storey, 14.4-metre parking garage. With test subjects at the top or bottom of the building, a research assistant marched away slowly. When subjects felt the assistant had paced a distance equal to the height of the building, researchers took note.
All but one volunteer overestimated height – whether from the top or bottom of the building. However, volunteers proved better judges from the bottom of the building than the top, and a person's score on the acrophobia test did a decent job of predicting how far off he or she was.
Those most scared of heights judged the building 3 metres higher from the bottom and 12 metres higher from the top, compared with those who scored lowest on the acrophobia test.
Because subjects erred both on top of the building – where being scared is more rational – and when safe on the ground, their fear seems to be driven primarily by misperception, Jackson says.
Acrophobiacs who see a 14-metre building like it's 50 metres react like normal people would to a 50-metre building. "There's no-one that's fearless when it comes to heights," he says.
Reversed relationship
Jeanine Stefanucci .. http://jkstef.people.wm.edu/ , a psychologist at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, who led the second study agrees that misperception is key to acrophobia. However, she thinks fear drives misperception, not the other way around.
Her team asked volunteers to judge vertical distance above a two-storey balcony. When they showed volunteers provocative images – guns or snakes, for instance – volunteers tended to misjudge vertical, but not horizontal distances. But when volunteers suppressed their gut reactions to the images, they judged vertical distance more accurately. When people reacted strongly to the photos, their misjudgements increased.
This suggests that fear is driving misperception, though the relationship could more complex than one causing the other, Stefanucci says.
Either way, both team's findings offer a new approach to treating acrophobia. Traditionally, psychologists provide cognitive therapy to help them overcome their fears, and then expose them to higher and higher heights, Jackson says.
Psychologists could equate decreases in patients' vertical misperceptions to clinical improvements, only challenging them to conquer higher heights when they see the world normally, Stefanucci says.
Journal reference: Jackson's study – Proceedings of the Royal Society B .. http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/ (DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.0004)
Journal reference: Stefanucci's study – Journal of Experimental Psychology .. http://www.apa.org/journals/xge/ (DOI: 10.1037a0014797)
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16658-fear-of-heights-linked-to-vertical-perception.html#.VQ9mEOF1WM8
Hi Kozuh .. yours is linked at the bottom here
Caminito Del Rey, World's Most Dangerous Walkway, Set To Reopen Next Week
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=111985212
00:01 25 February 2009 by Ewen Callaway
People who shudder atop skyscrapers or feel their knees buckle going over bridges have troubling perceiving vertical dimensions, two new studies suggest.
Those with an extreme fear of heights - a condition called acrophobia and often mislabelled "vertigo" - significantly overestimate vertical distances. The stronger their fear, the bigger the error, say researchers.
This runs counter to traditional theories of acrophobia, says Russell Jackson .. http://www2.csusm.edu/psychology/faculty.html#jackson , a cognitive psychologist at California State University in San Marcos, who led one of the studies. Psychologists generally hold that "acrophobia is an excessive fear in response to something that's perceived normally," he says.
But Jackson's new results indicate otherwise. "An important component of acrophobia appears to be that they are perceiving something different in the first place" and reacting normally, he says.
Jackson tested 43 students who had previously filled out a psychological survey that included questions to gauge acrophobia. The survey asked subjects to rate their anxiety over situations such as crossing a bridge or riding a Ferris wheel.
Universal fear
To test perception, Jackson's team asked each volunteer to approximate the height of a five-storey, 14.4-metre parking garage. With test subjects at the top or bottom of the building, a research assistant marched away slowly. When subjects felt the assistant had paced a distance equal to the height of the building, researchers took note.
All but one volunteer overestimated height – whether from the top or bottom of the building. However, volunteers proved better judges from the bottom of the building than the top, and a person's score on the acrophobia test did a decent job of predicting how far off he or she was.
Those most scared of heights judged the building 3 metres higher from the bottom and 12 metres higher from the top, compared with those who scored lowest on the acrophobia test.
Because subjects erred both on top of the building – where being scared is more rational – and when safe on the ground, their fear seems to be driven primarily by misperception, Jackson says.
Acrophobiacs who see a 14-metre building like it's 50 metres react like normal people would to a 50-metre building. "There's no-one that's fearless when it comes to heights," he says.
Reversed relationship
Jeanine Stefanucci .. http://jkstef.people.wm.edu/ , a psychologist at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, who led the second study agrees that misperception is key to acrophobia. However, she thinks fear drives misperception, not the other way around.
Her team asked volunteers to judge vertical distance above a two-storey balcony. When they showed volunteers provocative images – guns or snakes, for instance – volunteers tended to misjudge vertical, but not horizontal distances. But when volunteers suppressed their gut reactions to the images, they judged vertical distance more accurately. When people reacted strongly to the photos, their misjudgements increased.
This suggests that fear is driving misperception, though the relationship could more complex than one causing the other, Stefanucci says.
Either way, both team's findings offer a new approach to treating acrophobia. Traditionally, psychologists provide cognitive therapy to help them overcome their fears, and then expose them to higher and higher heights, Jackson says.
Psychologists could equate decreases in patients' vertical misperceptions to clinical improvements, only challenging them to conquer higher heights when they see the world normally, Stefanucci says.
Journal reference: Jackson's study – Proceedings of the Royal Society B .. http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/ (DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.0004)
Journal reference: Stefanucci's study – Journal of Experimental Psychology .. http://www.apa.org/journals/xge/ (DOI: 10.1037a0014797)
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16658-fear-of-heights-linked-to-vertical-perception.html#.VQ9mEOF1WM8
Hi Kozuh .. yours is linked at the bottom here
Caminito Del Rey, World's Most Dangerous Walkway, Set To Reopen Next Week
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=111985212
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