Psychology Intro | Psycholinguistics | Have No Fear | I Witness | Arachnophobia

Arachnophobia
By Miruna Thaventhiran

___Tulip, a nervous first year student, tells me of her fear of all things creepy and crawly, particularly spiders. Dr Adam Guastella, a senior researcher at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), takes us to a small, cold room containing nothing but a big, hairy Trapdoor spider in a perspex box. He asks Tulip to walk up and touch the box. She cautiously begins her walk but stops abruptly sixty centimetres in front of the motionless spider. Unable to go further, fear stamped on her face, she exclaims “It looks so big! Is it real?”

___Adam assures her it is a genuine trapdoor. He takes us to a spider-free room to assess Tulip’s phobia. Undeniably, he is happy that Tulip tips the fear scale required for his study. After she signs a consent form, Adam explains that he is testing an antibiotic, d-cycloserine, which he believes may increase the effectiveness of treatments for psychological conditions such as phobias. The antibiotic is given just before treatment, and the results of the treatment are assessed three weeks later. Tulip chooses between two bottles, one containing a placebo and one containing the antibiotic. Not even Adam knows which bottle contains a placebo and which contains the drug. This precaution reduces the possibility of preconceptions that might affect the outcome of the experiment. Tulip washes the drug down and is strapped to a heart rate monitor.

___Adam continues to assess Tulip’s phobia with a confrontation of the Trapdoor again (rated by Tulip as the scariest spider ever encountered). All this while, her heart rate is monitored as a measure of her anxiety level.

___Finally, her treatment of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) begins. CBT is the study of how thoughts and behaviour influence and catalyse emotional response. Tulip is asked to talk about her physiological, psychological, and behavioural responses to hypothetical situations involving spiders. She is trained to employ slow breathing exercises and relaxation techniques, such as breathing through her diaphragm rather than her chest, to relax when she faces the spiders again.

___At last, the moment we have all been waiting for … Has there been a reduction in Tulip’s spider phobia? Adam employs a form of exposure therapy known as graded exposure: a step-by-step process to build confidence in feared situations. I watch in awe as Tulip slowly gets closer and closer to the spider, first touching the perspex box, then moving the spider with a chopstick, and finally having it still on her gloved hand inside the box.

___Tulip’s heart rate measurements indicate that her anxiety has markedly decreased, but Adam tells me that it is not over yet. Tulip needs to encounter her phobia in different contexts, with different spiders in different rooms, and even without a researcher present. The previously 'scary' spider, now referred to by Tulip as 'cute', is left alone, but only for a few moments as the next student awaits his session (poor spider!).

___So how can YOU be in Adam’s position, conducting amazing experiments, or perhaps working in another area of the extraordinary and diverse field of Psychology? Well, let’s backpedal about eight years to see how Adam came to be where he is today.
Adam completed an Arts degree at the University of Central Queensland in Rockhampton and then an Honours year, followed by a PhD in Clinical Psychology at Griffith University in Brisbane. Adam became interested in research after working on a project with his supervising professor, Dr Mark R. Dadds. After publishing research papers, he successfully won a NHMRC grant (funded by the Australian government) to pursue his current work on phobias. His interest in phobias lies in tracing the neural mechanisms of fear and the effect of emotional disclosure on psychological health.

___While he enjoys his work very much and is extremely dedicated, Adam admits that publishing research is a long and tedious process, requiring enormous persistence. However, the many bonuses of his work include independence, flexibility, and business trips overseas to such locations as Greece, Rome, and the Netherlands.

___In his spare time, Adam enjoys playing music. He is a drummer with a number of bands, including one with his supervisor, Dadds. Combining Adam’s drumming skills and Dadds’s love of jazz, these psychologists stir up a storm.

___For motivated, persistent students interested in human behaviour, psychological research is a fascinating area of study. For those with a gift for understanding others through simple conversation, a career as a clinical psychologist may beckon. After the intriguing and appealing learning experiences of my Day in Science, I have become more passionate about combining my two loves, children and psychology. I would like to become a clinical child psychologist and help children and their families cope with the challenges of life.

Psychology Intro | Psycholinguistics | Have No Fear | I Witness | Arachnophobia