Two spider-phobic patients were treated with a participant-modeling therapeutic approach. Continuous ambulatory heart rates were measured before and after treatment on a spider course laid out so that subjects encountered a variety of spider-related stimuli and environs. Heart rates were also measured during treatment. Despite behavioral improvement pre- to post-treatment for both subjects, the two subjects' heart rates exhibited opposite effects pre- to post-treatment, results consistent with the notion that behavioral improvement and physiological changes do not necessarily occur simultaneously in phobic subjects.
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