Vicarious Extinction of Avoidance Behavior through Films: An Initial Test

In a recent study, Bandura, Grusec, and Menlove (1967) provided evidence that children's phobias may be vicariously extinguished through the direct observation of a fearless peer model. Groups of preschool children who displayed a considerable fear of dogs observed another child make progressively longer and more active advances to a live dog during eight modeling sessions. Control groups met for an equal number of sessions but were not exposed to the model's performance. The modeIing procedures proved to be highly effective in increasing these children's willingness to approach dogs when compared to the controls. The present study was designed to explore the possibiliry that a similar effect can be produced with filmed rather than live models. Assessment of avoidance behavior, both before and after the presentation of modeling films, was made by asking the children to stand at the distal end of an 18-ft. runway which led to a play pen containing a large German shepherd. The children were asked to "walk toward the dog as close as you want to go" and, if they approached to zero feet, were asked to pet the dog and feed him a piece of frankfurter. Of 40 preschool boys thus tested, 18 did not initially approach to zero feet. These children were divided into two groups, matched for initial avoidance, and used for the remainder of the experiment. The nine male Ss in the film-modeling group saw an 11-min. color film sequence depicting a series of interactions between a large German shepherd and another child of their age and sex. The control group, matched for initial avoidance of dogs, was not exposed to this manipulation. The film, which was accompanied by a sound-track, was analogous to the procedures used by Bandura, et al., in that the modeled aversive stimuli gradually increased in intensity. Thus, the first scene of the film shows Peter, who is 10-yr.-old, playing with the dog, "Champie." Then Eric, aged 4, gradually approaches Champie and is only later shown interacting vigorously with him. The final scenes show Eric and Peter playing together with Champie. The subsequent post-test revealed that eight of the nine boys in the film group were now willing to approach, pet, and feed the live dog. Only three of the nine boys in the control group approached to zero feet during this post-test. A Fisher's Exact Test reveals a probability of .03 for this difference between groups (or one more suggestive) occurring by chance. These findings are, of course, no more than an initial demonstration. An extensive research program is planned to provide a detailed examination of the possibilities and limitation of "film-therapy" of the rype described in this report.'