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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Investigating the Neural Mechanisms of Aware and Unaware Fear Memory with fMRI

Investigating the Neural Mechanisms of Aware and Unaware Fear Memory with fMRI

Published on: October 6, 2011

Implementation intentions: control of fear despite cognitive load.

Inge Schweiger Gallo¹, Peter M Gollwitzer

¹Universidad Complutense de Madrid. ingesg@cps.ucm.es

|April 12, 2007

Summary

Forming implementation intentions effectively reduced fear responses to spiders without impacting cognitive resources. This self-regulation strategy appears to operate automatically, offering a powerful tool for emotional control.

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Cognitive Science
Neuroscience

Background:

Fear of spiders (arachnophobia) is a common specific phobia.
Implementation intentions are pre-formulated plans linking situational cues to goal-directed behavior.
Cognitive load can impair self-regulatory functions.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the cognitive consequences of using implementation intentions for fear control.
To assess the effectiveness of implementation intentions in reducing spider phobia.
To determine if emotional control via implementation intentions taxes cognitive resources.

Main Methods:

Participants with intense fear of spiders evaluated spider, pleasant, and neutral pictures under cognitive load.
Regulatory control was measured using Self-Assessment Manikins (SAM) scales.
A between-subjects design compared implementation intention, goal intention, and no-goal control conditions.

Main Results:

Participants using implementation intentions reported significantly weaker negative emotional responses to spider pictures.
No significant differences were found between goal intention and no-goal control groups.
Emotional control through implementation intentions did not impair cognitive performance.

Conclusions:

Implementation intentions are an effective strategy for reducing fear responses in specific phobias.
This self-regulation strategy operates automatically, conserving cognitive resources.
Findings support the use of implementation intentions as an accessible tool for emotional regulation.