Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 9, 2026

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults
08:25

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults

Published on: October 19, 2014

Watch Out, It Bites! An Examination of Threat Information Transmission from Parents to Young Children with Specific

Lisa Trimarchi1, Gabrielle Simcock1, Imogene Calteaux1

  • 1Griffith University.

Behavior Therapy
|May 7, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Parents of children with specific phobias transmit more negative information, especially in ambiguous situations. This finding supports the role of information transmission in the development of early-onset pathological fears.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology

Background:

  • Specific phobias are common in children, often starting by age 3.
  • Children may develop fears and avoidance behaviors after receiving threatening information.
  • The role of information transmission in clinical samples of early-onset phobias is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of information transmission in early-onset specific phobias.
  • To compare information transmission patterns between parents of children with specific phobias and controls.
  • To examine Rachman's (1977) theory of fear acquisition through information transmission.

Main Methods:

  • Compared 42 parents of children (3-6 years) with specific phobia to 17 parents of age-matched controls.
  • Parents completed diagnostic interviews and psychopathology questionnaires.
  • An in-person novel animal task assessed information provided to children under positive, negative, and ambiguous conditions.

Main Results:

  • Parents of children with specific phobia provided significantly more negative information than controls under ambiguous conditions.
  • The amount of negative information provided was not linked to parental anxiety.
  • Findings suggest negative information transmission is relevant in pathological fears.

Conclusions:

  • Negative information transmission plays a role in the development of pathological fears in children.
  • This study supports the theory that children acquire fears through information transmission, particularly in clinical settings.
  • Findings are relevant to understanding the onset of specific phobias in young children.

Keywords:
Rachmanfear acquisitioninformation transmissionnegative/threatening informationspecific phobia

More Related Videos

Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat11:18

Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat

Published on: September 12, 2014

The Other End of the Leash: An Experimental Test to Analyze How Owners Interact with Their Pet Dogs08:59

The Other End of the Leash: An Experimental Test to Analyze How Owners Interact with Their Pet Dogs

Published on: October 13, 2017

Related Concept Videos

Preparedness and Phobias01:09

Preparedness and Phobias

Human fear responses to certain stimuli, such as darkness, heights, deep water, and blood, can often arise despite the absence of direct negative experiences. This phenomenon is rooted in evolutionary psychology, which posits that humans have developed a predisposition to fear stimuli that historically posed significant survival threats. This predisposition, known as preparedness, suggests that early humans who developed a fear of potentially dangerous entities, such as venomous snakes and...
Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development

The sensorimotor stage, the initial phase of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spans the first two years of a child's life. During this period, infants actively engage with their surroundings, building cognitive awareness through direct interaction with the world. This interaction is primarily based on sensory perception and motor actions, allowing infants to gradually understand basic physical properties and predict how objects interact within their environment.
Exploration...
Social Anxiety Disorder01:28

Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, is characterized by an intense fear of social situations where one might face humiliation, rejection, embarrassment, or negative evaluation. This disorder leads individuals to avoid activities like casual conversations, public speaking, or seemingly simple tasks such as eating, signing documents, or swimming, in public settings. Its impact extends beyond discomfort, often significantly interfering with daily functioning and quality of life.
Behavior Therapy01:22

Behavior Therapy

Behavior therapy incorporates diverse techniques rooted in classical conditioning principles to address maladaptive behaviors and anxiety disorders. These methods aim to reduce avoidance behaviors, foster adaptive coping mechanisms, and alter associations between stimuli and responses, making them effective in a wide range of therapeutic contexts.
Exposure therapy is a cornerstone of behavioral treatment for anxiety disorders. It involves systematic exposure to feared stimuli, either in real...
Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
Bullying02:04

Bullying

A modern form of aggression is bullying. As you learn in your study of child development, socializing and playing with other children is beneficial for children’s psychological development. However, as you may have experienced as a child, not all play behavior has positive outcomes. Some children are aggressive and want to play roughly. Other children are selfish and do not want to share toys. One form of negative social interactions among children that has become a national concern is bullying.