VIRTUAL REALITY THERAPY: AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR THE FEAR OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
Résumé
The major goal of this research was to investigate the
efficacy of virtual reality therapy (VRT) in the treatment of
the fear of public speaking. After an extensive two-stage
screening process, sixteen subjects were selected from the
pool. They were assigned to two treatment conditions:
VRT (N=8) and comparison group (N=8). Fourteen
subjects completed the study. The VRT group was exposed
to the virtual reality public speaking scene while the
comparison group was exposed to a trivial virtual reality
scene and guided by the experimenters to manage their
phobia either by using visualization techniques or selfexposure
to the situation they feared. The VRT and
comparison group sessions were conducted on an individual
basis over a five week period. Two assessment measures
were used in this study. The first measure used was the
Attitude Towards Public Speaking (ATPS) Questionnaire.
The second measure used was the eleven-point Subjective
Units of Disturbance (SUD) scale. These measurements
assessed the anxiety, avoidance, attitudes and disturbance
associated with their fear of public speaking before and after
treatments. In addition, objective measures such as heart
rate was collected in each stage of the treatment.
Significant differences between the six subjects who
completed the VRT sessions and comparison group were
found on all measures. The VRT group showed significant
improvement after five weeks of treatment. The comparison
group did not show any meaningful changes. The authors
concluded that VRT was successful in reducing the fear of
the public speaking.