ABSTRACT
Our research so far has demonstrated both the prevalence and the importance of the false alarm effect following a single cancellation of a threat. This was found in the affective domain by the psychophysiological index of heart rate as well as in the cognitive domain by a variety of subjective reports. Furthermore, we discovered two variables that affect the magnitude of the FAE, namely, the warning stage during which cancellation occurs and the initial probability of the threat. In addition, the data indicate that credibility loss is mediated by a variety of mechanisms, such as the intensity of fear reaction to the first threat, contrast effects between the two consecutive threats, and additional cognitive mediators that take place during various stages of the entire experience.
