The effect of systematic desensitization upon snake fearful subjects was compared in two conditions. In the first, relaxation was paired with imagined scenes of the snake, and in the second with a real snake. The second group improved more in a behavioral approach test and evidenced less anxiety as measured by GSR than the first group. The results point to an inefficiency of the imaginative process, and the possibility that behavioral change is enhanced by contact with the feared object. © 1969.