Can prepared fear conditioning result from verbal instructions?

Human fear conditioning is often seen as the result of a highly automatic process that is independent of higher cognitive functions and verbal instructions. However, cumulative research findings call this view into question. In the current preregistered study (N = 102), we investigated whether the number of participants who successfully show conditioned fear acquisition depends on the instructions given to them before the fear conditioning phase. Particularly, one third of the participants were instructed about the precise contingency between the conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US). Another third was merely instructed that there would be a contingency. The last third did not get any instructions about the CS-US contingency. We found facilitated fear acquisition rate in the first and second group compared to the third group. Furthermore, contingency reversal instructions following the acquisition phase reversed both conditioned skin conductance and startle responses. These results highlight that researchers should systematically report the instructions given to participants in human fear conditioning studies.

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Effects of an Anxiety-Specific Psychometric Factor on Fear Conditioning and Fear Generalization

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000304 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 225 (3) ◽

pp. 200-213 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Christian Baumann ◽

Miriam A. Schiele ◽

Martin J. Herrmann ◽

Tina B. Lonsdorf ◽

Peter Zwanzger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factor ◽

Anxiety Disorders ◽

Fear Conditioning ◽

Longitudinal Design ◽

Principal Component ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Specific Factor ◽

High Anxious ◽

Two Factors ◽

Fear Generalization

Abstract. Conditioning and generalization of fear are assumed to play central roles in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders. Here we investigate the influence of a psychometric anxiety-specific factor on these two processes, thus try to identify a potential risk factor for the development of anxiety disorders. To this end, 126 healthy participants were examined with questionnaires assessing symptoms of anxiety and depression and with a fear conditioning and generalization paradigm. A principal component analysis of the questionnaire data identified two factors representing the constructs anxiety and depression. Variations in fear conditioning and fear generalization were solely associated with the anxiety factor characterized by anxiety sensitivity and agoraphobic cognitions; high-anxious individuals exhibited stronger fear responses (arousal) during conditioning and stronger generalization effects for valence and UCS-expectancy ratings. Thus, the revealed psychometric factor “anxiety” was associated with enhanced fear generalization, an assumed risk factor for anxiety disorders. These results ask for replication with a longitudinal design allowing to examine their predictive validity.

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Challenges of Fear Conditioning Research in the Age of RDoC

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000303 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 225 (3) ◽

pp. 189-199 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Tina B. Lonsdorf ◽

Jan Richter

Keyword(s):

Fear Conditioning ◽

Clinical Diagnosis ◽

Research Domain Criteria ◽

Major Focus ◽

The Future ◽

Definition Of ◽

Methodological Considerations ◽

Research Domain

Abstract. As the criticism of the definition of the phenotype (i.e., clinical diagnosis) represents the major focus of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative, it is somewhat surprising that discussions have not yet focused more on specific conceptual and procedural considerations of the suggested RDoC constructs, sub-constructs, and associated paradigms. We argue that we need more precise thinking as well as a conceptual and methodological discussion of RDoC domains and constructs, their interrelationships as well as their experimental operationalization and nomenclature. The present work is intended to start such a debate using fear conditioning as an example. Thereby, we aim to provide thought-provoking impulses on the role of fear conditioning in the age of RDoC as well as conceptual and methodological considerations and suggestions to guide RDoC-based fear conditioning research in the future.

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