6533b838fe1ef96bd12a4715
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Fear expression and return of fear following threat instruction with or without direct contingency experience
Raffael KalischTina B. LonsdorfJan De HouwerManuel KuhnGaëtan MertensAn K. Raessubject
AdultMaleReflex StartleREFLEXSkin conductance responsePoison controlExperimental and Cognitive PsychologyRELEVANT STIMULIInstructionsFear-potentiated startle050105 experimental psychology03 medical and health sciences0302 clinical medicineArts and Humanities (miscellaneous)Conditioning PsychologicalDevelopmental and Educational PsychologymedicineHumansANXIETY0501 psychology and cognitive sciencesSituational ethicsELECTRODERMAL RESPONSESPhobiasACQUISITION05 social sciencesClassical conditioningHUMANSGalvanic Skin ResponseExtinction (psychology)LEARNED FEARFearFear potentiated startlemedicine.diseaseEXTINCTIONAnxietyFemalemedicine.symptomContingencyPsychologySocial psychology030217 neurology & neurosurgeryPOTENTIATED STARTLEPHOBIASConditioningdescription
Prior research showed that mere instructions about the contingency between a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US) can generate fear reactions to the CS. Little is known, however, about the extent to which actual CS-US contingency experience adds anything beyond the effect of contingency instructions. Our results extend previous studies on this topic in that it included fear potentiated startle as an additional dependent variable and examined return of fear (ROF) following reinstatement. We observed that CS-US pairings can enhance fear reactions beyond the effect of contingency instructions. Moreover, for all measures of fear, instructions elicited immediate fear reactions that could not be completely overridden by subsequent situational safety information. Finally, ROF following reinstatement for instructed CS+s was unaffected by actual experience. In summary, our results demonstrate the power of contingency instructions and reveal the additional impact of actual experience of CS-US pairings.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-01-01 |