An alternative scoring method for skin conductance responding in a differential fear conditioning paradigm with a long-duration conditioned stimulus (original) (raw)
Related papers
Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, 1993
The experiment reviewed here was an attempt to examine whether or not magnitudes of first and second interval skin conductance responses (FIR, SIR) to different conditioned stimuli (CS), each predicting another unconditioned stimulus (US), mirror the aversiveness of the predicted USs. Twenty human subjects received a differential Pavlov-Jan conditioning training with five CSs, each one paired eight times with a specific US. Magnitudes of FIR and SIR elicited by CSs increased with increasing aversiveness of the USs predicted. It is concluded therefore that the SIR is not a mere indicator of a cognitive expectancy process but is also affected by emotional aspects.
Transfer of conditioned fear and avoidance: Concurrent measurement of arousal and operant responding
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 2020
A reversal design was employed for the analysis of transfer of fear and avoidance through equivalence classes. Two five-member equivalence classes (A1-B1-C1-D1-E1 and A2-B2-C2-D2-E2) were established. Then B1 and C1 were paired with shock (CS+) and served as S D s in avoidance training (B2 and C2 were trained as CS-/S ∆ s for avoidance). Further avoidance training followed with D1 and E1 (as S D s) and D2 and E2 (as S ∆ s), with the first presentation of each of these stimuli serving as the first transfer test. Afterwards, aversive conditioning contingencies were reversed: B2 and D2 were paired with shock and trained as S D s for avoidance, B1 and D1 were presented without shock (CS-/S ∆ s). Transfer was tested again with C1, E1, C2 and E2. This reversal was implemented to allow for the within-subject replication of transfer effects upon changes in the function of only a subset of each class' elements. Avoidance (key presses) and conditioned fear (skin conductance and heart rate) were simultaneously measured. Results show a clear transfer effect for avoidance, with between-and within-subject replications. For physiological measures, transfer effects in the first test could only be imputed on the basis of group-based inferential statistical analysis. Evidence for between-subject replication was weaker, with only a limited proportion of participants meeting the individual criterion for transfer.
Delayed extinction fails to reduce skin conductance reactivity to fear-conditioned stimuli
Psychophysiology, 2016
A brief 10-min time delay between an initial and subsequent exposure to extinction trials has been found to impair memory reconsolidation in fear-conditioned rodents and humans, providing a potential means to reduce fearfulness in anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study used videos of biologically prepared, conditioned stimuli (tarantulas) to test the efficacy of delayed extinction in blocking reconsolidation of conditioned fear in healthy young adults. Strong differential conditioning, measured by skin conductance, was observed among a screened subset of participants during acquisition. However, the delayed-extinction intervention failed to reduce reactivity to the conditioned stimulus paired with the extinction delay. These results are partially consistent with other recent, mixed findings and point to a need for testing other candidate interventions designed to interfere with the reconsolidation process.
When two paradigms meet: Does evaluative learning extinguish in differential fear conditioning?
Learning and Motivation, 2008
Contemporary theories of Pavlovian conditioning propose a distinction between signal learning (SL), in which a conditioned stimulus (CS) becomes a predictor for a biologically significant unconditioned stimulus (US), and evaluative learning (EL), in which the valence of the US is transferred to the CS. This distinction is based largely on the different susceptibilities of EL and SL to extinction. This study compared the extinction of indices of EL (online valence ratings) and SL (US-expectancy ratings and skin conductance responses, SCRs) in a differential fear conditioning design using complex CSs. Only half of the participants gave online valence ratings, allowing us to confirm that online valence measurement did not influence SCRs. In line with the distinction between EL and SL, SCRs extinguished rapidly while valence ratings showed resistance to extinction. US-expectancy ratings, however, were not distinguishable from valence ratings indicating that verbal indicators of EL and SL share a similar time course.
Reinstatement of conditioned responses in human differential fear conditioning
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 2007
The present study aimed at investigating reinstatement of conditioned responding in human classical conditioning using a differential fear conditioning paradigm. Reinstatement is defined as the return of extinguished conditioned responses due to the experience of one or more unexpected USs. As expected the reinstatement group showed reinstatement of US-expectancy while a similar return of conditioned responses was not present in the control group. In the fear ratings a similar pattern was observed. In addition, and in line with previous findings, we found that the more negative the CS+ remained after extinction, the more return of conditioned responding was observed. Clinical implications and suggestions for further research are discussed. r
Psychophysiology, 2017
Skin conductance (SC) is a psychophysiological measure of sympathetic nervous system activity that is commonly used in research to assess conditioned fear responses. A portion of individuals evidence very low or unmeasurable SC levels (SCL) and/or response (SCR) during fear conditioning, which precludes the use of their SC data. The reason that some individuals do not produce measurable SCL and/or SCR is not clear; some early research suggested that race may be an influencing factor. In the current article, archival data from five fear conditioning samples collected from four different laboratories were examined to explore SCL and SCR magnitude in African American (AA) and non-African American (non-AA) participants. Across studies, the aggregate group difference for exclusion due to unmeasurable SCL or no measurable SCR to an unconditioned stimulus reflected a significant medium effect size (d = 0.54). Furthermore, 24.3% (range: 0-48.3%) of AA participants met SC exclusion criteria ...
Psychopharmacology, 1991
Two experiments are described which evaluate the role of associative mechanisms and placebo effects on aversively conditioned skin conductance responses in groups of healthy volunteers. In both experiments, skin conductance level (SCL), variability (spontaneous fluctuations, SF) and amplitude (SCR) were recorded during a sequence of tone stimuli (80 dB, 1 s, 360 Hz). All the variables habituated during the first ten presentations of the tones. Tone 11 was immediately followed by a loud (100 dB) aversive brief (1 s) white noise UCS. The conditioning trial significantly enhanced SCRs to a further ten presentations of the tones and increased SCL and variability (SF). No enhancement of SCRs occurred when tone 11 was omitted and the UCS occurred in temporal isolation (experiment 1). Thus enhanced SCRs to tones following paired tone-noise presentation involves an associative mechanism. Increased “spontaneous” variability was shown to involve both conditioning and sensitization following the UCS. In both experiments females showed greater conditioned SCRs than males. In experiment 2 no effect of “anxiolytic” placebo could be discerned and there were no general relationships between questionnaires scores of extraversion or neuroticism with skin conductance measures in a group of 40 volunteers. The results question the role of conditionability and autonomic lability as major determinants of extraversion and neuroticism. These studies validate the use of the psychophysiological model of aversive conditioning in pharmacological studies of the mechanisms of habituation, conditioning and sensitization.