Maladaptive behavioral consequences of conditioned fear-generalization: A pronounced, yet sparsely studied, feature of anxiety pathology☆
Section snippets
Participants
Fifty healthy participants were recruited from the University of Minnesota research experience program and received course credit for their time. Prior to testing, participants gave written informed consent that had been approved by the University IRB. Inclusion criteria included: (1) no past or current Axis-I psychiatric disorder, (2) no major medical condition that interfered with the objectives of the study, and (3) no current use of medications altering central nervous system function.
Results
Descriptive statistics for startle and subjective responses across pre-acquisition and Pavlovian acquisition are displayed in Table 1.
Discussion
Current findings validate a novel experimental paradigm for assessing maladaptive behavioral correlates of Pavlovian generalization of conditioned fear. The applied ‘virtual farmer’ paradigm elicited both Pavlovian and instrumental generalization gradients with strongest fear-related responses (startle potentiation, perceived risk, behavioral avoidance) to the CS+, and curve-linear decreases in responding as presented stimuli differentiated from CS+. Central to the primary aim of the study,
Conclusion
Current findings validate a novel paradigm for assessing Pavlovian and instrumental generalization of conditioned fear and the relations among them. Higher levels of Pavlovian generalization were associated with stronger maladaptive avoidance of benign GSs with resemblance to CS+. The current paradigm offers the field a lab-based tool with which to probe the neurobiology, pharmacology, and therapeutic responsiveness of maladaptive, generalized avoidance—a key but understudied feature of
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This work was supported by R00-MH080130 from the National Institute of Mental Health.