1
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Lyons AL, Andries M, Ferstl RM, Greening SG. Suffering more in imagination than in reality? Mental imagery and fear generalization. Behav Brain Res 2024; 472:115146. [PMID: 39009189 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2024] [Revised: 06/21/2024] [Accepted: 07/08/2024] [Indexed: 07/17/2024]
Abstract
Mental imagery may represent a weaker form of perception and, thus, mental images may be more ambiguous than visual percepts. If correct, the acquisition of fear would be less specific for imagined fears in comparison to perceptual fears, perhaps facilitating broader fear generalization. To test this idea, a two-day differential fear conditioning experiment (N = 98) was conducted. On day one, two groups of participants underwent differential fear conditioning such that a specific Gabor patch orientation (CS+) was paired with mild shocks (US) while a second Gabor patch of orthogonal orientation (CS-) was never paired with shock. Critically, one group imagined the Gabor patches and the other group was visually presented the Gabor patches. Next, both groups were presented visual Gabor patches of similar orientations (GCS) to the CS+. On day two, to assess the persistence of imagined fear, participants returned to the lab and were tested on the GCS devoid of shock. For day one, in contrast to our primary hypothesis, both self-report and skin conductance response measures did not show a significant interaction between the GCS and groups. On day two, both measures demonstrated a persistence of imagined fear, without US delivery. Taken together, rather than demonstrating an overgeneralization effect, the results from this study suggest that imagery-based fear conditioning generalizes to a similar extent as perceptually acquired fear conditioning. Further, the persistence of imagery-based fear may have unique extinction qualities in comparison to perceptual-based fear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew L Lyons
- Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Dept. of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Canada
| | - McKenzie Andries
- Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Dept. of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Canada
| | - Ryan M Ferstl
- Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Dept. of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Canada
| | - Steven G Greening
- Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Dept. of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Canada; Centre on Aging, University of Manitoba, Canada.
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2
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d' Isa R, Parsons MH, Chrzanowski M, Bebas P, Stryjek R. Catch me if you can: free-living mice show a highly flexible dodging behaviour suggestive of intentional tactical deception. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 11:231692. [PMID: 39253095 PMCID: PMC11382684 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2023] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 06/06/2024] [Indexed: 09/11/2024]
Abstract
Intentional tactical deception, the employment of a tactic to intentionally deceive another animal, is a complex behaviour based on higher-order cognition, that has rarely been documented outside of primates and corvids. New laboratory-to-field assays, however, provide the opportunity to investigate such behaviour among free-living mice. In the present study, we placed laboratory-style test chambers with a single entrance near a forest outside Warsaw, where we observed the social interactions of two territorial murids, black-striped and yellow-necked mice, under food competition for seven months. Notably, among the social interactions, we video-recorded 21 instances of deceptive pursuer evasion. In the most obvious cases, an individual inside the chamber, to avoid an incoming mouse, hid by the chamber opening (the only means to enter or exit), paused until the pursuer entered and passed by, and then exploited the distraction of the back-turned pursuer by fleeing through the opening in a direction opposite to the one the pursuer came from. This deceptive dodging is the first evidence of a behaviour suggestive of intentional tactical deception among mice. As such, this deceptive behaviour may be of interest not only for rodent psychology but also, more generally, for the fields of non-human intentionality and theory of mind.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raffaele d' Isa
- Institute of Experimental Neurology (INSPE), Division of Neuroscience (DNS), IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Marcin Chrzanowski
- Faculty of Biology, Biology Teaching Laboratory, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Piotr Bebas
- Faculty of Biology, Department of Animal Physiology, Institute of Functional Biology and Ecology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Rafal Stryjek
- Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
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3
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Meulders A, Traxler J, Vandael K, Scheepers S. High-Anxious People Generalize Costly Pain-Related Avoidance Behavior More to Novel Safe Contexts Compared to Low-Anxious People. THE JOURNAL OF PAIN 2024; 25:702-714. [PMID: 37832901 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2023.09.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023]
Abstract
Pain-related avoidance is adaptive when there is a bodily threat, but when it generalizes to safe movements/situations, it may become disabling. Both subclinical anxiety-a vulnerability marker for chronic pain-and chronic pain are associated with excessive fear generalization to safe stimuli/situations. Previous research focused mainly on passive fear correlates (psychophysiological arousal and self-reports) leaving avoidance behavior poorly understood. Therefore, we tested whether high-anxious individuals generalize their pain-related avoidance behavior more to novel, safe contexts than low-anxious people. In a robotic-arm-reaching task, both groups (low vs high trait anxiety) performed 1 of 3 movements to reach a target. In the threat context (black background), a painful stimulus could be partly/completely prevented by performing more effortful trajectories (longer and more force needed); in the safe context (white background), no pain occurred. Generalization of avoidance was tested in 2 novel contexts (light/dark gray backgrounds). We assessed pain expectancy, pain-related fear, startle eyeblink responses for all trajectories, and avoidance behavior (ie, maximal deviation from shortest trajectory). Results indicated that differential fear and expectancy selectively generalized to the novel context resembling the original threat context in both groups. Interestingly and in contrast with the verbal reports, high-anxious participants avoided more in the novel context resembling the original safe context, but not in the 1 resembling the threat context. No generalization emerged in the startle data. Because excessive pain-related avoidance specifically may cause withdrawal from daily life activities, these findings suggest that high-anxious individuals may be vulnerable to developing chronic pain disability. PERSPECTIVE: This paper shows that high-anxious people do not overgeneralize pain-related fear and pain expectancy learned in a threat context more to novel, safe contexts than low-anxious individuals, but that they do avoid more in those contexts. These findings suggest that high-anxious individuals may be vulnerable to developing chronic pain disability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann Meulders
- Experimental Health Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Research Group Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Juliane Traxler
- Experimental Health Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Research Group Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium; Institute for Health Services Research in Dermatology and Nursing, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Kristof Vandael
- Experimental Health Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Silke Scheepers
- Research Group Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven, Belgium
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4
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King H, Martone L, Laureano B, Falligant JM. A systematic review of enhanced resurgence paradigms. J Exp Anal Behav 2024; 121:266-278. [PMID: 38287780 DOI: 10.1002/jeab.902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 01/31/2024]
Abstract
Following successful treatment in which problem behavior is reduced, it may reemerge as a function of changes in contextual stimuli or the worsening of reinforcement conditions for an alternative response. Although understudied, preliminary research suggests that simultaneous changes in contextual stimuli and reinforcement conditions may represent particularly exigent treatment challenges that create the condition for additive or superadditive relapse. The purpose of the present review was to systematically examine the relapse literature involving simultaneous changes in contextual stimuli and reinforcement conditions in relapse tests and experimental preparations arranged to evaluate their effect on response recovery. We identified 16 empirical articles spanning 27 experiments. Although all experiments included at least one condition that experienced a change in contextual stimuli and worsening of alternative reinforcement conditions, only two experiments included the comparison conditions needed to precisely evaluate additive and superadditive relapse. Our findings establish the preclinical generality of relapse effects associated with simultaneous changes to reinforcement conditions and contextual stimuli across a range of subjects, schedule arrangements, response topographies, reinforcers, and types of contextual changes. We make several recommendations for future research based on our findings from this nascent and clinically relevant subdomain of the relapse literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hunter King
- Department of Behavioral Psychology, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Lauren Martone
- Department of Educational Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Brianna Laureano
- Department of Behavioral Psychology, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - John Michael Falligant
- Department of Behavioral Psychology, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
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5
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Dymond S, Cameron G, Zuj DV, Quigley M. Far from the threatening crowd: Generalisation of conditioned threat expectancy and fear in COVID-19 lockdown. Learn Behav 2024:10.3758/s13420-024-00625-4. [PMID: 38286957 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-024-00625-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 01/31/2024]
Abstract
Fear and anxiety are rarely confined to specific stimuli or situations. In fear generalisation, there is a spread of fear responses elicited by physically dissimilar generalisation stimuli (GS) along a continuum between danger and safety. The current study investigated fear generalisation with a novel online task using COVID-19-relevant stimuli (i.e., busy or quiet shopping street/mall scenes) during pandemic lockdown restrictions in the United Kingdom. Participants (N = 50) first completed clinically relevant trait measures before commencing a habituation phase, where two conditioned stimuli (CSs; i.e., a busy or quiet high street/mall scene) were presented. Participants then underwent fear conditioning where one conditioned stimulus (CS+) was followed by an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US; a loud female scream accompanied by a facial photograph of a female displaying a fearful emotion) and another (CS-) was not. In a test phase, six generalisation stimuli were presented where the US was withheld, and participants provided threat expectancy and fear ratings for all stimuli. Following successful conditioning, fear generalization was observed for both threat expectancy and fear ratings. Trait worry partially predicted generalised threat expectancy and COVID-19 fear strongly predicted generalised fear. In conclusion, a generalisation gradient was evident using an online remote generalisation task with images of busy/quiet streets during the pandemic. Worry and fear of COVID-19 predicted fear generalisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Dymond
- School of Psychology, Swansea University, Singleton Campus, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK.
- Department of Psychology, Reykjavík University, Menntavegur 1, Nauthólsvík, 101, Reykjavík, Iceland.
| | - Gemma Cameron
- School of Psychology, Swansea University, Singleton Campus, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK
| | - Daniel V Zuj
- School of Psychology, Swansea University, Singleton Campus, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Locked Bag 1342, Launceston, TAS, 7250, Australia
| | - Martyn Quigley
- School of Psychology, Swansea University, Singleton Campus, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK
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6
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Vasconcelos M, Lionello-DeNolf KM, Swisher M, Sweeney MM. In Memoriam: Peter J. Urcuioli (1952-2022). J Exp Anal Behav 2023; 120:281-286. [PMID: 37326898 DOI: 10.1002/jeab.869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Marco Vasconcelos
- University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
- University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | | | | | - Mary M Sweeney
- National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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7
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Zaman J, Yu K, Andreatta M, Wieser MJ, Stegmann Y. Examining the impact of cue similarity and fear learning on perceptual tuning. Sci Rep 2023; 13:13009. [PMID: 37563349 PMCID: PMC10415342 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40166-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Past research on the effects of associative aversive learning on discrimination acuity has shown mixed results, including increases, decreases, and no changes in discrimination ability. An animal study found that the type of learning experience determined the direction and extent of learning-induced changes. The current preregistered web-based study aimed to translate these findings to humans. Experiment 1 (N = 245) compared changes in stimulus discrimination between simple learning (only one oriented grating cue), coarse differential conditioning (physically distinct cues), and fine differential conditioning (physically similar cues) as well as to their three respective control groups. The discrimination task consisted of a two-alternative-forced-choice task with oriented grating stimuli. During learning, a specific orientation was paired with unpleasant pictures. Our analysis using generative modeling demonstrated weak to moderate evidence that aversive learning did not alter discrimination acuity in any of the groups. In a follow-up experiment (N = 121), we replicated these findings despite successful learning trajectories in all three groups and a more detailed assessment of discrimination acuity. Contrary to prior assumptions, our findings indicate that aversive learning does not enhance perceptual discrimination, and the presence of additional safety cues does not appear to moderate this effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Zaman
- Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, Box 3726, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
- School of Social Sciences, University of Hasselt, Hasselt, Belgium.
| | - Kenny Yu
- Quantitative Psychology and Individual Differences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, Box 3726, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Marta Andreatta
- Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Post Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Matthias J Wieser
- Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Post Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Yannik Stegmann
- Department of Psychology (Experimental Clinical Psychology), University of Würzburg, 97070, Würzburg, Germany
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8
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Yu K, Tuerlinckx F, Vanpaemel W, Zaman J. Humans display interindividual differences in the latent mechanisms underlying fear generalization behaviour. COMMUNICATIONS PSYCHOLOGY 2023; 1:5. [PMID: 39242719 PMCID: PMC11290606 DOI: 10.1038/s44271-023-00005-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2024]
Abstract
Human generalization research aims to understand the processes underlying the transfer of prior experiences to new contexts. Generalization research predominantly relies on descriptive statistics, assumes a single generalization mechanism, interprets generalization from mono-source data, and disregards individual differences. Unfortunately, such an approach fails to disentangle various mechanisms underlying generalization behaviour and can readily result in biased conclusions regarding generalization tendencies. Therefore, we combined a computational model with multi-source data to mechanistically investigate human generalization behaviour. By simultaneously modelling learning, perceptual and generalization data at the individual level, we revealed meaningful variations in how different mechanisms contribute to generalization behaviour. The current research suggests the need for revising the theoretical and analytic foundations in the field to shift the attention away from forecasting group-level generalization behaviour and toward understanding how such phenomena emerge at the individual level. This raises the question for future research whether a mechanism-specific differential diagnosis may be beneficial for generalization-related psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Jonas Zaman
- KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
- University of Hasselt, Hasselt, Belgium
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9
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Wong AH, Pittig A. Threat belief determines the degree of costly safety behavior: Assessing rule-based generalization of safety behavior with a dimensional measure of avoidance. Behav Res Ther 2022; 156:104158. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2022.104158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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10
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Cowie S, Davison M. Choosing a future from a murky past: A generalization-based model of behavior. Behav Processes 2022; 200:104685. [PMID: 35690289 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2021] [Revised: 04/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Remembering the past appears critical in allowing organisms to detect order in an environment, and hence to behave in accordance with likely future events. Yet the shortcomings of remembering and perceiving typically mean that the remembered past differs from the actual past, and hence that behavior does not perfectly track the structure of the environment. Here, we outline how the process of generalization might be used to understand differences between what an organism does, and the structure of the past and potential structure of the environment. We explore how different sources of generalization - both from within the same stimulus situation, and from different stimulus situations - might be modeled quantitatively, and how predictions made by this modeling approach are supported by research. Finally, we discuss how generalization from multiple stimulus situations, longer-term experience, and from stimulus situations in the past that are not identical to the stimulus situation in the present, might contribute to our understanding of how an organism's experience translates into behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Cowie
- The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
| | - M Davison
- The University of Auckland, New Zealand
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11
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Patterson RR, Lipp OV, Luck CC. Conceptual generalisation in fear conditioning using single and multiple category exemplars as conditional stimuli - electrodermal responses and valence evaluations generalise to the broader category. Cogn Emot 2022; 36:630-642. [PMID: 35503408 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2022.2047897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Conceptual generalisation occurs when conditional responses generalise to novel stimuli from the same category. Past research demonstrates that physiological fear responses generalise across categories, however, conceptual generalisation of stimulus valence evaluations during fear conditioning has not been examined. We investigated whether conceptual generalisation, as indexed by electrodermal responses and stimulus evaluations, would occur, and differ after training with single or multiple conditional stimuli (CSs). Stimuli from two of four categories (vegetables, farm animals, clothing, and office supplies) were used as the CS+ (followed by an electric stimulus) or CS- (presented alone). Generalisation was assessed by presenting novel stimuli from the CS categories after acquisition, extinction, and reinstatement. One category exemplar was used as the CS+ and CS- in the single group, whereas three exemplars were used as the CS+ and CS- in the multiple group. Electrodermal responses generalised in acquisition and extinction but did not differ between groups. In the multiple group, CS evaluations generalised in acquisition and extinction, whereas generalisation was not evident in the single group. Training with multiple CSs also resulted in the extinction of stimulus valence. The current findings have implications for future research examining the generalisation of valence and for exposure-based treatments of anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ottmar V Lipp
- School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Camilla C Luck
- School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
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12
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Derenne A, Veenstra CC, Ruthig JC. Effects of Stimulus Discriminability on Peak Shift: An Investigation with COVID-19 Risk Assessments. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2022.101813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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13
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Glogan E, Meulders M, Pfeiffer L, Vlaeyen JWS, Meulders A. Alike, But Not Quite: Comparing the Generalization of Pain-Related Fear and Pain-Related Avoidance. THE JOURNAL OF PAIN 2022; 23:1616-1628. [PMID: 35508274 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2022.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2022] [Revised: 03/29/2022] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Pain-related fear and -avoidance crucially contribute to pain chronification. People with chronic pain may adopt costly avoidance strategies above and beyond what is necessary, aligning with experimental findings of excessive fear generalization to safe movements in these populations. Furthermore, recent evidence suggests that, when avoidance is costly, it can dissociate from fear. Here, we investigated whether concurrently measured pain-related fear and costly avoidance generalization correspond in one task. We also explored whether healthy participants avoid excessively despite associated costs, and if avoidance would decrease as a function of dissimilarity from a pain-associated movement. In a robotic arm-reaching task, participants could avoid a low-cost, pain-associated movement trajectory (T+), by choosing a high-cost non-painful movement trajectory (T-), at opposite ends of a movement plane. Subsequently, in the absence of pain, we introduced three movement trajectories (G1-3) between T+ and T-, and one movement trajectory on the side of T- opposite to T+ (G4), linearly increasing in costs from T+ to G4. Avoidance was operationalized as maximal deviation from T+, and as trajectory choice. Fear learning was measured using self-reported pain-expectancy, pain-related fear, and startle eye-blink electromyography. Self-reports generalized, both decreasing with increasing distance from T+. In contrast, all generalization trajectories were chosen equally, suggesting that avoidance-costs and previous pain balanced each other out. No effects emerged in the electromyography. These results add to a growing body of literature showing that (pain-related) avoidance, especially when costly, can dissociate from fear, calling for a better understanding of the factors motivating, and mitigating, disabling avoidance. PERSPECTIVE: This article presents a comparison of pain-related fear- and avoidance generalization, and an exploration of excessive avoidance in healthy participants. Our findings show that pain-related avoidance can dissociate from fear, especially when avoidance is costly, calling for a better understanding of the factors motivating and mitigating disabling avoidance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eveliina Glogan
- Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Michel Meulders
- Research Centre for Mathematics, Education, Econometrics and Statistics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Research Group Quantitative Psychology and Individual Differences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Leon Pfeiffer
- Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Johan W S Vlaeyen
- Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Ann Meulders
- Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
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14
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Mason L, Otero M, Andrews A. Cochran's Q Test of Stimulus Overselectivity within the Verbal Repertoire of Children with Autism. Perspect Behav Sci 2022; 45:101-121. [PMID: 35342868 PMCID: PMC8894513 DOI: 10.1007/s40614-021-00315-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Stimulus overselectivity remains an ill-defined concept within behavior analysis, because it can be difficult to distinguish truly restrictive stimulus control from random variation. Quantitative models of bias are useful, though perhaps limited in application. Over the last 50 years, research on stimulus overselectivity has developed a pattern of assessment and intervention repeatedly marred by methodological flaws. Here we argue that a molecular view of overselectivity, under which restricted stimulus control has heretofore been examined, is fundamentally insufficient for analyzing this phenomenon. Instead, we propose the use of the term "overselectivity" to define temporally extended patterns of restrictive stimulus control that have resulted in disproportionate populations of responding that cannot be attributed to chance alone, and highlight examples of overselectivity within the verbal behavior of children with autism spectrum disorder. Viewed as such, stimulus overselectivity lends itself to direct observation and measurement through the statistical analysis of single-subject data. In particular, we demonstrate the use of the Cochran Q test as a means of precisely quantifying stimulus overselectivity. We provide a tutorial on calculation, a model for interpretation, and a discussion of the implications for the use of Cochran's Q by clinicians and researchers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee Mason
- Child Study Center, Cook Children’s Health Care System, 1300 West Lancaster Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 76102 USA
- Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX USA
| | - Maria Otero
- Child Study Center, Cook Children’s Health Care System, 1300 West Lancaster Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 76102 USA
- University of North Texas, Denton, TX USA
| | - Alonzo Andrews
- University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX USA
- San Antonio Independent School District, San Antonio, TX USA
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15
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Neural substrates of human fear generalization: A 7T-fMRI investigation. Neuroimage 2021; 239:118308. [PMID: 34175426 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2020] [Revised: 06/16/2021] [Accepted: 06/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Fear generalization - the tendency to interpret ambiguous stimuli as threatening due to perceptual similarity to a learned threat - is an adaptive process. Overgeneralization, however, is maladaptive and has been implicated in a number of anxiety disorders. Neuroimaging research has indicated several regions sensitive to effects of generalization, including regions involved in fear excitation (e.g., amygdala, insula) and inhibition (e.g., ventromedial prefrontal cortex). Research has suggested several other small brain regions may play an important role in this process (e.g., hippocampal subfields, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis [BNST], habenula), but, to date, these regions have not been examined during fear generalization due to limited spatial resolution of standard human neuroimaging. To this end, we utilized the high spatial resolution of 7T fMRI to characterize the neural circuits involved in threat discrimination and generalization. Additionally, we examined potential modulating effects of trait anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty on neural activation during threat generalization. In a sample of 31 healthy undergraduate students, significant positive generalization effects (i.e., greater activation for stimuli with increasing perceptual similarity to a learned threat cue) were observed in the visual cortex, thalamus, habenula and BNST, while negative generalization effects were observed in the dentate gyrus, CA1, and CA3. Associations with individual differences were underpowered, though preliminary findings suggested greater generalization in the insula and primary somatosensory cortex may be correlated with self-reported anxiety. Overall, findings largely support previous neuroimaging work on fear generalization and provide additional insight into the contributions of several previously unexplored brain regions.
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16
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Rehm S, Sachau J, Hellriegel J, Forstenpointner J, Børsting Jacobsen H, Harten P, Gierthmühlen J, Baron R. Pain matters for central sensitization: sensory and psychological parameters in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome. Pain Rep 2021; 6:e901. [PMID: 33718743 PMCID: PMC7952123 DOI: 10.1097/pr9.0000000000000901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Revised: 12/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Sensory abnormalities through quantitative sensory testing in fibromyalgia were not substantially influenced by psychological comorbidities. A significant subgroup showed signs of central sensitization, influenced by pain intensity. Introduction: Patients suffering from fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) are heterogenous. They often present with sensory abnormalities and comorbidities. Objectives: We aimed to answer the following questions: (1) Is there a specific somatosensory profile in our patient cohort? (2) Can we detect subgroups characterized by a specific combination of sensory and psychological features? and (3) Do psychological parameters influence sensory signs? Methods: In 87 patients with FMS quantitative sensory testing was performed on the hand and evaluated in combination with questionnaire results regarding pain, psychological comorbidities, sleep, and functionality. Results: Patients presented different somatosensory patterns, but no specific subgroups regarding sensory signs and psychological features were detected. Hypersensitivity for noxious mechanical and thermal stimuli and hyposensitivity for nonnoxious mechanical stimuli were the most prominent features. Thirty-one percent of patients showed signs of central sensitization as indicated by abnormally increased pinprick hyperalgesia or dynamic mechanical allodynia. Central sensitization was associated with higher pain intensities (P < 0.001). Only a small influence of psychiatric comorbidities on mechanical pain sensitivity (P = 0.044) and vibration detection (P = 0.028) was found, which was partly associated with high pain intensities. A small subgroup of patients (11.4%) demonstrated thermal hyposensitivity (loss of small-fiber function). Conclusion: Patients with FMS showed various somatosensory abnormalities. These were not significantly influenced by psychological comorbidities. Signs for central sensitization were detected in about one-third of patients and associated with higher pain intensities. This supports the notion of central sensitization being a major pathophysiological mechanism in FMS, whereas small-fiber loss may be less important.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie Rehm
- Division of Neurological Pain Research and Therapy, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Germany
| | - Juliane Sachau
- Division of Neurological Pain Research and Therapy, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Germany
| | - Jana Hellriegel
- Division of Psychiatry, Imland Klinik Rendsburg, Rendsburg, Germany
| | - Julia Forstenpointner
- Division of Neurological Pain Research and Therapy, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Germany.,Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Center for Pain and the Brain, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Henrik Børsting Jacobsen
- Department of Pain Management and Research, Division of Emergencies and Critical Care, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.,Mind-Body Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | | | - Janne Gierthmühlen
- Division of Neurological Pain Research and Therapy, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Germany
| | - Ralf Baron
- Division of Neurological Pain Research and Therapy, Department of Neurology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Germany
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17
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Rule-based generalization of threat without similarity. Biol Psychol 2021; 160:108042. [PMID: 33581229 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Revised: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Threat generalization to novel instances is central to adaptive behavior. Most previous work has investigated threat generalization based on the perceptual similarity between past and novel stimuli. Few studies have explored generalization based on abstract, non-perceptual relations despite their importance for cognitive flexibility. In order to measure such rule-based generalization of threat without perceptual similarity, we developed a novel paradigm that prevents perceptual features from gaining predictive value. Our results demonstrate that participants responded according to the correct abstract rule and used it to successfully generalize their anticipatory behavioral threat responses (expectancy ratings, sudomotor nerve activity, and heart rate responses). Our results further show that participants flexibly adapted their responses to an unsignaled mid-session contingency reversal. We interpret our results in the context of other rule-based generalization tasks and argue that variations of our paradigm make possible a wide range of investigations into the conceptual aspects of threat generalization.
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18
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Wong AHK, Beckers T. Trait anxiety is associated with reduced typicality asymmetry in fear generalization. Behav Res Ther 2021; 138:103802. [PMID: 33482583 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2021.103802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2020] [Revised: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/30/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
In fear conditioning, training with typical category exemplars has been shown to promote fear generalization to novel exemplars of the same category, whereas training with atypical category exemplars supports limited if any generalization to other category members, amounting to a typicality asymmetry in fear generalization. The present study sought to examine how trait anxiety bears on typicality asymmetry in fear generalization. Participants in one condition were presented with typical exemplars during fear acquisition and atypical exemplars of the same category in the subsequent generalization test (typical condition), whereas in the other group, atypical and typical exemplars were presented during fear acquisition and generalization test, respectively (atypical condition). We observed a typicality asymmetry in fear generalization in self-reported expectancy ratings in low trait anxious individuals only. High trait anxious individuals showed a similar degree of fear generalization in both conditions. The current results help illuminate why some individuals are at risk for exhibiting broad fear generalization after exposure to an aversive event.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex H K Wong
- University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Department of Psychology (Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Tom Beckers
- Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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19
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McClay M, Hennings AC, Reidel A, Dunsmoor JE. Generalization of conditioned fear along a dimension of increasing positive valence. Neuropsychologia 2020; 148:107653. [PMID: 33049257 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Revised: 09/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The amount of fear evoked by potential threats is oftentimes proportional to the overlap in shared features with known threats. An adaptive learning system should therefore extract relevant features from threat stimuli to successfully detect other novel threats in the environment. But what if the most relevant feature of a threat stimulus is emotionally positive? Here, we used Pavlovian fear conditioning to ask whether people extract positive emotional features of a fear conditioned stimulus (CS) to selectively generalize to other stimuli that contain positive features. In a between subjects design, we first paired a picture of a face expressing either a slight amount of happiness or fear with an electrical shock to the wrist. We then tested fear generalization to modified face stimuli of the same identity expressing more or less happiness or fear. Both groups exhibited biased physiological arousal (a peak shift) to a face stimulus with the most exaggerated emotional expression, regardless of valence. Fear generalization diminished to unreinforced happy faces over the course of testing, whereas arousal was maintained to unreinforced fearful faces throughout testing. Finally, subjects fear conditioned to a slightly happy face were accurate at retrospectively identifying the correct CS, whereas subjects fear conditioned to a fearful face retrospectively misidentified a more fearful face as the threat CS. These findings suggest that positive emotional features extracted from a known threat can guide biased fear generalization, but that generalization is maintained by a dimension of increasing fear which also produces retrospective biases in threat intensity estimation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mason McClay
- Department of Psychiatry, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, USA
| | | | - Alex Reidel
- Department of Psychiatry, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, USA
| | - Joseph E Dunsmoor
- Department of Psychiatry, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, USA; Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, USA.
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20
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Abstract
The generalization of learned behavior has been extensively investigated, but accounting for variance in generalized responding remains a challenge. Based on recent advances, we demonstrate that the inclusion of perceptual measures in generalization research may lead to a better understanding of both intra- and interindividual differences in generalization. We explore various ways through which perceptual variability can influence generalized responding. We investigate its impact on the ability to discriminate between stimuli and how similarity between stimuli may be variable, rather than fixed, because of it. Subsequently, we argue that perceptual variations can yield different learning experiences and that interindividual differences in generalized responding may be understood from this perspective. Finally, we point to the role of memory and decision-making within this context. Throughout this paper, we argue that accounting for perception in current generalization protocols will improve the precision of obtained generalization gradients and the ability to infer latent mechanisms. This can inspire future attempts to use generalization gradients as a (clinical) predictor or to relate them to individual traits and neural correlates and, ultimately, may lead to new theoretical and clinical insights.
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21
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Lee JC, Mills L, Hayes BK, Livesey EJ. Modelling generalisation gradients as augmented Gaussian functions. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2020; 74:106-121. [DOI: 10.1177/1747021820949470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Studying generalisation of associative learning requires analysis of response gradients measured over a continuous stimulus dimension. In human studies, there is often a high degree of individual variation in the gradients, making it difficult to draw conclusions about group-level trends with traditional statistical methods. Here, we demonstrate a novel method of analysing generalisation gradients based on hierarchical Bayesian curve-fitting. This method involves fitting an augmented (asymmetrical) Gaussian function to individual gradients and estimating its parameters in a hierarchical Bayesian framework. We show how the posteriors can be used to characterise group differences in generalisation and how classic generalisation phenomena such as peak shift and area shift can be measured and inferred. Estimation of descriptive parameters can provide a detailed and informative way of analysing human generalisation gradients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica C Lee
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | | | - Brett K Hayes
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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22
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Meulders A. Fear in the context of pain: Lessons learned from 100 years of fear conditioning research. Behav Res Ther 2020; 131:103635. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2020.103635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2019] [Revised: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/24/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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23
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Harvie DS, Weermeijer JD, Olthof NA, Meulders A. Learning to predict pain: differences in people with persistent neck pain and pain-free controls. PeerJ 2020; 8:e9345. [PMID: 32612886 PMCID: PMC7319024 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.9345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2019] [Accepted: 05/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Learning to predict threatening events enables an organism to engage in protective behavior and prevent harm. Failure to differentiate between cues that truly predict danger and those that do not, however, may lead to indiscriminate fear and avoidance behaviors, which in turn may contribute to disability in people with persistent pain. We aimed to test whether people with persistent neck pain exhibit contingency learning deficits in predicting pain relative to pain-free, gender-and age-matched controls. Method We developed a differential predictive learning task with a neck pain-relevant scenario. During the acquisition phase, images displaying two distinct neck positions were presented and participants were asked to predict whether these neck positions would lead to pain in a fictive patient with persistent neck pain (see fictive patient scenario details in Appendix A). After participants gave their pain-expectancy judgment in the hypothetical scenario, the verbal outcome (PAIN or NO PAIN) was shown on the screen. One image (CS+) was followed by the outcome “PAIN”, while another image (CS−) was followed by the outcome “NO PAIN”. During the generalization phase, novel but related images depicting neck positions along a continuum between the CS+ and CS− images (generalization stimuli; GSs) were introduced to assess the generalization of acquired predictive learning to the novel images; the GSs were always followed by the verbal outcome “NOTES UNREADABLE” to prevent extinction learning. Finally, an extinction phase was included in which all images were followed by “NO PAIN” assessing the persistence of pain-expectancy judgments following disconfirming information. Results Differential pain-expectancy learning was reduced in people with neck pain relative to controls, resulting from patients giving significantly lower pain-expectancy judgments for the CS+, and significantly higher pain-expectancy judgments for the CS−. People with neck pain also demonstrated flatter generalization gradients relative to controls. No differences in extinction were noted. Discussion The results support the hypothesis that people with persistent neck pain exhibit reduced differential pain-expectancy learning and flatter generalization gradients, reflecting deficits in predictive learning. Contrary to our hypothesis, no differences in extinction were found. These findings may be relevant to understanding behavioral aspects of chronic pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel S Harvie
- The Hopkins Centre, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.,School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
| | | | - Nick A Olthof
- The Hopkins Centre, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.,School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
| | - Ann Meulders
- Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
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24
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Learning Behavioral Repertoires with Different Consequences Hinders the Interconnection of These Repertoires in Pigeons in the Box Displacement Test. PSYCHOLOGICAL RECORD 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s40732-020-00407-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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25
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Perceptual errors are related to shifts in generalization of conditioned responding. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2020; 85:1801-1813. [PMID: 32333107 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-020-01345-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 04/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Studies of perceptual generalization have recently demonstrated a close relationship between stimulus perception and conditioned responding, suggesting that incorrect stimulus perception might account for certain characteristics of generalization gradients. In this study, we investigated whether common phenomena, such as the area and peak shift in conditioned responding, relate to perceptual errors. After a differential conditioning procedure, in which one circle was paired with the presentation of an aversive picture whereas a different-sized circle was not, we combined a generalization test with a three-alternative forced-choice perceptual categorization task where participants had to indicate on every trial whether the presented circle was one of the two circles from the conditioning phase or a different one, after which US-expectancy ratings were collected. The typical peak and area shift were observed when conditioned responses were plotted on a physical dimension. However, when stimulus perception was incorporated generalization gradients diverged from the typical gradient. Both the area and peak shift largely disappeared when accounting for perceptual errors. These findings demonstrate the need to incorporate perceptual mechanisms in associative models.
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26
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Divergence in cortical representations of threat generalization in affective versus perceptual circuitry in childhood: Relations with anxiety. Neuropsychologia 2020; 142:107416. [PMID: 32173623 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2019] [Revised: 01/22/2020] [Accepted: 02/29/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Children at risk for anxiety display elevated threat sensitivity and may inaccurately classify safe stimuli as threatening, a process known as overgeneralization. Little is known about whether such overgeneralization might stem from altered sensory representations of stimuli resembling threat, especially in youth. Here we implement representational similarity analysis of fMRI data to examine the similarity of neural representations of threat versus ambiguous or safe stimuli in threat and perceptual neurocircuitry among children at varying levels of anxiety traits. Three weeks after completing threat conditioning and extinction, children underwent an fMRI extinction recall task, during which they viewed the extinguished threat cue (CS+), safety cue (CS-) and generalization stimuli (GS) consisting of CS-/CS+ blends. Multivoxel BOLD signal patterns were measured in seven regions of interest: four affective areas (ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), anterior insular cortex (AIC), dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), and amygdala) and three perceptual areas (inferior temporal cortex (ITC) and visual areas V1 and V4). Compared to low anxious children, children with high trait anxiety evidenced less neural pattern differentiation between the CS+ and similar GS, particularly in the vmPFC. Together, these results demonstrate the utility of multivariate neuroimaging approaches in arbitrating the relative contributions of perceptual versus affective sources to threat generalization.
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27
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Glogan E, Gatzounis R, Meulders M, Meulders A. Generalization of instrumentally acquired pain-related avoidance to novel but similar movements using a robotic arm-reaching paradigm. Behav Res Ther 2020; 124:103525. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2019.103525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2019] [Revised: 10/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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28
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San Martín C, Jacobs B, Vervliet B. Further characterization of relief dynamics in the conditioning and generalization of avoidance: Effects of distress tolerance and intolerance of uncertainty. Behav Res Ther 2020; 124:103526. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2019.103526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2019] [Revised: 10/24/2019] [Accepted: 11/19/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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29
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Abstract
Abstract“Peak Shift” usually occurs following intradimensional-discrimination training and involves a shift of the peak of the generalization gradient away from the original discriminative stimulus (S+) in a direction away from an S-. Two theoretical accounts of peak shift, the gradient interaction theory (GIT) and adaptation level theory (ALT), were compared. The effects of asymmetric test stimuli and the impact of instructions to participants for them to treat stimuli as members of categories on generalization gradients were investigated. In Experiment 1, the relation between peak shifts obtained when an extended asymmetric set of test stimuli was employed and the occurrence of categorization of the stimuli involved was investigated in four separate conditions. Two involved temporal discrimination, one involved line-angle discrimination, and one involved a compound line-angle and temporal cue discrimination. If participants treated the stimuli as belonging to discrete categories, such as hands-on a clock, rather than as being on continuous dimensions then responding to the compound cue was expected to result in attenuation of blocking of a peak shift. However, the peak shift obtained to the three cue types were the same. In Experiment 2, an independent group of participants was given explicit instructions to treat the line angles as if they were the hands of a clock face and this eliminated peak shift. The results from the present experiments support an ALT interpretation, although the peak shifts were significantly smaller in magnitude than predicted by this account.
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30
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Prieur J, Barbu S, Blois‐Heulin C, Lemasson A. The origins of gestures and language: history, current advances and proposed theories. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2019; 95:531-554. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2019] [Revised: 11/30/2019] [Accepted: 12/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jacques Prieur
- Department of Education and PsychologyComparative Developmental Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany
- Univ Rennes, Normandie Univ, CNRS, EthoS (Ethologie animale et humaine) – UMR 6552 F‐35380 Paimpont France
| | - Stéphanie Barbu
- Univ Rennes, Normandie Univ, CNRS, EthoS (Ethologie animale et humaine) – UMR 6552 F‐35380 Paimpont France
| | - Catherine Blois‐Heulin
- Univ Rennes, Normandie Univ, CNRS, EthoS (Ethologie animale et humaine) – UMR 6552 F‐35380 Paimpont France
| | - Alban Lemasson
- Univ Rennes, Normandie Univ, CNRS, EthoS (Ethologie animale et humaine) – UMR 6552 F‐35380 Paimpont France
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31
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Fisher WW, Fuhrman AM, Greer BD, Mitteer DR, Piazza CC. Mitigating resurgence of destructive behavior using the discriminative stimuli of a multiple schedule. J Exp Anal Behav 2019; 113:263-277. [PMID: 31621919 DOI: 10.1002/jeab.552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Results of several recent translational studies have suggested that correlating contextual or discriminative stimuli with the delivery and withholding of reinforcement for the functional communication response (FCR) may mitigate resurgence of destructive behavior, but few, if any, have isolated the effects of those stimuli. In the present study, we first trained the FCR, brought it under stimulus control of a multiple schedule, and thinned its reinforcement schedule in one stimulus context. Next, we conducted resurgence evaluations (i.e., baseline, functional communication training [FCT], extinction challenge) in two novel contexts to test the effects of the discriminative stimuli on resurgence. We programmed one context to include the (a) SD during the FCT phase to signal the availability of reinforcement for the FCR and (b) SΔ during a subsequent extinction challenge to signal the unavailability of reinforcement for the FCR. The other context did not include the SD during the FCT phase, nor the SΔ during the extinction challenge. We expected to see greater persistence of the FCR in the context that included the SD during FCT and less persistence of the FCR and less resurgence of destructive behavior in the context that included the SΔ during the extinction challenge. Obtained results confirmed this latter prediction, but we observed no reliable difference when the SD was present or absent during the FCT phase. Our results have relevance for practitioners in that they provide further empirical support for the use of discriminative stimuli when treating destructive behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wayne W Fisher
- University of Nebraska Medical Center's Munroe-Meyer Institute
| | | | - Brian D Greer
- University of Nebraska Medical Center's Munroe-Meyer Institute
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32
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Liu C, Chen L, Yu R. Category-based generalization of placebo and nocebo effects. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2019; 199:102894. [PMID: 31349030 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2019.102894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2018] [Revised: 07/05/2019] [Accepted: 07/15/2019] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Human beings possess the adaptive ability to apply experiential knowledge to new situations. Although this generalization capability has been demonstrated in fear and reward learning, it remains unclear whether it extends to analgesic and hyperalgesic pain responses. Here, we conducted two experiments (total n = 104) to test the generalization effects of placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia. The first experiment, using a category-based conditioning paradigm in which two categories of images were used as acquisition stimuli, assessed whether pain perception can be generalized to never-seen pictures of the same category in the generalization phase. The second experiment adopted a single stimulus for each category as CS to further examine the generalization effects after learning a single exemplar. Pain ratings showed that participants reported higher pain or lower pain when the pain was preceded by novel stimuli that were conceptually similar to the previously conditioned stimuli, suggesting a generalization of analgesic and hyperalgesic pain modulation effects. These results provide novel evidence that analgesic and hyperalgesic effects on pain perception can be generalized to conceptually similar new items.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cuizhen Liu
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Linqiu Chen
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science of Guangdong Province, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Rongjun Yu
- Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
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33
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Lee JC, Lovibond PF, Hayes BK. Evidential diversity increases generalisation in predictive learning. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2019; 72:2647-2657. [DOI: 10.1177/1747021819857065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
In property induction tasks, encountering a diverse range of instances (e.g., hippos and hamsters) with a given property usually increases our willingness to generalise that property to a novel instance, relative to non-diverse evidence (e.g., hippos and rhinos). Although generalisation in property induction and predictive learning tasks share conceptual similarities, it is unknown whether this diversity principle applies to generalisation of a predictive association. We tested this hypothesis in two predictive learning experiments using differential training where one category of stimuli (e.g., fruits) predicted an outcome and another category (e.g., vegetables) predicted no outcome. We compared generalisation between a Non-Diverse group who were presented with non-diverse evidence in both positive (predicted the outcome) and negative (predicted no outcome) categories, and two groups who received the same training as the Non-Diverse group but with a more diverse range of exemplars in the positive (Diverse+ group) or negative (Diverse– group) category. Diversity effects were found for both positive and negative categories, in that learning about a diverse range of exemplars increased generalisation of a predictive association to novel exemplars from that same category. The results suggest that diversity, a key principle describing how we reason inductively, also applies to generalisation in associative learning tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica C Lee
- University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | | | - Brett K Hayes
- University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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34
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Meulders A, Vlaeyen JW. The effect of differential spatiotopic information on the acquisition and generalization of fear of movement-related pain. PeerJ 2019; 7:e6913. [PMID: 31143542 PMCID: PMC6525585 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.6913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2018] [Accepted: 04/03/2019] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Fear of movement-related pain significantly contributes to musculoskeletal chronic pain disability. Previous research has shown that fear of movement-related pain can be classically conditioned. That is, in a differential fear conditioning paradigm, after (repeatedly) pairing a neutral joystick movement (conditioned stimulus; CS+) with a painful stimulus (unconditioned stimulus; pain-US), that movement in itself starts to elicit self-reported fear and elevated psychophysiological arousal compared to a control joystick movement (CS−) that was never paired with pain. Further, it has been demonstrated that novel movements that are more similar to the original CS+ elicit more fear than novel movements that are more similar to the CS−, an adaptive process referred to as stimulus generalization. By default, movement/action takes place in reference to the three-dimensional space: a movement thus not only involves proprioceptive information, but it also contains spatiotopic information. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate to what extent spatiotopic information (i.e., endpoint location of movement) contributes to the acquisition and generalization of such fear of movement-related pain besides proprioception (i.e., movement direction). In a between-subjects design, the location group performed joystick movements from the middle position to left and right; the movement group moved the joystick from left and right to the middle. One movement (CS+) was paired with pain, another not (CS−). Feature overlap between CSs typically reduces differential learning. The endpoint of both CSs in the movement group is an overlapping feature whereas in the location group the endpoint of both CSs is distinct; therefore we hypothesized that there would be less differential fear learning in the movement group compared to the location group. We also tested generalization to movements with similar proprioceptive features but different endpoint location. Following the principle of stimulus generalization, we expected that novel movements in the same direction as the CS+ but with a different endpoint would elicit more fear than novel movement in the same direction of the CS− but with a different endpoint. Main outcome variables were self-reported fear and pain-US expectancy and eyeblink startle responses (electromyographic). Corroborating the feature overlap hypothesis, the location group showed greater differential fear acquisition. Fear generalization emerged for both groups in the verbal ratings, suggesting that fear indeed accrued to proprioceptive CS features; these effects, however, were not replicated in the startle measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann Meulders
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.,Research Group Health Psychology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Johan W Vlaeyen
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.,Research Group Health Psychology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Generalization and Extinction of Concept-BasedPain-Related Fear. THE JOURNAL OF PAIN 2019; 20:325-338. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2018.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2018] [Revised: 08/02/2018] [Accepted: 09/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Zaman J, Ceulemans E, Hermans D, Beckers T. Direct and indirect effects of perception on generalization gradients. Behav Res Ther 2019; 114:44-50. [PMID: 30771704 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2019.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2018] [Revised: 01/03/2019] [Accepted: 01/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
For more than a century, researchers have attempted to understand why organisms behave similarly across situations. Despite the robust character of generalization, considerable variation in conditioned responding both between and within humans remains a challenge for contemporary generalization models. The current study aims to investigate the extent to which variation in behavior in a context of generalization can be attributed to differences in perception. We combined a fear conditioning and generalization procedure with a perceptual decision task in humans. We found that the failure to perceive a novel stimulus as different from the trained fear-evoking stimulus led to increased conditioned responding. Furthermore, perceptual errors yielded perceived stimulus-outcome contingencies that differed substantially from the objective contingencies. Final, the impact of a perceptual error was dependent upon these perceived contingencies. These findings suggest that generalization across a perceptual dimension is to a large extent driven by perceptual errors that directly affect behavior but also indirectly as they yield different learning experiences between individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Zaman
- Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, Box 3726, 3000, Leuven, Belgium; Center for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, Box 3712, 3000, Leuven, Belgium. https://ppw.kuleuven.be/ogp
| | - Eva Ceulemans
- Quantitative Psychology and Individual Differences Research Unit, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, Box 3731, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Dirk Hermans
- Center for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, Box 3712, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Tom Beckers
- Center for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, Box 3712, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
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Javanbakht A. A Theory of Everything: Overlapping Neurobiological Mechanisms of Psychotherapies of Fear and Anxiety Related Disorders. Front Behav Neurosci 2019; 12:328. [PMID: 30670956 PMCID: PMC6331393 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2018] [Accepted: 12/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Similarities within the phenomenology, neurobiology, psychotherapeutic, and pharmacological treatments of distinctly categorized anxiety and fear related disorders suggest the involvement of common neurobiological mechanisms in their formation. This theory of integration is the focus of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) approach initiated by the NIH. The current article explores potential facets of overlap among mainstream methods of psychotherapy for anxiety, fear, and trauma related disorders. These overlaps include associative learning of safety, cognitive reappraisal and emotion regulation, therapist as a social safety cue, and contextualization. Temporal contextualization and placing memories in their time and place will be suggested as a potentially important, and less explored aspect of psychotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arash Javanbakht
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, United States
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Ram H, Struyf D, Vervliet B, Menahem G, Liberman N. The Effect of Outcome Probability on Generalization in Predictive Learning. Exp Psychol 2019; 66:23-39. [DOI: 10.1027/1618-3169/a000429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. People apply what they learn from experience not only to the experienced stimuli, but also to novel stimuli. But what determines how widely people generalize what they have learned? Using a predictive learning paradigm, we examined the hypothesis that a low (vs. high) probability of an outcome following a predicting stimulus would widen generalization. In three experiments, participants learned which stimulus predicted an outcome (S+) and which stimulus did not (S−) and then indicated how much they expected the outcome after each of eight novel stimuli ranging in perceptual similarity to S+ and S−. The stimuli were rings of different sizes and the outcome was a picture of a lightning bolt. As hypothesized, a lower probability of the outcome widened generalization. That is, novel stimuli that were similar to S+ (but not to S−) produced expectations for the outcome that were as high as those associated with S+.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hadar Ram
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel
| | - Dieter Struyf
- Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Leuven University, Belgium
| | - Bram Vervliet
- Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Leuven University, Belgium
- Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Gal Menahem
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel
| | - Nira Liberman
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel
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Zilio D, Neves Filho H. O que (não) há de “complexo” no comportamento? Behaviorismo radical, self, insight e linguagem. PSICOLOGIA USP 2018. [DOI: 10.1590/0103-656420170027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Resumo Uma crítica comum encontrada em manuais e livros didáticos de psicologia é que a análise do comportamento não seria capaz de explicar fenômenos psicológicos complexos. Estes seriam melhor abordados por explicações cognitivistas baseadas em mecanismos internos ao organismo. Este ensaio tem como objetivo avaliar a pertinência dessa crítica à luz de exemplos da literatura analítico-comportamental. A partir da análise de pesquisas que tratam de formação de self, insight e linguagem, argumenta-se que a “complexidade” foi importada para os laboratórios de análise do comportamento, assim como floresceu em diversas linhas de pesquisa de tradição behaviorista radical. Em adição, são discutidos cinco significados possíveis dados à “complexidade” extraídos da literatura consultada. Conclui-se que não há significado útil do termo e que, por essa razão, talvez seja pertinente abandoná-lo como critério de classificação de comportamentos. Como consequência, “comportamento complexo” seria simplesmente “comportamento” e nada mais.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diego Zilio
- Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Brazil
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Struyf D, Hermans D, Vervliet B. Maximizing the generalization of fear extinction: Exposures to a peak generalization stimulus. Behav Res Ther 2018; 111:1-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2018.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2018] [Revised: 07/14/2018] [Accepted: 09/17/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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Balea P, Sanjuan MDC, Nelson JB. Learning to learn in conditioning and extinction in humans. Behav Processes 2018; 157:148-160. [PMID: 30261206 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2018.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2018] [Revised: 08/23/2018] [Accepted: 09/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Learning to Learn (LTL) is the transfer of learning, separate from stimulus generalization, that appears across tasks that share a similar structure. Three experiments examined this phenomenon in both conditioning and extinction learning in humans. The latter effect is of special interest given the failures in the literature to obtain transfer of extinction between stimuli. Conditioning and extinction with one stimulus increased the rate of conditioning and, surprisingly, extinction of a different stimulus (Experiment 1). The effects appeared in the absence of physical generalization. The transfer of extinction was not enhanced by conditions that increased the chances of a mediated extinction effect (Experiment 2). Finally, Experiment 3 ruled out three possible sources for the effect in extinction: a common unconditioned-stimulus representation, a common reinforcement history, and within-stimuli associations. Overall, the findings are consistent with the idea that LTL is an emergent (non-immediate) form of mediated generalization that is dependent upon memory structures retrieved by trial outcomes. The over- or under-prediction of the outcome on the first trial with a new task might retrieve prior episodes associated with similar prediction errors promoting transfer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Balea
- Universidad del País Vasco, Sarriena, s/n 48940-Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain.
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Gomes-Ng S, Elliffe D, Cowie S. Generalization of response patterns in a multiple peak procedure. Behav Processes 2018; 157:361-371. [PMID: 30048733 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2018.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2018] [Revised: 07/17/2018] [Accepted: 07/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Stimulus generalization is typically assessed by analyzing overall response rates. Studies of generalization of response-rate patterns across time are less common, despite the ubiquitous nature of time and the strong temporal control over behavior in the natural world. Thus, we investigated generalization of response-rate patterns across time using a multiple peak procedure in pigeons. The frequency (fast or slow) at which the color of a keylight changed signaled a fixed-interval (FI) 5-s or 20-s schedule, counterbalanced across subjects. In peak trials, the frequency of keylight-color changes was varied. For the fast and slow training stimuli, response rates in peak trials were controlled by the arranged FI schedule value; they increased as the arranged reinforcer time approached, and decreased thereafter. Response-rate patterns to all test stimuli were similar to response-rate patterns to the slow training stimulus for all subjects. Thus, overall, strong generalization from the slow training stimulus to all test stimuli was evident, whereas there was little to no generalization from the fast training stimulus. These findings extend past research examining generalization of temporally controlled response-rate patterns, and provide a useful starting point for future investigations of generalization of fixed-interval responding. A thorough understanding of generalization processes requires analysis of dependent variables other than overall response rates, especially when responding is likely to be temporally controlled.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Douglas Elliffe
- School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Sarah Cowie
- School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, New Zealand
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Bland VJ, Cowie S, Elliffe D, Podlesnik CA. Does a negative discriminative stimulus function as a punishing consequence? J Exp Anal Behav 2018; 110:87-104. [PMID: 29926923 DOI: 10.1002/jeab.444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2017] [Accepted: 05/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
The study and use of punishment in behavioral treatments has been constrained by ethical concerns. However, there remains a need to reduce harmful behavior unable to be reduced by differential-reinforcement procedures. We investigated whether response-contingent presentation of a negative discriminative stimulus previously correlated with an absence of reinforcers would punish behavior maintained by positive reinforcers. Across four conditions, pigeons were trained to discriminate between a positive discriminative stimulus (S+) signaling the presence of food, and a negative discriminative stimulus (S-) signaling the absence of food. Once learned, every five responses on average to the S+ produced S- for a duration of 1.5 s. S+ response rate decreased for a majority of pigeons when responses produced S-, compared to when they did not, or when a neutral control stimulus was presented. In Condition 5, choice between two concurrently presented S+ alternatives shifted away from the alternative producing S-, despite a 1:1 reinforcer ratio. Therefore, presenting contingent S- stimuli punishes operant behavior maintained on simple schedules and in choice situations. Development of negative discriminative stimuli as punishers of operant behavior could provide an effective approach to behavioral treatments for problem behavior and subverting suboptimal choices involved in addictions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Christopher A Podlesnik
- The University of Auckland.,Florida Institute of Technology and The Scott Center for Autism Treatment
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Koban L, Kusko D, Wager TD. Generalization of learned pain modulation depends on explicit learning. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2018; 184:75-84. [PMID: 29025685 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2017.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2016] [Revised: 08/28/2017] [Accepted: 09/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The experience of pain is strongly influenced by contextual and socio-affective factors, including learning from previous experiences. Pain is typically perceived as more intense when preceded by a conditioned cue (CSHIGH) that has previously been associated with higher pain intensities, compared to cues associated with lower intensities (CSLOW). In three studies (total N=134), we tested whether this learned pain modulation generalizes to perceptually similar cues (Studies 1 and 2) and conceptually similar cues (Study 3). The results showed that participants report higher pain when heat stimulation was preceded by novel stimuli that were either perceptually (Studies 1 and 2) or conceptually (Study 3) similar to the previously conditioned CSHIGH. In all three studies, the strength of this generalization effect was strongly correlated with individual differences in explicitly learned expectations. Together, these findings suggest an important role of conscious expectations and higher-order conceptual inference during generalization of learned pain modulation. We discuss implications for the understanding of placebo and nocebo effects as well as for chronic pain and anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonie Koban
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, United States; Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado Boulder, United States.
| | - Daniel Kusko
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, United States; Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado Boulder, United States
| | - Tor D Wager
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, United States; Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado Boulder, United States
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Wong AH, Lovibond PF. Rule-based generalisation in single-cue and differential fear conditioning in humans. Biol Psychol 2017; 129:111-120. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.08.056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2017] [Revised: 08/23/2017] [Accepted: 08/28/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Dunsmoor JE, Otto AR, Phelps EA. Stress promotes generalization of older but not recent threat memories. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:9218-9223. [PMID: 28784793 PMCID: PMC5576797 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1704428114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Stress broadly affects the ability to regulate emotions and may contribute to generalization of threat-related behaviors to harmless stimuli. Behavioral generalization also tends to increase over time as memory precision for recent events gives way to more gist-like representations. Thus, acute stress coupled with a delay in time from a negative experience may be a strong predictor of the transition from normal to generalized fear expression. Here, we investigated the effect of a single-episode acute stressor on generalization of aversive learning when stress is administered either immediately after an aversive learning event or following a delay. In a between-subjects design, healthy adult volunteers underwent threat (fear) conditioning using a tone-conditioned stimulus paired with an electric shock to the wrist and another tone not paired with shock. Behavioral generalization was tested to a range of novel tones either on the same day (experiment 1) or 24 h later (experiment 2) and was preceded by either an acute stress induction or a control task. Anticipatory sympathetic arousal [i.e., skin conductance responses (SCRs)] and explicit measures of shock expectancy served as dependent measures. Stress administered shortly after threat conditioning did not affect behavioral generalization. In contrast, stress administered following a delay led to heightened arousal and increased generalization of SCRs and explicit measures of shock expectancy. These findings show that acute stress increases generalization of older but not recent threat memories and have clinical relevance to understanding overgeneralization characteristics of anxiety and stress-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph E Dunsmoor
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, TX 78712;
| | - A Ross Otto
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 1G1 Canada
| | - Elizabeth A Phelps
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Sciences, New York University, New York, NY 10009
- Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962
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Podlesnik CA, Miranda-Dukoski L, Jonas Chan CK, Bland VJ, Bai JYH. Generalization of the disruptive effects of alternative stimuli when combined with target stimuli in extinction. J Exp Anal Behav 2017; 108:255-268. [DOI: 10.1002/jeab.272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2016] [Accepted: 07/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher A. Podlesnik
- Florida Institute of Technology and The Scott Center for Autism Treatment
- The University of Auckland
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Podlesnik CA, Kelley ME, Jimenez-Gomez C, Bouton ME. Renewed behavior produced by context change and its implications for treatment maintenance: A review. J Appl Behav Anal 2017; 50:675-697. [PMID: 28608584 PMCID: PMC5538309 DOI: 10.1002/jaba.400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2016] [Accepted: 11/22/2016] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Behavioral treatment gains established in one setting do not always maintain in other settings. The present review examines the relevance of basic and translational research to understanding failures to maintain treatment gains across settings. Specifically, studies of the renewal effect examine how transitioning away from a treatment setting could evoke a return of undesirable behavior, rather than newly trained appropriate behavior. Studies of renewal typically arrange three phases, with a response trained and reinforced under a particular set of contextual stimuli in the first phase. Next, that response is extinguished, often under a different set of contextual stimuli. Finally, that response returns despite extinction remaining in effect upon returning to the original training context or transitioning to a novel context. Thus, removing the extinction context is sufficient to produce a recurrence of the response. The findings suggest treatment effects can become specific to the context in which the treatment was delivered. This literature offers promising methods for systematically assessing the factors contributing to treatment maintenance and improving generalization of treatment gains across contexts. Therefore, the present review suggests basic and translational research on renewal provides an empirical literature to bring greater conceptual systematization to understanding generalization and maintenance of behavioral treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher A Podlesnik
- Florida Institute of Technology and The Scott Center for Autism Treatment, The University of Auckland
| | - Michael E Kelley
- The Scott Center for Autism Treatment and Florida Institute of Technology
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50
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Derenne A, Breitstein RM. Gradient Shifts with Naturally Occurring Human Face Stimuli. PSYCHOLOGICAL RECORD 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/bf03395555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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