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Updated: Jul 25, 2026

Extinction Training During the Reconsolidation Window Prevents Recovery of Fear
Published on: August 24, 2012
Stronger renewal in human fear conditioning when tested with an acquisition retrieval cue than with an extinction
Debora Vansteenwegen1, Bram Vervliet, Dirk Hermans
1Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Behaviour Therapy, Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. deb.vansteenwegen@psy.kuleuven.be
Abstract:
It was previously demonstrated in our laboratory that conditioned fear in humans can renew after extinction, when this procedure took place in a different context (ABA-renewal [Vansteenwegen et al. (2005). Return of fear in a human differential conditioning paradigm caused by a return to the original acquisition context. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43(3), 323-336]). Using the same experimental design, we now tested the power of retrieval cues to interact with this contextual renewal phenomenon. Two groups went through acquisition and extinction (in a different context). They were then tested in the original acquisition context and in the presence of a retrieval cue. In the acquisition-cue group, this cue previously featured during the acquisition procedure; in the extinction-cue group, the cue previously featured during the extinction procedure. As expected, renewal of conditioned electro-dermal responding and retrospective expectancy ratings was strongest in the acquisition-cue group. Theoretical and clinical implications of this finding are discussed.
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