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Trace Fear Conditioning in Mice
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Human fear conditioning is moderated by stimulus contingency instructions.

Gaëtan Mertens1, Yannick Boddez2, Angelos-Miltiadis Krypotos3

  • 1Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands; Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Biological Psychology
|November 28, 2020
PubMed
Summary

Instructions about the conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus (CS-US) contingency facilitate human fear conditioning and awareness. Providing or instructing participants to discover the CS-US contingency significantly enhances fear acquisition and reversal compared to no instructions.

Keywords:
Fear conditioningInstructionsPsychophysiologyReplicability

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Experimental Psychology

Background:

  • Human fear conditioning is influenced by instructions regarding the conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus (CS-US) contingency.
  • Reporting of contingency instructions in fear conditioning studies is often inconsistent.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if conditioned fear acquisition is dependent on CS-US contingency instructions.
  • To examine the impact of explicit contingency information versus discovery learning on fear acquisition.
  • To assess the effect of contingency reversal instructions on conditioned responses.

Main Methods:

  • 102 participants were randomly assigned to three groups: explicit contingency instruction, contingency discovery instruction, or no instruction.
  • Fear acquisition was measured using skin conductance and startle responses.
  • Contingency awareness and response reversal were also assessed.

Main Results:

  • Both explicit CS-US contingency instructions and instructions to discover the contingency facilitated fear acquisition compared to no instructions.
  • Participants in the instructed groups showed increased contingency awareness.
  • Contingency reversal instructions led to immediate reversal of conditioned responses.

Conclusions:

  • CS-US contingency instructions play a crucial role in human fear conditioning acquisition and awareness.
  • Explicitly informing participants or encouraging them to discover the contingency enhances fear learning.
  • Systematic reporting of contingency instructions is recommended for future fear conditioning research.