Perceptual and conceptual similarities facilitate the generalization of instructed fear

Abstract Background and objectives Learned fear can generalize to neutral events due their perceptual and conceptual similarity with threat relevant stimuli. This study simultaneously examined these forms of generalization to model the expansion of fear in anxiety disorders. Methods First, artificia...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry Vol. 48; pp. 149 - 155
Main Authors Bennett, Marc, Vervoort, Ellen, Boddez, Yannick, Hermans, Dirk, Baeyens, Frank
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2015
Subjects
Adult
Anxiety disorders
Avoidance Learning - physiology
Conceptual generalization
Conditioning, Classical - physiology
Fear
Fear - physiology
Female
Generalization (Psychology) - physiology
Humans
Male
Perceptual generalization
Psychiatry
Young Adult
Perceptual generalization
Conceptual generalization
Fear
Anxiety disorders
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Summary:Abstract Background and objectives Learned fear can generalize to neutral events due their perceptual and conceptual similarity with threat relevant stimuli. This study simultaneously examined these forms of generalization to model the expansion of fear in anxiety disorders. Methods First, artificial categories involving sounds, nonsense words and animal-like objects were established. Next, the words from one category were paired with threatening information while the words from the other category were paired with safety information. Lastly, we examined if fear generalized to (i) the conceptually related animal-like objects and (ii) other animal like-objects that were perceptually similar. This was measured using behavioral avoidance, US expectancy ratings and self-reported stimulus valence. Results Animal-like objects conceptually connected to the aversive words evoked heightened fear. Perceptual variants of these animal-like objects also elicit fear. Limitations Future research would benefit from the use of online-US expectancy ratings and physiological measures of fear. Conclusions Investigating the role of both perceptual and conceptual fear generalization is important to better understand the etiology of anxiety disorders symptoms.
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ISSN:0005-7916
1873-7943
DOI:10.1016/j.jbtep.2015.03.011