Avoiding a feared stimulus: Modelling costly avoidance of learnt fear in a sensory preconditioning paradigm

Wong, Alex H.K.; Pittig, Andre

doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108249

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…In such cases it is sufficient to infer simply that there is a threat regardless of the specifics. This only requires the generalization of negative value from C-items to their indirectly associated A-items, an effect that has previously been demonstrated in humans using sensory-preconditioning paradigms 17 , 18 , 46 . Moreover, experiments have shown that activity along the long axis of the hippocampus reflects a gradient of resolutions at which one or multiple events can be retrieved 47 , suggesting that the effect of threat on associative inference could be different at the ‘gist-level’.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Threat learning impairs subsequent associative inference

Vries

Grasman

Kindt

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Despite it being widely acknowledged that the most important function of memory is to facilitate the prediction of significant events in a complex world, no studies to date have investigated how our ability to infer associations across distinct but overlapping experiences is affected by the inclusion of threat memories. To address this question, participants (n = 35) encoded neutral predictive associations (A → B). The following day these memories were reactivated by pairing B with a new aversive or neutral outcome (B → CTHREAT/NEUTRAL) while pupil dilation was measured as an index of emotional arousal. Then, again 1 day later, the accuracy of indirect associations (A → C?) was tested. Associative inferences involving a threat learning memory were impaired whereas the initial memories were retroactively strengthened, but these effects were not moderated by pupil dilation at encoding. These results imply that a healthy memory system may compartmentalize episodic information of threat, and so hinders its recall when cued only indirectly. Malfunctioning of this process may cause maladaptive linkage of negative events to distant and benign memories, and thereby contribute to the development of clinical intrusions and anxiety.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Threat learning impairs subsequent associative inference

Vries

Grasman

Kindt

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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“…Moreover, avoidance behaviors in response to the CS2 are expected (Declercq & De Houwer, 2009;. Wong and Pittig (2022a) confirmed this expectation in a recent study, demonstrating that participants showed more (costly) avoidance to a preconditioning stimulus that was paired with the CS+ than to a preconditioning stimulus that was paired with the CS-. Moreover, their findings also suggested that threat anticipation plays an important role in CS avoidance, as participants decreased their US expectancy ratings after engaging in CS avoidance.…”

Section: Us Versus Cs Avoidancesupporting

confidence: 76%

Rethinking avoidance

Lemmens¹

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“…Another possible explanation resides in the very nature of the task, which consists of what is called "low-cost" avoidance, in that it only requires a button press, without, for example, either a physical effort, or a cost in terms of reward loss. While "lowcost" avoidance tasks have proven effective for studying CS-avoidance in humans (e.g., Klein et al, 2021), their capacity to account for pathological avoidance has been criticized (Krypotos et al, 2018;Pittig et al, 2020;Wong & Pittig, 2022), due to the fact that they do not take into account that pathological avoidance is often accompanied by an omission of reward (e.g., not attending a concert in order to avoid being surrounded by people), which renders it costly. Future studies should test the present task on clinical groups to evaluate whether the inclusion of action costs is needed to tap into pathological mechanisms of active CS-avoidance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spontaneous instrumental avoidance learning in social contexts

Mennella¹,

Bavard²,

Mentec³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Adaptation to our social environment requires learning how to avoid potentially harmful situations, such as encounters with aggressive individuals. Threatening facial expressions can evoke automatic stimulus-driven reactions, but whether their aversive motivational value suffices to drive instrumental active avoidance remains unclear. When asked to freely choose between different action alternatives, participants spontaneously - without instruction or monetary reward - developed a preference for choices that maximized the probability of avoiding angry individuals (sitting away from them in a waiting room). Most participants showed clear behavioral signs of instrumental learning, even in the absence of an explicit avoidance strategy. Inter-individual variability in learning depended on participants’ subjective evaluations and sensitivity to threat approach feedback. Counterfactual learning best accounted for avoidance behaviors, especially in participants who developed an explicit avoidance strategy. Our results demonstrate that implicit defensive behaviours in social contexts are likely the product of several learning processes, including instrumental learning.

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Avoiding a feared stimulus: Modelling costly avoidance of learnt fear in a sensory preconditioning paradigm

Cited by 10 publications

References 71 publications

Threat learning impairs subsequent associative inference

Threat learning impairs subsequent associative inference

Rethinking avoidance

Spontaneous instrumental avoidance learning in social contexts

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