title: Effects of potentially phobic conditioned stimuli on retention, reconditioning, and extinction of the conditioned skin conductance response.
abstract: Discriminative classical conditioning of skin conductance responses (SCRs) was studied in 163 college students as a function of four variables: CS type (potentially phobic versus neutral conditioned stimuli), Sex of the subject, Interstimulus interval (ISI) during conditioning (.5 versus 8 s), and Retention interval between conditioning and retention assessment (1 versus 6 months). CS type did not affect acquisition, retention, or reconditioning of the differential conditioned responses. The effect of CS type was highly significant during extinction, with differential SCRs to CS+ and CS- being greater with potentially phobic conditioned stimuli. This was true for both sexes, both the .5-s and the 8-s ISI, and after a 1-month or a 6-month retention interval. Moreover, SCRs conditioned to phobic conditioned stimuli with the .5-s ISI persisted even after subjects' cognitive expectancy of the UCS, which was measured on a trial-by-trial basis, had completely extinguished. The results indicate that the effect of potentially phobic conditioned stimuli on the conditioned skin conductance response is unique to resistance to extinction-they affect not learning but unlearning of the autonomic response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA 90041.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Schell
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Marinkovic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D001245:Association Learning; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D012153:Retention, Psychology