title: Failure to condition evaluative and electrodermal responses to neutral stimuli by means of prepared cues.
abstract: To test Gray's proposal (1979, 1982) that prepared cues (snakes, spiders) are unconditioned, innate fear stimuli, a classical conditioning procedure was carried out in which a neutral, conditioned stimulus (CS; slides of flowers, mushrooms or apples) was repeatedly followed by a prepared, unconditioned stimulus (US; slides of snakes or spiders). Dependent variables were subjective evaluation of, and skin conductance responses to the CS slides, while respiration was used as a control variable. In one group of subjects (n = 12), skin conductance was recorded from the left hand, whereas in a second group (n = 11) it was recorded from the right hand. No evidence of skin conductance response - or of evaluative conditioning to the neutral CS as a result of its being paired with the prepared US was found. Thus, the results lend no support to Gray's proposal. No differences in skin conductance responses as a function of left versus right hand recording were found.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Health Sciences and Medical Psychology, University of Limburg, Maastricht, The Neetherlands.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Merckelbach
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: van den Hout
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van Oppen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology*; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology*; D006225:Hand / Q000294:innervation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male