Covariation bias in panic-prone individuals.
Covariation estimates between fear-relevant (FR; emergency situations) or fear-irrelevant (FI; mushrooms and nudes) stimuli and an aversive outcome (electrical shock) were examined in 10 high-fear (panic-prone) and 10 low-fear respondents. When the relation between slide category and outcome was random (illusory correlation), only high-fear participants markedly overestimated the contingency between FR slides and shocks. However, when there was a high contingency of shocks following FR stimuli (83%) and a low contingency of shocks following FI stimuli (17%), the group difference vanished. Reversal of contingencies back to random induced a covariation bias for FR slides in high- and low-fear respondents. Results indicate that panic-prone respondents show a covariation bias for FR stimuli and that the experience of a high contingency between FR slides and aversive outcomes may foster such a covariation bias even in low-fear respondents.
Pauli
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P
Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Germany. paul.pauli@uni-tuebingen.de
Montoya
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P
Martz
G E
GE
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D004597:Electroshock; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017288:Pain Threshold; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011337:Probability Learning; D012718:Set, Psychology