title: Constraint, alcoholism, and electrodermal response in aversive classical conditioning and mismatch novelty paradigms.
abstract: This study investigated whether low levels of the personality trait of constraint and early-onset alcoholism would be associated with deficits in aversive conditioning and smaller responses to novelty in a stimulus mismatch protocol. Personality traits (constraint and socialization) and skin conductance responses (SCRs) during conditioning and novelty paradigms were assessed in alcoholics (n=41) and non-alcoholics (n = 32). The conditioning protocol involved measuring SCRs after conditioned stimuli (CS+: tones) paired with shock, CS- tones unpaired with shock, and CS+ probes unpaired with shock. The mismatch protocol involved measuring SCRs to auditory stimuli consisting of a series of 5 pure tones of the same pitch followed a shorter white noise stimulus (the novel stimulus). Contrary to the hypothesis, alcoholics did not differ from non-alcoholics in SCRs to CS+ probes or on the mismatch measure (SCR novel tone-SCR to 5th tone). Higher levels of constraint and self-reports of fear during conditioning were associated with smaller responses to both the CS+ probes and the CS- tones as well as the mismatch measure within non-alcoholics, but not within alcoholics. In alcoholics, low constraint was associated with greater habituation to CS+ probes, and poor differential conditioning on measures of change across trials in SCR to CS+ probes and CS- stimuli. The results suggest that different processes influence levels of constraint in non-alcoholics and alcoholics. The data indicate that low constraint in non-alcoholics is associated with allocating fewer processing resources to potentially significant stimuli, rather than being associated with a specific deficit in aversive conditioning per se.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405, USA. finnp@indiana.edu
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Finn
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Justus
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mazas
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rorick
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Steinmetz
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology*; D004597:Electroshock; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality / Q000502:physiology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales