title: The persistence of socially instructed threat: two threat-of-shock studies.
abstract: Learning to anticipate threat is crucial in guiding protective behavior. In classical conditioning, single trial learning can result in long-lasting fear associations. To examine whether threat learned through social communication is equally stable, an instructed fear paradigm was used with two repeated sessions on 1 day (Study 1; N = 43) and with separate sessions on 3 consecutive days (Study 2; N = 30). Startle EMG, skin conductance level (SCL), and self-report data were recorded during alternating periods of instructed threat and safety. Within 1 day, threat-potentiated startle was present across sessions but threat-enhanced SCL decreased (Study 1). Across days, threat effects subsided with different timing for startle EMG, SCL, and self-report (Study 2). The present findings are a laboratory analog for the persistence of socially transmitted fear, which can be amazingly resistant to extinction (e.g., in specific phobias) even in the absence of aversive experiences.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, Chair of Clinical and Biological Psychology and Psychotherapy, and Otto Selz Institute, University of Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bublatzky
authors.forename: Antje B M
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Gerdes
authors.forename: Georg W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Alpers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology*; D004576:Electromyography; D004597:Electroshock; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology*; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anticipatory anxiety; Extinction learning; Instructed fear; Skin conductance; Startle reflex