title: Don't fear 'fear conditioning': Methodological considerations for the design and analysis of studies on human fear acquisition, extinction, and return of fear.
abstract: The so-called 'replicability crisis' has sparked methodological discussions in many areas of science in general, and in psychology in particular. This has led to recent endeavours to promote the transparency, rigour, and ultimately, replicability of research. Originating from this zeitgeist, the challenge to discuss critical issues on terminology, design, methods, and analysis considerations in fear conditioning research is taken up by this work, which involved representatives from fourteen of the major human fear conditioning laboratories in Europe. This compendium is intended to provide a basis for the development of a common procedural and terminology framework for the field of human fear conditioning. Whenever possible, we give general recommendations. When this is not feasible, we provide evidence-based guidance for methodological decisions on study design, outcome measures, and analyses. Importantly, this work is also intended to raise awareness and initiate discussions on crucial questions with respect to data collection, processing, statistical analyses, the impact of subtle procedural changes, and data reporting specifically tailored to the research on fear conditioning.
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Systems Neuroscience, Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: t.lonsdorf@uke.de.
authors.forename: Tina B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Lonsdorf
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Systems Neuroscience, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Mareike M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Menz
authors.affiliation: University of Würzburg, Department of Psychology, Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Andreatta
authors.affiliation: Anxiety Unit, Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Addictions, Hospital del Mar, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Spain; IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Department of Psychiatry, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fullana
authors.affiliation: Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Psychology Section, Stockholm, Sweden; University of Amsterdam, Department of Clinical Psychology, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Armita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Golkar
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Systems Neuroscience, Hamburg, Germany; Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Psychology Section, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Haaker
authors.affiliation: Utrecht University, Department of Experimental Psychology and Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Heitland
authors.affiliation: Justus Liebig University Giessen, Department of Psychology, Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hermann
authors.affiliation: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Systems Neuroscience, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.affiliation: Justus Liebig University Giessen, Department of Psychology, Psychotherapy and Systems Neuroscience, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: Onno
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kruse
authors.affiliation: Ruhr-University Bochum, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Cognitive Psychology, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Shira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meir Drexler
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Health Psychology, Leuven, Belgium; Maastricht University, Research Group Behavioral Medicine, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meulders
authors.affiliation: Heidelberg University, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Central Institute of Mental Health, Department of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Frauke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nees
authors.affiliation: Technische Universität Dresden, Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Andre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pittig
authors.affiliation: University of Greifswald, Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.affiliation: Saarland University, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Saarbrücken, Germany.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Römer
authors.affiliation: University of Regensburg, Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Youssef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shiban
authors.affiliation: University of Regensburg, Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.affiliation: Philipps-University Marburg, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Straube
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Leuven, Belgium; Center for Excellence on Generalization, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Bram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vervliet
authors.affiliation: University of Greifswald, Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/Psychotherapy, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wendt
authors.affiliation: Utrecht University, Department of Experimental Psychology and Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Johanna M P
authors.initials: JMP
authors.lastname: Baas
authors.affiliation: Ruhr-University Bochum, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Cognitive Psychology, Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Merz
mesh_terms: D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D005060:Europe; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005239:Fear; D006801:Humans; D012107:Research Design
keywords: Conditioning; Design; Extinction; Individual differences; Methods; Replicability crisis; Return of fear; Statistics; Terminology