Journal article 1400 views
Safe from harm: Learned, instructed, and symbolic generalization pathways of human threat-avoidance
Simon Dymond 
,
Michael W Schlund,
Bryan Roche,
Jan De Houwer,
Gary Freegard
,
Michael W Schlund,
Bryan Roche,
Jan De Houwer,
Gary Freegard
PLoS ONE, Volume: 7(10): e47539, Pages: 1 - 8
Swansea University Authors:
Simon Dymond , Gary Freegard
Full text not available from this repository: check for access using links below.
DOI (Published version): 10.1371/journal.pone.0047539
Abstract
Avoidance of threatening or unpleasant events is usually an adaptive behavioural strategy. Sometimes, however, avoidance can become chronic and lead to impaired daily functioning. Excessive threat-avoidance is a central diagnostic feature of anxiety disorders, yet little is known about whether avoid...
| Published in: | PLoS ONE |
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| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
| Published: |
2012
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa12909 |
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| Abstract: |
Avoidance of threatening or unpleasant events is usually an adaptive behavioural strategy. Sometimes, however, avoidance can become chronic and lead to impaired daily functioning. Excessive threat-avoidance is a central diagnostic feature of anxiety disorders, yet little is known about whether avoidance acquired in the absence of a direct history of conditioning with a fearful event differs from directly learned avoidance. In the present study, we tested whether avoidance acquired indirectly via verbal instructions and symbolic generalization result in similar levels of avoidance behaviour and threat-beliefs to avoidance acquired after direct learning. Following fear conditioning in which one conditioned stimulus was paired with shock (CS+) and another was not (CS-), participants either learned or were instructed to make a response that cancelled impending shock. Three groups were then tested with a learned CS+ and CS- (learned group), instructed CS+ (instructed group), and generalized CS+ (derived group) presentations. Results showed similar levels of avoidance behaviour and threat-belief ratings about the likelihood of shock across each of the three pathways despite the different mechanisms by which they were acquired. Findings have implications for understanding the aetiology of clinical avoidance in anxiety. |
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| Keywords: |
threat, avoidance, fear conditioning, instructions, symbolic generalization, pathways |
| College: |
Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences |
| Start Page: |
1 |
| End Page: |
8 |