University of Leuven, Belgium.
Behav Modif. 2012 Sep;36(5):723-50. doi: 10.1177/0145445512446477. Epub 2012 Jun 7.
People seem to differ in their conditionability, that is, the ease by which fear associations (neutral stimulus-unconditioned stimulus [CS-US] contingencies) are learned. Recently, the level of trait worry has been proposed as a predictor of heightened conditionability. The current research aimed to (a) further investigate this influence of individual differences in trait worry on the strength of fear acquisition, (b) explore whether this association could be explained by trait anxiety, and (c) assess possible underlying mechanisms of this relationship. In a nonclinical sample, the amount of trait worry predicted heightened conditionability in a differential fear conditioning paradigm, both in fear ratings and in performance on a secondary probe reaction time task. A significant correlation was observed for general conditioning to the CS+ and also for differential conditioning (taking into account excitatory and inhibitory responding) in Experiment 1. These associations could not be fully explained by trait anxiety. US inflation and strengthening of the CS-US contingency through rehearsal are discussed as possible underlying mechanisms.
人们在条件反射能力方面似乎存在差异，也就是说，他们对恐惧联想（中性刺激-非条件刺激[CS-US]关系）的学习难易程度不同。最近，特质性担忧的水平被提出作为增强条件反射能力的预测指标。本研究旨在：（a）进一步探讨特质性担忧的个体差异对恐惧习得强度的影响；（b）探索这种关联是否可以用特质性焦虑来解释；（c）评估这种关系的潜在机制。在非临床样本中，特质性担忧的程度预测了在差异恐惧条件反射范式中更高的条件反射能力，这在恐惧评分和在次要探测反应时任务上的表现中都有体现。在实验 1 中，观察到对 CS+ 的一般条件反射和差异条件反射（考虑到兴奋性和抑制性反应）之间存在显著相关性。这些关联不能完全用特质性焦虑来解释。讨论了 US 通货膨胀和通过排练加强 CS-US 关系作为可能的潜在机制。
