University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Department of Psychology (Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Centre for the Psychology of Learning and Experimental Psychopathology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Behav Res Ther. 2021 Mar;138:103802. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2021.103802. Epub 2021 Jan 6.
In fear conditioning, training with typical category exemplars has been shown to promote fear generalization to novel exemplars of the same category, whereas training with atypical category exemplars supports limited if any generalization to other category members, amounting to a typicality asymmetry in fear generalization. The present study sought to examine how trait anxiety bears on typicality asymmetry in fear generalization. Participants in one condition were presented with typical exemplars during fear acquisition and atypical exemplars of the same category in the subsequent generalization test (typical condition), whereas in the other group, atypical and typical exemplars were presented during fear acquisition and generalization test, respectively (atypical condition). We observed a typicality asymmetry in fear generalization in self-reported expectancy ratings in low trait anxious individuals only. High trait anxious individuals showed a similar degree of fear generalization in both conditions. The current results help illuminate why some individuals are at risk for exhibiting broad fear generalization after exposure to an aversive event.
在恐惧条件反射中，使用典型类别的范例进行训练已被证明可以促进对同一类别新范例的恐惧泛化，而使用非典型类别的范例则支持对其他类别成员的有限甚至没有泛化，这导致了恐惧泛化中的典型性不对称。本研究旨在探讨特质焦虑如何影响恐惧泛化中的典型性不对称。在一种条件下，参与者在恐惧获得期间接受典型范例，而在随后的泛化测试中接受同一类别中的非典型范例（典型条件）；而在另一个组中，在恐惧获得和泛化测试期间分别呈现非典型和典型范例（非典型条件）。我们仅在低特质焦虑个体的自我报告预期评分中观察到恐惧泛化的典型性不对称。高特质焦虑个体在两种情况下表现出相似程度的恐惧泛化。当前的结果有助于阐明为什么有些人在经历厌恶事件后会表现出广泛的恐惧泛化。
