885
Views
51
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Regular articles

The spread of fear: Symbolic generalization mediates graded threat-avoidance in specific phobia

, , &
Pages 247-259 | Received 17 Jan 2013, Published online: 23 May 2013

REFERENCES

  • Askew, C., & Field, A. P. (2008). The vicarious learning pathway to fear 40 years on. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 1249–1265. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2008.05.003
  • Augustson, E. M., & Dougher, M. J. (1997). The transfer of avoidance evoking functions through stimulus equivalence classes. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 28, 181–191. doi: 10.1016/S0005-7916(97)00008-6
  • Barnes-Holmes, D., Hayes, S. C., & Roche, B. (2001). The (not so) strange death of stimulus equivalence. European Journal of Behavior Analysis, 2, 35–41.
  • Beckers, T., Krypotos, A.-M., Boddez, Y., Effting, M., & Kindt, M. (2013). What's wrong with fear conditioning? Biological Psychology, 92, 90–96. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2011.12.015
  • Craske, M. G., Kircanski, K., Zelikowsky, M., Mystkowski, J., Chowdhury, N., & Baker, A. (2008). Optimizing inhibitory learning during exposure therapy. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46, 5–27. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2007.10.003
  • Declercq, M., & De Houwer, J. (2009). Transfer of avoidance responding to a sensory preconditioned cue: Evidence for the role of S-S and R-S knowledge in avoidance learning. Learning and Motivation, 40, 197–208. doi: 10.1016/j.lmot.2008.11.003
  • Dougher, M. J., Augustson, E., Markham, M. R., Greenway, D. E., & Wulfert, E. (1994). The transfer of respondent eliciting and extinction functions through stimulus equivalence classes. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 62, 331–351. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1994.62-331
  • Dunsmoor, J. E., Mitroff, S. R., & LaBar, K. S. (2009). Generalization of conditioned fear along a dimension of increasing fear intensity. Learning & Memory, 16, 460–469. doi: 10.1101/lm.1431609
  • Dunsmoor, J. E., White, A., & LaBar, K. S. (2011). Conceptual similarity promotes generalization of higher order fear learning. Learning & Memory, 18, 156–160. doi: 10.1101/lm.2016411
  • Dymond, S., & Rehfeldt, R. A. (2000). Understanding complex behaviour: The transformation of stimulus functions. The Behavior Analyst, 23, 239–254.
  • Dymond, S., & Roche, B. (2009). A contemporary behaviour analysis of anxiety and avoidance. The Behavior Analyst, 32, 7–28.
  • Dymond, S., & Roche, B. (2013). Advances in relational frame theory: Research and application. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
  • Dymond, S., Roche, B., & Bennett, M. (2013). Relational frame theory and experimental psychopathology. In S. Dymond & B. Roche (Eds.), Advances in relational frame theory: Research and application (pp. 199–218). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
  • Dymond, S., Roche, B., Forsyth, J. P., Whelan, R., & Rhoden, J. (2007). Transformation of avoidance response functions in accordance with the relational frames of same and opposite. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 88, 249–262. doi: 10.1901/jeab.2007.22-07
  • Dymond, S., Schlund, M. W., Roche, B., De Houwer, J., & Freegard, G. (2012). Safe from harm: Learned, instructed, and symbolic generalization pathways of human threat-avoidance. PLoS ONE, 7(10), e47539. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047539
  • Dymond, S., Schlund, M. W., Roche, B., Whelan, R., Richards, J., & Davies, C. (2011). Inferred threat and safety: Symbolic generalization of human avoidance learning. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49, 614–621. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2011.06.007
  • Grillon, C., Baas, J. M. P., Cornwell, B., & Johnson, L. (2006). Context conditioning and behavioral avoidance in a virtual reality environment: Effect of predictability. Biological Psychiatry, 60, 752–759. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.03.072
  • Hall, G. (1996). Learning about associatively activated stimulus representations: Implications for acquired equivalence and perceptual learning. Learning & Behavior, 24, 233–255. doi: 10.3758/BF03198973
  • Hall, J. F. (1984). Backward conditioning in Pavlovian type studies: Reevaluation and present status. The Pavlovian Journal of Biological Science, 19, 163–168.
  • Hayes, S. C., & Hayes, L. J. (1992). Verbal relations and the evolution of behaviour analysis. American Psychologist, 47, 1383–1395. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.47.11.1383
  • Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (2011). Acceptance and commitment therapy: The process and practice of mindful change (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford.
  • Hermans, D., Craske, M. G., Mineka, S., & Lovibond, P. F. (2006). Extinction in human fear conditioning. Biological Psychiatry, 60, 361–368. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.10.006
  • Higgins, S. T., & Morris, E. K. (1984). Generality of free-operant avoidance conditioning to human behaviour. Psychological Bulletin, 96, 247–272. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.96.2.247
  • Holland, P. C. (1990). Event representation in Pavlovian conditioning: Image and action. Cognition, 37, 105–131. doi: 10.1016/0010-0277(90)90020-K
  • Hooper, N., Saunders, S., & McHugh, L. (2010). The derived generalization of thought suppression. Learning and Behavior, 38, 160–168. doi: 10.3758/LB.38.2.160
  • Huijding, J., Mayer, B., Koster, E. H., & Muris, P. (2011). To look or not to look: An eye movement study of hypervigilance during change detection in high and low spider fearful students. Emotion, 11, 666–674. doi: 10.1037/a0022996
  • Kircanski, K., Lieberman, M. D., & Craske, M. G. (2012). Feelings into words: Contributions of language to exposure therapy. Psychological Science, 23, 1086–1091. doi: 10.1177/0956797612443830
  • Lang, P. J., Bradley, M. M., & Cuthbert, B. N. (2005). International Affective Picture System (IAPS): Affective ratings of pictures and instruction manual (Tech. Rep. No. A-6). Gainesville, FL: University of Florida, Center for Research in Psychophysiology.
  • LeBeau, R. T., Glenn, D., Liao, B., Wittchen, H.-U., Beesdo-Baum, K., Ollendick, T., & Craske, M. G. (2010). Specific phobia: A review of DSM–IV specific phobia and preliminary recommendations for DSM–V. Depression and Anxiety, 27, 148–167. doi: 10.1002/da.20655
  • Lissek, S., Powers, A. S., McClure, E. B., Phelps, E. A., Woldehawariat, G., Grillon, C., & Pine, D. S. (2005). Classical fear conditioning in the anxiety disorders: A meta-analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43, 1391–1424. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2004.10.007
  • Lissek, S., Rabin, S., Heller, R. E., Lukenbaugh, D., Geraci, M., Pine, D. S., & Grillon, C. (2010). Overgeneralization of conditioned fear as a pathogenic marker of panic disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 167, 47–55. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.09030410
  • Lommen, M., Engelhard, I., & van den Hout, M. (2010). Neuroticism and avoidance of ambiguous stimuli: Better safe than sorry? Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 1001–1006. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2010.08.012
  • MacLeod, C., & Cohen, I. L. (1993). Anxiety and the interpretation of ambiguity: A text comprehension study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102, 238–247. doi: 10.1037/0021-843X.102.2.238
  • Masuda, A., Feinstein, A. B., Wendell, J. W., & Sheehan, S. T. (2010). Cognitive defusion versus thought distraction: A clinical rationale, training, and experiential exercise in altering psychological impacts of negative self-referential thoughts. Behavior Modification, 34, 520–538. doi: 10.1177/0145445510379632
  • Merckelbach, H., Arntz, A., Arrindell, W. A., & de Jong, P. J. (1992). Pathways to spider phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 30, 543–546. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(92)90039-J
  • Merckelbach, H., Arntz, A., & de Jong, P. J. (1991). Conditioning experiences in spider phobics. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 29, 333–335. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(91)90068-E
  • Mineka, S., & Oehlberg, K. (2008). The relevance of recent developments in classical conditioning to understanding the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders. Acta Psychologica, 127, 567–580. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.11.007
  • Muris, P., & Field, A. P. (2011). The role of verbal threat information in the development of childhood fear. “Beware the Jabberwock!”. Clinical Child & Family Psychology Review, 13, 129–150. doi: 10.1007/s10567-010-0064-1
  • Muris, P., & Merckelbach, H. (1996). A comparison of two spider fear questionnaires. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 27, 241–244. doi: 10.1016/S0005-7916(96)00022-5
  • Olsson, A., & Phelps, E. A. (2004). Learned fear of “unseen” faces after Pavlovian, observational, and instructed fear. Psychological Science, 15, 822–828. doi: 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00762.x
  • Olsson, A., & Phelps, E. A. (2007). Social learning of fear. Nature Neuroscience, 10, 1095–1102. doi: 10.1038/nn1968
  • Pace-Schott, E. F., Verga, P. W., Bennett, T. S., & Spencer, R. M. C. (2012). Sleep promotes consolidation and generalization of extinction learning in simulated exposure therapy for spider fear. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 46, 1036–1044. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2012.04.015
  • Pflugshaupt, T., Mosimann, U. P., von Wartburg, R., Schmitt, W., Nyffeler, T., & Muri, R. M. (2005). Hypervigilance-avoidance pattern in spider phobia. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 19, 105–116. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2003.12.002
  • Raio, C. M., Carmel, D., Carrasco, M., & Phelps, E. A. (2012). Nonconscious fear is quickly acquired but swiftly forgotten. Current Biology, 22, 477–479. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.04.023
  • Rinck, M., & Becker, E. S. (2007). Approach and avoidance in fear of spiders. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 38, 105–120. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2006.10.001
  • Rodriguez-Valverde, M., Luciano, C., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2009). Transfer of aversive respondent elicitation in accordance with equivalence relations. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 92, 85–111. doi: 10.1901/jeab.2009.92-85
  • Sidman, M. (1994). Equivalence relations and behavior: A research story. Boston, MA: Authors' Cooperative.
  • Smeets, P. M., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2003). Children's emergent preferences for soft drinks: Stimulus equivalence and transfer. Journal of Economic Psychology, 24, 603–618. doi: 10.1016/S0167-4870(03)00004-7
  • Spetch, M. L., Wilkie, D. M., & Pinel, J. P. J. (1981). Backward conditioning: A reevaluation of the empirical evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 89, 163–175. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.89.1.163
  • Stinson, F., Dawson, D., Chou, S., Smith, S., Goldstein, R. B., Ruan, W. J., & Grant, B. F. (2007). The epidemiology of DSM–IV specific phobia in the USA: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Psychological Medicine, 37, 1047–1059. doi: 10.1017/S0033291707000086
  • Szymanski, J., & O'Donohue, W. (1995). Fear of spiders questionnaire. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 26, 31–34. doi: 10.1016/0005-7916(94)00072-T
  • Thorpe, S. J., & Salkovskis, P. M. (1997). Animal phobias. In C. L. D. Davey (Ed.), Phobias: A handbook of theory, research and treatment (pp. 81–106). Chichester: Wiley.
  • Urcuioli, P. J. (1996). Acquired equivalence and mediated generalization in pigeon's matching to sample. In T. R. Zentall & P. M. Smeets (Eds.), Stimulus class formation in humans and animals (pp. 55–70). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
  • Urcuioli, P. J., Zentall, T. R., & DeMarse, T. (1995). Transfer to derived sample-comparison relations by pigeons following many-to-one versus one-to-many matching with identical training relations. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 48, 158–178.
  • Vansteenwegen, D., Vervliet, B., Iberico, C., Baeyens, F., Van den Bergh, O., & Hermans, D. (2007). The repeated confrontation with videotapes of spiders in multiple contexts attenuates renewal of fear in spider-anxious students. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 1169–1179. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2006.08.023
  • Vervliet, B., Kindt, K., Vansteenwegen, D., & Hermans, D. (2010). Fear generalization in humans: Impact of prior non-fearful experiences. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48, 1078–1084. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2010.07.002
  • Ward-Robinson, J., & Hall, G. (1996). Backward sensory preconditioning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 22, 395–404.
  • White, K., & Davey, G. C. L. (1989). Sensory preconditioning and UCS inflation in human “fear” conditioning. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 27, 161–166. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(89)90074-0

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.