@article{ref1,
title="The persistence of socially instructed threat: two threat-of-shock studies",
journal="Psychophysiology",
year="2014",
author="Bublatzky, Florian and Gerdes, Antje B. M. and Alpers, Georg W.",
volume="51",
number="10",
pages="1005-1014",
abstract="Learning to anticipate threat is crucial in guiding protective behavior. In classical conditioning, single trial learning can result in long-lasting fear associations. To examine whether threat learned through social communication is equally stable, an instructed fear paradigm was used with two repeated sessions on 1 day (Study 1; N = 43) and with separate sessions on 3 consecutive days (Study 2; N = 30). Startle EMG, skin conductance level (SCL), and self-report data were recorded during alternating periods of instructed threat and safety. Within 1 day, threat-potentiated startle was present across sessions but threat-enhanced SCL decreased (Study 1). Across days, threat effects subsided with different timing for startle EMG, SCL, and self-report (Study 2). The present findings are a laboratory analog for the persistence of socially transmitted fear, which can be amazingly resistant to extinction (e.g., in specific phobias) even in the absence of aversive experiences.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0048-5772",
doi="10.1111/psyp.12251",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12251"
}