Reacquisition of a conditioned emotional response to visual and auditory stimuli following simple or compound extinction procedures: an investigation of theoretical and therapeutic implications of the Rescorla-Wagner learning theory.

Abstract

The rate of reacquisition of a conditioned emotional response (conditioned suppression) to visual and auditory stimuli after extinction to the stimuli individually or in compound was investigated to assess the relative efficacy of “simple”- and “compound”-extinction procedures in the elimination of conditioned fear in rats. Results indicated that compound-extinction procedures significantly retarded reacquisition of fear to stimuli of low associative strength and tended to facilitate the re-establishment of fear to stimuli of high associative strength. Also, it was noted that following compound extinction the degree of “retardation” or “acceleration” of fear reacquisition tended to increase with the difference between the associative strengths of the two stimuli extinguished in compound. Over-all, current findings were consistent with theoretical deductions derived from the Rescorla-Wagner learning theory and the implications for developing a more efficacious fear-elimination technique based on a specific learning theory were discussed.