Abstract
Attending to stimuli that share perceptual similarity to learned threats is an adaptive strategy. However, prolonged threat generalization to cues signalling safety is considered a core feature of pathological anxiety. One potential factor that may sustain over-generalization is sensitivity to future threat uncertainty. To assess the extent to which Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) predicts threat generalization, we recorded skin conductance in 54 healthy participants during an associative learning paradigm, where threat and safety cues varied in perceptual similarity. Lower IU was associated with stronger discrimination between threat and safety cues during acquisition and extinction. Higher IU, however, was associated with generalized responding to threat and safety cues during acquisition, and delayed discrimination between threat and safety cues during extinction. These results were specific to IU, over and above other measures of anxious disposition. These findings highlight: (1) a critical role of uncertainty-based mechanisms in threat generalization, and (2) IU as a potential risk factor for anxiety disorder development.
Highlights
Fear learning is an adaptive process, by which an organism can associate neutral cues with aversive outcomes
We show that individual differences in self-reported Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) predict threat generalization during associative learning
Using a mixed conditioning and generalization procedure, we found threat generalization during acquisition and extinction to vary as a function of cue similarity to the threat cue in skin conductance response (SCR) magnitude and ratings, in line with past work using more traditional designs [3, 4, 6,7,8, 11, 13, 15]
Summary
Fear learning is an adaptive process, by which an organism can associate neutral cues (conditioned stimulus, e.g. a visual stimulus such as a shape) with aversive outcomes (unconditioned stimulus, e.g. shock, loud tone). Recent research suggests that threat can be generalized to cues that share conceptual or perceptual similarity during fear acquisition [2,3,4,5,6,7] This effect has been shown predominately with gradients or slopes of responding, where physiological indices such as skin conductance or startle responses are found to vary parametrically with similarity to the threat cue [2, 4, 8]. Previous work has focused on examining the link between the extent of threat generalization and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) [16], which is a measure of dispositional fear and anxiety responsiveness This approach has resulted in mixed findings [6, 8, 11]. We tested the specificity of the associations between threat generalization and IU by comparing with broader measures of anxiety, such as Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Trait Version (STAIX2) [16] and Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) [33]
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