TY - JOUR
T1 - The use of an unpleasant sound as an unconditional stimulus in a human aversive Pavlovian conditioning procedure
AU - Neumann, David L.
AU - Waters, Allison M.
PY - 2006/8
Y1 - 2006/8
N2 - Ethical considerations can limit the use of traditional unconditional stimuli (US), such as electric shock and loud tones, when used in a human aversive Pavlovian conditioning procedure. The risk of the US causing pain or excessive anxiety is a particular concern when testing sensitive populations such as children, the elderly, and those with psychological or neurodevelopmental disorders. Two experiments used a differential conditioning procedure to determine whether an unpleasant sound (metal scraping on slate) could support the acquisition and extinction of conditioned responses to the same extent as either electric shock or a 100 dB(A) tone US. Experiment 1 (N = 48) demonstrated equivalent or superior conditioning effects for the signal-based learning measures of US expectancy, skin conductance responses, and heart rate. Experiment 2 (N = 57) yielded similar outcomes in the affective-based learning measures of startle blink modulation and pleasantness ratings. The results support the use of an unpleasant sound as a US in human Pavlovian conditioning experiments.
AB - Ethical considerations can limit the use of traditional unconditional stimuli (US), such as electric shock and loud tones, when used in a human aversive Pavlovian conditioning procedure. The risk of the US causing pain or excessive anxiety is a particular concern when testing sensitive populations such as children, the elderly, and those with psychological or neurodevelopmental disorders. Two experiments used a differential conditioning procedure to determine whether an unpleasant sound (metal scraping on slate) could support the acquisition and extinction of conditioned responses to the same extent as either electric shock or a 100 dB(A) tone US. Experiment 1 (N = 48) demonstrated equivalent or superior conditioning effects for the signal-based learning measures of US expectancy, skin conductance responses, and heart rate. Experiment 2 (N = 57) yielded similar outcomes in the affective-based learning measures of startle blink modulation and pleasantness ratings. The results support the use of an unpleasant sound as a US in human Pavlovian conditioning experiments.
KW - Pavlovian conditioning
KW - Sounds
KW - Unconditional stimulus
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33745943224&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.03.004
DO - 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.03.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 16698165
AN - SCOPUS:33745943224
VL - 73
SP - 175
EP - 185
JO - Biological Psychology
JF - Biological Psychology
SN - 0301-0511
IS - 2
ER -