Management of Conditioned Fear

Abstract

The procedure in which a previously neutral conditioned stimulus (CS) is followed repeatedly by a painful electric shock is frequently used as a basis for classically conditioning fear. With human Ss, the growth in amplitude of the GSR to the CS typically is taken as evidence of this effect. While it is initially of adaptive value to S to learn which of the multitude of stimuli constantly impinging upon his sense receptors signal impending pain, this information can altimately only be of adaptive value if a response is available that enables avoidance or reduction of the pain. Being afraid is, after all, itself unpleasant. Having learned to fear the CS, S is in the unfortunate position of having to suffer twice instead of only once, first when the CS starts and, again, when the shock is delivered. The present experiment used an unconventionally long interval between the onsets of the CS and unconditioned stimulus (UCS), 8 sec. Eight college-student Ss came to the laboratory every day at the same hour for nine consecutive days. Ss received 8 reinforced trials each day, the CS being a 1,000-cps tone of 8 sec. duration and the UCS an electric shock to the fingertips, sharing with the tone the last one-tenth sec. of the CS-UCS interval. The shock had an intensity sufficient to register a voltage drop of 100 V across an arbitrary resistance of 25,000 ohms.