Cognitive manipulation of GSR extinction: Analogues for conditioning therapies

Cognitive determinants of GSR activity during extinction trials were examined following conditioning. Conditioned GSRs extinguished rapidly when subjects were informed the UCS would not again be administered, compared to subjects not given this information. Of greater interest was the finding that (false) high feedback concerning subjects’ responsivity to the Cs+ during extinction served to maintain GSR activity at a higher level than subjects receiving (false) low feedback. The relationship was observed within both information conditions. Implications are drawn for both aversive conditioning therapy and systematic desensitization.     

Cognitive Manipulation of GSR Extinction: Analogues for Conditioning Therapies

Cognitive determinants of GSR activity during extinction trials were examined following conditioning. Conditioned GSRs extinguished rapidly when subjects were informed the UCS would not again be administered, compared to subjects not given this information. Of greater interest was the finding that (false) high feedback concerning subjects' responsivity to the Cs+ during extinction served to maintain GSR activity at a higher level than subjects receiving (false) low feedback. The relationship was observed within both information conditions. Implications are drawn for both aversive conditioning therapy and systematic desensitization.     

Psychophysiological responses during analogue systematic desensitization and non-relaxation control procedures

This investigation tested the hypotheses than an analogue systematic desensitization procedure (SD) would be both more effective and more efficient than a comparable non-relaxation control procedure (NRC) with respect to subjective report, behavioral and psychophysiological variables. Phobic subjects responded to slides depicting a feared aversive stimulus. The SD procedure resulted in significantly less reported fear, fewer trials to a criterion level of decrease in subjective fear, and significantly greater decreases in ANS baseline measures. However, measures of behavioral avoidance and measures of decrease in psychophysiological responsivity to the aversive stimuli revealed significant changes within both SD and NRC groups, and no significant differences between the groups, whether or not the groups were equated for number of stimulus presentations. The results, indicating equivalent efficacy and efficiency for the SD and NRC procedures, suggested a limited role for relaxation in systematic desensitization. An extinction or habituation hypothesis was supported at the expense of a counterconditioning hypothesis.     

The effect of duration of exposure on systematic desensitization and extinction.

An important variable which has only recently received attention (Proctor, 1968; Watts, 1971) is the influence of intra-item exposure time to aversive stimuli on systematic desensitization. Long single exposure to hierarchy items was more effective in reducing avoidance behavior than short exposure (Ross and Proctor, 1973). It is possible, therefore, for duration of exposure to be a confounding variable in previous desensitization research.In studies where exposure only conditions were ineffective (Davison, 1968; Lomont and Edwards, 1967), the visualization time was less than 15 sec. Successful utilization of extinction-like procedures employed longer exposure times (Vodde and Gilner, 1971 for 20–30 sec; Crowder and Thornton, 1970 for 30 sec; Sue, 1972 for 20 sec; Nawas, Welsch and Fishman, 1970 for 60 sec: Wolpin and Raines, 1966 for up to 10 min).Intra-item exposure time may also account for the discrepant findings on the influence of cognitive variables on the efficacy of systematic desensitization. In the studies where expectations or therapeutic instructions were important (Leitenberg et al., 1969; Valins and Ray, 1967), subjects were exposed to aversive stimuli for 10–15 sec. Where positive expectations were unimportant, the exposure time was longer (McGlynn and Mapp, 1970 for 20–30 sec; McGlynn, Gaynor and Puhr, 1972 for 20–30 sec; McGlynn, Reynolds and Linder, 1971 for 20–40 sec; Lomont and Brock, 1971 for 60 sec). Therapeutic expectations, relaxation, and other variables may assume importance during periods of short exposure.So far, there has been no adequate investigation of intra-item exposure time on both extinction and desensitization. The procedures employed by Watts (1971) and Proctor (1968) do not allow such a comparison to be made. The purpose of the present study is to examine the influence of short (5 sec) and lengthy (30 sec) exposure to aversive stimuli on extinction and desensitization conditions.In line with the results of Davison (1968) and Lomont and Edwards (1967), it was predicted that exposure of short duration would be less effective than exposure of longer duration under the extinction condition (Vodde and Gilner, 1971 ; Crowder and Thronton, 1970; Nawas et al., 1970; Wolpin and Raines, 1966). No specific predictions were made on the desensitization groups. There were four experimental groups: (1) two exposure only groups (visualization for either 5 sec or 30 sec), and (2) two systematic desensitization groups (visualization for 5 sec or 30 sec). A no-treatment control group was also employed.     

Occupational stress and working women: The effectiveness of two stress reduction programs

Using 53 working women as subjects, this study evaluated the effectiveness of two 7-session stress reduction programs. One of the programs consisted of progressive relaxation and systematic desensitization. The other involved instruction in time management, rational-emotive therapy, and assertiveness training. The study also had a delayed treatment control condition. The Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Personal Strain Questionnaire, and the Work Schedule Questionnaire were administered as pretests and posttests to assess emotional exhaustion, personal strain, and absenteeism. Data were evaluated by multivariate and univariate analyses of covariance. It was found that the subjects in the two programs had significant decreases in emotional exhaustion and personal strain relative to the controls. No significant difference was found between the two stress reduction programs. The results indicate that both of the programs tested were effective in reducing stress.     

Context extinction following conditioning with delayed reward enhances subsequent instrumental responding

In Experiment 1, delayed reward generated low response rates relative to immediate reward delivered with the same frequency. Lister rats exposed to delayed reward subsequently responded at a higher rate in extinction if they received nonreinforced exposure to the conditioning context after instrumental training and prior to test, compared with animals that received home cage exposure. In Experiment 2, a signaled delay of reinforcement resulted in higher rates than an unsignaled delay. Nonreinforced exposure to the conditioning context elevated response rate for subjects in the unsignaled condition relative to a home cage group, but had no effect on response rates for subjects that had received the signaled delay. In Experiment 3, following an unsignaled reinforcement delay, groups receiving either no event or signaled food in the context responded faster in extinction than groups receiving no context exposure or unsignaled food.     

Dissociable contributions of the left and right posterior medial orbitofrontal cortex in motivational control of goal-directed behavior

Several findings from both human neuroimaging and nonhuman primate studies suggest that the posterior medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) may be critical for the motivational control of goal-directed behavior. The present study was conducted to clarify the role of the left and right posterior medial OFC in that function by examining the effects of focal unilateral lesions to this region on the performance on an incentive working memory task. The study covered patients who had undergone surgery for an ACoA aneurysm and normal control subjects (C). The patients were subdivided into three groups: those with resection of the left (LGR+) or right (RGR+) posterior part of the gyrus rectus, and without such a resection (GR−). Participants performed a 2-back working memory task under three motivational conditions (penalty, reward, and no-incentive). The C group performed worse in the penalty condition and better in the reward condition as compared to the no-incentive condition. Similar results were obtained for the GR− group. Performance of the LGR+ group did not depend on incentive manipulations, whereas the RGR+ group performed better in both the penalty and reward conditions than in the no-incentive condition. The results show that the posterior medial OFC is involved in the motivational modulation of working memory performance. Our findings also suggest that the left posterior medial OFC plays a crucial role in this function, whereas the right posterior medial OFC is particularly involved in the processing of the punishing aspect of salient events and it probably mediates in guiding behavior on the basis of negative outcomes of action.     

Self-reinforcement: Impact of instructions,criterion setting,and tangible rewards

This investigation was designed to ascertain the effects of instructions, criterion setting, and the presence of tangible rewards on the self-reinforcement process. Fifty-two third- and fourth-grade subjects were assigned to one of four treatment groups: (a) stringent instructions/criterion setting/tangible reward, (b) stringent instructions/criterion setting/no tangible reward, (c) nonstringent instructions/criterion setting/tangible reward, and (d) nonstringent instructions/no tangible reward. In the stringent-instruction conditions, subjects received social reinforcement for selecting stringent performance criteria, whereas in the non-stringent-instruction conditions, social reinforcement was withheld. Subjects in the tangible-reward groups were allowed to select a prize following the successful completion of their self-selected work performance. Subjects in the no-tangible-reward groups received no prizes for their work. All subjects performed an arithmetic task in which the number of correct problems completed, number of problems attempted, and time at task served as dependent variables across five reinforcement and two extinction trials. The results suggest that the condition of stringent instructions, criterion setting, and tangible reward was more effective in producing behavior change than the other three conditions. Perceived task difficulty and previous achievement on arithmetic task performance were shown to affect criteria selected and mathematical performance. The results are discussed in light of the contributory role of instructions, criterion setting, and tangible rewards on the self-reinforcement procedure.This study is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh by Helen L. Evans. Dr. Russell T. Jones was the dissertation committee chairperson. It was partially funded by an American Psychological Association Minority Fellowship awarded to the first author. Special thanks are extended to the committee members, Drs. Lloyd Bond, Robert Glaser, Johnny Matson, and Samuel M. Turner, for their assistance. The authors would like to thank Thomas DeVoge, Paul Karoly, and Samuel M. Turner for reading and commenting on an early draft of this study. Portions of this paper were presented at the 1982 APA convention.     

Effects of reinforcement schedules on rats' choice behavior in extinction.

The effects of reinforcement schedules on rats' choice behavior in extinction were studied. In a free-operant chamber equipped with two retractable bars, the experimental animals were trained to press the bars separately for a food reward. One bar delivered the reward on a continuous reinforcement (CRF) schedule, and the other delivered the reward on a partial reinforcement (PRF) schedule. Control animals earned the reward from both bars with the same reinforcement schedule, either a CRF or a PRF. When both bars were simultaneously available during extinction, the experimental animals responded more frequently to the CRF than to the PRF alternative, demonstrating a reversed within-subjects partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE). A conventional between-subjects PREE was replicated in the control subjects. The results of this study were inconsistent with both Amsel's (1962, 1967) frustration hypothesis and Capaldi's (1966, 1967) sequential hypotheses.     

Runway acquisition and extinction as a joint function of magnitude of reward and percentage of rewarded acquisition trials

To determine the joint effects of partial reward and reward magnitude on acquisition and extinction rates, and on acquisition and extinction asymptotes, 215 Wistar albino rats were trained in a Hunter straight runway. The experimental design was a 4 × 4 × 2 factorial combining four reward magnitudes, four reward percentages, and two experimenters. The data revealed that the acquisition rate was an increasing function of both percentage and magnitude of reward and that neither reward magnitude nor percentage of reward significantly affected acquisition asymptote. For extinction, it was found that, for continuous schedules, the larger the reward magnitude the less the resistance to extinction and, for partial schedules, the larger the reward magnitude the greater the resistance to extinction. These results were interpreted within the framework of the sequential effects hypothesis (Capaldi, 1966).     

Cognitive-Behavioral and Systematic Desensitization Procedures in Reducing Stress and Anger in Caregivers for the Disabled

Twenty-six highly stressed family and community caregivers for people with a disability completed scales designed to assess perceived stress, state anger, and trait anger. They were randomly divided into three groups. Subjects in one group underwent stress-reduction training in a self-instructional procedure, subjects in the second group underwent stress-reduction training in systematic desensitization, and subjects in the third group were placed in a wait-list condition. Results showed that state anger and trait anger were correlated with perceived stress at pretreatment, and state anger was correlated with perceived stress at posttreatment and follow-up. Subjects in both the self-instructional and systematic desensitization groups showed a reduction in perceived stress. Subjects in the self-instructional training group also showed a decrease in trait anger. The wait-list group showed no significant change in perceived stress and anger.     

A physiological model of phobic anxiety and desensitization

The relationship between arousal and phobic anxiety is discussed with regard to recent psychophysiological studies of habituation in normal subjects and in groups of anxious and phobic patients. A physiological model of the mechanisms underlying generalized and phobic anxiety is postulated. Some criticisms of Wolpe's conception of systematic desensitization are offered and an alternative explanation consistent with the above postulate is put forward. This alternative states that the underlying mechanism of systematic desensitization is identical with that of habituation proceeding under optimal conditions (the “maximal habituation” hypothesis). The two accounts of desensitization are compared and contrasted.     

A Review of: “The Mask of Shame: Stigma of Mental Illness and an Agenda for Change,by Steven P. Hinshaw”

This case report describes the successful treatment of a 5-year-old girl who, subsequent to an accident in which she received burns covering 30% of her body, experienced nightmares and night terrors as often as 15-20 times every night. In addition to the night terrors, she developed a strong phobic reaction to a wide range of fire-related stimuli. Treatment involved multiple stages which included a response prevention procedure, extinction, and systematic desensitization.     

金钱奖赏对海洛因戒断者工作记忆刷新功能的促进作用减弱

采用有无金钱奖赏条件下的n-back任务，探讨金钱奖赏对海洛因戒断者工作记忆刷新功能的影响。结果发现：所有被试在金钱奖赏条件下的反应时都显著短于无奖赏条件下的反应时；海洛因戒断组在有无金钱奖赏条件下的反应时的差值显著小于正常组在有无金钱奖赏条件下的反应时的差值；在1-back和2-back任务中，正常组的正确率显著高于海洛因戒断组的正确率。结果表明：金钱奖赏对海洛因戒断者工作记忆刷新功能存在一定的促进作用，但是其促进作用幅度要弱于正常人；海洛因戒断者的工作记忆刷新功能可能存在损伤。     

Reconciling reinforcement learning models with behavioral extinction and renewal: implications for addiction, relapse, and problem gambling

Because learned associations are quickly renewed following extinction, the extinction process must include processes other than unlearning. However, reinforcement learning models, such as the temporal difference reinforcement learning (TDRL) model, treat extinction as an unlearning of associated value and are thus unable to capture renewal. TDRL models are based on the hypothesis that dopamine carries a reward prediction error signal; these models predict reward by driving that reward error to zero. The authors construct a TDRL model that can accommodate extinction and renewal through two simple processes: (a) a TDRL process that learns the value of situation-action pairs and (b) a situation recognition process that categorizes the observed cues into situations. This model has implications for dysfunctional states, including relapse after addiction and problem gambling.     

Differential dependence of Pavlovian incentive motivation and instrumental incentive learning processes on dopamine signaling

Here we attempted to clarify the role of dopamine signaling in reward seeking. In Experiment 1, we assessed the effects of the dopamine D(1)/D(2) receptor antagonist flupenthixol (0.5 mg/kg i.p.) on Pavlovian incentive motivation and found that flupenthixol blocked the ability of a conditioned stimulus to enhance both goal approach and instrumental performance (Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer). In Experiment 2 we assessed the effects of flupenthixol on reward palatability during post-training noncontingent re-exposure to the sucrose reward in either a control 3-h or novel 23-h food-deprived state. Flupenthixol, although effective in blocking the Pavlovian goal approach, was without effect on palatability or the increase in reward palatability induced by the upshift in motivational state. This noncontingent re-exposure provided an opportunity for instrumental incentive learning, the process by which rats encode the value of a reward for use in updating reward-seeking actions. Flupenthixol administered prior to the instrumental incentive learning opportunity did not affect the increase in subsequent off-drug reward-seeking actions induced by that experience. These data suggest that although dopamine signaling is necessary for Pavlovian incentive motivation, it is not necessary for changes in reward experience, or for the instrumental incentive learning process that translates this experience into the incentive value used to drive reward-seeking actions, and provide further evidence that Pavlovian and instrumental incentive learning processes are dissociable.     

Resistance to satiation of consummatory and instrumental performance

In three experiments rats received training in a straight alley under high hunger and then were tested satiated. Both eating and running continued to occur under satiation, but the two responses were not completely correlated, and continued running did not depend upon continued eating. Further, groups differed in their eating behavior, although all experienced the same satiation procedure, suggesting that eating under satiation is not just a reflection of incomplete satiation. Resistance to satiation of the running response was greater following partial reward than following consistant reward and tended to be greater following small reward training than large reward training, regardless of schedule of reward. Eating during satiation was greater following partial than following consistent reward and was greater if the same reward magnitude was given in satiation as in acquisition than if a different reward magnitude was given. It was suggested that resistance to satiation is an associative phenomenon. Eating and running occur during satiation because the stimuli present during satiation continue to elicit them. The differences between results using rewarded satiation and results using high drive extinction as measures of persistence were attributed to satiation being nonfrustrating.     

The role of Gray's impulsivity in anxiety‐mediated differences in resistance to extinction

Choice behaviour and extinction learning were studied in a group of 108 undergraduates classified according to the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward scales (that measure Gray's anxiety and impulsivity dimensions, respectively). The learning task consisted of continuous choosing between two response alternatives: one was continuously reinforced with a small reward and the other was partially reinforced with a greater reward. After 200 trials, one of the responses remained as in the previous phase, and the other was never rewarded in order to attain extinction. The main aims of the study were: (i) to replicate Avila's finding of lesser resistance to extinction of subjects having high scores on the Sensitivity to Punishment scale; (ii) to investigate whether impulsives (subjects having high scores on the Sensitivity to Reward scale) chose more than non‐impulsives the response associated with a continuous, small reward; and (iii) to test, following the model of Patterson and Newman, whether impulsive subjects had a great resistance to extinction of responses highly associated with reward. Results supported all three predictions. Discussion is based on the compatibility of the models of disinhibition of Gray and of Patterson and Newman. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Decreased responsiveness to reward in depression

We have interpreted the literature showing left anterior hypoactivation in depression as reflecting a decrease in approach-related motivation and behaviour among depressed subjects. In support of this model, we have previously demonstrated a decreased responsiveness to reward in subclinically depressed dysphoric subjects. The current study was designed to replicate and extend those findings. Clinically depressed subjects who met DSM-IV criteria for major depression were compared to a group of nondepressed control subjects on a verbal memory task under three monetary payoff conditions: neutral, reward, and punishment. Although control subjects changed their pattern of responding in both the reward and punishment conditions, relative to the neutral condition, so as to maximise their earnings, depressed subjects did not do so during reward. The two groups did not differ during the punishment condition. These findings provide additional evidence of a decreased responsiveness to reward in depressed individuals, and are consistent with the hypothesis that the left prefrontal hypoactivation observed in depression reflects a deficit in approach-related behaviour.     

Evidence of a role for multiple memory systems in behavioral extinction

The acquisition of learned behavior involves multiple memory systems, and hippocampal system damage impairs cognitive learning while leaving stimulus-response habit learning intact. In view of evidence that extinction also involves new learning, the present experiments examined whether multiple memory systems theory may be applicable to the neural bases of extinction. Adult Long-Evans rats were trained to run in a straight-alley maze for food reward. Twenty-four hours later, rats matched for runway latencies during acquisition received extinction training. In a response extinction condition conducive to habit learning, rats performed a runway approach response to an empty food cup. In a latent extinction condition conducive to cognitive learning, rats were placed at an empty food cup without performing a runway approach response. Prior to daily extinction training, neural activity of the dorsal hippocampus was reversibly inactivated via infusion of bupivacaine (0.75%, 0.5 microl/side). Control rats receiving saline infusions displayed extinction behavior in both the response and latent training conditions. In contrast, rats receiving bupivacaine extinguished normally in the response condition, but did not display latent extinction. The findings (1) confirm that learning underlying extinction of the same overt behavior can occur with or without explicit performance of the previously acquired response, (2) indicate that extinction learning produced by response and latent training procedures can be neuroanatomically dissociated, and (3) suggest that similarly to initial task acquisition, the hippocampus may critically mediate extinction in situations requiring the use of cognitive learning, such as when performance of a previously acquired response habit is prevented.