The effect of a conditioned fear inhibitor (CS-) during response prevention upon extinction of an avoidance response

Pairing a Pavlovian safety signal (CS—) with a response prevention period was contrasted with other response prevention procedures to determine relative effectiveness for the elimination of learned avoidance behavior. After acquiring a one-way avoidance response, five groups of ten rats received various blocking or control treatments and were then compared on extinction performance. The four blocking treatments included blocking paired with a safety signal; blocking only; blocking paired with a novel stimulus; and blocking paired with a preexposed noncontingent tone. The fifth group served as a handling control. Compared to the handling control, all four blocking groups reached extinction criterion in fewer trials. Further, the safety signal group extinguished faster than the blocking only group or the blocking with noncontingent tone group. Results were viewed as an indication of the potential efficacy of pairing-conditioned fear-inhibiting cues with response prevention procedures for the elimination of fear-motivated behavior. Implications for behavioral therapy techniques were discussed.