Behaviour Research and Therapy最新文献

{"title":"Differences in conditioning using unconditioned stimuli evoking fear, disgust or both emotions simultaneously","authors":"Annalisa Lipp,&nbsp;Armin Zlomuzica","doi":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104805","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104805","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><div>Understanding differences in conditioning with stimuli evoking fear and/or disgust is valuable to develop meaningful interventions for phobias, anxiety disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD). We investigated possible differences in the acquisition and extinction of conditioned responses using unconditioned stimuli (UCS) which elicit fear, disgust, or both emotions simultaneously.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>Participants underwent a sequential conditioning paradigm over three consecutive days (acquisition, extinction, and extinction retrieval) and were randomly assigned to fear (F), disgust (D), or mixed (FD) conditioning. Pictorial stimuli (UCS) and neutral faces (as conditioned stimuli; CS) were used, with CS-UCS contingency, valence, fear, and disgust ratings as readout measures.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The D and FD groups showed higher valence and disgust ratings after acquisition than the F group, with no group differences in CS-UCS contingency or fear ratings. During extinction, the F group had the greatest reduction in CS-UCS contingency ratings, and the D group showed the largest decrease in disgust ratings for CS+. At extinction retrieval, disgust ratings decreased most in the D group, while fear ratings dropped most in the F and FD groups for CS-. No significant group differences were found for valence during extinction and extinction retrieval.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Conditioning with UCS evoking disgust or disgust and fear simultaneously led to stronger negative valence and disgust responses compared to conditioning with fear-evoking stimuli. Extinction was most effective in the F group (highest reduction of CS-UCS contingency ratings), offering some support for the idea that disgust may be more resistant to extinction than fear.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48457,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour Research and Therapy","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104805"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144338391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Affective and computational determinants of threat extinction biases","authors":"Yoann Stussi","doi":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104804","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104804","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Pavlovian threat acquisition and extinction are fundamental processes by which individuals learn about threat and safety in their environment. Research has shown that humans learn more rapidly and persistently to associate threatening and—somewhat counterintuitively—positive rewarding stimuli with aversive events, supporting predictions derived from appraisal theories of emotion (Stussi et al., 2018; Stussi, Pourtois et al., 2021). Here, the present study aimed to provide a confirmatory analysis of these findings and further characterize their algorithmic bases. Data from the four original experiments (<em>N</em> = 247) using a differential Pavlovian threat conditioning paradigm were combined and reanalyzed. In this paradigm, threat-relevant (angry faces, snakes), positive-relevant (baby faces, happy faces, erotic images), and neutral (neutral faces, colored squares) stimuli were used as conditioned stimuli, and skin conductance response was measured as an index of learning. Computational modeling was applied to identify signatures of learning biases in Pavlovian threat acquisition and extinction. An expanded model comparison indicated that a reinforcement-learning model differentiating between excitatory (learning from reinforcement) and inhibitory (learning from the absence of reinforcement) learning best explained the observed data. Although no evidence for differences in excitatory learning rates was found between stimulus categories, both threat- and positive-relevant stimuli exhibited a lower inhibitory learning rate compared to neutral stimuli, contributing to the persistence of the conditioned response during extinction. These results confirm the robustness of the original findings and further validate the appraisal-based approach, thereby informing the affective and computational determinants of Pavlovian threat extinction biases and their translational relevance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48457,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour Research and Therapy","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104804"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144338292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Female veterans with military sexual trauma history and posttraumatic stress disorder display impaired fear extinction learning","authors":"Seth D. Norrholm ,&nbsp;Jenna L. Laymon ,&nbsp;Michelle Szewczuk ,&nbsp;Leah T. Weingast ,&nbsp;Brittney P. Innocente ,&nbsp;Jillian Heymann ,&nbsp;Renie George ,&nbsp;Manessa Riser ,&nbsp;Jessica Woodford ,&nbsp;John J. Noetzel ,&nbsp;Tanja Jovanovic ,&nbsp;Ron Acierno ,&nbsp;Lori L. Davis","doi":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104803","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104803","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Two decades of conditioned fear studies reveal impaired extinction in traumatized military and civilian populations with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We aimed to test fear extinction in women with military sexual trauma (MST), a highly traumatized and largely understudied population. Our well-established, acoustic startle-based fear acquisition and extinction paradigm was administered to 51 age-matched female veterans with prior exposure to MST receiving healthcare at one of three VA Medical Centers. Thirty women had a PTSD diagnosis and 21 did not, per clinician-administered and self-reported measures. Conditioned stimuli were geometric shapes presented on a computer screen and the unconditioned stimulus was an airblast to the larynx. Fear acquisition and fear extinction training occurred on a single day separated by 10 min. Extinction recall occurred 24 h after extinction training. All women showed fear-potentiated startle to the CS+ and CS+/CS- discrimination. During extinction training, the PTSD- and PTSD + groups significantly differed in terms of extinction success, with PTSD + women showing higher fear to the CS + at the end of extinction training compared to PTSD-women (F(1,35) = 5.52, p = 0.025). Furthermore, 86 % of the PTSD-women exhibited a ≥50 % decrease in fear-potentiated startle during extinction training yet only 53 % of the PTSD + women showed this magnitude of fear reduction [X²(1,50) = 5.83, p = 0.016)]. These data support the mechanistic position that impaired fear extinction can be a central feature of PTSD, however, observed extinction impairments are nuanced and may be related to factors including age, trauma type, symptom profile, hormonal levels, and biological sex.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48457,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour Research and Therapy","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104803"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144314078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The role of concreteness in repetitive negative thinking: Temporal dynamics and the predictive value for depression throughout psychological treatment","authors":"Sarah V. Kirchler ,&nbsp;Celina L. Müller ,&nbsp;Zoe Spock ,&nbsp;Thomas Ehring ,&nbsp;Johannes Kopf-Beck ,&nbsp;Jeanette Tamm","doi":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104801","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104801","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><div>Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is an important transdiagnostic process involved in the development and maintenance of depression. Evidence suggests that maladaptive RNT is characterised by reduced concreteness. However, the temporal relationship between concreteness of RNT and depressive symptoms, as well as changes in concreteness during psychological treatment, remain unclear. Therefore, the current study investigated (a) whether momentary RNT concreteness explains variance in the prediction of momentary depressive symptoms beyond momentary RNT, (b) whether momentary RNT concreteness increases over the course of psychotherapy and (c) the temporal precedence between momentary RNT concreteness and momentary depressive symptoms.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>Seventy-seven depressed patients participating in a randomised controlled trial were assessed using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) during a seven-week inpatient psychological treatment. EMA, conducted three times daily, included measures of depression, RNT, and a free-text item assessing patients’ RNT thoughts, which were rated for concreteness by trained raters. Weekly depression severity was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory II. Hypotheses were tested using multilevel modelling.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Concreteness of RNT was significantly associated with depression. A model incorporating both RNT and concreteness accounted for significantly more variance in depression than a model with RNT alone. Concreteness of RNT increased throughout treatment, dependent on patients’ improvement in depression severity. Depression levels predicted subsequent concreteness, but not vice versa.</div></div><div><h3>Discussion</h3><div>Concrete thinking is consistently related to depression and improves over the course of effective psychological treatment. However, the current findings do not suggest that changes in concreteness predict subsequent reduction of depression levels. Future research should explore long-term temporal dynamics between RNT concreteness and depression to evaluate the potential of concreteness as a mechanism of change in psychological treatments in more detail.</div><div>The clinical trial is registered at <span><span>clinicaltrials.gov</span><svg><path></path></svg></span> (NCT03287362).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48457,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour Research and Therapy","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104801"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144335784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Heart-Mind-Behavior Parent Training: Randomized controlled trial for Chinese parents of young children with ASD","authors":"An Tong Gong ,&nbsp;Lamei Wang ,&nbsp;Alice Yuen-ching Keung ,&nbsp;Jiaxi Li ,&nbsp;Maureen Mo-yee Kong ,&nbsp;Xinru Yao ,&nbsp;Minqi Xian ,&nbsp;Terry Kit-fong Au ,&nbsp;Kathy Kar-man Shum","doi":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104800","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104800","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Purpose</h3><div>Evidence-based ASD interventions in developing countries are usually scarce and expensive for average families. Interventions adopted from the West often lack cultural adaptations and local effectiveness evaluations. In Mainland China, predominant ASD interventions are based on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), first developed in the mid-20th century. In this study, a relationship-based parent-mediated intervention, named the Heart-Mind-Behavior Training Program, was developed and evaluated for its effectiveness in Chinese parents of children with ASD. The program included eight weekly 2-h sessions targeting key areas in relationship-based ASD intervention, emphasizing what Chinese parents need help most (parental sensitivity, mind-mindedness, and using symbolic-pretend play to coach children's socio-emotional skills).</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This study comprised two phases. The pilot study involved 11 parents of ASD at-risk children participating in the program. The main study utilized a randomized waitlist-control design to evaluate the program, with 81 parents of 3- to 6-year-olds with ASD, randomized to either intervention or waitlist-control conditions.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The pilot study indicated participant satisfaction, program feasibility, and preliminary efficacy. In the main study, significant intervention effects were found for parental self-efficacy, mind-mindedness, and autonomy support, as indicated by significant group × time interactions. At the 4-month follow-up, child's ASD symptomatology, parenting stress, parent-child relationship, and parental sensitivity significantly improved in the intervention group compared to baseline or immediate posttest.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>This study demonstrated the benefits of this parent-training program, highlighting its potential for culturally sensitive and effective interventions for Chinese families of young children with ASD.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48457,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour Research and Therapy","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104800"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144306699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The association between positive affect and depressive symptoms in individuals with diagnosed or probable major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis","authors":"Jan Schürmann-Vengels ,&nbsp;Alicia Kneuer ,&nbsp;Özkan Cavus ,&nbsp;Christoph Flückiger","doi":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104789","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104789","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>A number of theories propose that positive affect is negatively associated with depressive symptoms, but this claim has only been examined in meta-analyses of non-clinical samples and it remains unclear whether the association holds in clinical populations.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To obtain evidence-based estimates of the cross-sectional and prospective associations between positive affect and depression severity measures in individuals with clinical depression by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We performed a systematic search on PsychINFO, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar and included studies reporting estimates of the association between positive affect and depressive symptoms in clinical populations. A correlational (<em>r</em>) effect size based on cross-sectional measures was estimated using a random-effects meta-analysis.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>From 1,930 unique records, we identified 17 eligible manuscripts, reporting 20 effect sizes from 1,665 individuals with diagnosed or probable major depressive disorder. The results of the omnibus model indicated a significant moderate association between cross-sectional positive affect and depressive symptoms (<em>r</em> = −.38, 95 % CI [-0.45, −0.30]); heterogeneity of effect sizes was low to moderate (<em>I</em>^<em>2</em> = 45.79 %). None of the included studies reported prospective relationships between the variables outside of a treatment context.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The results are in line with theoretical models on the cross-sectional association between positive affect and depressive symptoms in major depressive disorder. More research is needed to develop a deeper understanding of the overlap and temporal directions between positive affect and depressive symptoms in clinical populations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48457,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour Research and Therapy","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104789"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144243380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of text message reminders of safety behavior reduction on health anxiety: A randomized control trial","authors":"Kavi S. Jakes ,&nbsp;Sarah C. Jessup ,&nbsp;David Rosenfield ,&nbsp;Bunmi O. Olatunji","doi":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104790","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104790","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cognitive-behavioral models posit that maladaptive safety behaviors are a key maintenance factor in health anxiety. Although existing cognitive-behavioral therapies emphasize the reduction of safety behaviors, targeting them directly has not been examined as a specific treatment for health anxiety. Accordingly, the current study employed a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of a safety behavior reduction intervention for health anxiety. Participants with elevated health anxiety (<em>N</em> = 106) were recruited from across the United States and randomized to receive one of two 1-month text message interventions, which included reminders to avoid use of health-related safety behaviors (SB) or to focus on the present (PC). Symptoms were assessed at baseline, mid-treatment, post-treatment, and at 1-month follow-up. As predicted, safety behavior use decreased significantly in the SB intervention group but not in the PC group. However, health anxiety decreased significantly in the PC group but not in the SB group. Maladaptive illness attitudes also decreased significantly (and similarly) in both groups. A cross-lag panel analysis did show that less safety behavior use predicted lower health anxiety and lower negative attitudes about illness at the next assessment. However, negative attitudes about illness, but not health anxiety, predicted less safety behavior use at the next assessment. These findings suggest that while a reduction in safety behaviors is linked to reductions in health anxiety, simply text messaging reminders to reduce safety behaviors is not an incrementally effective treatment for health anxiety.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48457,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour Research and Therapy","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104790"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144243210","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Early phase testing of functional imagery training as an intervention for anxiety","authors":"Jackie Andrade ,&nbsp;David J. Kavanagh ,&nbsp;Carly Bowditch ,&nbsp;Emily Mackriel ,&nbsp;Emily Ravenhill ,&nbsp;Amy Sime ,&nbsp;Eleanor Trumfield ,&nbsp;Jessica Watts ,&nbsp;Jon May","doi":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104786","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104786","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cognitive models hypothesize a role for motivated behaviour in anxiety disorders, with safety behaviours leading to exaggerated threat appraisals and increased anticipatory anxiety. Based on the Affective Imagery Theory of Motivation, we propose that increasing motivation for engagement behaviours will reduce motivation for safety behaviours through competition for limited capacity cognitive resources supporting motivational imagery. We hypothesize that imagining successful engagement will reduce anxiety directly, and through promoting subsequent engagement. We present preliminary evidence that functional imagery training (FIT), an intervention that develops and teaches motivational imagery, reduces anxiety. FIT was delivered to undergraduates with anxiety in one session lasting 40–60 min, with two booster calls over 2 weeks (10–20 min). Qualitative data from study 1a (N = 9) showed that FIT reduced anxiety by strengthening motivation for engagement goals and by the calming and empowering effects of imagery practice. Study 1b (N = 10) replicated these findings. Using a stepped wedge design, study 2 (N = 29) showed that anxiety reduction over 4 weeks was specifically due to FIT rather than generic experimental factors. GAD-7 scores reduced sooner for a group who received FIT immediately after baseline assessments than for a delayed group who received FIT after the week 2 assessments (BF₁₀ = 25 for group × time interaction). Thus, at week 2, GAD-7 scores were lower for the immediate group (M = 7.2, SD = 3.86) than for the delayed group who had not yet received FIT (M = 13.0, SD = 3.80; BF₁₀ = 71). The results provide initial evidence that brief imagery-based motivational support can reduce anxiety.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48457,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour Research and Therapy","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104786"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144272593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stuck in thought: Temporal interplay between cognitive building blocks of rumination","authors":"Gerly Tamm ,&nbsp;Ernst H.W. Koster ,&nbsp;Teague Henry ,&nbsp;Kristof Hoorelbeke","doi":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104788","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104788","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Theoretical models of repetitive negative thinking suggest that multiple factors contribute to rumination, placing one at risk for depression. However, temporal dynamics of rumination and related cognitive risk factors remain poorly understood. Here, we aimed to model the time-varying associations between depressed mood, metacognitive beliefs, promotion focus, perfectionism, attentional control, and rumination in daily life using an ecological momentary assessment approach (EMA). Participants who had reported experiencing depression (n = 95) completed an intensive EMA procedure (6 times a day for 21 days). We relied on data-driven multi-level vector autoregressive modelling (<em>mlVAR</em>) to obtain temporal, contemporaneous, and between-subjects networks. The temporal network showed that fluctuations in rumination were directly predicted by <em>prior ruminative state, attentional control, positive beliefs about rumination, cognitive self-consciousness, promotion focus</em>, and <em>depressed mood</em>. The contemporaneous and between-subjects networks demonstrated a co-activation of multiple nodes. Each of these analyses provided novel insights into the main cognitive factors and their temporal interplay in relation to rumination. Overall, the results converge with integrative theoretical models suggesting bidirectional temporal associations and highlight potential direct and indirect targets for interventions to modify rumination.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48457,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour Research and Therapy","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104788"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144297888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Induced awareness of stimulus differences impedes the generalization of extinction learning with various, highly similar stimuli","authors":"Paula Engelke ,&nbsp;Alex H.K. Wong ,&nbsp;Andre Pittig","doi":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104787","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.brat.2025.104787","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fear extinction procedures serve as a laboratory model for a learning process involved in exposure treatment for anxiety disorders. Clinically, exposure is typically conducted with generalization stimuli (GSs) because originally acquired fear stimuli are inaccessible. Experimental studies, however, show limited generalization of extinction when GSs are used in extinction training (i.e., GS extinction). Stimulus variability may overcome limited extinction generalization. In a first study, we examined whether using multiple, perceptually similar GSs during fear extinction may overcome limited GS extinction generalization. A healthy sample (N = 120) underwent a two-day fear conditioning procedure, with three groups receiving extinction training with a single GS, multiple GSs or the original CS+. Surprisingly, no group differences appeared. Missing awareness of stimuli differences may explain these findings. Hence, in a second study, we aimed to manipulate awareness of stimulus differences between two groups (N = 80), using additional instructions and tasks. Results suggest that enhanced stimulus differentiation was successfully induced, and pivotally influenced extinction learning and generalization. Specifically, greater awareness of stimulus differences resulted in limited GS extinction generalization toward the original CS+. Results highlight a pivotal role of stimulus differentiation, presumably in interaction with attentional and higher-order cognitive processes, for GS extinction learning and its generalization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48457,"journal":{"name":"Behaviour Research and Therapy","volume":"192 ","pages":"Article 104787"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144222808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}