Acquisition of action tendencies in complex learning situations

According to bioinformational theory, a behavioral response is a basic component of complex emotional responding. Previous research has shown that an avoidance tendency towards a predictor of danger can be acquired following traditional differential fear conditioning. A series of studies have examined the subtlety of these acquired action tendencies following a complex learning paradigm, where both elemental and compound stimuli have been conditioned. Participants received forward blocking (A+, AB+) and protection-from-overshadowing (C-, CD+) training. Responding to the secondary cues (B and D) was of primary interest. We expected that participants would be slower in avoiding a redundant predictor of danger (the blocked B) than a superior predictor of danger (the protected-from-overshadowing D) in a symbolic approach-avoidance task, while faster in approaching B than D. The data suggests that differential action tendencies may be conditioned even to stimuli, whose threat value can only be inferred through their associations with other previously encountered stimuli. The paradigm might offer a more ecologically valid analogue procedure for the acquisition of phobic fear and opens new avenues for further research into fear responding.