Análisis del aprendizaje asociativo humano desde la perspectiva de la primacía

102 p.La presente tesis doctoral describe los hallazgos reportados en cuatro artículos científicos que investigaron procedimientos de condicionamiento clásico (Artículos I, II y III) y aprendizaje causal (Artículo IV) en humanos. La explicación predominante del resultado de estos procedimientos es que los animales forman una asociación entre un estímulo neutro, llamado estímulo condicionado, y un estímulo biológicamente significativo, llamado estímulo incondicionado, resultando en la adquisición por parte del estímulo condicionado de la capacidad para producir una respuesta similar a aquella producida por el estímulo incondicionado. Dentro de esta perspectiva asociativa, una de las propuestas más connotadas es la teoría de la primacía de Allan Wagner, la cual postula que el resultado de la asociación no solo consiste en la adquisición de la capacidad del estímulo condicionado para generar una respuesta condicionada, sino que también para influir de manera global en el procesamiento del estímulo incondicionado. Específicamente, la teoría señala que, dependiendo de ciertas condiciones, la presencia del estímulo condicionado puede aumentar o disminuir la respuesta incondicionada en sí misma y a su vez reducir la capacidad del estímulo incondicionado para asociarse con otros potenciales estímulos condicionados. En los cuatro artículos que componen esta tesis, se examinó cada una de estas influencias asociativas del estímulo condicionado sobre el procesamiento del estímulo incondicionado. Los resultados sugieren que estas influencias interactúan de manera compleja y que tanto la investigación empírica como las teorías deben abordar necesariamente esta complejidad. Palabras clave: Primacía; condicionamiento; aprendizaje causal; disminución condicionada; competencia de estímulos./ABSTRACT:The present doctoral thesis describes the findings reported in four papers that investigated procedures of classical conditioning (papers I, II and III) and causal learning (paper IV) in humans. The predominant explanation of the result of these procedures is that the animals form an association between a neutral stimulus, called conditioned stimulus, and a biologically significant stimulus, called unconditioned stimulus, resulting in the acquisition by the conditioned stimulus of the ability to produce a response similar to that produced by the unconditioned stimulus. Within this associative perspective, one of the most connoted proposals is Allan Wagner's priming theory, which postulates that the result of the association is not only the acquisition of the capacity of the conditioned stimulus to generate a conditioned response, but also to influence globally in the processing of the unconditioned stimulus. Specifically, the theory points out that, depending on certain conditions, the presence of the conditioned stimulus can increase or decrease the unconditioned response itself and in turn reduce the ability of the unconditioned stimulus to associate with other potential conditioned stimuli. In four articles that make up this thesis, each of these associative influences of the conditioned stimulus on the processing of the unconditioned stimulus was examined. The results suggest that these influences interact in a sophisticated way and that both empirical research and theories must necessarily address this complexity. Keywords: Priming; conditioning; causal learning; conditioned diminution; cue competition

Modulación contextual de la tolerancia asociativa al etanol

There is evidence that drug-paired cues not only become associated with the drug effects but also become occasion setters that modulate the association of other cues with the drug effects, contributing to the development of associative tolerance (Ramos, Siegel, & Bueno, 2002). Using a feature-positive discrimination training, we evaluated the contribution of contexts as occasion setters of the ataxic effect of ethanol in rats. The results suggest that the context acquire occasion setter properties of the drug tolerance, and that these properties can be extinguished.Existe evidencia que señala que las claves pareadas con drogas no sólo son asociadas con los efectos de éstas, sino que también adquieren propiedades modulatorias de la asociación entre otras claves y los efectos de la droga, contribuyendo así al desarrollo de la tolerancia asociativa (Ramos, Siegel & Bueno, 2002). Utilizando un procedimiento de discriminación de rasgo positivo, en la presente investigación evaluamos la contribución de los contextos como moduladores del efecto atáxico del etanol en ratas. Los resultados sugieren que el contexto adquiere propiedades modulatorias de la tolerancia a las drogas y que estas propiedades pueden ser extinguidas

Extinction training can make the extinction context a stimulusspecific inhibitor: a potential mechanism of experimental renewal

Renewal is the recovery of extinguished responding to a conditioned stimulus when testing occurs outside the extinction context. Renewal has been explained as the extinction context becoming a negative occasion setter during extinction. However, other mechanisms may contribute. Two recent studies showed (a) after extinction of a discrete cue, the extinction context can serve as a conditioned inhibitor, and (b) in some circumstances operational extinction of a conditioned inhibitor can reduce inhibition with respect to a transfer excitor while retaining inhibition with respect to the excitor used in inhibitory training. Here we examine the potential contribution of these phenomena to renewal. In the present experiment, all rats received fear-conditioning with a target cue in one context and extinction of that cue in a second context. Then half of the subjects received massive extinction of the extinction context (i.e., 24 h) while the other half received only handling. Finally, some subjects in each condition were tested for responding to the target cue in the extinction context, others in a second familiar context, and yet others in a third transfer context in which another fear cue had been extinguished. The results showed ABC renewal independent of whether subjects had or had not received context extinction. However, transfer of the inhibitory potential of the extinction context was observed only in subjects that did not receive context extinction. These results suggest an extinction context can serve as a stimulus-specific conditioned inhibitor, thereby contributing to renewal by decreasing responding to the target cue in an ABB control condition.United States Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA NIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) 33881 Program UApoya, University of Chil

Behavioral techniques for attenuating the expression of fear associations in an animal model of anxiety

Artículo de publicación ISIBackground and objectives: Recent data indicate that extinguished fear often returns when the testing conditions differ from those of treatment. Several manipulations including extensive extinction training, extinction in multiple contexts, and spacing the extinction trials and sessions reduce the return of fear. Moreover, extensive extinction and extinction in multiple contexts summate in reducing return of fear, and the spacing of the extinction trials and the spacing of extinction sessions summate in reducing return of fear. Here we evaluated whether these techniques also attenuate the context specificity of latent inhibition, and whether they summate to further decrease fear responding at test. Methods: In two experiments, with rats as subjects in a lick suppression preparation, we assessed the effects of massive CS preexposure, CS preexposure in multiple contexts, and of spacing the CSpreexposure trials and sessions, in reducing the context specificity of latent inhibition. Results: Fear responding was attenuated by all four manipulations. Moreover, extensive CS preexposure in multiple contexts, and conjoint spacing of the CS-preexposure trials and sessions, were more effective in reducing the context specificity of latent inhibition than each manipulation alone. Limitations: Our experimental designs evaluated degrees of context specificity of latent inhibition but omitted groups in which latent inhibition was assessed without a context shift away from the context of latent inhibition treatment. This precluded us from drawing conclusions concerning absolute (as opposed to relative) levels of recovery from latent inhibition. Conclusions: Techniques effective in decreasing the return of conditioned fear following extinction are also effective in decreasing the context specificity of latent inhibition in an animal model of anxiety. Fear and anxiety disorders might be prevented in anxious human participants with the same techniques used here, but that is still an empirical question

Assessing the blocking of occasion setting

An occasion setter (OS) is a stimulus or context with the capacity to disambiguate an ambiguous conditioned stimulus (CS). Previous research has shown that OSs share some features with regular Pavlovian CSs. Amongst them, research has shown that OSs are subject to blocking; that is, a new OS exerts reduced behavioral control after training in compound with a previously established OS. Of additional interest, in Pavlovian blocking, it has been reported that a blocked CS comes to elicit conditioned responding after the extinction of the blocking CS. This is an example of retrospective revaluation, a family of phenomena in which the response to a specific stimulus is modified by training a related cue. Here, three experiments sought to extend the analogies between OS and Pavlovian conditioning by examining the blocking of OSs and its retrospective revaluation. In all experiments, an OS was established by pairing a CS with food in the presence of the OS, but not in its absence (i.e., positive OS). Blocking was then trained by presenting the OS in compound with a novel OS. Experiment 1 showed blocking of the second OS, but direct exposure to the blocking OS did not enhance responding to the second OS. Experiment 2 replicated the blocking effect but subsequent training of the blocking OS with a reversed contingency showed no retrospective revaluation. Experiment 3 examined whether blocking of the OS occurred with a novel CS during the compound phase. In this experiment blocking was again observed, but only when subjects were tested with the original CS. These results are discussed focusing on the underlying links at work in occasion setting

preocupação empática e angústia pessoal: análise psicométrica de uma escala situacional

Empathic concern and personal distress are the emotional components of empathy according to most utilized models. These components can be conceptualized in a dispositional or situational form. Previous analyzes tend to consider dispositional scales, with little evidence for situational ones. The present study analyzed the factor structure of a situational scale of emotional empathy, composed of empathic concern and personal distress. In a convenience sample of Chilean university students (N = 539), the one-order and second-order fit of the scale was analyzed using factor analysis. The results indicated a good (χ2 / gl = 4.189, cfi = .964, tli = .932, srmr = .042, rmsea = .086, aic = 12041.418, bic = 12097.185) and better (χ2 difference(1) = 16.689, p < .001, |δcfi| = .237, |Δrmsea| = .636, y |δsrmr| = .076, all of them > .01, |δaic| = 211.633 > 10, y |Δbic| = 207.342 > 10) second-order fit while one-order did not show a good fit (χ2 /gl = 20.878, cfi = .727, tli = .544, srmr = .118, rmsea = .224, aic = 12253.051, bic = 12304.527). The results were consistent with the literature. The need for new types of validity and the use of more representative samples was discussed.La preocupación empática y angustia personal son los componentes emocionales de la empatía según los modelos más utilizados. Estos componentes pueden conceptualizarse en forma disposicional o situacional. Los análisis previos tienden a considerar escalas disposicionales con escasa evidencia para las situacionales. El presente estudio analizó la estructura factorial de la Escala Situacional de la Empatía Emocional, compuesta por la preocupación empática y angustia personal. En una muestra a conveniencia de estudiantes universitarias/os chilenos/as (N = 539), se analizó el ajuste de primer y segundo orden de la escala mediante análisis factorial. Los resultados indicaron un buen (χ2 /gl = 4.189, cfi = .964, tli = .932, srmr = .042, rmsea = .086, aic = 12041.418, bic = 12097.185) y mejor ajuste del modelo de segundo orden (χ2 diferencia(1) = 16.689, p < .001, |δcfi| = .237, |Δrmsea| = .636, y |Δsrmr| = .076, todos > .01, |Δaic| = 211.633 > 10, y |δbic| = 207.342 > 10), mientras que el de un orden no mostró un buen ajuste (χ2 /gl = 20.878, cfi = .727, tli = .544, srmr = .118, rmsea = .224, aic = 12253.051, bic = 12304.527). Los resultados fueron consistentes con la literatura. Se discute la necesidad de nuevas evidencias de validez y el uso de muestras más representativas.A preocupação empática e o sofrimento pessoal são os componentes emocionais da empatia de acordo com o modelo de Davis (1983). Esses componentes podem ser conceituados em uma forma disposicional ou situacional. As análises psicométricas tendem a considerar escalas disposicionais, com pouca evidência para as situacionais. O presente estudo analisou as propriedades psicométricas de uma escala situacional de preocupação empática e sofrimento pessoal. Em uma amostra de uma universidade chilena (N = 539), o ajuste unifator e bifator da escala foi analisado por meio da análise fatorial. Os resultados indicaram um bom e melhor ajuste do bifator, enquanto o unifator não apresentou um bom ajuste. Os resultados foram consistentes com a literatura. Discutiu-se a necessidade de novos tipos de validade e o uso de amostras mais representativas

Chronicle of the Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental: Prof. Ronald Betancourt Mainhard (1999-2016)

The present article constitutes a chronicle of the Laboratorio de Psicologia Experimental: Prof. Ronald Betancourt Mainhard of the Psychology Department of the Universidad de Chile, in the 1999-2016 period. Using the available literature, we present the antecedents of the foundation of the laboratory, giving national and international context to its establishment. For the chronicle itself we relied mainly on personal memories of the authors, who have been members of the laboratory for varying periods of time, and occasionally on the brief literature on the subject. The history of the laboratory can be divided into three stages: a foundational stage, a "seeding" stage, and finally, a stage of consolidation in research. Future projections for the Laboratory are discusse

Psicothema

Resumen tomado de la publicación. Resumen también en inglésEl análisis pavloviano de tolerancia a las drogas describe cómo los contextos de administración de la droga participan en la elicitación de respuestas condicionadas compensatorias que causan, en parte, tolerancia. Hallazgos indican que si una asociación es adquirida en un contexto y extinguida en otro, al exponer a los sujetos al contexto de adquisición se producirá renovación de la respuesta condicionada. Existe evidencia ambigua acerca de si este efecto disminuye o no al extinguir la asociación en múltiples contextos. Esta investigación evalúa la existencia del fenómeno de Renovación en la tolerancia al etanol, y si éste disminuye por la extinción en múltiples contextos. Se aporta evidencia de Renovación en la tolerancia al etanol en ratas, sin embargo, no se observó disminución de ésta al extinguir en múltiples contextos.AsturiasColegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Asturias; Calle Ildefonso Sánchez del Rio, 4-1õB; 33001 Oviedo; +34 985285778; +34 985281374;ES

Extinction cues do not reduce recovery of extinguished conditioned fear in humans

We evaluated whether an extinction cue can reduce (or prevent) the recovery of previously extinguished fear conditioning using an ABC renewal design in humans. Two experiments were carried out. In Experiment 1, two groups were presented with geometric shapes as conditioned stimulus (CS), followed by a small electric shock as unconditioned stimulus (US) during the acquisition phase. Conditioned fear was measured as ratings of US expectancy and changes in skin conductance response (SCR). During the extinction phase, both groups received presentations of the CS without the US, while an extinction cue (EC) was presented. Both groups were tested in both the extinction context (extinction test) and a new context (renewal test) immediately and 48 hours after the end of the extinction phase (spontaneous recovery). Half of the subjects were tested in the presence of the EC (Group Extinction cue) while the other half were tested in the presence of a neutral cue (Group Neutral cue). The results suggested that the EC reduced the recovery of fear produced by a context change, but that this reduction was not maintained over time. Experiment 2 increased the salience of the EC and the contexts, however, results showed that the EC was unable to reduce the renewal of fear conditioning. These results are discussed as a function of the experimental manipulations performed, and their theoretical and practical implications