Binti Affandi, Aida Helana, Pike, Alexandra C. orcid.org/0000-0003-1972-5530 and Robinson, Oliver Joe (2022) Threat of shock promotes passive avoidance, but not active avoidance. European Journal of Neuroscience. pp. 2571-2580. ISSN 0953-816X
Abstract
Anxiety and stress are adaptive responses to threat that promote harm avoidance. In particular, prior work has shown that anxiety induced in humans using threat of unpredictable shock promotes behavioral inhibition in the face of harm. This is consistent with the idea that anxiety promotes passive avoidance—that is, withholding approach actions that could lead to harm. However, harm can also be avoided through active avoidance, where a (withdrawal) action is taken to avoid harm. Here, we provide the first direct within-study comparison of the effects of threat of shock on active and passive avoidance. We operationalize passive avoidance as withholding a button press response in the face of negative outcomes, and active avoidance as lifting/releasing a button press in the face of negative outcomes. We explore the impact of threat of unpredictable shock on the learning of these behavioral responses (alongside matched responses to rewards) within a single cognitive task. We predicted that threat of shock would promote both active and passive avoidance, and that this would be driven by increased reliance on Pavlovian bias, as parameterized within reinforcement-learning models. Consistent with our predictions, we provide evidence that threat of shock promotes passive avoidance as conceptualized by our task. However, inconsistent with predictions, we found no evidence that threat of shock promoted active avoidance, nor evidence of elevated Pavlovian bias in any condition. One hypothetical framework with which to understand these findings is that anxiety promotes passive over active harm avoidance strategies in order to conserve energy while avoiding harm.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Authors. European Journal of Neuroscience published by Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd Funding Information: The authors would like to thank Adam Gorka and Yumeya Yamamori for their suggestions and troubleshooting advice during the setup of this study. This work was supported by a Medical Research Council senior non‐clinical fellowship [MR/R020817/1] to OJR. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Psychology (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 05 Jul 2022 11:50 |
Last Modified: | 17 Oct 2024 08:51 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15184 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/ejn.15184 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:188742 |
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Description: Eur J of Neuroscience - 2021 - Binti Affandi - Threat of shock promotes passive avoidance but not active avoidance
Licence: CC-BY 2.5