Perceptual or conceptual? Modulation of fear generalization pathways by prior learning experience

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2025.2100

Abstract

Abstract:

Excessive fear generalization is a core symptom of various anxiety disorders, where unbounded fear or avoidance imposes significant burdens on patients' lives. Previous studies have shown that human fear responses can propagate along the perceptual information (perceptual fear generalization) or conceptual information (conceptual fear generalization) of stimuli. In general, any stimulus inherently contains both perceptual and conceptual attributes. Following fear conditioning to stimulus compounds, the factors that regulate the two pathways of fear generalization are an intriguing topic. A total of 50 college students were recruited, and this study employed a classical differential fear conditioning paradigm, with unconditioned stimulus (US) expectancy and skin conductance response (SCR) as measures, to examine whether pre-acquisition learning experiences modulate the two fear generalization pathways The results revealed that participants in the perceptual group exhibited significant perceptual fear generalization, whereas those in the conceptual group showed pronounced conceptual fear generalization. These findings indicated that prior experience significantly modulated the pathways of fear generalization and confirmed both pathways as effective routes for fear generalization. Additionally, an intriguing finding emerged: apart from conceptual fear generalization, the conceptual group also displayed a tendency for perceptual fear generalization, whereas the perceptual group showed no signs of conceptual fear generalization. This asymmetric pattern was consistently observed in both the US expectancy and SCR measures, demonstrating a robust effect. These findings can be explained by the differences in information processing and attentional biases between the two groups, suggesting distinct roles of perceptual and conceptual information in eliciting human fear responses. Theoretical and clinical implications were discussed.

Key words: prior experience, perceptual information, conceptual information, attentional bias, fear generalization pathways

FENG Biao, ZHANG Donghuan, CHEN Wei, ZENG Ling, WU Xiaoyue, HUANG Junling, ZHENG Xifu. (2025). Perceptual or conceptual? Modulation of fear generalization pathways by prior learning experience. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 57(12), 2100-2115.

Figures/Tables 14

References 61

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Variables	Group		t or χ²	p
Variables	perceptual group (n = 26)	conceptual group (n = 24)	t or χ²	p
Number of male (percentage)	5(19.23%)	4(16.67%)	0.06	0.814
Age (years)	21.23 ± 2.47	21.25 ± 1.30	0.03	0.973
DASS21?D	5.92 ± 6.34	7.67 ±7.57	0.89	0.380
DASS21?A	7.15± 5.66	7.25 ± 5.27	0.06	0.951
DASS21?S	8.46 ± 5.49	9.50 ± 5.60	0.66	0.511
IU12?P	16.19 ± 3.49	18.04 ± 4.52	1.63	0.110
IU12?I	9.38 ± 2.58	11.00 ± 3.23	1.96	0.056
ASI3?P	4.19 ± 4.13	5.91 ± 5.13	1.31	0.195
ASI3?C	5.15 ± 3.13	5.54 ± 4.28	0.37	0.715
ASI3?S	7.00 ± 3.89	8.38 ± 5.12	1.07	0.288

Variables	Group		t or χ²	p
Variables	perceptual group (n = 26)	conceptual group (n = 24)	t or χ²	p
Number of male (percentage)	5(19.23%)	4(16.67%)	0.06	0.814
Age (years)	21.23 ± 2.47	21.25 ± 1.30	0.03	0.973
DASS21?D	5.92 ± 6.34	7.67 ±7.57	0.89	0.380
DASS21?A	7.15± 5.66	7.25 ± 5.27	0.06	0.951
DASS21?S	8.46 ± 5.49	9.50 ± 5.60	0.66	0.511
IU12?P	16.19 ± 3.49	18.04 ± 4.52	1.63	0.110
IU12?I	9.38 ± 2.58	11.00 ± 3.23	1.96	0.056
ASI3?P	4.19 ± 4.13	5.91 ± 5.13	1.31	0.195
ASI3?C	5.15 ± 3.13	5.54 ± 4.28	0.37	0.715
ASI3?S	7.00 ± 3.89	8.38 ± 5.12	1.07	0.288