Pavlovian safety learning: An integrative theoretical review.

Autor: Laing PAF; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA. patrick.laing@austin.utexas.edu.; Institute for Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA. patrick.laing@austin.utexas.edu., Vervliet B; Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.; Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium., Dunsmoor JE; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.; Institute for Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA.; Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA., Harrison BJ; Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Psychonomic bulletin & review [Psychon Bull Rev] 2024 Aug 21. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Aug 21.
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-024-02559-4
Abstrakt: Safety learning involves associating stimuli with the absence of threats, enabling the inhibition of fear and anxiety. Despite growing interest in psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience, safety learning lacks a formal consensus definition, leading to inconsistent methodologies and varied results. Conceptualized as a form of inhibitory learning (conditioned inhibition), safety learning can be understood through formal learning theories, such as the Rescorla-Wagner and Pearce-Hall models. This review aims to establish a principled conceptualization of 'Pavlovian safety learning', identifying cognitive mechanisms that generate safety and the boundary conditions that constrain it. Based on these observations, we define Pavlovian safety learning as an active associative process, where surprising threat-omission (safety prediction error) acts as a salient reinforcing event. Instead of producing merely neutral or nonaversive states, safety learning endows stimuli with active positive associations to 'safety'. The resulting stimulus-safety memories counteract the influence of fear memories, promoting fear regulation, positive affect, and relief. We critically analyze traditional criteria of conditioned inhibition for their relevance to safety and propose areas for future innovation. A principled concept of Pavlovian safety learning may reduce methodological inconsistencies, stimulate translational research, and facilitate a comprehensive understanding of an indispensable psychological construct.
(© 2024. The Psychonomic Society, Inc.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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