2020 |
Pärnamets, P; Olsson, A Integration of social cues and individual experiences during instrumental avoidance learning Journal Article PLOS Computational Biology, 16 (9), pp. e1008163, 2020. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Autism, Decision making, Emotions, Facial expressions, Fear, Fractals, Human learning, Learning @article{P\"{a}rnamets2020b, title = {Integration of social cues and individual experiences during instrumental avoidance learning}, author = {P P\"{a}rnamets and A Olsson}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008163}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-09-08}, journal = {PLOS Computational Biology}, volume = {16}, number = {9}, pages = {e1008163}, abstract = {Learning to avoid harmful consequences can be a costly trial-and-error process. In such situations, social information can be leveraged to improve individual learning outcomes. Here, we investigated how participants used their own experiences and others’ social cues to avoid harm. Participants made repeated choices between harmful and safe options, each with different probabilities of generating shocks, while also seeing the image of a social partner. Some partners made predictive gaze cues towards the harmful choice option while others cued an option at random, and did so using neutral or fearful facial expressions. We tested how learned social information about partner reliability transferred across contexts by letting participants encounter the same partner in multiple trial blocks while facing novel choice options. Participants’ decisions were best explained by a reinforcement learning model that independently learned the probabilities of options being safe and of partners being reliable and combined these combined these estimates to generate choices. Advice from partners making a fearful facial expression influenced participants’ decisions more than advice from partners with neutral expressions. Our results showed that participants made better decisions when facing predictive partners and that they cached and transferred partner reliability estimates into new blocks. Using simulations we show that participants’ transfer of social information into novel contexts is better adapted to variable social environments where social partners may change their cuing strategy or become untrustworthy. Finally, we found no relation between autism questionnaire scores and performance in our task, but do find autism trait related differences in learning rate parameters.}, keywords = {Autism, Decision making, Emotions, Facial expressions, Fear, Fractals, Human learning, Learning}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Learning to avoid harmful consequences can be a costly trial-and-error process. In such situations, social information can be leveraged to improve individual learning outcomes. Here, we investigated how participants used their own experiences and others’ social cues to avoid harm. Participants made repeated choices between harmful and safe options, each with different probabilities of generating shocks, while also seeing the image of a social partner. Some partners made predictive gaze cues towards the harmful choice option while others cued an option at random, and did so using neutral or fearful facial expressions. We tested how learned social information about partner reliability transferred across contexts by letting participants encounter the same partner in multiple trial blocks while facing novel choice options. Participants’ decisions were best explained by a reinforcement learning model that independently learned the probabilities of options being safe and of partners being reliable and combined these combined these estimates to generate choices. Advice from partners making a fearful facial expression influenced participants’ decisions more than advice from partners with neutral expressions. Our results showed that participants made better decisions when facing predictive partners and that they cached and transferred partner reliability estimates into new blocks. Using simulations we show that participants’ transfer of social information into novel contexts is better adapted to variable social environments where social partners may change their cuing strategy or become untrustworthy. Finally, we found no relation between autism questionnaire scores and performance in our task, but do find autism trait related differences in learning rate parameters. |
Vieira, J B; Schellhaas, S; Enström, E; Olsson, A Help or flight? Increased threat imminence promotes defensive helping in humans Journal Article Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2020. Links | BibTeX | Tags: Altruism, Defensive state, Empathy, Fear, Fight–flight, Freezing, Prosocial @article{Vieira2020, title = {Help or flight? Increased threat imminence promotes defensive helping in humans}, author = {J B Vieira and S Schellhaas and E Enstr\"{o}m and A Olsson}, url = {https://psyarxiv.com/bckn3/}, doi = {10.1098/rspb.2020.1473}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-08-26}, journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B}, keywords = {Altruism, Defensive state, Empathy, Fear, Fight\textendashflight, Freezing, Prosocial}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Pärnamets, P; Espinosa, L; Olsson, A Physiological synchrony predicts observational threat learning in humans Journal Article Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2020, ISSN: 1471-2954. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Empathy, Fear, Observational learning, Social learning, Synchrony, Threat @article{P\"{a}rnamets2020, title = {Physiological synchrony predicts observational threat learning in humans}, author = {P P\"{a}rnamets and L Espinosa and A Olsson}, doi = {10.1098/rspb.2019.2779}, issn = {1471-2954}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-04-25}, journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B}, abstract = {Understanding how information about threats in the environment is shared and transmitted between individuals is crucial for explaining adaptive, survival-related behavior in humans and other animals, and for developing treatments for phobias and other anxiety disorders. Research across species has shown that observing a conspecific’s, a “demonstrator’s”, threat responses causes strong and persistent threat memories in the “observer”. Here, we examined if physiological synchrony between demonstrator and observer can serve to predict the strength of observationally acquired conditioned responses. We measured synchrony between demonstrators' and observers' phasic electrodermal signals during learning, which directly reflects autonomic nervous system activity. Prior interpersonal synchrony predicted the strength of the observer's later skin conductance responses to threat predicting stimuli, in the absence of the demonstrator. Dynamic coupling between an observer's and a demonstrator's autonomic nervous system activity may reflect experience sharing processes facilitating the formation of observational threat associations.}, keywords = {Empathy, Fear, Observational learning, Social learning, Synchrony, Threat}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Understanding how information about threats in the environment is shared and transmitted between individuals is crucial for explaining adaptive, survival-related behavior in humans and other animals, and for developing treatments for phobias and other anxiety disorders. Research across species has shown that observing a conspecific’s, a “demonstrator’s”, threat responses causes strong and persistent threat memories in the “observer”. Here, we examined if physiological synchrony between demonstrator and observer can serve to predict the strength of observationally acquired conditioned responses. We measured synchrony between demonstrators' and observers' phasic electrodermal signals during learning, which directly reflects autonomic nervous system activity. Prior interpersonal synchrony predicted the strength of the observer's later skin conductance responses to threat predicting stimuli, in the absence of the demonstrator. Dynamic coupling between an observer's and a demonstrator's autonomic nervous system activity may reflect experience sharing processes facilitating the formation of observational threat associations. |
2019 |
Lindström, B; Golkar, A; Jangard, S; Tobler, P N; Olsson, A Social threat learning transfers to decision making in humans Journal Article Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Decision making, Fear, Pavlovian instrumental transfer, Reinforcement learning, Social learning @article{Lindstr\"{o}m2019, title = {Social threat learning transfers to decision making in humans}, author = {B Lindstr\"{o}m and A Golkar and S Jangard and P N Tobler and A Olsson}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1810180116}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-02-13}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, abstract = {In today’s world, mass-media and online social networks present us with unprecedented exposure to second-hand, vicarious experiences and thereby the chance of forming associations between previously innocuous events (e.g., being in a subway station) and aversive outcomes (e.g., footage or verbal reports from a violent terrorist attack) without direct experience. Such social threat, or fear, learning can have dramatic consequences, as manifested in acute stress symptoms and maladaptive fears. However, most research has so far focused on socially acquired threat responses that are expressed as increased arousal rather than active behavior. In three experiments (n = 120), we examined the effect of indirect experiences on behaviors by establishing a link between social threat learning and instrumental decision making. We contrasted learning from direct experience (i.e., Pavlovian conditioning) (experiment 1) against two common forms of social threat learning\textemdashsocial observation (experiment 2) and verbal instruction (experiment 3)\textemdashand how this learning transferred to subsequent instrumental decision making using behavioral experiments and computational modeling. We found that both types of social threat learning transfer to decision making in a strong and surprisingly inflexible manner. Notably, computational modeling indicated that the transfer of observational and instructed threat learning involved different computational mechanisms. Our results demonstrate the strong influence of others’ expressions of fear on one’s own decisions and have important implications for understanding both healthy and pathological human behaviors resulting from the indirect exposure to threatening events.}, keywords = {Decision making, Fear, Pavlovian instrumental transfer, Reinforcement learning, Social learning}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } In today’s world, mass-media and online social networks present us with unprecedented exposure to second-hand, vicarious experiences and thereby the chance of forming associations between previously innocuous events (e.g., being in a subway station) and aversive outcomes (e.g., footage or verbal reports from a violent terrorist attack) without direct experience. Such social threat, or fear, learning can have dramatic consequences, as manifested in acute stress symptoms and maladaptive fears. However, most research has so far focused on socially acquired threat responses that are expressed as increased arousal rather than active behavior. In three experiments (n = 120), we examined the effect of indirect experiences on behaviors by establishing a link between social threat learning and instrumental decision making. We contrasted learning from direct experience (i.e., Pavlovian conditioning) (experiment 1) against two common forms of social threat learning—social observation (experiment 2) and verbal instruction (experiment 3)—and how this learning transferred to subsequent instrumental decision making using behavioral experiments and computational modeling. We found that both types of social threat learning transfer to decision making in a strong and surprisingly inflexible manner. Notably, computational modeling indicated that the transfer of observational and instructed threat learning involved different computational mechanisms. Our results demonstrate the strong influence of others’ expressions of fear on one’s own decisions and have important implications for understanding both healthy and pathological human behaviors resulting from the indirect exposure to threatening events. |
2015 |
Golkar, A; Castro, V; Olsson, A Social learning of fear and safety is determined by the demonstrator's racial group Journal Article Biology Letters, 11 (1), 2015. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Fear, Obsfear procedure, Safety, Social learning @article{Golkar2015, title = {Social learning of fear and safety is determined by the demonstrator's racial group}, author = {A Golkar and V Castro and A Olsson}, url = {http://www.emotionlab.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Golkar2015.pdf}, doi = {10.1098/rsbl.2014.0817}, year = {2015}, date = {2015-01-28}, journal = {Biology Letters}, volume = {11}, number = {1}, abstract = {Social learning offers an efficient route through which humans and other animals learn about potential dangers in the environment. Such learning inherently relies on the transmission of social information and should imply selectivity in what to learn from whom. Here, we conducted two observational learning experiments to assess how humans learn about danger and safety from members (‘demonstrators') of an other social group than their own. We show that both fear and safety learning from a racial in-group demonstrator was more potent than learning from a racial out-group demonstrator.}, keywords = {Fear, Obsfear procedure, Safety, Social learning}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Social learning offers an efficient route through which humans and other animals learn about potential dangers in the environment. Such learning inherently relies on the transmission of social information and should imply selectivity in what to learn from whom. Here, we conducted two observational learning experiments to assess how humans learn about danger and safety from members (‘demonstrators') of an other social group than their own. We show that both fear and safety learning from a racial in-group demonstrator was more potent than learning from a racial out-group demonstrator. |
2013 |
Golkar, A; Selbing, I; Flygare, O; Öhman, A; Olsson, A Other people as means to a safe end Journal Article Psychological Science, 24 (11), pp. 2182-2190, 2013. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Emotion, Extinction, Fear, Learning, Observational learning, Obsfear procedure, Reinstatement, Social cognition, Vicarious learning @article{Golkar2013, title = {Other people as means to a safe end}, author = {A Golkar and I Selbing and O Flygare and A \"{O}hman and A Olsson}, url = {http://www.emotionlab.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Golkar2013.pdf}, doi = {10.1177/0956797613489890}, year = {2013}, date = {2013-09-10}, journal = {Psychological Science}, volume = {24}, number = {11}, pages = {2182-2190}, abstract = {Information about what is dangerous and safe in the environment is often transferred from other individuals through social forms of learning, such as observation. Past research has focused on the observational, or vicarious, acquisition of fears, but little is known about how social information can promote safety learning. To address this issue, we studied the effects of vicarious-extinction learning on the recovery of conditioned fear. Compared with a standard extinction procedure, vicarious extinction promoted better extinction and effectively blocked the return of previously learned fear. We confirmed that these effects could not be attributed to the presence of a learning model per se but were specifically driven by the model’s experience of safety. Our results confirm that vicarious and direct emotional learning share important characteristics but that social-safety information promotes superior down-regulation of learned fear. These findings have implications for emotional learning, social-affective processes, and clinical practice.}, keywords = {Emotion, Extinction, Fear, Learning, Observational learning, Obsfear procedure, Reinstatement, Social cognition, Vicarious learning}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Information about what is dangerous and safe in the environment is often transferred from other individuals through social forms of learning, such as observation. Past research has focused on the observational, or vicarious, acquisition of fears, but little is known about how social information can promote safety learning. To address this issue, we studied the effects of vicarious-extinction learning on the recovery of conditioned fear. Compared with a standard extinction procedure, vicarious extinction promoted better extinction and effectively blocked the return of previously learned fear. We confirmed that these effects could not be attributed to the presence of a learning model per se but were specifically driven by the model’s experience of safety. Our results confirm that vicarious and direct emotional learning share important characteristics but that social-safety information promotes superior down-regulation of learned fear. These findings have implications for emotional learning, social-affective processes, and clinical practice. |
2012 |
Navarrete, C D; McDonald, M M; Asher, B D; Kerr, N L; Yokota, K; Olsson, A; Sidanius, J Fear is readily associated with an out-group face in a minimal group context Journal Article Evolution and Human Behavior, 33 (5), pp. 590–593, 2012, ISSN: 10905138. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Coalitional psychology, Fear, Fight–flight, Intergroup bias, Minimal groups, Prepared learning @article{Navarrete2012, title = {Fear is readily associated with an out-group face in a minimal group context}, author = {C D Navarrete and M M McDonald and B D Asher and N L Kerr and K Yokota and A Olsson and J Sidanius}, doi = {10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2012.02.007}, issn = {10905138}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-09-01}, journal = {Evolution and Human Behavior}, volume = {33}, number = {5}, pages = {590--593}, abstract = {Research on prepared learning demonstrates that fear-conditioning biases may exist to natural hazards (e.g., snakes) compared to nonnatural hazards (e.g., electrical cords) and that fear is more readily learned toward exemplars of a racial out-group than toward exemplars of one's own race. Here we push the limits of the generalizability of the mechanisms underlying race biases in a fear-conditioning paradigm by using arbitrary group categories not distinguished by race. Groups were distinguishable solely by t-shirt color, with assignment based on performance in a perceptual task. In this “minimal group paradigm,” we found that out-group exemplars were more readily associated with an aversive stimulus than exemplars of one's in-group. Our findings suggest that prepared learning in an intergroup context is not limited to contexts involving racial categories involving histories rife with cultural stereotypes and that previous findings of learning biases along racial lines may be interpreted as a by-product of a broader psychological system for prepared fear learning toward categories of agents that may have posed persistent threats over human evolutionary history.}, keywords = {Coalitional psychology, Fear, Fight\textendashflight, Intergroup bias, Minimal groups, Prepared learning}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Research on prepared learning demonstrates that fear-conditioning biases may exist to natural hazards (e.g., snakes) compared to nonnatural hazards (e.g., electrical cords) and that fear is more readily learned toward exemplars of a racial out-group than toward exemplars of one's own race. Here we push the limits of the generalizability of the mechanisms underlying race biases in a fear-conditioning paradigm by using arbitrary group categories not distinguished by race. Groups were distinguishable solely by t-shirt color, with assignment based on performance in a perceptual task. In this “minimal group paradigm,” we found that out-group exemplars were more readily associated with an aversive stimulus than exemplars of one's in-group. Our findings suggest that prepared learning in an intergroup context is not limited to contexts involving racial categories involving histories rife with cultural stereotypes and that previous findings of learning biases along racial lines may be interpreted as a by-product of a broader psychological system for prepared fear learning toward categories of agents that may have posed persistent threats over human evolutionary history. |
Peira, N; Golkar, A; Öhman, A; Anders, S; Wiens, S Emotional responses in spider fear are closely related to picture awareness Journal Article Cognition & Emotion, 26 (2), pp. 252–260, 2012, ISSN: 0269-9931. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Awareness, Consciousness, Fear, Heart rate, Masking, Psychophysiology @article{Peira2012, title = {Emotional responses in spider fear are closely related to picture awareness}, author = {N Peira and A Golkar and A \"{O}hman and S Anders and S Wiens}, doi = {10.1080/02699931.2011.579087}, issn = {0269-9931}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-02-01}, journal = {Cognition & Emotion}, volume = {26}, number = {2}, pages = {252--260}, abstract = {Theories of emotion propose that responses to emotional pictures can occur independently of whether or not people are aware of the picture content. Because evidence from dissociation paradigms is inconclusive, we manipulated picture awareness gradually and studied whether emotional responses varied with degree of awareness. Spider fearful and non-fearful participants viewed pictures of spiders and flowers at four levels of backward masking while electrodermal activity and heart rate were measured continuously. Recognition ratings confirmed that participants' picture awareness decreased with masking. Critically, effects of spider fear on emotion ratings and heart rate also decreased with masking. These findings suggest that effects of spider fear on emotion ratings and heart rate are closely related to picture awareness.}, keywords = {Awareness, Consciousness, Fear, Heart rate, Masking, Psychophysiology}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Theories of emotion propose that responses to emotional pictures can occur independently of whether or not people are aware of the picture content. Because evidence from dissociation paradigms is inconclusive, we manipulated picture awareness gradually and studied whether emotional responses varied with degree of awareness. Spider fearful and non-fearful participants viewed pictures of spiders and flowers at four levels of backward masking while electrodermal activity and heart rate were measured continuously. Recognition ratings confirmed that participants' picture awareness decreased with masking. Critically, effects of spider fear on emotion ratings and heart rate also decreased with masking. These findings suggest that effects of spider fear on emotion ratings and heart rate are closely related to picture awareness. |
2010 |
Peira, N; Golkar, A; Larsson, M; Wiens, S What you fear will appear: Detection of schematic spiders in spider fear Journal Article Experimental Psychology, 57 (6), pp. 470–475, 2010, ISSN: 1618-3169. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Attention, Change detection, Emotion, Fear @article{Peira2010, title = {What you fear will appear: Detection of schematic spiders in spider fear}, author = {N Peira and A Golkar and M Larsson and S Wiens}, doi = {10.1027/1618-3169/a000058}, issn = {1618-3169}, year = {2010}, date = {2010-01-01}, journal = {Experimental Psychology}, volume = {57}, number = {6}, pages = {470--475}, abstract = {Various experimental tasks suggest that fear guides attention. However, because these tasks often lack ecological validity, it is unclear to what extent results from these tasks can be generalized to real-life situations. In change detection tasks, a brief interruption of the visual input (i.e., a blank interval or a scene cut) often results in undetected changes in the scene. This setup resembles real-life viewing behavior and is used here to increase ecological validity of the attentional task without compromising control over the stimuli presented. Spider-fearful and nonfearful women detected schematic spiders and flowers that were added to one of two identical background pictures that alternated with a brief blank in between them (i.e., flicker paradigm). Results showed that spider-fearful women detected spiders (but not flowers) faster than did nonfearful women. Because spiders and flowers had similar low-level features, these findings suggest that fear guides attention on the basis of object features rather than simple low-level features.}, keywords = {Attention, Change detection, Emotion, Fear}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Various experimental tasks suggest that fear guides attention. However, because these tasks often lack ecological validity, it is unclear to what extent results from these tasks can be generalized to real-life situations. In change detection tasks, a brief interruption of the visual input (i.e., a blank interval or a scene cut) often results in undetected changes in the scene. This setup resembles real-life viewing behavior and is used here to increase ecological validity of the attentional task without compromising control over the stimuli presented. Spider-fearful and nonfearful women detected schematic spiders and flowers that were added to one of two identical background pictures that alternated with a brief blank in between them (i.e., flicker paradigm). Results showed that spider-fearful women detected spiders (but not flowers) faster than did nonfearful women. Because spiders and flowers had similar low-level features, these findings suggest that fear guides attention on the basis of object features rather than simple low-level features. |
2009 |
Öhman, A Fear Book Chapter Sander, D; Scherer, K R (Ed.): Oxford Companion to Emotion and the Affective Sciences, pp. 182-183, Oxford University Press, 2009, ISBN: 9780198569633. @inbook{\"{O}hman2009, title = {Fear}, author = {A \"{O}hman}, editor = {D Sander and K R Scherer}, isbn = {9780198569633}, year = {2009}, date = {2009-01-01}, booktitle = {Oxford Companion to Emotion and the Affective Sciences}, pages = {182-183}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, keywords = {Fear}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inbook} } |
2007 |
Öhman, A; Carlsson, K; Lundqvist, D; Ingvar, M On the unconscious subcortical origin of human fear Journal Article Physiology & Behavior, 92 (1-2), pp. 180–185, 2007, ISSN: 00319384. Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Amygdala, Backward masking, Evolution, Fear, Subcortex @article{Ohman2007a, title = {On the unconscious subcortical origin of human fear}, author = {A \"{O}hman and K Carlsson and D Lundqvist and M Ingvar}, doi = {10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.05.057}, issn = {00319384}, year = {2007}, date = {2007-09-01}, journal = {Physiology & Behavior}, volume = {92}, number = {1-2}, pages = {180--185}, abstract = {Consistent with the hypothesis that the amygdala is central to fear activation, brain imaging studies show that fear stimuli activate the amygdala, even when conscious recognition is prevented by backward masking. The bulk of the data suggest that the amygdala can be activated from potentially accessible but unattended fear stimuli. Activation of the amygdala facilitates low level visual processing. Several lines of evidence suggest that activation of the amygdala is mediated by a subcortical pathway. Thus, according to data from patients with lesions in the primary visual cortex, the amygdala can be activated in the absence of cortical processing. There is considerable support for the hypothesis that visual stimuli can access the amygdala via a pathway that includes the superior colliculus and the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus. These data are consistent with an evolutionary argument, focusing of the role of snakes as a predator on primates.}, keywords = {Amygdala, Backward masking, Evolution, Fear, Subcortex}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Consistent with the hypothesis that the amygdala is central to fear activation, brain imaging studies show that fear stimuli activate the amygdala, even when conscious recognition is prevented by backward masking. The bulk of the data suggest that the amygdala can be activated from potentially accessible but unattended fear stimuli. Activation of the amygdala facilitates low level visual processing. Several lines of evidence suggest that activation of the amygdala is mediated by a subcortical pathway. Thus, according to data from patients with lesions in the primary visual cortex, the amygdala can be activated in the absence of cortical processing. There is considerable support for the hypothesis that visual stimuli can access the amygdala via a pathway that includes the superior colliculus and the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus. These data are consistent with an evolutionary argument, focusing of the role of snakes as a predator on primates. |
Under Review
2020 |
Pärnamets, P; Olsson, A Integration of social cues and individual experiences during instrumental avoidance learning Journal Article PLOS Computational Biology, 16 (9), pp. e1008163, 2020. @article{P\"{a}rnamets2020b, title = {Integration of social cues and individual experiences during instrumental avoidance learning}, author = {P P\"{a}rnamets and A Olsson}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008163}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-09-08}, journal = {PLOS Computational Biology}, volume = {16}, number = {9}, pages = {e1008163}, abstract = {Learning to avoid harmful consequences can be a costly trial-and-error process. In such situations, social information can be leveraged to improve individual learning outcomes. Here, we investigated how participants used their own experiences and others’ social cues to avoid harm. Participants made repeated choices between harmful and safe options, each with different probabilities of generating shocks, while also seeing the image of a social partner. Some partners made predictive gaze cues towards the harmful choice option while others cued an option at random, and did so using neutral or fearful facial expressions. We tested how learned social information about partner reliability transferred across contexts by letting participants encounter the same partner in multiple trial blocks while facing novel choice options. Participants’ decisions were best explained by a reinforcement learning model that independently learned the probabilities of options being safe and of partners being reliable and combined these combined these estimates to generate choices. Advice from partners making a fearful facial expression influenced participants’ decisions more than advice from partners with neutral expressions. Our results showed that participants made better decisions when facing predictive partners and that they cached and transferred partner reliability estimates into new blocks. Using simulations we show that participants’ transfer of social information into novel contexts is better adapted to variable social environments where social partners may change their cuing strategy or become untrustworthy. Finally, we found no relation between autism questionnaire scores and performance in our task, but do find autism trait related differences in learning rate parameters.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Learning to avoid harmful consequences can be a costly trial-and-error process. In such situations, social information can be leveraged to improve individual learning outcomes. Here, we investigated how participants used their own experiences and others’ social cues to avoid harm. Participants made repeated choices between harmful and safe options, each with different probabilities of generating shocks, while also seeing the image of a social partner. Some partners made predictive gaze cues towards the harmful choice option while others cued an option at random, and did so using neutral or fearful facial expressions. We tested how learned social information about partner reliability transferred across contexts by letting participants encounter the same partner in multiple trial blocks while facing novel choice options. Participants’ decisions were best explained by a reinforcement learning model that independently learned the probabilities of options being safe and of partners being reliable and combined these combined these estimates to generate choices. Advice from partners making a fearful facial expression influenced participants’ decisions more than advice from partners with neutral expressions. Our results showed that participants made better decisions when facing predictive partners and that they cached and transferred partner reliability estimates into new blocks. Using simulations we show that participants’ transfer of social information into novel contexts is better adapted to variable social environments where social partners may change their cuing strategy or become untrustworthy. Finally, we found no relation between autism questionnaire scores and performance in our task, but do find autism trait related differences in learning rate parameters. |
Vieira, J B; Schellhaas, S; Enström, E; Olsson, A Help or flight? Increased threat imminence promotes defensive helping in humans Journal Article Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2020. @article{Vieira2020, title = {Help or flight? Increased threat imminence promotes defensive helping in humans}, author = {J B Vieira and S Schellhaas and E Enstr\"{o}m and A Olsson}, url = {https://psyarxiv.com/bckn3/}, doi = {10.1098/rspb.2020.1473}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-08-26}, journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
Pärnamets, P; Espinosa, L; Olsson, A Physiological synchrony predicts observational threat learning in humans Journal Article Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 2020, ISSN: 1471-2954. @article{P\"{a}rnamets2020, title = {Physiological synchrony predicts observational threat learning in humans}, author = {P P\"{a}rnamets and L Espinosa and A Olsson}, doi = {10.1098/rspb.2019.2779}, issn = {1471-2954}, year = {2020}, date = {2020-04-25}, journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B}, abstract = {Understanding how information about threats in the environment is shared and transmitted between individuals is crucial for explaining adaptive, survival-related behavior in humans and other animals, and for developing treatments for phobias and other anxiety disorders. Research across species has shown that observing a conspecific’s, a “demonstrator’s”, threat responses causes strong and persistent threat memories in the “observer”. Here, we examined if physiological synchrony between demonstrator and observer can serve to predict the strength of observationally acquired conditioned responses. We measured synchrony between demonstrators' and observers' phasic electrodermal signals during learning, which directly reflects autonomic nervous system activity. Prior interpersonal synchrony predicted the strength of the observer's later skin conductance responses to threat predicting stimuli, in the absence of the demonstrator. Dynamic coupling between an observer's and a demonstrator's autonomic nervous system activity may reflect experience sharing processes facilitating the formation of observational threat associations.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Understanding how information about threats in the environment is shared and transmitted between individuals is crucial for explaining adaptive, survival-related behavior in humans and other animals, and for developing treatments for phobias and other anxiety disorders. Research across species has shown that observing a conspecific’s, a “demonstrator’s”, threat responses causes strong and persistent threat memories in the “observer”. Here, we examined if physiological synchrony between demonstrator and observer can serve to predict the strength of observationally acquired conditioned responses. We measured synchrony between demonstrators' and observers' phasic electrodermal signals during learning, which directly reflects autonomic nervous system activity. Prior interpersonal synchrony predicted the strength of the observer's later skin conductance responses to threat predicting stimuli, in the absence of the demonstrator. Dynamic coupling between an observer's and a demonstrator's autonomic nervous system activity may reflect experience sharing processes facilitating the formation of observational threat associations. |
2019 |
Lindström, B; Golkar, A; Jangard, S; Tobler, P N; Olsson, A Social threat learning transfers to decision making in humans Journal Article Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019. @article{Lindstr\"{o}m2019, title = {Social threat learning transfers to decision making in humans}, author = {B Lindstr\"{o}m and A Golkar and S Jangard and P N Tobler and A Olsson}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1810180116}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-02-13}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, abstract = {In today’s world, mass-media and online social networks present us with unprecedented exposure to second-hand, vicarious experiences and thereby the chance of forming associations between previously innocuous events (e.g., being in a subway station) and aversive outcomes (e.g., footage or verbal reports from a violent terrorist attack) without direct experience. Such social threat, or fear, learning can have dramatic consequences, as manifested in acute stress symptoms and maladaptive fears. However, most research has so far focused on socially acquired threat responses that are expressed as increased arousal rather than active behavior. In three experiments (n = 120), we examined the effect of indirect experiences on behaviors by establishing a link between social threat learning and instrumental decision making. We contrasted learning from direct experience (i.e., Pavlovian conditioning) (experiment 1) against two common forms of social threat learning\textemdashsocial observation (experiment 2) and verbal instruction (experiment 3)\textemdashand how this learning transferred to subsequent instrumental decision making using behavioral experiments and computational modeling. We found that both types of social threat learning transfer to decision making in a strong and surprisingly inflexible manner. Notably, computational modeling indicated that the transfer of observational and instructed threat learning involved different computational mechanisms. Our results demonstrate the strong influence of others’ expressions of fear on one’s own decisions and have important implications for understanding both healthy and pathological human behaviors resulting from the indirect exposure to threatening events.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } In today’s world, mass-media and online social networks present us with unprecedented exposure to second-hand, vicarious experiences and thereby the chance of forming associations between previously innocuous events (e.g., being in a subway station) and aversive outcomes (e.g., footage or verbal reports from a violent terrorist attack) without direct experience. Such social threat, or fear, learning can have dramatic consequences, as manifested in acute stress symptoms and maladaptive fears. However, most research has so far focused on socially acquired threat responses that are expressed as increased arousal rather than active behavior. In three experiments (n = 120), we examined the effect of indirect experiences on behaviors by establishing a link between social threat learning and instrumental decision making. We contrasted learning from direct experience (i.e., Pavlovian conditioning) (experiment 1) against two common forms of social threat learning—social observation (experiment 2) and verbal instruction (experiment 3)—and how this learning transferred to subsequent instrumental decision making using behavioral experiments and computational modeling. We found that both types of social threat learning transfer to decision making in a strong and surprisingly inflexible manner. Notably, computational modeling indicated that the transfer of observational and instructed threat learning involved different computational mechanisms. Our results demonstrate the strong influence of others’ expressions of fear on one’s own decisions and have important implications for understanding both healthy and pathological human behaviors resulting from the indirect exposure to threatening events. |
2015 |
Golkar, A; Castro, V; Olsson, A Social learning of fear and safety is determined by the demonstrator's racial group Journal Article Biology Letters, 11 (1), 2015. @article{Golkar2015, title = {Social learning of fear and safety is determined by the demonstrator's racial group}, author = {A Golkar and V Castro and A Olsson}, url = {http://www.emotionlab.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Golkar2015.pdf}, doi = {10.1098/rsbl.2014.0817}, year = {2015}, date = {2015-01-28}, journal = {Biology Letters}, volume = {11}, number = {1}, abstract = {Social learning offers an efficient route through which humans and other animals learn about potential dangers in the environment. Such learning inherently relies on the transmission of social information and should imply selectivity in what to learn from whom. Here, we conducted two observational learning experiments to assess how humans learn about danger and safety from members (‘demonstrators') of an other social group than their own. We show that both fear and safety learning from a racial in-group demonstrator was more potent than learning from a racial out-group demonstrator.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Social learning offers an efficient route through which humans and other animals learn about potential dangers in the environment. Such learning inherently relies on the transmission of social information and should imply selectivity in what to learn from whom. Here, we conducted two observational learning experiments to assess how humans learn about danger and safety from members (‘demonstrators') of an other social group than their own. We show that both fear and safety learning from a racial in-group demonstrator was more potent than learning from a racial out-group demonstrator. |
2013 |
Golkar, A; Selbing, I; Flygare, O; Öhman, A; Olsson, A Other people as means to a safe end Journal Article Psychological Science, 24 (11), pp. 2182-2190, 2013. @article{Golkar2013, title = {Other people as means to a safe end}, author = {A Golkar and I Selbing and O Flygare and A \"{O}hman and A Olsson}, url = {http://www.emotionlab.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Golkar2013.pdf}, doi = {10.1177/0956797613489890}, year = {2013}, date = {2013-09-10}, journal = {Psychological Science}, volume = {24}, number = {11}, pages = {2182-2190}, abstract = {Information about what is dangerous and safe in the environment is often transferred from other individuals through social forms of learning, such as observation. Past research has focused on the observational, or vicarious, acquisition of fears, but little is known about how social information can promote safety learning. To address this issue, we studied the effects of vicarious-extinction learning on the recovery of conditioned fear. Compared with a standard extinction procedure, vicarious extinction promoted better extinction and effectively blocked the return of previously learned fear. We confirmed that these effects could not be attributed to the presence of a learning model per se but were specifically driven by the model’s experience of safety. Our results confirm that vicarious and direct emotional learning share important characteristics but that social-safety information promotes superior down-regulation of learned fear. These findings have implications for emotional learning, social-affective processes, and clinical practice.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Information about what is dangerous and safe in the environment is often transferred from other individuals through social forms of learning, such as observation. Past research has focused on the observational, or vicarious, acquisition of fears, but little is known about how social information can promote safety learning. To address this issue, we studied the effects of vicarious-extinction learning on the recovery of conditioned fear. Compared with a standard extinction procedure, vicarious extinction promoted better extinction and effectively blocked the return of previously learned fear. We confirmed that these effects could not be attributed to the presence of a learning model per se but were specifically driven by the model’s experience of safety. Our results confirm that vicarious and direct emotional learning share important characteristics but that social-safety information promotes superior down-regulation of learned fear. These findings have implications for emotional learning, social-affective processes, and clinical practice. |
2012 |
Navarrete, C D; McDonald, M M; Asher, B D; Kerr, N L; Yokota, K; Olsson, A; Sidanius, J Fear is readily associated with an out-group face in a minimal group context Journal Article Evolution and Human Behavior, 33 (5), pp. 590–593, 2012, ISSN: 10905138. @article{Navarrete2012, title = {Fear is readily associated with an out-group face in a minimal group context}, author = {C D Navarrete and M M McDonald and B D Asher and N L Kerr and K Yokota and A Olsson and J Sidanius}, doi = {10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2012.02.007}, issn = {10905138}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-09-01}, journal = {Evolution and Human Behavior}, volume = {33}, number = {5}, pages = {590--593}, abstract = {Research on prepared learning demonstrates that fear-conditioning biases may exist to natural hazards (e.g., snakes) compared to nonnatural hazards (e.g., electrical cords) and that fear is more readily learned toward exemplars of a racial out-group than toward exemplars of one's own race. Here we push the limits of the generalizability of the mechanisms underlying race biases in a fear-conditioning paradigm by using arbitrary group categories not distinguished by race. Groups were distinguishable solely by t-shirt color, with assignment based on performance in a perceptual task. In this “minimal group paradigm,” we found that out-group exemplars were more readily associated with an aversive stimulus than exemplars of one's in-group. Our findings suggest that prepared learning in an intergroup context is not limited to contexts involving racial categories involving histories rife with cultural stereotypes and that previous findings of learning biases along racial lines may be interpreted as a by-product of a broader psychological system for prepared fear learning toward categories of agents that may have posed persistent threats over human evolutionary history.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Research on prepared learning demonstrates that fear-conditioning biases may exist to natural hazards (e.g., snakes) compared to nonnatural hazards (e.g., electrical cords) and that fear is more readily learned toward exemplars of a racial out-group than toward exemplars of one's own race. Here we push the limits of the generalizability of the mechanisms underlying race biases in a fear-conditioning paradigm by using arbitrary group categories not distinguished by race. Groups were distinguishable solely by t-shirt color, with assignment based on performance in a perceptual task. In this “minimal group paradigm,” we found that out-group exemplars were more readily associated with an aversive stimulus than exemplars of one's in-group. Our findings suggest that prepared learning in an intergroup context is not limited to contexts involving racial categories involving histories rife with cultural stereotypes and that previous findings of learning biases along racial lines may be interpreted as a by-product of a broader psychological system for prepared fear learning toward categories of agents that may have posed persistent threats over human evolutionary history. |
Peira, N; Golkar, A; Öhman, A; Anders, S; Wiens, S Emotional responses in spider fear are closely related to picture awareness Journal Article Cognition & Emotion, 26 (2), pp. 252–260, 2012, ISSN: 0269-9931. @article{Peira2012, title = {Emotional responses in spider fear are closely related to picture awareness}, author = {N Peira and A Golkar and A \"{O}hman and S Anders and S Wiens}, doi = {10.1080/02699931.2011.579087}, issn = {0269-9931}, year = {2012}, date = {2012-02-01}, journal = {Cognition & Emotion}, volume = {26}, number = {2}, pages = {252--260}, abstract = {Theories of emotion propose that responses to emotional pictures can occur independently of whether or not people are aware of the picture content. Because evidence from dissociation paradigms is inconclusive, we manipulated picture awareness gradually and studied whether emotional responses varied with degree of awareness. Spider fearful and non-fearful participants viewed pictures of spiders and flowers at four levels of backward masking while electrodermal activity and heart rate were measured continuously. Recognition ratings confirmed that participants' picture awareness decreased with masking. Critically, effects of spider fear on emotion ratings and heart rate also decreased with masking. These findings suggest that effects of spider fear on emotion ratings and heart rate are closely related to picture awareness.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Theories of emotion propose that responses to emotional pictures can occur independently of whether or not people are aware of the picture content. Because evidence from dissociation paradigms is inconclusive, we manipulated picture awareness gradually and studied whether emotional responses varied with degree of awareness. Spider fearful and non-fearful participants viewed pictures of spiders and flowers at four levels of backward masking while electrodermal activity and heart rate were measured continuously. Recognition ratings confirmed that participants' picture awareness decreased with masking. Critically, effects of spider fear on emotion ratings and heart rate also decreased with masking. These findings suggest that effects of spider fear on emotion ratings and heart rate are closely related to picture awareness. |
2010 |
Peira, N; Golkar, A; Larsson, M; Wiens, S What you fear will appear: Detection of schematic spiders in spider fear Journal Article Experimental Psychology, 57 (6), pp. 470–475, 2010, ISSN: 1618-3169. @article{Peira2010, title = {What you fear will appear: Detection of schematic spiders in spider fear}, author = {N Peira and A Golkar and M Larsson and S Wiens}, doi = {10.1027/1618-3169/a000058}, issn = {1618-3169}, year = {2010}, date = {2010-01-01}, journal = {Experimental Psychology}, volume = {57}, number = {6}, pages = {470--475}, abstract = {Various experimental tasks suggest that fear guides attention. However, because these tasks often lack ecological validity, it is unclear to what extent results from these tasks can be generalized to real-life situations. In change detection tasks, a brief interruption of the visual input (i.e., a blank interval or a scene cut) often results in undetected changes in the scene. This setup resembles real-life viewing behavior and is used here to increase ecological validity of the attentional task without compromising control over the stimuli presented. Spider-fearful and nonfearful women detected schematic spiders and flowers that were added to one of two identical background pictures that alternated with a brief blank in between them (i.e., flicker paradigm). Results showed that spider-fearful women detected spiders (but not flowers) faster than did nonfearful women. Because spiders and flowers had similar low-level features, these findings suggest that fear guides attention on the basis of object features rather than simple low-level features.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Various experimental tasks suggest that fear guides attention. However, because these tasks often lack ecological validity, it is unclear to what extent results from these tasks can be generalized to real-life situations. In change detection tasks, a brief interruption of the visual input (i.e., a blank interval or a scene cut) often results in undetected changes in the scene. This setup resembles real-life viewing behavior and is used here to increase ecological validity of the attentional task without compromising control over the stimuli presented. Spider-fearful and nonfearful women detected schematic spiders and flowers that were added to one of two identical background pictures that alternated with a brief blank in between them (i.e., flicker paradigm). Results showed that spider-fearful women detected spiders (but not flowers) faster than did nonfearful women. Because spiders and flowers had similar low-level features, these findings suggest that fear guides attention on the basis of object features rather than simple low-level features. |
2009 |
Öhman, A Fear Book Chapter Sander, D; Scherer, K R (Ed.): Oxford Companion to Emotion and the Affective Sciences, pp. 182-183, Oxford University Press, 2009, ISBN: 9780198569633. @inbook{\"{O}hman2009, title = {Fear}, author = {A \"{O}hman}, editor = {D Sander and K R Scherer}, isbn = {9780198569633}, year = {2009}, date = {2009-01-01}, booktitle = {Oxford Companion to Emotion and the Affective Sciences}, pages = {182-183}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {inbook} } |
2007 |
Öhman, A; Carlsson, K; Lundqvist, D; Ingvar, M On the unconscious subcortical origin of human fear Journal Article Physiology & Behavior, 92 (1-2), pp. 180–185, 2007, ISSN: 00319384. @article{Ohman2007a, title = {On the unconscious subcortical origin of human fear}, author = {A \"{O}hman and K Carlsson and D Lundqvist and M Ingvar}, doi = {10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.05.057}, issn = {00319384}, year = {2007}, date = {2007-09-01}, journal = {Physiology & Behavior}, volume = {92}, number = {1-2}, pages = {180--185}, abstract = {Consistent with the hypothesis that the amygdala is central to fear activation, brain imaging studies show that fear stimuli activate the amygdala, even when conscious recognition is prevented by backward masking. The bulk of the data suggest that the amygdala can be activated from potentially accessible but unattended fear stimuli. Activation of the amygdala facilitates low level visual processing. Several lines of evidence suggest that activation of the amygdala is mediated by a subcortical pathway. Thus, according to data from patients with lesions in the primary visual cortex, the amygdala can be activated in the absence of cortical processing. There is considerable support for the hypothesis that visual stimuli can access the amygdala via a pathway that includes the superior colliculus and the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus. These data are consistent with an evolutionary argument, focusing of the role of snakes as a predator on primates.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Consistent with the hypothesis that the amygdala is central to fear activation, brain imaging studies show that fear stimuli activate the amygdala, even when conscious recognition is prevented by backward masking. The bulk of the data suggest that the amygdala can be activated from potentially accessible but unattended fear stimuli. Activation of the amygdala facilitates low level visual processing. Several lines of evidence suggest that activation of the amygdala is mediated by a subcortical pathway. Thus, according to data from patients with lesions in the primary visual cortex, the amygdala can be activated in the absence of cortical processing. There is considerable support for the hypothesis that visual stimuli can access the amygdala via a pathway that includes the superior colliculus and the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus. These data are consistent with an evolutionary argument, focusing of the role of snakes as a predator on primates. |