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Inconsistent analytic strategies reduce robustness in fear extinction via skin conductance response
Author(s) -
Ney Luke John,
Laing Patrick A.F.,
Steward Trevor,
Zuj Daniel V.,
Dymond Simon,
Felmingham Kim L.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/psyp.13650
Subject(s) - robustness (evolution) , psychology , skin conductance , anxiety , extinction (optical mineralogy) , cognitive psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , psychiatry , paleontology , biochemistry , chemistry , biology , biomedical engineering , gene
Robustness of fear conditioning and extinction paradigms has become increasingly important for many researchers interested in improving the study of anxiety and trauma disorders. We recently illustrated the wide variability in data analysis techniques in this paradigm, which we argued may result in a lack of robustness. In the current study, we resampled data from six of our own fear acquisition and extinction data sets, with skin conductance as the outcome. In the resampled and original data sets, we found that effect sizes that were calculated using discrepant statistical strategies, sourced from a non‐exhaustive search of high‐impact articles, were often poorly correlated. The main contributors to poor correlations were the selection of trials from different stages of each experimental phase and the use of average compared to trial‐by‐trial analysis. These findings reinforce the importance of focusing on robustness in the psychophysiological measurement of fear acquisition and extinction in the laboratory and may guide prospective researchers in which decisions may most impact the robustness of their results.