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Generalization of acquired responses appears to be a crucial, yet under investigated process in emotional disorders. Generalization occurs when a conditioned response is elicited by a stimulus different from the original conditioned stimulus. The expansion of complaints, often seen in emotional disorders, is at least in part due to processes of generalization. In the present study, generalization is approached from a memory perspective. It is hypothesized that generalization of conditioned responding is associated with autobiographical memory specificity. Higher levels of generalization are predicted for people who are characterized by limited memory specificity. In a human contingency-learning procedure, participants learned the association between two pictures of female faces and a schematic drawing of a lightning bolt. Subsequently, six morphed pictures functioning as generalization stimuli (GSs) were introduced and conditioned responses to these GSs were measured. The results showed that memory specificity was significantly associated with the extent of generalization. Participants low in autobiographical memory specificity exhibited significantly stronger conditioned responses to GSs as compared to participants high in autobiographical memory specificity.

People seem to differ in their conditionability, that is, the ease by which fear associations (neutral stimulus-unconditioned stimulus [CS-US] contingencies) are learned. Recently, the level of trait worry has been proposed as a predictor of heightened conditionability. The current research aimed to (a) further investigate this influence of individual differences in trait worry on the strength of fear acquisition, (b) explore whether this association could be explained by trait anxiety, and (c) assess possible underlying mechanisms of this relationship. In a nonclinical sample, the amount of trait worry predicted heightened conditionability in a differential fear conditioning paradigm, both in fear ratings and in performance on a secondary probe reaction time task. A significant correlation was observed for general conditioning to the CS+ and also for differential conditioning (taking into account excitatory and inhibitory responding) in Experiment 1. These associations could not be fully explained by trait anxiety. US inflation and strengthening of the CS-US contingency through rehearsal are discussed as possible underlying mechanisms.

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