Threat Of Shock
Threat Of Shock - Related Videos
02:09
Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies
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When we hold a stereotype about a person, we have expectations that he or she will fulfill that stereotype. A self-fulfilling prophecy is an expectation held by a person that alters his or her behavior in a way that tends to make it true. When we hold stereotypes about a person, we tend to treat the person according to our expectations. This treatment can influence the person to act according to our stereotypic expectations, thus confirming our stereotypic beliefs. Research by Rosenthal and...
01:50
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11:18
Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat
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Cited by 37 •
2014
Potentiation of the startle reflex is measured via electromyography of the orbicularis oculi muscle during low (uncertain) and high (certain) probability electric shock threat in the Threat Probability Task. This provides an objective measure of distinct negative emotional states (fear/anxiety) for research on psychopathology, substance use/abuse, and broad affective science.
04:09
Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation to Reduce Responses to Ideological Threats
0 Views •
2025
Source: Holbrook, C., et al. Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses. J. Vis. Exp. (2018)This video demonstrates the application of continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) to modulate responses to ideological threats. Electromyography (EMG) electrodes record motor signals, while a magnetic coil stimulates the primary motor cortex to determine the active motor threshold (aMT). The coil is then repositioned...
09:48
Drosophila Adult Olfactory Shock Learning
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Cited by 36 •
2014
The method to measure adult Drosophila associative memory is described. The assay is based on the ability of the fly to associate an odor presented with a negative reinforcer (electric shock) and then recall this information at a later time, allowing memory to be measured.
FAQs
Predictable and uncertain shocks allow researchers to separate responses to an expected aversive event from responses produced by not knowing whether it will occur. This distinction can reveal how uncertainty alters vigilance, avoidance, attention, skin conductance, or heart rate. Comparing these conditions helps clarify which defensive reactions depend on anticipation versus uncertainty.
Threat cues signal that an aversive stimulus may occur, whereas safety cues indicate relative protection from that possibility. This contrast gives participants information about the current environmental context and makes behavioral and physiological differences easier to measure. Researchers can therefore examine how people shift between vigilance, avoidance, and lower-arousal responses as contextual signals change.
Behavioral changes such as altered attention or avoidance can indicate how anticipated harm influences actions, while skin conductance and heart rate provide physiological measures of anticipatory responding. Considering both types of outcomes is useful because behavior describes what participants do and physiology describes accompanying bodily changes. Together, they help characterize defensive responses without relying on a single measure.
A typical comparison includes periods or contexts associated with possible shock and periods associated with relative safety. Researchers present cues or environmental contexts, vary whether the shock is predictable or uncertain, and then compare behavioral and physiological responses across those conditions. This design links observed changes to threat-related information rather than treating all task periods as equivalent.
Researchers use the paradigm when they need to examine how the possibility of harm affects vigilance, avoidance, attention, decision-making, or learning. It is especially useful for comparing responses across threat and safe conditions, because those contrasts show how people adapt behavior when environmental information signals danger or protection. The approach can also support studies of pain anticipation.
The paradigm provides a controlled way to examine defensive behavior and anticipatory responses that may be relevant to anxiety-related and stress-related disorders. By measuring reactions to threat, safety, predictability, and uncertainty, studies can characterize how potential harm influences behavior and physiology. These findings may help clarify mechanisms involved in disordered anxiety and stress responses.