The non-associative framework on fear argues that evolutionary-relevant fears, such as heights and water, are largely innate and do not require associative conditioning experiences to develop (Menzies & Clarke, 1993a, b; Poulton & Menzies, 2002a). However, this framework has been criticized for its reliance on retrospective recall for empirical support (Mineka & Öhman, 2002), which has been found to be highly unreliable (Taylor, Deane, & Podd, 1999). Thirty height-fearful undergraduate students completed the Origins Questionnaire-II (OQ-II; Menzies & Parker, 2001) and were classified into one of the several associative and non-associative pathways of fear onset based on their responses. A control group of 43 non-fearful students completed a modified version of the OQ-II to report any past experiences with heights. To examine the stability of these responses over time, the same questionnaires for both groups were completed again three months (Time 2) and 12 months (Time 3) after the initial administration of the test, along with measures of fear severity. Results showed that neither associative nor non-associative accounts took precedence over the other in explaining the onset of height fear. Instabilities in pathway ascriptions were observed in 18.18% of cases over three months (between Time 1 and Time 2), and 27.27% of cases over nine months (between Time 2 and Time 3). The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed with consideration of some of the study’s procedural and instrumental limitations. In light of these limitations, this study identified a substantial role of non-associative pathways on the development of height fear, and provided further support for the limitations of retrospective recall for ascertaining the pathway to fear onset.

[pt] Os distúrbios de ansiedade compreendem uma ampla gama de condições psiquiátricas, incluindo transtorno de ansiedade generalizada (TAG) e fobia específica. Nas últimas décadas, o uso de modelos animais de ansiedade ofereceu importantes insights sobre a interação dessas psicopatologias. Aqui nós investigamos se os ratos Cariocas de alto e baixo congelamento (CAC e CBC, respectivamente), um modelo animal de TAG, mostram fenótipos comportamentais de alto e baixo congelamento similar no condicionamento de medo ao som. Ratos adultos das linhagens CAC (n igual 16), CBC (n igual 16) e ratos Wistar normais (controle, CTL) foram testados em um paradigma de condicionamento clássico de medo ao som durante 3 dias. Respostas de congelamento foram medidas e usadas como evidência de condicionamento de medo. No geral, os ratos CAC e CBC, bem como os animais CTL, apresentaram um condicionamento de medo ao estímulo condicionado auditivo. No entanto, os animais CBC também mostraram uma rápida extinção ao estímulo condicionado auditivo. Discutimos esses resultados de acordo com dados comportamentais e neuronais observados em linhagens de roedores de alta e baixa ansiedade. / [en] Anxiety disorders comprise a broad range of psychiatric conditions, including general anxiety (GAD) and specific phobias. For the last decades the use of animal models of anxiety has offered important insights into the understanding of the association between these psychopathologies. Here we investigate whether Carioca high and low conditioned freezing rats (CHF and CLF, respectively), a GAD animal model of anxiety, show similar high and low freezing behavioral phenotypes for cued auditory fear conditioning. Adult CHF (n equal 16), CLF (n equal 16) and normal age-matched Wistar rats (control, CTL) were tested in a classical auditory cued fear conditioning paradigm over 3 days. Freezing responses were measured and used as evidence of fear conditioning. Overall, both CHF and CLF rats as well as CTL animals displayed fear conditioning to the auditory CS. However, CLF animals showed a rapid extinction to the auditory conditioned stimulus compared to CHF and CTL rats. We discuss these findings in the context of the behavioural and neuronal differences observed in rodent lines of high and low anxiety traits.