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Natural selection and fear regulation mechanisms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2010

Randolph M. Nesse and
James L. Abelson
Randolph M. Nesse
Affiliation:
The University of Michigan, Department of Psychiatry, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0840. randolph.nesse@med.umich.edu
James L. Abelson
Affiliation:
The University of Michigan, Department of Psychiatry, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0840. randolph.nesse@med.umich.edu
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Abstract

Expectations can facilitate rapid fear conditioning and this may explain some phenomena that have been attributed to preparedness. However, preparedness remains the best explanation for some aspects of clinical phobias and the difficulty of creating fears of modern dangers. Rapid fear conditioning based on expectancy is not an alternative to an evolutionary explanation, but has, like preparedness, been shaped by natural selection.

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Open Peer Commentary
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Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , June 1995, pp. 309 - 310
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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