Abstract
Experimental paradigms measuring key psychological constructs can enhance our understanding of mechanisms underlying human psychological well-being and mental health. Delivering such paradigms remotely affords opportunities to reach larger, more representative samples than is typically possible with in-person research. The efficiency gained from remote delivery makes it easier to test replication of previously established effects in well-powered samples. There are several challenges to the successful development and delivery of remote experimental paradigms, including use of an appropriate delivery platform, identifying feasible outcome measures, and metrics of participant compliance. In this paper, we present FLARe (Fear Learning and Anxiety Response), open-source software in the form of a smartphone app and web portal for the creation and delivery of remote fear conditioning experiments. We describe the benefits and challenges associated with the creation of a remote delivery platform for fear conditioning, before presenting in detail the resultant software suite, and one instance of deploying this using the FLARe Research infrastructure. We provide examples of the application of FLARe to several research questions which illustrate the benefits of the remote approach to experiment delivery. The FLARe smartphone app and web portal are available for use by other researchers and have been designed to be user-friendly and intuitive. We hope that FLARe will be a useful tool for those interested in conducting well-powered fear conditioning studies to inform our understanding of the development and treatment of anxiety disorders.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 3164-3178 |
| Journal | Behavior Research Methods |
| Volume | 55 |
| Early online date | 7 Sept 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Sept 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:T. McGregor is supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MR/N013700/1). This study presents independent research part-funded by the Wellcome Trust (221582/Z/20/Z) and National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Funding
T. McGregor is supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MR/N013700/1). This study presents independent research part-funded by the Wellcome Trust (221582/Z/20/Z) and National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. The authors would like to acknowledge the many people and groups who have made this work possible, or whose contributions have improved it over the course of development. Torchbox Ltd, in particular Ben Heasman, Nathan Horrigan, Mitchel Cabuloy, Paul Vetch. The Twins Early Development research team and participants. Members of the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre of King’s College London who have contributed to validation and testing of the app; Omowonuola Akingbuwa, Zara Ampong-Appiah, Megan Hammond Bennett, Michela Clarke, Molly Davies, Sarah Derveeuw, Bernadette De Villiers, Laurie Hannigan, Jenny Leng, Bridie MacDonald, Ellie Minshall, Dina Monssen, Elisavet Palaiologou, Shivani Parikh, Alicia Peel, Jade Pusey, Katie White and the EDIT Lab team. Contributors to early feasibility testing in UCLA; Michael Sun, Michael Treanor. The many collaborators and scientists with whom we have had informal conversations by email or at conferences over the years, many of which have helped shape our thinking.
Keywords
- Classical conditioning
- Fear conditioning
- Online research
- Pavlovian conditioning
- Remote testing
- Smartphones
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
- Psychology (miscellaneous)
- General Psychology
