Publications

The pdf versions of the papers below are available as a means to provide timely dissemination of academic work on a non-commercial basis. Your access to the papers constitutes your request for a personal copy of the article, and my distribution of said personal copy.



  1. Wong, A. H. K. (2025). Spreading the reduction of fear: A narrative review of generalization of extinction learning in human fear conditioning. Clinical Psychology Review, 118, 102580. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2025.102580 [PDF]

  2. Aslanidou, A., Andreatta M., Wong, A. H. K., & Wieser, M. J. (2025).Generalized expectancy of threat in threatening compared to safe contexts. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 20(1), nsae097. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsae097 [PDF] [OSF]

  3. Wong, A. H. K., Pittig, A., & Engelhard, I. M. (2024). The generalization of threat beliefs to novel safety stimuli induced by safety behaviors. Behavioural Brain Research, 470, 115078. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115078 [PDF] [OSF]


  4. Kesim, I. E., Pittig, A., & Wong, A. H. K.. (2024). The effect of typicality training on costly safety behavior generalization. Psychological Research, 88, 1771-1782. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-024-01979-0 [PDF] [OSF]


  5. Wong, A. H. K., Franzen, M., & Wieser, M. J. (2024). Unconditioned stimulus devaluation decreases the generalization of costly safety behaviors. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 103, 102847. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2024.102847 [PDF] [OSF]


  6. Wong, A. H. K., van Dis, E., Pittig, A., Hagenaars, M., & Engelhard, I. M. (2023). The degree of safety behaviors to a safety stimulus predicts development of threat beliefs. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 170, 104423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2023.104423 [PDF] [OSF]


  7. Aslanidou, A., Andreatta, M., Wong, A. H. K., & Wieser, M. J. (2023). No influence of threat uncertainty on fear generalization. Psychophysiology, e14423. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14423 [PDF] [OSF]


  8. Glück, V. M†., Hilger, K†., Engelke, P†., Wong, A. H. K., Boschet, J. M., & Pittig, A. (2023). A network perspective on real-life threat situations: Complex relations between situation-specific anxiety, trait anxiety, perceived threat, positive outcomes, approach motivation and approach and avoidance responses. Journal of Clinical Psychology https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23575 [PDF]

  9. Wong, A. H. K., Aslanidou, A., Malbec, M., Pittig, A., Wieser, M. J., & Andreatta, M. (2023). A systematic review of the inter-individual differences in avoidance learning. Collabra: Psychology, 9(1), 77856. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.77856 [PDF]

  10. Wong, A. H. K. & Pittig, A. (2023). Reducing avoidance of learnt fear: Extinction of an imminent threat signal partly decreases costly avoidance to a distal threat signal. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 14(2), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/20438087231175 [PDF] [OSF]

  11. Wong, A. H. K., Lee, J. C., Engelke, P., & Pittig, A. (2023). Reduction of costly safety behaviors after extinction with a generalization stimulus is determined by individual differences in generalization rules. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 160, 104233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2022.104233 [PDF] [OSF]

  12. Pittig, A & Wong, A. H. K. (2022). Reducing the return of avoidance and fear by directly targeting avoidance: Comparing incentive-based and instructed extinction of avoidance to passive fear extinction. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 13(4), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/20438087221136424 [PDF] [OSF]

  13. Wong, A. H. K. & Pittig, A. (2022). Threat belief determines the degree of costly safety behavior: Assessing rule-based generalization of safety behavior with a dimensional measure of avoidance. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 156, 104158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2022.104158 [OSF]

  14. Wong, A. H. K., Wirth, F. M., & Pittig, A. (2022). Avoidance of learnt fear: Models, potential mechanisms, and future directions. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 151, 104056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2022.104056 [PDF]

  15. Wong, A. H. K., & Pittig, A. (2022). Avoiding a feared stimulus: Modelling costly avoidance of learnt fear in a sensory preconditioning paradigm. Biological Psychology, 168, 108429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108249 [PDF] [OSF]

  16. Pittig, A., Glück, V. M., Boschet, B. M., Wong, A. H. K., & Engelke, P. (2021). Increased anxiety of public situations during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from a community and a patient sample. Clinical Psychology in Europe, 3(2), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.32872/cpe.4221 [PDF]

  17. Wong, A. H. K., & Pittig, A. (2021). A dimensional measure of safety behavior: A non-dichotomous assessment of costly avoidance in human fear conditioning. Psychological Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-021-01490-w [PDF] [OSF]

  18. Wong, A. H. K., & Beckers, T. (2021). Trait anxiety is associated with reduced typicality asymmetry in fear generalization. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 138, 103802. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2021.103802 [PDF] [OSF]

  19. Pittig, A., & Wong, A. H. K. (2021). Incentive-based, instructed, and social observational extinction of avoidance: Fear-opposite actions and their influence on fear extinction. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 137, 103797. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2020.103797 [PDF] [OSF]

  20. Wong, A. H. K., Glück, V. M., Boschet, J. M., & Engelke, P. (2020). Generalization of extinction with a generalization stimulus is determined by learnt threat beliefs. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 125, 103755. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2020.103755 [PDF] [OSF]

  21. Wong, A. H. K., & Pittig, A. (2020). Costly avoidance triggered by categorical fear generalization. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 129, 103606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2020.103606 [PDF]

  22. Wong, A. H. K., & Lovibond, P. F. (2020). Breakfast or bakery? The role of categorical ambiguity in over-generalization of learned fear in trait anxiety. Emotion. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000739 [PDF]

  23. Pittig, A., Wong, A. H. K., Glück, V. M., & Boschet, J. M. (2020). Avoidance and its bi-directional relationship with conditioned fear: Mechanisms, moderators, and clinical implications. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 126, 103550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2020.103550 [PDF]

  24. Wong, A. H. K., & Lovibond, P. F. (2020). Generalization of extinction of a generalization stimulus in fear learning. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 125, 103535. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2019.103535 [PDF]

  25. Wong, A. H. K., & Lovibond, P. F. (2018). Excessive generalisation of conditioned fear in trait anxious individuals under ambiguity. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 107, 53-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2018.05.012 [PDF]

  26. Wong, A. H. K., & Lovibond, P. F. (2017). Rule-based generalisation in single-cue and differential fear conditioning in humans. Biological Psychology 129, 111-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.08.056 [PDF]



Work in progress



  1. Wong, A. H. K†, Harrewijn, A†, Aslanidou, A., Malbec, M., Andreatta, M., Franzen, M., & Wieser, M. J. (approved in principle). Persistence of safety behaviors or the acquisition of new ones? The effect of cross-US reinstatement in safety behaviors. Submitted as a pre-registered report.

  2. Wong, A. H. K., Verheyen, S., & Zaman, J. (under review). Safety behavior generalization to taxonomic- and thematic-related stimuli. [OSF]

  3. Wong, A. H. K., Wieser, M. J., & Andreatta, M. (under review). Relief and the persistence of avoidance of learnt fear. [OSF]

  4. Chang, L., Wieser, M. J., & Wong, A. H. K.. (under review). The role of unconditioned stimulus revaluation in avoidance of learnt fear. [OSF]

  5. Engelke, P., Wong, A. H. K., & Pittig, A. (under review). Induced awareness of stimulus differences impedes the generalization of extinction learning with various, highly similar stimuli. [OSF]

  6. Otto, M. W., Long, L. J., Papini, S., …, Wong, A. H. K. et al. (under review). Study protocol for virtual reality exposure and public speaking anxiety: Moderating role of state and trait positive affect. Submitted as a pre-registered report. [OSF]

  7. Stegmann, Y., Battaglia, S., Carsten, H. P., …, Wong, A. H. K. et al. (under review). Coherence of gamma-band EEG activity as a basis for associative threat learning: A registered report of a large-scale multi-site replication study. Submitted as a pre-registered report. [OSF]