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Excessive avoidance has been suggested to contribute to anxiety disorders, leading psychologists and neuroscientists to study how avoidance behaviors are learned using rat or mouse models. [1] Avoidance learning is a type of operant conditioning (also known as instrumental conditioning).
In free-operant avoidance a subject periodically receives an aversive stimulus (often an electric shock) unless an operant response is made; the response delays the onset of the shock. In this situation, unlike discriminated avoidance, no prior stimulus signals the shock. Two crucial time intervals determine the rate of avoidance learning.
An avoidance response is a response that prevents an aversive stimulus from occurring. It is a kind of negative reinforcement . An avoidance response is a behavior based on the concept that animals will avoid performing behaviors that result in an aversive outcome.
An example of the fear-avoidance model, anxiety sensitivity stems from the fear that the symptoms of anxiety will lead to harmful social and physical effects. As a result, the individual delays the situation by avoiding any stimuli related to pain-inducing situations and activities, becoming restricted in normal daily function.
Distress is an inextricable part of life; therefore, avoidance is often only a temporary solution. Avoidance reinforces the notion that discomfort, distress and anxiety are bad, or dangerous. Sustaining avoidance often requires effort and energy. Avoidance limits one's focus at the expense of fully experiencing what is going on in the present.
[4] [5] The proposed fear (FFFS) subscale is associated with avoidance behaviors (example item: 'If approached by a suspicious stranger, I run away') while the anxiety (BIS) subscale includes social situations wherein reward and punishment stimuli result in conflict between approach and avoidance motivations (example item: 'I prefer to work on ...
Avoidance coping is measured via a self-reported questionnaire. Initially, the Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (MEAQ) was used, which is a 62-item questionnaire that assesses experiential avoidance, and thus avoidance coping, by measuring how many avoidant behaviors a person exhibits and how strongly they agree with each statement on a scale of 1–6. [1]
An example is a person who comes home after a long day at work. The behavior of opening the front door is rewarded by a big kiss on the lips by the person's spouse and a rip in the pants from the family dog jumping enthusiastically. Another example of superimposed schedules of reinforcement is a pigeon in an experimental cage pecking at a button.