The Gradual Extinction of Transferred Avoidance Stimulus Functions

The action dynamics of approach-avoidance conflict during decision-making

Approach-avoidance conflict is observed in the competing motivations towards the benefits and away from the costs of a decision. The current study investigates the action dynamics of response motion during such conflicts in an attempt to characterise their dynamic resolution. An approach-avoidance conflict was generated by varying the appetitive consequences of a decision (i.e., point rewards and shorter participation time) in the presence of simultaneous aversive consequences (i.e., shock probability). Across two experiments, approach-avoidance conflict differentially affected response trajectories. Approach trajectories were less complex than avoidance trajectories and, as approach and avoidance motivations neared equipotentiality, response trajectories were more deflected from the shortest route to the eventual choice. Consistency in the location of approach and avoidance response options reduced variability in performance enabling more sensitive estimates of dynamic conflict. The time course of competing influences on response trajectories including trial-to-trial effects and conflict between approach and avoidance were estimated using regression analyses. We discuss these findings in terms of a dynamic theory of approach-avoidance that we hope will lead to insights of practical relevance in the field of maladaptive avoidance.

Transfer of conditioned fear and avoidance: Concurrent measurement of arousal and operant responding

A reversal design was employed for the analysis of transfer of fear and avoidance through equivalence classes. Two 5-member equivalence classes (A1-B1-C1-D1-E1 and A2-B2-C2-D2-E2) were established. Then B1 and C1 were paired with shock (CS+) and served as S^D s in avoidance training (B2 and C2 were trained as CS-/S^∆ s for avoidance). Further avoidance training followed with D1 and E1 (as S^D s) and D2 and E2 (as S^∆ s), with the first presentation of each of these stimuli serving as the first transfer test. Afterwards, aversive conditioning contingencies were reversed: B2 and D2 were paired with shock and trained as S^D s for avoidance, B1 and D1 were presented without shock (CS-/S^∆ s). Transfer was tested again with C1, E1, C2 and E2. This reversal was implemented to allow for the within-subject replication of transfer effects upon changes in the function of only a subset of each class's elements. Avoidance (key presses) and conditioned fear (skin conductance and heart rate) were simultaneously measured. Results show a clear transfer effect for avoidance, with between- and within-subject replications. For physiological measures, transfer effects in the first test could only be imputed on the basis of group-based inferential statistical analysis. Evidence for between-subject replication was weaker, with only a limited proportion of participants meeting the individual criterion for transfer.

Tailoring of Painful Stimuli Used for Exploring Transfer of Function

Fifteen college students rated the degree of painfulness of six images showing needle injections to different parts of a human hand. The images were rated on a scale ranging from 1 (not painful) to 5 (severely painful). Next, the participants were trained six conditional discriminations with abstract shapes as stimuli and tested for the formation of three 3-member equivalence classes in a one-to-many (OTM) training structure (AB/AC). The test for emergent relations were followed by training a novel set of stimuli (D) to the A stimuli. The needle injection images rated with the highest and lowest perceived degree of painfulness were used as stimulus D1 and D2, respectively. An image where the needle was replaced with a Q tip was used as stimulus D3 and assumed to be perceived as not painful. The DA training was followed by a matching-to-sample (MTS) test for the formation of three 4-member classes, and the participants were asked to choose one out of three identical bottles with water labelled with the B stimuli. Finally, the participants were asked to rate the degree of painfulness of the B stimuli. The main findings were that the B and D stimuli were not rated significantly different, indicating a transfer of function in the ratings from D to B stimuli. In addition, participants avoided choosing bottle B1 over B2 and B3, but they did not differentiate between B2 and B3.

Related to Anxiety: Arbitrarily Applicable Relational Responding and Experimental Psychopathology Research on Fear and Avoidance

Humans have an unparalleled ability to engage in arbitrarily applicable relational responding (AARR). One of the consequences of this ability to spontaneously combine and relate events from the past, present, and future may, in fact, be a propensity to suffer. For instance, maladaptive fear and avoidance of remote or derived threats may actually perpetuate anxiety. In this narrative review, we consider contemporary AARR research on fear and avoidance as it relates to anxiety. We first describe laboratory-based research on the emergent spread of fear- and avoidance-eliciting functions in humans. Next, we consider the validity of AARR research on fear and avoidance and address the therapeutic implications of the work. Finally, we outline challenges and opportunities for a greater synthesis between behavior analysis research on AARR and experimental psychopathology.