Avoidance and behavioural flexibility in obsessive compulsive disorder

Avoidance learning: a review of theoretical models and recent developments

“…Two-factor theory also had trouble explaining how avoidance can be acquired in the absence of an explicit antecedent stimulus. Specifically, in unsignaled avoidance procedures (Sidman, 1953a , 1962 ; see Lázaro-Muñoz et al, 2010 ; McCue et al, 2014 for more recent examples), rats learn to avoid shocks presented at fixed time intervals, in the absence of a discrete antecedent stimulus (Sidman, 1953a , b ; see Hassoulas et al, 2013 , for examples in humans). In its initial form, two-factor theory assumed the operation of explicit antecedent stimuli during the Pavlovian and the instrumental phases, stimuli that during unsignaled procedures appear to be absent.…”

Overcoming avoidance in anxiety disorders: The contributions of Pavlovian and operant avoidance extinction methods

“…The explanatory potential of operant theory was further elaborated by classic research on Sidman avoidance (Sidman, 1953) showing that avoidance in the absence of external warning stimuli is maintained by an overall reduction in US-frequency (Herrnstein & Hineline, 1966), a finding further supported by research with humans (Baer, 1961;Hassoulas et al, 2014;Lejuez et al, 1998). In discriminated free-operant avoidance, responding in the presence of a warning signal delays upcoming shock, but responses during a safety signal (or absence of the warning signal) have no effect (Flores et al, 2018).…”

“…Future research studies should investigate the role of individual differences and clinically relevant trait variables in avoidance extinction . The extant data indicate roles for neuroticism, intolerance of uncertainty, behavioral flexibility, experiential avoidance and distress tolerance, among other traits, in the acquisition (e.g., Hassoulas et al, 2014;Morriss et al, 2018), extinction (e.g., Flores et al, 2018;Vervliet & Indekeu, 2015;Vervliet et al, 2017) and generalization of avoidance (e.g., Arnaudova et al, 2016;Hunt et al, 2017;Lommen et al, 2010). Further analyses with large samples are Avoidance Extinction 25 therefore needed to make clear the validity of avoidance acquisition, generalization and extinction paradigms for informing clinical treatment of anxiety-related disorders.…”

Fight your fears

“…Eventually, only a narrow range of foods is consumed, leading to underweight and malnutrition. Thus, excessive generalization of avoidance behaviours could explain the rigid and inflexible responding of patients with anorexia nervosa across various eating-related situations (Hassoulas et al, 2014).…”