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Transitions from avoidance: Reinforcing competing behaviours reduces generalised avoidance in new contexts

Marc P Bennett, Bryan Roche, Simon Dymond Orcid Logo, Frank Baeyens, Bram Vervliet, Dirk Hermans

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Volume: 73, Issue: 12, Pages: 2119 - 2131

Swansea University Author: Simon Dymond Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/1747021820943148

Abstract

Generalised avoidance behaviours are a common diagnostic feature of anxiety-related disorders and a barrier to affecting changes in anxiety during therapy. However, strategies to mitigate generalised avoidance are under-investigated. Even less attention is given to reducing the category-based genera...

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Published in: Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
ISSN: 1747-0218 1747-0226
Published: SAGE Publications 2020
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa54428
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spelling v2 54428 2020-06-10 Transitions from avoidance: Reinforcing competing behaviours reduces generalised avoidance in new contexts 8ed0024546f2588fdb0073a7d6fbc075 0000-0003-1319-4492 Simon Dymond Simon Dymond true false 2020-06-10 PSYS Generalised avoidance behaviours are a common diagnostic feature of anxiety-related disorders and a barrier to affecting changes in anxiety during therapy. However, strategies to mitigate generalised avoidance are under-investigated. Even less attention is given to reducing the category-based generalisation of avoidance. We therefore investigated the potential of an operant-based approach. Specifically, it was examined whether reinforcing competing (non-avoidance) behaviours to threat-predictive cues would interfere with the expression of generalised avoidance. Using a matching-to-sample task, artificial stimulus categories were established using physically dissimilar nonsense shapes. A member of one category (conditioned stimulus; CS1) was then associated with an aversive outcome in an Acquisition context, unless an avoidance response was made. Next, competing behaviours were reinforced in response to the CS1 in new contexts. Finally, we tested for the generalisation of avoidance to another member of the stimulus category (generalisation stimulus; GS1) in both a Novel context and the Acquisition context. The selective generalisation of avoidance to GS1 was observed, but only in the Acquisition context. In the Novel context, the generalisation of avoidance to GSs was significantly reduced. A comparison group (Experiment 2), which did not learn any competing behaviours, avoided GS1 in both contexts. These findings suggest that reinforcing competing behavioural responses to threat-predictive cues can lead to reductions in generalised avoidance. This study is among the first study to demonstrate sustained reductions in generalised avoidance resulting from operant-based protocols, and the clinical and research implications are discussed. Journal Article Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 73 12 2119 2131 SAGE Publications 1747-0218 1747-0226 Avoidance, generalisation, category-based generalisation, anxiety 1 12 2020 2020-12-01 10.1177/1747021820943148 COLLEGE NANME Psychology School COLLEGE CODE PSYS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee 2024-10-29T14:29:01.9084266 2020-06-10T14:39:28.6082330 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology Marc P Bennett 1 Bryan Roche 2 Simon Dymond 0000-0003-1319-4492 3 Frank Baeyens 4 Bram Vervliet 5 Dirk Hermans 6 54428__18699__72413560498a40ae932a3241e28497e6.pdf 54428VoR.pdf 2020-11-19T14:19:14.1078794 Output 1584859 application/pdf Version of Record true This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Transitions from avoidance: Reinforcing competing behaviours reduces generalised avoidance in new contexts
spellingShingle Transitions from avoidance: Reinforcing competing behaviours reduces generalised avoidance in new contexts
Simon Dymond
title_short Transitions from avoidance: Reinforcing competing behaviours reduces generalised avoidance in new contexts
title_full Transitions from avoidance: Reinforcing competing behaviours reduces generalised avoidance in new contexts
title_fullStr Transitions from avoidance: Reinforcing competing behaviours reduces generalised avoidance in new contexts
title_full_unstemmed Transitions from avoidance: Reinforcing competing behaviours reduces generalised avoidance in new contexts
title_sort Transitions from avoidance: Reinforcing competing behaviours reduces generalised avoidance in new contexts
author_id_str_mv 8ed0024546f2588fdb0073a7d6fbc075
author_id_fullname_str_mv 8ed0024546f2588fdb0073a7d6fbc075_***_Simon Dymond
author Simon Dymond
author2 Marc P Bennett
Bryan Roche
Simon Dymond
Frank Baeyens
Bram Vervliet
Dirk Hermans
format Journal article
container_title Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
container_volume 73
container_issue 12
container_start_page 2119
publishDate 2020
institution Swansea University
issn 1747-0218
1747-0226
doi_str_mv 10.1177/1747021820943148
publisher SAGE Publications
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Generalised avoidance behaviours are a common diagnostic feature of anxiety-related disorders and a barrier to affecting changes in anxiety during therapy. However, strategies to mitigate generalised avoidance are under-investigated. Even less attention is given to reducing the category-based generalisation of avoidance. We therefore investigated the potential of an operant-based approach. Specifically, it was examined whether reinforcing competing (non-avoidance) behaviours to threat-predictive cues would interfere with the expression of generalised avoidance. Using a matching-to-sample task, artificial stimulus categories were established using physically dissimilar nonsense shapes. A member of one category (conditioned stimulus; CS1) was then associated with an aversive outcome in an Acquisition context, unless an avoidance response was made. Next, competing behaviours were reinforced in response to the CS1 in new contexts. Finally, we tested for the generalisation of avoidance to another member of the stimulus category (generalisation stimulus; GS1) in both a Novel context and the Acquisition context. The selective generalisation of avoidance to GS1 was observed, but only in the Acquisition context. In the Novel context, the generalisation of avoidance to GSs was significantly reduced. A comparison group (Experiment 2), which did not learn any competing behaviours, avoided GS1 in both contexts. These findings suggest that reinforcing competing behavioural responses to threat-predictive cues can lead to reductions in generalised avoidance. This study is among the first study to demonstrate sustained reductions in generalised avoidance resulting from operant-based protocols, and the clinical and research implications are discussed.
published_date 2020-12-01T14:28:59Z
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