Avoidance behavior

Avoidance behavior consists of actions that reduce contact with situations or stimuli associated with distress or threat. It can bring immediate relief while preserving fear or limiting daily life.

Negative reinforcement: A consequence strengthens behavior by removing or preventing an unpleasant condition. Leaving a feared situation can become more likely because it immediately reduces distress.
Exposure therapy: A psychological treatment that repeatedly and safely confronts feared cues or situations. It reduces avoidance by supporting new learning during contact with feared situations.
Experiential avoidance: Attempts to escape or control unwanted thoughts, feelings, memories, or bodily sensations. This broader pattern includes avoiding internal experiences as well as external situations.
Escape behavior: Behavior that terminates an aversive situation already underway. Avoidance prevents or delays contact; escape ends contact after it begins.
Classical conditioning: Learning in which a stimulus comes to elicit a response after being paired with another stimulus. A previously neutral cue can acquire threat value and become something to avoid.
In vivo exposure: Exposure conducted directly in real-world situations rather than through imagination or simulation. It targets the actual places and activities that avoidance has restricted.
Agoraphobia: An anxiety disorder involving fear of situations where escape or help may be difficult if panic-like symptoms occur. Avoidance of public or difficult-to-escape settings can define its daily impact.
Approach-avoidance conflict: A motivational conflict in which the same goal has both attractive and aversive features. It describes competing impulses rather than avoidance alone.
Operant conditioning: Learning in which consequences change the likelihood of a behavior recurring. Avoidance is often maintained by its consequences, especially rapid relief.
Interoceptive exposure: A treatment method that deliberately evokes feared bodily sensations in a controlled setting. It addresses avoidance of sensations such as dizziness, breathlessness, or a racing heart.

Linked from 24 pages