Avoidance Learning ⚠
🧠 Psych - 99 / 100
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Let’s talk about Avoidance Learning ⚠.
What is it?
An avoidance response is a natural adaptive behavior performed in response to danger.
Examples -
An example of avoidance learning in humans is the situation when a person avoids a yard where there is a barking dog. This learning is particularly strong in individuals who have been attacked by a dog. [1]
Where does it occur?
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.
Why do I need to know?
Avoidance of genuinely threatening stimuli or situations is a key characteristic of adaptive fear. People will typically not enter a building after a major earthquake nor approach a stray lion.
At the same time, excessive avoidance in the absence of real threat can severely impair individuals' quality of life and may stop them from encountering anxiety-correcting information.
References & Studies: -
https://psychology.jrank.org/pages/61/Avoidance-Learning.html#ixzz6yy4N4Zcw
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4508580/
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