Background and objectives

In anxiety-related disorders, excessive avoidance often coexists with an impaired sense of control over external threats. In contrast, lab studies have shown that avoidance responding increase with higher objective controllability over threat, accompanied with more confidence in the effectiveness of the avoidance response. One reason for this divergence could be that those lab studies are overly simplistic with a single, avoidable threat.

Methods

We conducted an experiment that additionally included a completely uncontrollable threat, and we manipulated the reinforcement rate of the avoidance response to the (semi-)controllable threat (75% versus 100%).

Results

The 100% group showed increased avoidance to the controllable threat and decreased avoidance to the unavoidable threat over learning. Interestingly, compared to the 100% group, the 75% group displayed less confidence in their avoidance to the controllable threat and they avoided the uncontrollable threat more often.

Limitations

Only two reinforcement rates of effective avoidance were included, which may limit the generalizability of the current findings. Perceived control was not directly measured.

Conclusions

Lower reinforcement rates create ambiguity between effective and ineffective situations of avoidance, which engenders generalization of unpredictability from effective to ineffective situation, thereby driving up ineffective avoidance rates. Partially reinforced effective avoidance responses and elevated ineffective avoidance responses together lead to more exposure to uncontrollable threat, weakening the sense of control over the threat, which could further increase avoidance behaviors. Controllability is often overlooked in avoidance research but can be key to understanding the development of maladaptive avoidance behaviors.

中文翻译：

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通过部分强化更多地参与低效避免

背景和目标

在与焦虑相关的障碍中，过度回避往往与对外部威胁的控制感受损并存。相比之下，实验室研究表明，回避响应随着对威胁的更高客观可控性而增加，同时对回避响应的有效性更有信心。造成这种分歧的一个原因可能是这些实验室研究过于简单化，只存在一个可避免的威胁。

方法

我们进行了一项实验，其中还包括一个完全不可控的威胁，并且我们操纵了对（半）可控威胁的回避反应的强化率（75% 对 100%）。

结果

100% 组对学习的可控威胁的回避增加，对不可避免的威胁的回避减少。有趣的是，与 100% 组相比，75% 组对回避可控威胁的信心较低，他们更频繁地回避不可控威胁。

限制

仅包括两个有效回避的强化率，这可能会限制当前研究结果的普遍性。感知控制没有直接测量。

结论

较低的强化率会在有效和无效的回避情况之间产生歧义，从而导致从有效情况到无效情况的不可预测性泛化，从而提高无效回避率。部分强化的有效回避反应和提高的无效回避反应共同导致更多地暴露于无法控制的威胁，削弱对威胁的控制感，这可能会进一步增加回避行为。可控性在回避研究中经常被忽视，但它可能是理解适应不良回避行为发展的关键。