The DOI matches its Crossref record; 6 of the 6 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Safety behaviours preserve threat beliefs: Protection from extinction of human fear conditioning by an avoidance response
Abstract
A laboratory autonomic conditioning procedure was used to establish fear conditioning in human participants by pairing neutral stimuli with electric shock. Participants were also trained to make a button-press response to avoid shock. A target fear stimulus was then extinguished by presenting it without shock. The experimental group was given the opportunity to make the avoidance response during extinction whereas the control group was not. When the fear stimulus was tested without the response available, the control group showed normal extinction of both shock expectancy ratings and skin conductance responses, but the experimental group showed "protection from extinction": they continued to give high expectancy ratings and strong skin conductance responses. We interpret this effect as analogous to the role of within-situation safety behaviours in preserving threat beliefs during exposure therapy for anxiety disorders. The results support a cognitive account of learning and anxiety. The procedure provides a potential laboratory model for further examination of the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying anxiety and its reduction.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Other experiments in humans, as well as clinical studies, have found that avoidance or safety behavior during extinction or exposure therapy can hinder the reduction of threat responses or fear (Lovibond et al., 2009; Blakey and Abramowitz, 2016; Volders et al., 2012).”
From Active avoidance: Neural mechanisms and attenuation of pavlovian conditioned responding (2017) · cites this paper as Lovibond et al., 2009
In the citing paper
“A small experimental literature on avoidance in humans and a large clinical literature have yielded conflicting findings regarding whether avoidance attenuates threat responses or patients' fear.”
From Active avoidance: Neural mechanisms and attenuation of pavlovian conditioned responding (2017) · cites this paper as Lovibond et al., 2009
Citations
Cites
MANOVA method for analyzing repeated measures designs: An extensive primer.
O'Brien, R. G., & Kaiser, M. K. (1985) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.97.2.316 · Cited by 1,148
Social phobia: the role of in-situation safety behaviors in maintaining anxiety and negative beliefs
Wells, A., Clark, D. M., Salkovskis, P., Ludgate, J., Hackmann, A., & Gelder, M. (1995) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7894(05)80088-7 · Cited by 548
Salkovskis, P. M., Clark, D. M., Hackmann, A., Wells, A., & Gelder, M. G. (1999) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(98)00153-3 · Cited by 310
Protection from extinction in human fear conditioning
Lovibond, P. F., Davis, N. R., & O'Flaherty, A. S. (2000) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(99)00121-7 · Cited by 189
Self-citationFear and Avoidance: An Integrated Expectancy Model.
Lovibond, P. (2007) · Fear and learning: From basic processes to clinical implications. · doi:10.1037/11474-006 · Cited by 147
Self-citationGuastella, A. J., Lovibond, P. F., Dadds, M. R., Mitchell, P., & Richardson, R. (2007) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2006.07.005 · Cited by 106
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 11
- Chater, N. Rational and mechanistic perspectives on reinforcement learning. Cognition, doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2008.06.014, in press. · DOI
- De Houwer, 2005, Avoidance behavior can function as a negative occasion setter, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 31, 101
- Lovibond, 1992, Tonic and phasic electrodermal measures of human aversive conditioning with long duration stimuli, Psychophysiology, 29, 621, 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1992.tb02037.x · DOI
- Lovibond, 2008, Evidence for expectancy as a mediator of avoidance and anxiety in a laboratory model of human avoidance learning, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 61, 1199, 10.1080/17470210701503229 · DOI
- Lovibond, 2002, The role of awareness in Pavlovian conditioning: empirical evidence and theoretical implications, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 28, 3
- Menzies, 1995, Danger expectancies and insight in acrophobia, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33, 215, 10.1016/0005-7967(94)P4443-X · DOI
- Mitchell, 2009, The propositional nature of human associative learning, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32, 183, 10.1017/S0140525X09000855 · DOI
- Pineño, 2008, Habituation of unconditioned fear can be attenuated by the presence of a safe stimulus: assessment using the neophobic response of the rat, Behavioural Processes, 77, 55, 10.1016/j.beproc.2007.06.003 · DOI
- Rachman, 2008, Safety behaviour: a reconsideration, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46, 163, 10.1016/j.brat.2007.11.008 · DOI
- Rescorla, 2003, Protection from extinction, Learning & Behavior, 31, 124, 10.3758/BF03195975 · DOI
- Soltysik, 1983, Blocking of inhibitory conditioning within a serial conditioned stimulus-conditioned inhibitor compound: maintenance of acquired behavior without an unconditioned stimulus, Learning and Motivation, 14, 1, 10.1016/0023-9690(83)90010-3 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 101–200 of 241
Speech and Anxiety Management With Persistent Stuttering: Current Status and Essential Research
Lowe, R., Menzies, R. G., Onslow, M., Packman, A., & O’Brian, S. (2021) · Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research · doi:10.1044/2020_jslhr-20-00144 · Cited by 41
“However, the most significant problem with using safety behaviors is that fears are not challenged and, therefore, persist (Lovibond et al., 2009; Salkovskis, 1991; Wells & Clark, 1997).”
BackgroundSelf-citationEscape from harm: linking affective vision and motor responses during active avoidance.
Miskovic, V., & Keil, A. (2014) · Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience · doi:10.1093/scan/nsu013 · Cited by 24
“…these findings may seem surprising from the perspective that conditioned responding reflects a net sum of excitatory and inhibitory influences (Rescorla, 1969), it is consistent with contemporary perspectives that avoidance responses can serve to preserve threat beliefs (Lovibond et al., 2009).”
ResultPavlovian safety learning: An integrative theoretical review
Laing, P. A. F., Vervliet, B., Dunsmoor, J. E., & Harrison, B. J. (2024) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/s13423-024-02559-4 · Cited by 27
“For instance, if an avoidance behavior consistently predicts threat omission, it can overshadow an external conditioned stimulus, thus preserving the stimulus’s aversive qualities, explained by associative learning theories (Lovibond et al., 2009).”
Emotion Regulation and Mental Health among Men with Childhood Sexual Abuse Histories
Snow, J., Moorman, J., & Romano, E. (2021) · Journal of Child Sexual Abuse · doi:10.1080/10538712.2021.1970677 · Cited by 23
“…stimuli, and research shows that the use of these strategies is often associated with internalizing and externalizing symptoms (Aldao et al., 2010; Grant et al., 2013; Hofmann & Hay, 2018; Kashdan et al., 2010; Lovibond et al., 2009; Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 2008; du Pont et al., 2019).”
BackgroundPittig, A., & Wong, A. H. K. (2021) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2020.103797 · Cited by 26
Labrenz, F., Woud, M., Elsenbruch, S., & Icenhour, A. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.841734 · Cited by 22
“As safety and avoidance behaviors during exposure therapy might compromise extinction learning (74) and can persist following experimental extinction training (75), they could also increase the risk of return of fear after successful exposure-based treatments (76).”
BackgroundAvoiding at all costs? An exploration of avoidance costs in a novel Virtual Reality procedurePreprint
Lemmens, A., Smeets, T., Beckers, T., & Dibbets, P. (2020) · Learning and Motivation · doi:10.31234/osf.io/vs2x8 · Cited by 22
Prior fear conditioning and reward learning interact in fear and reward networks
Bulganin, L., Bach, D. R., & Wittmann, B. C. (2014) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00067 · Cited by 30
“This finding is in line with previous reports of SCR habituation to fear cues (Lovibond et al., 2009; Van Ast et al., 2012).”
ResultA Systematic Review of the Inter-individual Differences in Avoidance Learning
Wong, A. H. K., Aslanidou, A., Malbec, M., Pittig, A., Wieser, M. J., & Andreatta, M. (2023) · Collabra Psychology · doi:10.1525/collabra.77856 · Cited by 23
“…(e.g., Expectancy model; Lovibond, 2006; Safety signal account; Weisman & Litner, 1972) and empirically tested (e.g., Fernando et al., 2014; P. F. Lovibond et al., 2009; Pittig, 2019; Vervliet et al., 2017; (Wong & Pittig, 2022)), little is known about potential mechanisms underlying…”
BackgroundInfluentialFacing Your Fear in Immersive Virtual Reality: Avoidance Behavior in Specific Phobia
Binder, F. P., Pöhlchen, D., Zwanzger, P., & Spoormaker, V. I. (2022) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2022.827673 · Cited by 22
“In addition, avoidance behavior prevents fear extinction, thus maintaining the fear (Lovibond et al., 2009).”
BackgroundTargeted memory reactivation to augment treatment in post-traumatic stress disorder
van der Heijden, A. C., van der Werf, Y. D., van den Heuvel, O. A., Talamini, L. M., & van Marle, H. J. F. (2024) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2024.07.019 · Cited by 30
Reward Processes in Extinction Learning and Applications to Exposure Therapy
Rosenberg, B. M., Barnes‐Horowitz, N. M., Zbozinek, T. D., & Craske, M. G. (2023) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2024.102911 · Cited by 22
Ventral hippocampus mediates the context-dependence of two-way signaled avoidance in male rats
Oleksiak, C. R., Ramanathan, K. R., Miles, O. W., Perry, S. J., Maren, S., & Moscarello, J. M. (2021) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1101/2021.02.04.429792 · Cited by 20
“Because avoidant behavior becomes disruptive when it is triggered in neutral or safe situations (Craske et al., 2017; Lovibond et al., 2009; Pittig et al., 2020),”
BackgroundGeneralization of extinction of a generalization stimulus in fear learning
Wong, A. H. K., & Lovibond, P. F. (2019) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2019.103535 · Cited by 24
Self-citationSelective effects of excessive engagement in health-related behaviours on disgust propensity
Olatunji, B. O. (2014) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699931.2014.951314 · Cited by 21
Schlund, M., Brewer, A., Richman, D., Magee, S. K., & Dymond, S. (2015) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00142 · Cited by 20
Rattel, J. A., Miedl, S. F., Liedlgruber, M., Blechert, J., Seidl, E., & Wilhelm, F. H. (2020) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2020.103761 · Cited by 18
van Vliet, C. V., Meulders, A., Vancleef, L., & Vlaeyen, J. (2020) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1093/abm/kaaa045 · Cited by 18
“, US expectancy) regulate fear and that avoidance aims to reduce the expectancy of a threatening outcome [9].”
BackgroundThe neurobiology of Pavlovian safety learning: Towards an acquisition-expression framework
Laing, P. A. F., Felmingham, K. L., Davey, C. G., & Harrison, B. J. (2022) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104882 · Cited by 20
Gatzounis, R., & Meulders, A. (2020) · Journal of Pain · doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2020.02.003 · Cited by 17
Learning processes underlying avoidance of negative outcomes.
Andreatta, M., Michelmann, S., Pauli, P., & Hewig, J. (2017) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.12822 · Cited by 17
The Safety Behavior Assessment Form: Development and Validation.
Goodson, J., Haeffel, G., Raush, D., & Hershenberg, R. (2016) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.22325 · Cited by 17
Thomas, S. A., Weeks, J. W., Dougherty, L. R., Lipton, M. F., Daruwala, S. E., Kline, K. V., & Reyes, A. D. L. (2015) · Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10862-015-9488-8 · Cited by 16
“, perspiration and increased heart rate), but tend to maintain anxiety over time (Lovibond et al. 2009).”
Funkhouser, C. J., Klemballa, D. M., & Shankman, S. A. (2022) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2022.104082 · Cited by 19
The effect of social anxiety on the acquisition and extinction of low-cost avoidance.
Wake, S., van Reekum, C. V., & Dodd, H. (2021) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.31234/osf.io/6y2e3 · Cited by 16
Allen, M. T., Myers, C. E., Beck, K. D., Pang, K. C. H., & Servatius, R. J. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00496 · Cited by 19
Understanding fear of pain in chronic pain: Interoceptive fear conditioning as a novel approach
Peuter, S. D., Diest, I. V., Vansteenwegenl, D., den Bergh, O. V., & Vlaeyen, J. W. S. (2011) · European Journal of Pain · doi:10.1016/j.ejpain.2011.03.002 · Cited by 136
Living in fear: Low-cost avoidance maintains low-level threat.
Xia, W.-K., Eyolfson, E., Lloyd, K., Vervliet, B., & Dymond, S. (2019) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2018.09.001 · Cited by 15
“During extinction learning, the CS+ is presented repeatedly in the absence of the US (Bouton, 2004).”
BackgroundInfluentialExposure Techniques: The Role of Extinction Learning
Urcelay, G. P. (2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-3342-2_4 · Cited by 26
Wong, A. H. K., & Pittig, A. (2021) · Biological Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108249 · Cited by 14
To prevent means to know: Explicit but no implicit agency for prevention behavior.
Pfister, R., Tonn, S., Weller, L., Kunde, W., & Schwarz, K. A. (2020) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104489 · Cited by 14
Changes in pain-related fear and pain when avoidance behaviour is no longer effective.
van Vliet, C. V., Meulders, A., Vancleef, L., Meyers, E., & Vlaeyen, J. (2020) · Journal of Pain · doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2019.09.002 · Cited by 14
Goodson, J., & Haeffel, G. (2018) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.22635 · Cited by 14
An Associative Account of Avoidance
Gillan, C. M., Urcelay, G. P., & Robbins, T. W. (2016) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118650813.ch17 · Cited by 18
A review of the phenomenology, aetiology and treatment of animal phobia and insights for biophobia
Norberg, M. M., Visvalingam, S., Stevenson, R. J., & Saluja, S. (2023) · People and Nature · doi:10.1002/pan3.10514 · Cited by 15
Pittig, A., & Wong, A. H. K. (2022) · Journal of Experimental Psychopathology · doi:10.1177/20438087221136424 · Cited by 13
“Without any intervention, such acquired avoidance responses tend to persist even when the US does not occur anymore (Lovibond et al., 2009; Pittig, 2019; Pittig & Wong, 2021).”
BackgroundSafety behaviors toward innocuous stimuli can maintain or increase threat beliefs
van Dis, E. A. M., Krypotos, A., Zondervan-Zwijnenburg, M. A. J., Tinga, A. M., & Engelhard, I. M. (2022) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2022.104142 · Cited by 14
Benke, C., Krause, E., Hamm, A. O., & Pané‐Farré, C. A. (2017) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2017.09.013 · Cited by 12
Safety behaviors and speech treatment for adults who stutter.
Helgadottir, F., Menzies, R., Onslow, M., Packman, A., & O'Brian, S. (2014) · Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research · doi:10.1044/2014_jslhr-s-13-0041 · Cited by 13
Self-citationDecision-Making in Anxiety and Its Disorders
Grupe, D. W. (2016) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-805308-9.00026-9 · Cited by 15
Richter, J., Pané-Farré, C., Gerlach, A., Gloster, A., Wittchen, H., Lang, T., Alpers, G., Helbig-Lang, S., Deckert, J., Fydrich, T., et al. (2021) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2021.103886 · Cited by 12
Allen, M. T., Handy, J. D., Miller, D. P., & Servatius, R. J. (2019) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.03.003 · Cited by 12
Angelakis, I., & Austin, J. L. (2018) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2017.12.005 · Cited by 12
Computational Models of Post‐traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Radell, M. L., Myers, C., Sheynin, J., & Moustafa, A. A. (2018) · doi:10.1002/9781119159193.ch4 · Cited by 12
Inhibitory Learning during Exposure Treatment in Anorexia Nervosa: A Practical Guide
Melles, H., Duijvis, S., & Jansen, A. (2023) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs13050370 · Cited by 11
Thought suppression inhibits the generalization of fear extinction
Hennings, A. C., Bibb, S. A., Lewis-Peacock, J., & Dunsmoor, J. (2020) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112931 · Cited by 11
Development of the Trans and Gender Diverse Social Anxiety Scale
Ho, F., & Mussap, A. J. (2020) · Anxiety Stress & Coping · doi:10.1080/10615806.2020.1768533 · Cited by 18
Intentions matter: Avoidance intentions regulate anxiety via outcome expectancy.
Ng, A., & Lovibond, P. (2017) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2017.03.007 · Cited by 11
Self-citationDewitte, M. D., & Meulders, A. (2023) · The Journal of Sex Research · doi:10.1080/00224499.2022.2164242 · Cited by 16
“By avoidance, the stimulus retains its threat value because the absence of the painful outcome is attributed to the avoidance response, which is referred to as protection from extinction (Lovibond et al., 2009; Volders et al., 2012).”
BackgroundAvoidance Behavior Prevents Modification of Fear Memory During Reconsolidation
Nitta, Y., Takahashi, T., Haitani, T., Sugimori, E., & Kumano, H. (2018) · Psychological Reports · doi:10.1177/0033294118811116 · Cited by 10
“We created the instruction on avoidance based on the instruction specified in the experiment of Lovibond et al. (2009).”
MethodHartley, C. A., Coelho, C. A. O., Boeke, E. A., Ramirez, F., & Phelps, E. A. (2018) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-018-5082-6 · Cited by 9
“However, other studies have found that threat responses reemerge when avoidance behaviors are performed during extinction (Lovibond et al. 2009; Vervliet and Indekeu 2015; Volders et al. 2012).”
BackgroundDo safety behaviors preserve threat expectancy?
van Uijen, S. L., Dalmaijer, E., van den Hout, M., & Engelhard, I. (2018) · Journal of Experimental Psychopathology · doi:10.1177/2043808718804430 · Cited by 10
“However, neither the study by Lovibond et al. (2009) nor the studies by Milosevic and Radomsky (2008, 2013) are direct, experimental tests of the crucial remaining issue: Does safety behavior that allows the occurrence of threat prevent fear extinction?”
BackgroundResultInfluentialde Houwer, J. (2020) · Collabra Psychology · doi:10.1525/collabra.239 · Cited by 10
Anhedonia influences threat avoidance and relief: A conceptual replication
Leng, L., Beckers, T., & Vervliet, B. (2024) · Journal of Mood and Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.xjmad.2024.100050 · Cited by 13
“On the one hand, excessive and persistent avoidance behaviors, as often seen in anxiety-related disorders, interfere with important daily-life activities and block opportunities to update threat beliefs when the threat is no longer present [2].”
Out with the bad, in with the good: A review on augmented extinction learning in humans
Bauer, E., Laing, P. A. F., Cooper, S. E., Cisler, J. M., & Dunsmoor, J. E. (2024) · Neurobiology of Learning and Memory · doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2024.107994 · Cited by 9
Ma, W. C., Liang, X., Wang, H., Wen, Z., Liu, L., Fan, L., & Zhang, X. (2024) · Geriatric Nursing · doi:10.1016/j.gerinurse.2024.06.032 · Cited by 9
The degree of safety behaviors to a safety stimulus predicts development of threat beliefs
Wong, A. H. K., van Dis, E. A. M., Pittig, A., Hagenaars, M. A., & Engelhard, I. M. (2023) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2023.104423 · Cited by 11
The lesser evil: Pavlovian-instrumental transfer & aversive motivation
Campese, V. D. (2021) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113431 · Cited by 8
van Vliet, C. V., Meulders, A., Vancleef, L., & Vlaeyen, J. (2020) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002079 · Cited by 8
“During the free-choice test phase, we collected data on self-reported pain expectancy and pain-related fear acrossmultiple blocks of trials, allowing us to obtain a trend of the self-reported measures across this phase, compared with other studies where often the test phase consisted of only 1 trial.(7,16) One of the…”
ResultNachon, O., Cléren, C., Husson, S., Huguet, C., Auclair, J., Faure, S., Akirav, I., Moreau, J., & Garcia, R. (2013) · Neurobiology of Learning and Memory · doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2013.12.005 · Cited by 7
White, A. J., Umpfenbach, K., & Alpers, G. W. (2014) · Professional Psychology Research and Practice · doi:10.1037/a0036538 · Cited by 8
A synaptic mechanism for encoding the learned value of action-derived safety
Macdonald, E. E., Ma, J., Liu, D., Yu, K., Authement, M. E., Leng, Y., Goldbach, H. C., Alvarez, V. A., Averbeck, B., & Penzo, M. A. (2025) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1101/2025.08.04.668532 · Cited by 7
“This form of safety promotes behavioral persistence, reinforces future avoidance, and evokes dopaminergic responses analogous to those observed during reward acquisition (5–12).”
Generalization of pain-related avoidance behavior based on de novo categorical knowledge
Glogan, E., Gatzounis, R., Bennett, M., Holthausen, K., & Meulders, A. (2022) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002786 · Cited by 7
Pain and avoidance: The potential benefits of imagining your best possible self
Gatzounis, R., & Meulders, A. (2022) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2022.104080 · Cited by 8
Mertens, G., van Dis, E. A. M., Krypotos, A., & Engelhard, I. M. (2021) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2021.102447 · Cited by 11
Leng, L., Beckers, T., & Vervliet, B. (2025) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2025.104841 · Cited by 7
A history of avoidance does not impact extinction learning in male rats
López-Moraga, A., Luyten, L., & Beckers, T. (2024) · npj Science of Learning · doi:10.1038/s41539-024-00223-z · Cited by 9
“Still, the results reported here are surprising given the considerable amount of data regarding the effects of ongoing avoidance on the ef fi cacy of extinction training 4,5,42 .”
Tackling Costly Fearful Avoidance Using Pavlovian Counterconditioning.
Hulsman, A., van de Pavert, I., Roelofs, K., & Klumpers, F. (2023) · The Behavior Therapist · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2023.07.013 · Cited by 6
“Avoid-ance counteracts the effect of exposure therapies by protection from extinction (Lovibond et al., 2009; Rattel et al., 2017; Vervliet & Indekeu, 2015) and predicts clinical outcomes better than anxiety (Castriotta, 2013; Hendriks et al., 2013; Pittig et al., 2015).”
Graded-Modelle – eine Einführung
Matheve, T., de Baets, L., Moog, M., Hasenbring, M., & Levenig, C. (2023) · MSK – Muskuloskelettale Physiotherapie · doi:10.1055/a-2013-4773 · Cited by 6
Negative expectancy biases in psychopathology
de Jong, P. D., & Daniels, J. (2020) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-816660-4.00004-0 · Cited by 6
Smart-Glass Guided Exposure for Anxiety Disorders: A Proof-of-Concept Study
Pittig, A., Hoyer, J., & Noack, R. (2021) · Cognitive and Behavioral Practice · doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2020.12.003 · Cited by 4
Red 15 Hz flickering light: a novel technique for effective wild bird management
Honda, T., Tominaga, H., & Shimizu, A. (2024) · Zeitschrift f\ ur Jagdwissenschaft · doi:10.1007/s10344-024-01846-8 · Cited by 5
“Electrical signals have long been used for this purpose (Mow-rer and Lamoreaux 1946; Lovibond et al. 2009); however, conditioning stimuli are not limited to electrical impulses alone.”
Sears, R. M., Andrade, É. C., Samels, S. B., Laughlin, L. C., Moloney, D. M., Wilson, D. A., Alwood, M. R., Moscarello, J. M., & Cain, C. K. (2024) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1038/s41467-026-69119-3 · Cited by 5
“Using chemogenetics and feedback devaluation, we also show that goal-directed vs. habitual ARs depend on dorsomedial vs. dorsolateral striatum, suggesting a signi fi cant overlap between the mechanisms of avoidance and rewarded instrumental behavior.”
Unconditioned stimulus devaluation decreases the generalization of costly safety behaviors
Wong, A. H. K., Franzen, M., & Wieser, M. J. (2024) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2024.102847 · Cited by 6
Can you learn to starve yourself? Inducing food avoidance in the laboratory.
Spix, M., Schutzeichel, F., & Jansen, A. (2023) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2023.104340 · Cited by 5
Hoppe, J. M., Vegelius, J., Gingnell, M., Björkstrand, J., & Frick, A. (2022) · Learning and Motivation · doi:10.1016/j.lmot.2022.101848 · Cited by 5
Wong, A. H. K., Lee, J. C., Engelke, P., & Pittig, A. (2022) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2022.104233 · Cited by 5
Berg, F., Margraf, J., & Wannemüller, A. (2022) · Learning & Behavior · doi:10.3758/s13420-022-00545-1 · Cited by 7
Lourenço, M. G., Fuller, T., Ranson, S., Vlaeyen, J., & Cima, R. (2022) · Ear and Hearing · doi:10.1097/aud.0000000000001261 · Cited by 5
“Tinnitus avoidance, as reported by P1, did not abate during treatment as measured by the EDD and interview, which might explain why fear did not decrease, since the use of safety behaviors to avoid exposure to the feared stimuli may hinder fear extinction (Lovibond et al. 2009).”
BackgroundA Measure of Safety Behaviors for Use with Young People: Subtle Avoidance Measure for Youth
Chapman, C., & Rapee, R. (2020) · Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1080/15374416.2020.1716364 · Cited by 5
Learning Mechanisms in Fear and Anxiety
Scheveneels, S., Boddez, Y., & Hermans, D. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108140416.002 · Cited by 6
Social Company Disrupts Fear Memory Renewal: Evidence From Two Rodent Studies
Yuan, J.-J., Yan, M.-M., Xu, Y., Chen, W.-H., & Wang, X.-Q. (2018) · Frontiers in Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnins.2018.00565 · Cited by 5
Retrospective reversal of extinction of conditioned fear by instruction.
Zeng, Q., Jia, Y., Wang, Y., Zhang, J., Liu, C., & Zheng, X.-F. (2015) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2015.05.011 · Cited by 5
The standalone effect of safety behavior manipulations: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Goodson, J. T., Patel, T. A., Zech, J. M., Sala, M. C., & Cougle, J. R. (2026) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2026.102703 · Cited by 4
Impact of trait anxiety on computational mechanism of approach-avoidance conflict decision
Liu, H., Wang, J., Zhou, S., Zhou, X., Li, H., Dou, H., & Lei, Y. (2025) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/02699931.2025.2519665 · Cited by 5
“Avoidance behaviour is likely to be reinforced by a lack of aversive outcomes, creating a vicious cycle of learning that interrupts actual outcomes (Bishop & Gagne, 2018; Craske et al., 2017; Lovibond et al., 2009; Pittig, 2019; Thwaites & Freeston, 2005; Wittchen et al., 2014).”
Unravelling the knot: Investigating avoidance learning in anorexia nervosa.
Spix, M., & Jansen, A. (2025) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2025.104779 · Cited by 4
Rosenberg, B. M., Moreira, J. F. G., Leal, A. S. M., Saragosa-Harris, N., Gaines, E. M., Meredith, W. J., Waizman, Y. H., Ninova, E., & Silvers, J. (2024) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s095457942400141x · Cited by 4
“…(Beckers et al., 2023; Graham & Milad, 2011; Pittig et al., 2018), increase fear renewal following extinction (Arnaudova et al., 2017), and preserve or even increase conditional fear responses that further reinforce instrumental avoidance behaviors (Lovibond et al., 2009; Pittig et al., 2020).”
Carpentier, N., Hermans, D., & Scheveneels, S. (2024) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1155/2024/6366269 · Cited by 4
“Contrastingly, a student displaying strong acquisition, impaired extinction, and excessive avoidance may miss out on these experiences [25], resulting in a higher vulnerability to develop anxiety problems.”
Working hard to avoid: Fixed-ratio response effort and maladaptive avoidance in humans
Dymond, S., Xia, W., Lloyd, K. R., Schlund, M. W., & Zuj, D. V. (2022) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1177/17470218221127660 · Cited by 5
“These results from Experiment 1 bear similarity with previous demonstrations of avoidance and protection from extinction (Lovibond et al., 2009; Rattel et al., 2017; Volders et al., 2012).”
Disconfirming contamination-related threat beliefs by exposure plus safety behavior.
van Uijen, S. L., van den Hout, M., Schiphorst, A. T. K., Knol, E., & Engelhard, I. (2017) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2016.11.005 · Cited by 4
Using signals associated with safety in avoidance learning: computational model of sex differences
Radell, M. L., Beck, K. D., Pang, K. C. H., & Myers, C. E. (2015) · PeerJ · doi:10.7717/peerj.1081 · Cited by 6
“Treatment for anxiety often involves an exposure-based approach that is analogous to extinction training where W is no longer followed by U (Bouton, 1988; Lovibond et al., 2009).”
BackgroundSauer, K. S., Bailer, J., Jungmann, S. M., & Witthöft, M. (2023) · Cognitive and Behavioral Practice · doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2022.08.001 · Cited by 3
Connecting extinction learning in the laboratory and the wild
Anselme, P., & Güntürkün, O. (2026) · Nature Reviews Psychology · doi:10.1038/s44159-026-00561-2 · Cited by 2
“Unfortunately, this avoidance tendency in humans maintains fear by precluding the possibility to learn fear extinction 144 .”
Improving emotion control in social anxiety by targeting rhythmic brain circuits
Meijer, S. W., Bramson, B., Toni, I., & Roelofs, K. (2025) · bioRxiv · doi:10.1101/2023.09.01.555689 · Cited by 3
“Persistent avoidance of perceived threats causes and maintains anxiety, preventing the extinction of those threats through exposure, thereby exacerbating the disorder (Lovibond et al., 2009; Pittig et al., 2015; Craske and Stein, 2016; Rattel et al., 2017).”
Dymond, S., Xia, W., Zuj, D. V., & Quigley, M. (2024) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2024.115299 · Cited by 2
“This Pavlovian arrangement assumes that US omission can both maintain avoidance conditioning and foster its unlearning (extinction; [4,19]).”
BackgroundAn Argument for Reconsidering the Role of Social Support in Treating Anxiety Disorders
Hornstein, E. A., & Eisenberger, N. I. (2021) · Journal of Psychiatry and Brain Science · doi:10.20900/jpbs.20210010 · Cited by 2
“category of safety signals, which are known to prevent fear extinction [9,10] and impair exposure therapy treatments [10,11].”
Background“Himalayan Bridge”: A New Unstable Suspended Bridge to Investigate Rodents' Venturesome Behavior
Festucci, F., Buccheri, C., Parvopassu, A., Oggiano, M., Bortolato, M., Laviola, G., Curcio, G., & Adriani, W. (2021) · Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2021.637074 · Cited by 3
“This feeling of danger causes excessive and maladaptive avoidance that contributes to the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders and prevents the extinction of fearful responses in humans (Craske et al., 2009; Lovibond et al., 2009) and rodents (Muigg et al.”
BackgroundSafe, But Exposed: Inherent Conflicts in Safety Signal Conceptualization
Mckay, D. (2010) · Clinical Psychology Science and Practice · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2850.2010.01214.x · Cited by 3
Can you escape the virtual room? A novel paradigm to assess avoidance behaviour
Dibbets, P., Lemmens, A., Benning, R., & Smeets, T. (2021) · Computers in Human Behavior Reports · doi:10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100061 · Cited by 3
Melanin-concentrating hormone signaling regulates prefrontal updating of learned avoidancePreprint
Kandasamey, P., Bracey, E. F., Odermatt, L., Burdakov, D., & Peleg‐Raibstein, D. (2026) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.64898/2026.06.26.734738 · Cited by 2
Metadata
- Authors
- Lovibond, P. F., Mitchell, C. J., Minard, E., Brady, A., & Menzies, R. G.
- Affiliations
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Lovibond, Peter F.
- Venue
- Behaviour Research and Therapy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-08
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 716-720
- ISSN
- 0005-7967 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2086885179
- Cited by
- 275
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 3.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behaviour Research and Therapy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Keywords
- safety behavior, threat beliefs, fear conditioning, extinction, avoidance response, skin conductance response, exposure therapy, anxiety disorders, autonomic conditioning
- MeSH terms
- Avoidance Learning, Conditioning, Classical, Culture, Electric Stimulation, Extinction, Psychological, Fear, Female, Galvanic Skin Response, Humans, Male, Safety
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
