Repression as Avoidance
Chapter 9 discusses the topics of escape and avoidance. The concept of avoidance behavior was interesting to me. Avoidance can be defined as performance of a behavior which prevents an aversive stimulus from occurring . The author states that escape is the easier of the two to understand and researchers generally show more interest in studying avoidance. The two-process theory shows that there are two distinct steps to avoidance behavior. First, an individual is classically conditioned to a fear or anxiety response to a conditioned stimulus (CS). Then, operant conditioning takes effect in which avoiding that same stimulus is negatively reinforced by a reduction of fear or anxiety. But what if the CS are memories and thoughts? In the "and Furthermore " section in the textbook on pages 346-347 the author talks about the idea of repression as avoidance. It suggests that the classically conditioned response of fear to the stimulus of traumatic memories will cause the op...