Related to Anxiety: Arbitrarily Applicable Relational Responding and Experimental Psychopathology Research on Fear and Avoidance

Abstract

Humans have an unparalleled ability to engage in arbitrarily applicable relational responding (AARR). One of the consequences of this ability to spontaneously combine and relate events from the past, present, and future may, in fact, be a propensity to suffer. For instance, maladaptive fear and avoidance of remote or derived threats may actually perpetuate anxiety. In this narrative review, we consider contemporary AARR research on fear and avoidance as it relates to anxiety. We first describe laboratory-based research on the emergent spread of fear- and avoidance-eliciting functions in humans. Next, we consider the validity of AARR research on fear and avoidance and address the therapeutic implications of the work. Finally, we outline challenges and opportunities for a greater synthesis between behavior analysis research on AARR and experimental psychopathology.

Keywords: Anxiety; Arbitrarily applicable relational responding; Avoidance; Experimental psychopathology; Fear; Generalization; Stimulus relations.

Fig. 1

The distributed brain network supporting various forms of derived responding in humans (see text for details). PFC = prefrontal cortex; DLPFC = dorsolateral PFC; VLPFC = ventrolateral PFC. Adapted from “Reframing Relational Frame Theory Research: Gaining a New Perspective Through the Application of Novel Behavioral and Neurophysiological Methods,” by R. Whelan and M. W. Schlund, 2013, in S. Dymond and B. Roche (Eds.), Advances in Relational Frame Theory: Research and Application, p. 151. Copyright 2013 by New Harbinger