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Related Concept Videos

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder01:28

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition characterized by recurrent obsessions, compulsions, or both, which consume significant time and interfere with daily functioning. Obsessions involve persistent, intrusive, and unwanted thoughts, images, or urges that evoke anxiety. Common examples include irrational fears of contamination or harm. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts performed to reduce the anxiety caused by obsessions. For instance, individuals...
Frustration and Conflict: Approach-Approach, Approach-Avoidance01:20

Frustration and Conflict: Approach-Approach, Approach-Avoidance

Frustration occurs when people are obstructed or prevented from achieving a desired goal or fulfilling a perceived need. For example, when someone's input is ignored in a discussion, it can lead to feelings of frustration. Conflict, however, arises from opposing interests, goals, or actions. Conflicts can take various forms based on the nature of these opposing desires or goals.
One common type of conflict is the Approach–Approach Conflict. In this case, a person faces two desirable options,...
Frustration and Conflict: Avoidance-Avoidance, Double-Approach Avoidance01:14

Frustration and Conflict: Avoidance-Avoidance, Double-Approach Avoidance

Avoidance-avoidance conflict refers to a psychological situation where a person must choose between two or more unpleasant alternatives. These conflicts are particularly stressful because neither option is desirable. This dilemma is often expressed in sayings like "caught between a rock and a hard place" or "between the devil and the deep blue sea." For instance, individuals who fear dental procedures may find themselves torn between enduring a painful toothache or facing the anxiety of...
Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness01:14

Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness

Avoidance learning and learned helplessness are critical concepts in understanding behavioral responses to negative stimuli.
Avoidance learning occurs when an organism learns that a specific behavior can prevent an unpleasant outcome. For example, a student who receives a bad grade may start studying harder to avoid future poor grades. This behavior persists even when the negative outcome is no longer present. Avoidance learning is powerful because it maintains behavior in the absence of the...
Operant Conditioning Intervention01:24

Operant Conditioning Intervention

Operant conditioning serves as a foundational principle in therapeutic interventions aimed at modifying maladaptive behaviors. Central to this approach is the notion that behaviors, both adaptive and maladaptive, are learned through reinforcement. By analyzing the environmental factors that reinforce problematic behaviors, clinicians can design interventions to weaken these reinforcements and replace maladaptive behaviors with healthier alternatives.
In operant conditioning, behaviors that are...
Personality Disorders: Dependent and Obsessive-Compulsive01:24

Personality Disorders: Dependent and Obsessive-Compulsive

Dependent personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder are two separate psychological conditions that influence behavior, relationships, and overall life functioning. Though both involve maladaptive behaviors, their core characteristics and motivations differ significantly.
 Dependent Personality Disorder
Dependent personality disorder is characterized by an excessive reliance on others to manage various aspects of life. Individuals with this disorder often struggle with...

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Signal Attenuation as a Rat Model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
09:29

Signal Attenuation as a Rat Model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Published on: January 9, 2015

Approach and avoidance learning in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Tanja Endrass1, Lisa Kloft, Christian Kaufmann

  • 1Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Psychologie, Berlin, Germany. tanja.endrass@hu-berlin.de

Depression and Anxiety
|February 2, 2011
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients exhibit enhanced avoidance learning, showing a negative bias by being better at avoiding negative outcomes than approaching positive ones.

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Published on: October 3, 2020

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Psychiatry

Background:

  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is linked to dysfunction in cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits.
  • OCD patients display altered learning and adaptation to changing tasks.
  • Frontal and striatal brain regions show heightened activity in OCD.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine feedback-based learning in individuals with OCD.
  • To determine if learning from positive and negative feedback differs in OCD patients.

Main Methods:

  • A probabilistic selection task was administered to 18 OCD patients and 18 healthy controls.
  • The task included acquisition and test phases to differentiate learning from positive and negative feedback.
  • Learning biases and reaction times were analyzed.

Main Results:

  • No group differences were observed during the acquisition phase of feedback learning.
  • In the test phase, OCD patients demonstrated a negative learning bias, unlike controls who showed a positive bias.
  • OCD patients were more adept at avoiding previously negative stimuli than approaching previously positive stimuli, reflected in faster avoidance reaction times.

Conclusions:

  • OCD patients exhibit enhanced avoidance learning, suggesting an overemphasis on anticipating and avoiding aversive outcomes.
  • Further research is needed to explore neurobiological underpinnings, such as dopaminergic signaling in the orbitofrontal cortex, related to this enhanced negative learning in OCD.