Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Frustration and Conflict: Approach-Approach, Approach-Avoidance01:20

Frustration and Conflict: Approach-Approach, Approach-Avoidance

116
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...
116
Frustration and Conflict: Avoidance-Avoidance, Double-Approach Avoidance01:14

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

134
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...
134
Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness01:14

Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness

1.9K
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...
1.9K
Behavior Therapy01:22

Behavior Therapy

95
Behavior therapy incorporates diverse techniques rooted in classical conditioning principles to address maladaptive behaviors and anxiety disorders. These methods aim to reduce avoidance behaviors, foster adaptive coping mechanisms, and alter associations between stimuli and responses, making them effective in a wide range of therapeutic contexts.
Exposure therapy is a cornerstone of behavioral treatment for anxiety disorders. It involves systematic exposure to feared stimuli, either in real...
95
Conditioned Taste Aversion01:14

Conditioned Taste Aversion

205
Conditioned taste aversion, also known as sauce béarnaise syndrome, is a phenomenon in which an individual develops an aversion to a certain food taste following a negative experience, typically illness. This form of aversion is a type of classical conditioning in which the taste of the food (conditioned stimulus, CS) is associated with the experience of illness (unconditioned stimulus, UCS).
A notable characteristic of conditioned taste aversion is that it often requires only a single...
205
The Physiology of Taste01:24

The Physiology of Taste

4.1K
The perception of a salty flavor is facilitated by sodium ions within the oral salivary fluid. Upon consumption of a salty substance, salt crystals disassemble, leading to the liberation of its constituents—Na+ and Cl- ions. These ions subsequently dissolve into the salivary fluid present in the oral cavity. The external environment of the gustatory cells experiences an elevation in Na+ concentration, thereby establishing a potent concentration gradient. This gradient propels the...
4.1K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Restrict for Health or for Thinness? Liking but Not Approach Bias Differentiates Orthorexic Eating Behavior From Anorexia Nervosa in Responses to High-Caloric Healthy vs. High-Caloric Unhealthy Foods.

The International journal of eating disorders·2026
Same author

Bidirectional temporal relationships between emotional state and eating across eating disorders: a network approach.

Journal of eating disorders·2026
Same author

Daily Body (Dis-)Satisfaction and Dietary Restriction in Women Across the Eating Disorder Spectrum.

The International journal of eating disorders·2026
Same author

Emotional food craving: Highest during positive emotions, and calorie-specific during negative emotions.

Appetite·2026
Same author

Positive associations between day-level physical activity and healthy eating in participants of a health promotion course: an exploratory study.

Journal of behavioral medicine·2026
Same author

Investigating stress and health behaviour relationships in daily life: towards a framework for advancing future research.

Health psychology review·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 19, 2025

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults
08:25

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults

Published on: October 19, 2014

15.4K

Touchscreen-based approach-avoidance responses to appetitive and threatening stimuli.

Hannah van Alebeek1, Sercan Kahveci1, Mike Rinck2

  • 1Department of Psychology, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria; Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Paris-Lodron-University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.

Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
|November 26, 2022
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

People show approach biases for positive stimuli like food and butterflies. Avoidance biases are more specific, seen for spiders in fearful individuals, but not for spoiled foods.

Keywords:
Appetitive foodApproach-avoidance biasButterflySpiderSpoiled foodTouchscreen

More Related Videos

Investigating Pain-Related Avoidance Behavior using a Robotic Arm-Reaching Paradigm
09:00

Investigating Pain-Related Avoidance Behavior using a Robotic Arm-Reaching Paradigm

Published on: October 3, 2020

4.0K
Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice
07:07

Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice

Published on: June 5, 2016

8.7K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Aug 19, 2025

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults
08:25

Measuring Attentional Biases for Threat in Children and Adults

Published on: October 19, 2014

15.4K
Investigating Pain-Related Avoidance Behavior using a Robotic Arm-Reaching Paradigm
09:00

Investigating Pain-Related Avoidance Behavior using a Robotic Arm-Reaching Paradigm

Published on: October 3, 2020

4.0K
Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice
07:07

Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice

Published on: June 5, 2016

8.7K

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Behavioral Neuroscience

Background:

  • General assumption: humans approach positive and avoid negative stimuli.
  • Uncertainty: specificity of these biases across different stimulus categories.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate approach-avoidance biases for appetitive foods, butterflies, spoiled foods, and spiders.
  • Determine if biases are general or stimulus-specific.

Main Methods:

  • Touchscreen-based Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT) using hand gestures.
  • Questionnaires and image ratings to assess individual differences and stimulus evaluations.

Main Results:

  • Confirmed approach biases for appetitive foods (strongest for liked foods) and butterflies.
  • No significant avoidance bias for spoiled foods was observed.
  • Avoidance bias for spiders was present in individuals with high spider fear.

Conclusions:

  • Behavioral biases correlate with affective evaluations of stimuli.
  • Approach biases for positive stimuli appear general across categories (food, butterflies).
  • Avoidance biases may be more specific to particular negative stimuli (e.g., spiders).