Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis logoLink to Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
. 1998 Spring;31(1):137–156. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1998.31-137

Why behavior analysts should study emotion: the example of anxiety.

P C Friman 1, S C Hayes 1, K G Wilson 1
PMCID: PMC1284106  PMID: 9532758

Abstract

Historically, anxiety has been a dominant subject in mainstream psychology but an incidental or even insignificant one in behavior analysis. We discuss several reasons for this discrepancy. We follow with a behavior-analytic conceptualization of anxiety that could just as easily be applied to emotion in general. Its primary points are (a) that languageable humans have an extraordinary capacity to derive relations between events and that it is a simple matter to show that neutral stimuli can acquire discriminative functions indirectly with no direct training; (b) that private events can readily acquire discriminative functions; (c) that anxiety disorders seem to occur with little apparent direct learning or that the amount of direct learning is extraordinarily out of proportion with the amount of responding; and (d) that the primary function of anxious behavior is experiential avoidance. We conclude that the most interesting aspects of anxiety disorders may occur as a function of derived rather than direct relations between public events and overt and private responses with avoidance functions. Implicit in this conclusion and explicit in the paper is the assertion that anxiety is a suitable subject for behavior-analytic study.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (179.9 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Amering M., Katschnig H., Berger P., Windhaber J., Baischer W., Dantendorfer K. Embarrassment about the first panic attack predicts agoraphobia in panic disorder patients. Behav Res Ther. 1997 Jun;35(6):517–521. doi: 10.1016/s0005-7967(96)00126-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bailey J. S. Marketing behavior analysis requires different talk. J Appl Behav Anal. 1991 Fall;24(3):445–448. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1991.24-445. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Carson R. C. Aristotle, Galileo, and the DSM taxonomy: the case of schizophrenia. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1996 Dec;64(6):1133–1139. doi: 10.1037//0022-006x.64.6.1133. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Clark D. M. A cognitive approach to panic. Behav Res Ther. 1986;24(4):461–470. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(86)90011-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Craske M. G., Street L., Barlow D. H. Instructions to focus upon or distract from internal cues during exposure treatment of agoraphobic avoidance. Behav Res Ther. 1989;27(6):663–672. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(89)90150-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. DeGrandpre R. J., Bickel W. K., Higgins S. T. Emergent equivalence relations between interoceptive (drug) and exteroceptive (visual) stimuli. J Exp Anal Behav. 1992 Jul;58(1):9–18. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1992.58-9. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Devany J. M., Hayes S. C., Nelson R. O. Equivalence class formation in language-able and language-disabled children. J Exp Anal Behav. 1986 Nov;46(3):243–257. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1986.46-243. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dougher M. J., Augustson E., Markham M. R., Greenway D. E., Wulfert E. The transfer of respondent eliciting and extinction functions through stimulus equivalence classes. J Exp Anal Behav. 1994 Nov;62(3):331–351. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1994.62-331. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Dymond S., Barnes D. A transformation of self-discrimination response functions in accordance with the arbitrarily applicable relations of sameness, more than, and less than. J Exp Anal Behav. 1995 Sep;64(2):163–184. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1995.64-163. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Ehlers A., Margraf J., Roth W. T., Taylor C. B., Birbaumer N. Anxiety induced by false heart rate feedback in patients with panic disorder. Behav Res Ther. 1988;26(1):1–11. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(88)90028-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Epstein S. Toward a unified theory of anxiety. Prog Exp Pers Res. 1967;4:1–89. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Fields L., Reeve K. F., Adams B. J., Verhave T. Stimulus generalization and equivalence classes: a model for natural categories. J Exp Anal Behav. 1991 May;55(3):305–312. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1991.55-305. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Foa E. B., Kozak M. J. Emotional processing of fear: exposure to corrective information. Psychol Bull. 1986 Jan;99(1):20–35. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Foa E. B., Meadows E. A. Psychosocial treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder: a critical review. Annu Rev Psychol. 1997;48:449–480. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.48.1.449. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Grayson J. B., Foa E. B., Steketee G. Habituation during exposure treatment: distraction vs attention-focusing. Behav Res Ther. 1982;20(4):323–328. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(82)90091-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hayes S. C., Kohlenberg B. S., Hayes L. J. The transfer of specific and general consequential functions through simple and conditional equivalence relations. J Exp Anal Behav. 1991 Jul;56(1):119–137. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1991.56-119. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Hayes S. C. Nonhumans have not yet shown stimulus equivalence. J Exp Anal Behav. 1989 May;51(3):385–392. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1989.51-385. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Hayes S. C., Wilson K. G., Gifford E. V., Follette V. M., Strosahl K. Experimental avoidance and behavioral disorders: a functional dimensional approach to diagnosis and treatment. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1996 Dec;64(6):1152–1168. doi: 10.1037//0022-006x.64.6.1152. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Hoes M. J. Biological markers in psychiatry. Acta Psychiatr Belg. 1986 May-Jun;86(3):220–241. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Horne P. J., Lowe C. F. On the origins of naming and other symbolic behavior. J Exp Anal Behav. 1996 Jan;65(1):185–241. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1996.65-185. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Keedwell P., Snaith R. P. What do anxiety scales measure? Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1996 Mar;93(3):177–180. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1996.tb10627.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Lattal K. A. Reinforcement contingencies as discriminative stimuli. J Exp Anal Behav. 1975 Mar;23(2):241–246. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1975.23-241. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Lindsley O. R. From technical jargon to plain English for application. J Appl Behav Anal. 1991 Fall;24(3):449–458. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1991.24-449. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Lipkens R., Hayes S. C., Hayes L. J. Longitudinal study of the development of derived relations in an infant. J Exp Child Psychol. 1993 Oct;56(2):201–239. doi: 10.1006/jecp.1993.1032. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Margraf J., Ehlers A., Roth W. T. Mitral valve prolapse and panic disorder: a review of their relationship. Psychosom Med. 1988 Mar-Apr;50(2):93–113. doi: 10.1097/00006842-198803000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Margraf J., Ehlers A., Roth W. T. Sodium lactate infusions and panic attacks: a review and critique. Psychosom Med. 1986 Jan-Feb;48(1-2):23–51. doi: 10.1097/00006842-198601000-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. McBurnett K., Lahey B. B., Frick P. J., Risch C., Loeber R., Hart E. L., Christ M. A., Hanson K. S. Anxiety, inhibition, and conduct disorder in children: II. Relation to salivary cortisol. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1991 Mar;30(2):192–196. doi: 10.1097/00004583-199103000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Pauli P., Marquardt C., Hartl L., Nutzinger D. O., Hölzl R., Strian F. Anxiety induced by cardiac perceptions in patients with panic attacks: a field study. Behav Res Ther. 1991;29(2):137–145. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(91)90042-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Peterson C., Seligman M. E. Causal explanations as a risk factor for depression: theory and evidence. Psychol Rev. 1984 Jul;91(3):347–374. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Rachman S. The conditioning theory of fear-acquisition: a critical examination. Behav Res Ther. 1977;15(5):375–387. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(77)90041-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Rapee R. M., Brown T. A., Antony M. M., Barlow D. H. Response to hyperventilation and inhalation of 5.5% carbon dioxide-enriched air across the DSM-III-R anxiety disorders. J Abnorm Psychol. 1992 Aug;101(3):538–552. doi: 10.1037//0021-843x.101.3.538. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Rasmussen S. A., Eisen J. L. The epidemiology and differential diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder. J Clin Psychiatry. 1992 Apr;53 (Suppl):4–10. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Roche B., Barnes D. A transformation of respondently conditioned stimulus function in accordance with arbitrarily applicable relations. J Exp Anal Behav. 1997 May;67(3):275–301. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1997.67-275. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. SARBIN T. R. ANXIETY: REIFICATION OF A METAPHOR. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1964 Jun;10:630–638. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1964.01720240084009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Sarbin T. R. Ontology recapitulates philology. The mythic nature of anxiety. Am Psychol. 1968 Jun;23(6):411–418. doi: 10.1037/h0026484. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Sidman M. Normal Sources of Pathological Behavior. Science. 1960 Jul 8;132(3419):61–68. doi: 10.1126/science.132.3419.61. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Sidman M. Reading and auditory-visual equivalences. J Speech Hear Res. 1971 Mar;14(1):5–13. doi: 10.1044/jshr.1401.05. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Sidman M., Tailby W. Conditional discrimination vs. matching to sample: an expansion of the testing paradigm. J Exp Anal Behav. 1982 Jan;37(1):5–22. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1982.37-5. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Sofuoğlu S., Doğan P., Besim T., Baştürk M., Tanrikulu G. MAO-B activity in depression and anxiety disorders. Biol Psychiatry. 1992 Mar 15;31(6):634–638. doi: 10.1016/0006-3223(92)90253-v. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Steele D., Hayes S. C. Stimulus equivalence and arbitrarily applicable relational responding. J Exp Anal Behav. 1991 Nov;56(3):519–555. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1991.56-519. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Taylor S. Anxiety sensitivity: theoretical perspectives and recent findings. Behav Res Ther. 1995 Mar;33(3):243–258. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(94)00063-p. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Wulfert E. Correlation between self-reported rigidity and rule-governed insensitivity to operant contingencies. J Appl Behav Anal. 1994 Winter;27(4):659–671. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1994.27-659. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis are provided here courtesy of Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

RESOURCES