Avoidance
Avoidance is a form of negative reinforcement in which a behavior prevents or postpones an aversive stimulus, so that behavior becomes more likely in the future.
In an avoidance contingency, the aversive event has not happened yet. Responding stops it from happening or delays it. Examples include taking an umbrella to avoid getting wet, leaving early to avoid traffic, or a client who starts crying when the worksheet folder is brought out so that the task is never presented. Because the behavior prevents the aversive event, it is negatively reinforced.
Often a warning stimulus comes first and predicts the aversive event: the sight of the work folder, a teacher's tone of voice, or the sound of the bath running may signal that something unpleasant is coming. Responding to the warning signal can prevent the event. Avoidance behavior can be very persistent because, when it works, the person never comes into contact with the event, so they have little chance to learn that the event would not have happened or is no longer aversive.
Avoidance is relevant in two ways for RBTs. It can maintain problem behavior, which the supervisor addresses through the plan. It is also a possible side effect of punishment: a person who is punished may learn to avoid the person or setting associated with punishment. Recognizing avoidance helps RBTs report patterns accurately.
Example and non-example
| Example | Each time a caregiver picks up the toothbrush, a child runs to the bedroom and hides, and toothbrushing does not happen; hiding increases. |
|---|---|
| Non-example | A child pushes the toothbrush away during brushing and the caregiver stops brushing. Ending an aversive event that has already started is escape. |
Don't confuse it with
| Escape | Avoidance prevents or postpones an aversive stimulus; escape ends one that is already present. |
|---|---|
| Escape and avoidance (side effect of punishment) | Avoidance as a contingency describes how a behavior is reinforced; escape and avoidance as a side effect of punishment describe the person moving away from the punishing person or setting. |
Test yourself
-
Question 1A child starts picking up toys as soon as the caregiver walks toward the play area, before any reminder is given. Picking up early prevents the caregiver's repeated reminders from starting, and early cleanup has increased. Which term best describes this?
Show answer
C: Avoidance. In avoidance, a response prevents or postpones a stimulus that has not yet started. It is a type of negative reinforcement, and the response increases.
- A: Escape ends a stimulus that is already present; here the reminders never begin.
- B: Nothing is added after the cleanup; the response works by preventing the reminders.
- D: Extinction means a previously reinforced behavior no longer produces its reinforcer, which is not what is happening here.
Task C.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
-
Question 2For several weeks, an RBT's arrival at a client's home has been followed only by difficult work tasks, with no preferred activities. What is most likely to happen?
Show answer
C: The client may start to escape or avoid the RBT, whose arrival now signals hard work.. Pairing works in both directions. When a person's arrival is consistently followed by aversive conditions, their presence can come to signal those conditions, and escape or avoidance of that person may increase.
- A: Seeing someone often does not make them a reinforcer; what their presence is paired with matters.
- B: Repeated exposure does not make work tasks unconditioned reinforcers.
- D: Nothing in the situation would increase motivation; difficult work without reinforcement tends to lower it.
Task C.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
-
Question 3A child starts crying as soon as the RBT walks toward the work table, before any instruction is given. When the child cries, the RBT waits quietly at the table until the crying stops, so the work starts later. Which function does this pattern suggest?
Show answer
A: Avoiding demands. The crying occurs before the task and delays it. Behavior that postpones or prevents an aversive event is maintained by negative reinforcement, here avoidance of demands.
- B: The RBT waits quietly, so crying does not produce extra attention; it delays the work.
- C: No preferred item is withheld or delivered.
- D: The crying is tied to the approach of work and to a delay in work, a social outcome.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task C.1 Positive and negative reinforcement in content area C, Behavior Acquisition, which is 19 of the 75 scored questions.