Conditioned avoidance responses and phobias: A reply to Wolpe and to Powell and Lumia

Replies to criticisms by J. Wolpe and by A. Powell and A. Lumia (see PA, Vol. 46:Issue 5). It is maintained that these critics have not concerned themselves directly with the argument that conditioned avoidance responses do not provide a plausible experimental paradigm of phobias. Instead, they argue in favor of classically conditioned emotional responses, self-punitive behavior, and learned helplessness as paradigms of phobia acquisition and maintenance. These arguments are not considered to aid in further valuation of the original proposal. (34 ref.)