Approach-Withdrawal Response Competition (Aw-Rc), Displacement, and Behavior Modification

Summary

This paper reviews displacement theory and animal research as derived from approach-withdrawal response competition (AW-RC), with a selected emphasis on clinical implications. AW-RC displacement is seen as part of the larger area of behavior modification while nevertheless distinguished from the larger area by a singular model and methodology. It is suggested that a lack of operational analysis of AW-RC displacement and behavior modification is responsible for some confusion about the two areas, has retarded developments and conclusions about behavior modification, and has contributed to, or produced, termination of research on AW-RC displacement. This review uncovers two major sets of results and one interesting observation. First, the displacement effect and the extinction effect of displacement are strongly supported, but the therapeutic effect of displacement is not supported. Second, time-delay that is characterized by eating under deprivation in an irrelevant situation does appear to produce true therapeutic effects of large magnitude. Berkun's observation, opening to other nondisplacement but AW-RC-related observations and findings, suggests separable aspects of AW-RC behavior that are not correspondingly observable with other methodologies.