More important, the current experiments are the first to generate an approach-avoidance conflict with human participants by virtue of the derived transfer of functions effect.
For instance, the images employed in the current experiments as aversive and appetitive unconditioned and consequential stimuli may simply have been too weak to generate an approach-avoidance conflict that is characterized by the absence of responses and/or erratic responding across probe trials.
Furthermore, it would allow for the observation of any physiological arousal produced by the approach-avoidance conflict trials and allow for the comparison of anxiety levels during conflict and non-conflict trials.
Importantly, one dimension of real-world fear and anxiety that has yet to be subjected to experimental analysis is the role of approach-avoidance conflicts in the behavioral repertoire of the anxious client.
Therefore, to the extent that this approach-avoidance conflict model applies, appetitive and aversive motivational constructs are particularly useful to understanding substance abuse."
Other therapeutic interventions for reducing impulsive behavior include those that perhaps enhance the development of an approach-avoidance conflict in the presence of rewarding stimuli.
Similarly, given that there is some evidence of BIS activation among at least a subset of those who misuse substances, therapeutic strategies that attempt to work with the resultant approach-avoidance conflict or ambivalence might be especially helpful for increasing the salience of aversive outcomes associated with continued substance use (e.g., Miller & Rollnick, 1991).
