HUMAN BEHAVIORBehavioral approaches focus on the way in which thoughts or behaviors may accidentally get ‘‘re- warded’’ within one’s environment, contributing to an increase in the frequency of these thoughts and be- haviors.5 Behavioral therapy also stresses the role of avoidance behaviors and reinforcers (positive and negative) in maintaining unhelpful behaviors, fee- lings, and thoughts.5 For example, imagine a person who is afraid to ride in an elevator. To avoid the fear and anxiety, this person might eventually choose to avoid all elevators and walk up flights of stairs in- stead. Walking up instead of taking the elevator pre- vents the person from experiencing fear and anxiety, and thus, acts as a negative reinforcer (by taking away fear and anxiety) and positive reinforcer (by giving a calm feeling). On the contrary, the extra time and energy that is needed to walk the stairs could feel unpleasant and also might cause the per- son to be late for work or events with friends. These negative feelings might reinforce the belief that eleva- tors are dangerous.