Which of the following is listed as an avoidance maintenance difficulty with exchanging new information between the clinician and patient?

• A. Using a large number of stimuli.
• B. Extending sessions beyond planned time.
• C. Relying on a fixed, unchanging set of stimuli across sessions.
• D. Not varying stimuli across sessions.

Answer: (A)

Exchanging new information effectively relies on keeping the amount of information manageable so the patient can attend, interpret, and respond. Presenting a large number of stimuli creates cognitive overload, making it hard to process each item and to link new material with prior understanding. That overload fosters avoidance of engaging with new content across sessions because the dialogue becomes too demanding, so maintaining interaction around new information becomes difficult.

Other options point to different issues. Extending sessions beyond planned time is more about logistics than the interactional difficulty of sharing new information. Relying on a fixed, unchanging set of stimuli across sessions or not varying stimuli across sessions reduces flexibility and can hinder introducing new material, but they don’t directly capture the avoidance that arises from trying to process too many stimuli at once.