conditioned suppression

a phenomenon that occurs during an operant performance test when a conditioned response to a positive stimulus is reduced by another stimulus that is associated with an aversive stimulus. For example, a rat may be trained to press a lever to receive food. During this procedure, the rat is occasionally exposed to a series of brief electric shocks that are preceded by a tone (the conditioned stimulus). As a result, when the rat subsequently hears the tone alone, its rate of lever pressing is reduced. Conditioned suppression is also used to study classical conditioning.

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Psychology term of the day

December 19th 2024

surrogate

1. a person or object that substitutes for the role of an individual who has a significant position in a family or group. See father surrogate; mother surrogate.

2. more generally, any person or entity that substitutes for another.