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reciprocal inhibition

1. a technique in behavior therapy that aims to replace an undesired response (e.g., anxiety) with a desired one by counterconditioning. It relies on the gradual substitution of a response that is incompatible with the original one and is potent enough to neutralize the anxiety-evoking power of the stimulus. See also systematic desensitization. [devised by Joseph Wolpe]

2. in neuroscience, the inhibition of one spinal reflex when another is elicited. [proposed by Charles Scott Sherrington]

3. a neural mechanism that prevents opposing muscles from contracting at the same time.

4. the inability to recall two associated ideas or items because of their interference with each other.

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Psychology term of the day

January 19th 2025

confidence limit

confidence limit

either of the values at the upper and lower ends of a confidence interval, which provide an estimated range for the value of a population parameter. Also called confidence bound.