aversion therapy

aversion therapy
n.
therapy designed to suppress undesirable behavior, as a compulsion or addiction, by conditioning a person to associate the behavior with an unpleasant or painful stimulus

* * *

      psychotherapy designed to cause a patient to reduce or avoid an undesirable behaviour pattern by conditioning the person to associate the behaviour with an undesirable stimulus. The chief stimuli used in the therapy are electrical, chemical, or imagined aversive situations. In the electrical therapy, the patient is given a lightly painful shock whenever the undesirable behaviour is displayed. This method has been used in the treatment of sexual deviations. In the chemical therapy, the patient is given a drug that produces unpleasant effects, such as nausea, when combined with the undesirable behaviour; this method has been common in the treatment of alcoholism, in which the therapeutic drug and the alcohol together cause the nausea. In covert conditioning, developed by American psychologist Joseph Cautela, images of undesirable behaviour (e.g., smoking) are paired with images of aversive stimuli (e.g., nausea and vomiting) in a systematic sequence designed to reduce the positive cues that had been associated with the behaviour. (See conditioning.)

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Aversion therapy — is a form of psychiatric, mental health or psychological treatment in which the patient is exposed to a stimulus while simultaneously being subjected to some form of discomfort. This conditioning is intended to cause the patient to associate the… …   Wikipedia

  • aversion therapy — n therapy intended to suppress an undesirable habit or behavior (as smoking or overeating) by associating the habit or behavior with a noxious or punishing stimulus (as an electric shock) * * * a form of behaviour therapy that is used to reduce… …   Medical dictionary

  • aversion therapy — n. therapy designed to suppress undesirable behavior, as a compulsion or addiction, by conditioning a person to associate the behavior with an unpleasant or painful stimulus …   English World dictionary

  • aversion therapy — noun any technique of behavior modification that uses unpleasant stimuli in a controlled fashion to alter behavior in a therapeutic way; primarily used for alcoholism or drug abuse (but with little success) • Hypernyms: ↑behavior therapy,… …   Useful english dictionary

  • aversion therapy — a form of behaviour therapy that is used to reduce the occurrence of undesirable behaviour, such as sexual deviations or drug addiction. Conditioning is used, with repeated pairing of some unpleasant stimulus with a stimulus related to the… …   The new mediacal dictionary

  • aversion therapy — A therapy based on classical conditioning , in which a maladaptive behaviour (such as drinking alcohol or smoking) is associated with an unpleasant event (for example an electric shock). It is now generally regarded as outmoded by other forms of… …   Dictionary of sociology

  • aversion therapy — noun Date: 1946 therapy intended to suppress an undesirable habit or behavior (as smoking) by associating the habit or behavior with a noxious or punishing stimulus (as electric shock) …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • aversion therapy — a version ,therapy noun uncount a treatment to change someone s behavior or get rid of a bad habit by giving them an unpleasant experience every time they behave in a particular way or do a particular thing …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • aversion therapy — noun a type of behaviour therapy designed to make patients give up a habit by causing them to associate it with an unpleasant effect …   English new terms dictionary

  • aversion therapy — /əˈvɜʒən θɛrəpi/ (say uh verzhuhn theruhpee) noun a form of behaviour therapy in which punishment or aversive stimulation is used to eliminate undesired responses, as an electric shock administered when an obsessive subject is shown a picture of… …  

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”