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Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior pp 1–4Cite as

Counterconditioning

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Counterconditioning occurs when a response to a stimulus is modified by pairing that stimulus with another stimulus of an opposite emotional significance (Richardson et al. 1987). This occurrence results as an alternative conditioned response to the original stimulus (Lane 2009; Pearce and Dickinson 1975; Richardson et al. 1987). Counterconditioning can involve two distinct scenarios: (a) a previously appetitive response can become aversive (i.e., appetitive-to-aversive counterconditioning) or (b) a previously aversive response can become appetitive (i.e., aversive-to-appetitive counterconditioning). Counterconditioning consists of Pavlovian conditioning in which a previously neutral stimulus (NS) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US) to produce a conditioned response (CR). The NS becomes a conditioned stimulus after repeated pairings with the US. Counterconditioning successfully occurs when the original conditioned or unconditioned response is modified by replacing a cue from...

Keywords

  • Counterconditioning
  • Systematic Desensitization
  • Scavio
  • Appetitive Stimuli
  • Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. United States Army, New York, NY, USA

    Prescilla John

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  1. Prescilla John
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Correspondence to Prescilla John .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University , Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Jennifer Vonk

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University Department of Psychology, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Ph.D. Todd Shackelford

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  1. Hofstra University, Long Island, USA

    Oskar Pineno

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John, P. (2018). Counterconditioning. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1291-1

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