aversion therapy

aversion therapy

[ə′vər·zhən ‚ther·ə·pē]

(psychology)

A behavior therapy technique intended to suppress undesirable behavior by pairing a stimulus associated with an undesirable behavior together with a painful or unpleasant stimulus.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

aversion therapy

a type of BEHAVIOUR THERAPY which relies on negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement occurs when the individual learns that by acting in a certain way, an unpleasant consequence can be avoided. The reinforcer of that behaviour therefore lies in the avoidance of pain or unpleasantness. An example of the clinical application of aversion therapy is in the treatment of alcoholism by use of an emetic. Thus the avoidance of alcohol leads to avoidance of sickness. The same principle can be seen at work in changing smoking behaviour through strong social disapproval.

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000