Withdrawal, conditioned

Withdrawal, conditioned

A syndrome of withdrawal-like signs and symptoms sometimes experience by abstinent alcohol- or opiatedependent individuals who are exposed to stimuli previously associated with alcohol or drug use. According to classical conditioning theory, environmental stimuli temporarily linked to unconditioned withdrawal reactions become conditioned stimuli capable of eliciting the same withdrawal-like symptoms. In another version of conditioning theory , an innate compensatory response to the effects of a substance (acute tolerance) become conditionally linked to the stimuli associated with substane use.