Extinction is a procedure designed to reduce or eliminate a behavior. Relapse is the recurrence of that old behavior. Pavlov explains such events in terms of competition between inhibitory and excitatory conditioning. Bouton offers a cognitive explanation. Relapse is due to the ambiguous meaning of the CS in that context.

This goal of this assignment is to have you examine a case of relapse from both perspectives. Think of a case where extinction can be used to eliminate an undesirable behavior (not necessarily involving drugs).

Describe a situation that produced a conditioning effect.  (You may use your area of interest. Otherwise feel free to be creative.)  Describe how you would extinguish that effect.  Describe a situation involving the return of that behavior.

1.  What stimulus (stimuli) in the situation caused the relapse?

2.  Why did the relapse occur according to Pavlov and to Bouton?

3.  How would each go about eliminating the relapse? What is the difference in their strategy?

4.  Which approach seems more useful to you?

If you can't think of a case, then go with a variation of the socially anxious child described on p. 979 of Bouton (2002).