[Dog]

Addictions, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder -- such painful and harmful problems are recalcitrant to treatment. In the clinic, a person may suppress the association between the stimulus and the response -- say, a bar with ashtrays and smoking -- by learning to pair the stimulus with a new memory not involving smoking. But once out in the world, faced with bars and ashtrays aplenty, he relapses into the old behavior. Some treatment aims at helping the patient avoid locations and stimuli that trigger the harmful behavior. A new article suggests this is not the most effective route.

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