> No one has really addressed my question as to why any classically conditioned > stimulus could not be viewed as a placebo (or nocebo).
I think no one has answered this because it is essentially correct. Classical conditioning is a likely mechanism for the placebo effect. Robert Ader gave a talk at the Pavlovian Society Meeting a couple of years back showing that the immune system in rats could be classically conditioned to respond to a CS via pairings with an immuno-suppressent drug. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12615187 In humans, there are other plausible mechanisms involving cognitive expectations, but those certainly wouldn't rule out a role for classical conditioning. So - I think the answer is "yes". Placebo's work because a taking a little pill is so often associated with effective drugs. The more pills we take, the larger the placebo effect will become. Perhaps we are already seeing evidence of this. Mike ------- Michael A Burman Ph.D. Assistant Professor Dept. of Psychology 328 Decary Hall University of New England 11 Hills Beach Rd Biddeford ME 04005 207-602-2301 mbur...@une.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=7646 or send a blank email to leave-7646-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
