External inhibition

External inhibition is the observed decrease of the response of a conditioned reaction when an external (distracting) stimulus that was not part of the original conditioned response set is introduced. This effect was first observed in Pavlov’s classical conditioning studies where the dogs would salivate less (conditioned response) when presented with the sound of the tuning fork (conditioned stimulus) in the distracting context of a passing truck (external stimulus). External inhibition is important for its main principle in classical conditioning where a conditioned response may decrease in magnitude after the external stimulus is introduced. This is especially advantageous for when trying to disassociate conditioned stimulus and responses. A practical example is where students who become anxious (conditioned response) upon standing in front of the class to give a presentation (conditioned stimulus) may feel less anxiety if their friends were sitting in front of the student presenting (external stimulus). The positive association of speaking to friends may distract the student from associating speaking to the entire class with anxiety.