Due to a person’s learning history different stimuli may function as conditioned punishers. There is a stimulus-stimulus pairing procedure that has to occur for this to exist. What may be punishing for one person might actually be reinforcing for another. A conditioned punisher is one that reduces a behavior when it is applied as a consequence but has to be learned to do so (think about when you first told your dog NO!” for peeing on the rug- it meant nothing to him. After repeated “No!’s paired with other punishers like a gentle nose swat or being sent outside
Synonyms:
the "No!" starts to act as a punishing consequence on its own. </p>"
