reciprocal inhibition

n. 1. In behavior therapy, a technique for getting rid of an unwanted behavior by substituting a different and physiologically incompatible response for the original behavior. Thus anxious individuals are often taught to relax in situations in which they habitually feel anxious, and since relaxation and anxiety are incompatible, the anxiety tends to diminish or disappear as the relaxation response is learned. 2. In neuroscience, a mechanism in which one reaction tends to inhibit other reactions. Thus in the retina if one receptor cell depolarizes after stimulation by light, it inhibits the receptors around it from also depolarizing. 3. In cognitive science, the interference of one idea or memory in recollection or recognition of a similar idea or memory. 4. In biology, a neural mechanism which restrains opposing muscle groups from contracting at the same time.