Emergent condition Health Dictionary

The formation of a specific response to a specific stimulus.

In classical conditioning, a stimulus that consistently evokes a particular response is paired repeatedly with a second stimulus that would not normally produce the response.

Eventually, the second stimulus begins to produce the response whether the first stimulus is present or not.

In operant conditioning, attempts to modify behaviour are made through a system of rewards and/or punishments.

The theory that inappropriate behaviour patterns in some psychological disorders are learned through conditioning and can be modified by the same process underlies behavioural psychology (see behaviour therapy).... conditioning

A medical condition for which hospitalization could have been avoided if ambulatory care had been provided in a timely and efficient manner.... avoidable hospital condition / admission

A disease which has one or more of the following characteristics: is permanent; leaves residual disability; is caused by non­reversible pathological alternation; requires special training of the patient for rehabilitation; or may be expected to require a long period of supervision, observation or care.... chronic condition / disease

A diagnosis (e.g. myocardial infarct) or a patient state that may be associated with more than one diagnosis (such as paraplegia) or that may be as yet undiagnosed (such as low back pain).... clinical condition

Conditions that exist at the same time as the primary condition in the same patient (e.g. hypertension is a co-morbidity of many conditions, such as diabetes, ischemic heart disease, end-stage renal disease, etc.). Two or more conditions may interact in such a way as to prolong a stay in hospital or hinder successful rehabilitation.... co-morbid condition

The development of a speci?c response by an individual to a speci?c stimulus. The best-known conditioned re?ex is the one described by Ivan Pavlov, in which dogs that became accustomed to being fed when a bell was sounded salivated on hearing the bell, even if no food was given. The conditioned re?ex is an important part of behavioural theory.... conditioned reflex

A term normally used for a condition developed prior to applying for a health insurance policy. Some policies exclude coverage of such conditions for a period of time or indefinitely.... pre-existing condition

A condition requiring medical attention within a few hours; a longer delay presents possible danger to the individual; and the disorder is acute but not necessarily severe.... urgent condition

A system that controls the purity, humidity, and temperature of the air in a building. Contaminated air-conditioning systems may cause legionnaires’ disease and humidifier fever (a lung disease causing coughing and breathing difficulty).... air conditioning

a reflex in which the response occurs not to the sensory stimulus that normally causes it but to a separate stimulus, which has been learnt to be associated with it. In Pavlov’s classic experiments, dogs learned to associate the sound of a bell with feeding time and would salivate at the bell’s sound whether food was then presented to them or not.... conditioned reflex