Psychologists have developed a variety of behavior modification techniques to help people stop smoking. In the rapid smoking technique, smokers in a clinic or lab are asked to smoke continually, puffing every six to eight seconds, until they can’t tolerate it any longer. This technique is an example of a form of classical conditioning called aversive conditioning. Making smoking a painful (or aversive) rather than a pleasant experience can create a conditioned aversion in the smoker, motivating her to avoid smoking even when she leaves the clinic. Smoking cessation programs also commonly teach people techniques of stimulus control, in which smokers learn first to become aware of the stimuli and situations that commonly lead to smoking, and then to avoid these situations or to develop an alternative behaviors. If you find, for example, that you usually smoke while drinking an after-dinner cup of coffee, you might do well to give up coffee and take an invigorating, smokeless after-dinner walk instead.