conflict procedure conflict procedure the conflict procedure is an experiment often used in scientific research to quantify anxiety levels by measuring changes in punished/unpunished responses. it is often used to screen drugs for their potential to inhibit anxiety (anxiolytic potential). animal testing main articles animal testing alternatives to animal testing animal testing regulations history of animal testing history of model organisms iacuc laboratory animal sources pain and suffering in laboratory animals testing cosmetics on animals toxicology testing vivisection testing on invertebrates frogs primates rabbits rodents issues medical research animal rights · animal welfare animals (scientific procedures) great ape research ban international primate trade cases brown dog affair cambridge university primates pit of despair silver spring monkeys ucr 1985 laboratory raid unnecessary fuss companies jackson laboratory charles river laboratories covance · harlan huntingdon life sciences uk lab animal suppliers nafovanny · shamrock farm groups/campaigns aalas · aaas · alf americans for medical progress boyd group · cruelty free international dr. hadwen trust foundation for biomedical research frame national anti-vivisection society new england anti-vivisection society peta · physicians committee for responsible medicine primate freedom project pro-test speak campaign · shac speaking of research understanding animal research writers/activists tipu aziz michael balls neal d. barnard colin blakemore simon festing gill langley ingrid newkirk bernard rollin jerry vlasak syed ziaur rahman categories animal testing animal rights animal welfare study some researchers from france have conducted an experiment on "effects of chronic antidepressants in an operant conflict procedure of anxiety in the rat (1998)", "the aim of their study was to reveal possible anxiolytic like effects of antidepressants during ongoing treatment. rats were subjected to a conflict procedure during which lever pressing for food was suppressed by a conditioned signal for punishment and contingent electric foot shocks." in the preparatory phase of the experiment, researchers increased anxiety using electrical shocks on rats gradually over a several week long training process. they then administered the chosen drug and observed how it altered the responses of the rats. other studies have used conflict procedures to test a variety of drugs, and some have reported that depressants cause an increase in punished responses, while anxiolytic drugs decrease the level of punished responding.