The conditioned place preference paradigm is a standard behavioral model used to study the rewarding and aversive effects of drugs. The basic characteristics of this task involve the association of a particular environment with drug treatment, followed by the association of a different environment with the absence of the drug.

The apparatus consists of a three-compartment chamber designed to have different characteristics (e.g., white vs. black walls, different bedding, horizontal vs. vertical lines on the wall). The center compartment has no special characteristics and is not paired with a drug, and the gates between the compartments can be opened to allow an animal to pass freely between them.