Blogger Mark Frauenfelder recently provided the following example of how classical conditioning might create problems for people who urinate while showering:
“Pelvic floor therapist Dr. Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas, who has a doctorate in physical therapy, says peeing in the shower is a bad idea, even though a recent survey revealed that 76% percent of people like to do it.

“Your bladder relies on signals it gets both from the stretch of the bladder walls as it fills, as well as signals from the brain which let it know when to contract to urinate,” she told Buzzfeed. “We want to avoid training our bladder to associate certain signals with the urge to pee. In this case, peeing in the shower associates the sound of running water with urination or with submersion in water. This can often transition into being triggered by other sounds of running water (like when you’re running the faucet to wash your hands or the dishes) or when you’re in bodies of water.”