Classical Conditioning

Synonyms

Conditioned reflexes; Pavlovian conditioning; Respondent conditioning

Definition

Classical conditioning is the process by which a neutral stimulus, via repeated pairings with an unconditioned stimulus, becomes a conditioned stimulus (i.e., elicits a conditioned response). In the original, Nobel Prize winning, laboratory experiments conducted by Ivan Pavlov (1902), dogs were conditioned to salivate in response to a bell by the repetitive pairings of the bell with the presentation of food. Thus, a previously neutral stimulus (i.e., the bell) becomes associated with the previously unconditioned stimulus (i.e., the food) and elicits a conditioned response (i.e., salivation). If the newly conditioned stimulus is presented enough times without the unconditioned stimulus, a process called extinction occurs in which the conditioned stimulus will no longer elicit the conditioned response.

Introduction

The process of classical conditioning rests on the occurrence of an innate...