classical conditioning

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noun

Nearby words

classical, classical antiquity, classical armenian, classical chinese, classical college, classical conditioning, classical economics, classical greek, classical latin, classical mechanics, classical music

Origin of classical conditioning

First recorded in 1945–50

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British Dictionary definitions for classical conditioning

classical conditioning

noun

psychol the alteration in responding that occurs when two stimuli are regularly paired in close succession: the response originally given to the second stimulus comes to be given to the firstSee also conditioned response

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Science definitions for classical conditioning

classical conditioning

[ klăs′ĭ-kəl ]

A process of behavior modification in which a subject learns to respond in a desired manner such that a neutral stimulus (the conditioned stimulus) is repeatedly presented in association with a stimulus (the unconditioned stimulus) that elicits a natural response (the unconditioned response) until the neutral stimulus alone elicits the same response (now called the conditioned response). For example, in Pavlov's experiments, food is the unconditioned stimulus that produces salivation, a reflex or unconditioned response. The bell is the conditioned stimulus, which eventually produces salivation in the absence of food. This salivation is the conditioned response.