conditioning

[kuhn-dish-uh-ning]

noun

Psychology.

1. Also called operant conditioning, instrumental conditioning. a process of changing behavior by rewarding or punishing a subject each time an action is performed until the subject associates the action with pleasure or distress.

2. Also called classical conditioning, Pavlovian conditioning, respondent conditioning. a process in which a stimulus that was previously neutral, as the sound of a bell, comes to evoke a particular response, as salivation, by being repeatedly paired with another stimulus that normally evokes the response, as the taste of food.

conditioning

1. See classical conditioning

Other Word Forms

• self-conditioning adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of conditioning¹

First recorded in 1915–20; condition + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

“It will get better every game,” James said Tuesday of his conditioning.

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It didn’t have central air conditioning, and it was heated by an old-fashioned boiler.

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Residents were told to shut windows and doors, keep pets inside and turn off air conditioning due to air quality concerns.

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Postdoctoral researcher Dr. Mojtaba Zabihi, the study's first author, explains that room configurations and existing heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems can differ widely.

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One woman passed out flyers for a furnished studio in downtown L.A. with air conditioning, a Murphy bed, an in-unit washer and dryer and streaming TV.

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Related Words

• assignment 
• discipline 
• drilling 
• homework 
• preparation 
• repetition 
• training 
• tryout 
• workout