Definition
noun
A form of conditioning or associative learning first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov (a physiologist, psychologist, and physician) in which a neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus when paired a number of times will in time cause the neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus that elicit a behavioural (often reflexive) response to it, whether it is paired or unpaired with the unconditioned stimulus.
Supplement
In Pavlov’s experiment he demonstrated that using a bell sound (neutral stimulus) to call the dog for its food (unconditioned stimulus) for a couple of times will cause the dog to salivate every time he calls the dog using that bell sound (conditioned stimulus), with or without food (unconditioned stimulus).
Synonyms:
- Pavlovian conditioning
- classical conditioning
