Classical conditioning is a type of learning that had a major influence on the school of thought in

psychology known as behaviorism. Discovered by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, classical

conditioning is a learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental
stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus.1

Verywell / Joshua Seong

Classical Conditioning Basics

Although classical conditioning was not discovered by a psychologist at all, it had a tremendous
influence over the school of thought in psychology known as behaviorism.2

Behaviorism is based on the assumption that:

 All learning occurs through interactions with the environment

 The environment shapes behavior

Classical conditioning involves placing a neutral signal before a naturally occurring reflex. In
Pavlov's classic experiment with dogs, the neutral signal was the sound of a tone and the
naturally occurring reflex was salivating in response to food. By associating the neutral stimulus
with the environmental stimulus (food), the sound of the tone alone could produce the salivation
response.3

How Classical Conditioning Works

In order to understand how more about how classical conditioning works, it is important to
become familiar with the basic principles of the process. Classical conditioning involves forming
an association between two stimuli resulting in a learned response.4 There are three basic phases
of this process.

Phase 1: Before Conditioning

The first part of the classical conditioning process requires a naturally occurring stimulus that
will automatically elicit a response. Salivating in response to the smell of food is a good example
of a naturally occurring stimulus.

During this phase of the processes, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) results in an unconditioned
response (UCR).4 For example, presenting food (the UCS) naturally and automatically triggers a
salivation response (the UCR).

At this point, there is also a neutral stimulus that produces no effect—yet. It isn't until this
neutral stimulus is paired with the UCS that it will come to evoke a response.
Let's take a closer look at the two critical components of this phase of classical conditioning:

 The unconditioned stimulus is one that unconditionally, naturally, and automatically

triggers a response.4 For example, when you smell one of your favorite foods, you may
immediately feel very hungry. In this example, the smell of the food is the unconditioned
stimulus.
 The unconditioned response is the unlearned response that occurs naturally in response to
the unconditioned stimulus.4 In our example, the feeling of hunger in response to the
smell of food is the unconditioned response.

In the before conditioning phase, an unconditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned

response. A neutral stimulus is then introduced.

Phase 2: During Conditioning

During the second phase of the classical conditioning process, the previously neutral stimulus is
repeatedly paired with the unconditioned stimulus. As a result of this pairing, an association
between the previously neutral stimulus and the UCS is formed.

At this point, the once neutral stimulus becomes known as the conditioned stimulus (CS). The
subject has now been conditioned to respond to this stimulus. The conditioned stimulus is a
previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus,
eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response.4

In our earlier example, suppose that when you smelled your favorite food, you also heard the
sound of a whistle. While the whistle is unrelated to the smell of the food, if the sound of the
whistle was paired multiple times with the smell, the whistle sound would eventually trigger the
conditioned response. In this case, the sound of the whistle is the conditioned stimulus.

The during conditioning phase involves pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned
stimulus. Eventually, the neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus.

Phase 3: After Conditioning

Once the association has been made between the UCS and the CS, presenting the conditioned
stimulus alone will come to evoke a response even without the unconditioned stimulus. The
resulting response is known as the conditioned response (CR).4

The conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus. In our
example, the conditioned response would be feeling hungry when you heard the sound of the
whistle.

In the after conditioning phase, the conditioned stimulus alone triggers the conditioned
response.
Key Principles
Behaviorists have described a number of different phenomena associated with classical
conditioning. Some of these elements involve the initial establishment of the response while
others describe the disappearance of a response. These elements are important in understanding
the classical conditioning process.

Let's take a closer look at five key principles of classical conditioning.

Acquisition

Acquisition is the initial stage of learning when a response is first established and gradually
strengthened.5 During the acquisition phase of classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus is
repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

As you may recall, an unconditioned stimulus is something that naturally and automatically
triggers a response without any learning. After an association is made, the subject will begin to
emit a behavior in response to the previously neutral stimulus, which is now known as
a conditioned stimulus. It is at this point that we can say that the response has been acquired.

For example, imagine that you are conditioning a dog to salivate in response to the sound of a
bell. You repeatedly pair the presentation of food with the sound of the bell. You can say the
response has been acquired as soon as the dog begins to salivate in response to the bell tone.

Once the response has been established, you can gradually reinforce the salivation response to
make sure the behavior is well learned.

Acquisition in Classical Conditioning

Extinction

Extinction is when the occurrences of a conditioned response decrease or disappear. In classical

conditioning, this happens when a conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with an
unconditioned stimulus.6

For example, if the smell of food (the unconditioned stimulus) had been paired with the sound of
a whistle (the conditioned stimulus), it would eventually come to evoke the conditioned response
of hunger.

However, if the unconditioned stimulus (the smell of food) were no longer paired with the
conditioned stimulus (the whistle), eventually the conditioned response (hunger) would
disappear.

Extinction in Classical Conditioning

Spontaneous Recovery

Sometimes a learned response can suddenly reemerge even after a period of

extinction. Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of the conditioned response after a rest
period or period of lessened response.7

For example, imagine that after training a dog to salivate to the sound of a bell, you stop
reinforcing the behavior and the response eventually becomes extinct. After a rest period during
which the conditioned stimulus is not presented, you suddenly ring the bell and the animal
spontaneously recovers the previously learned response.

If the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are no longer associated, extinction will
occur very rapidly after a spontaneous recovery.

What Is Spontaneous Recovery?

Stimulus Generalization

Stimulus generalization is the tendency for the conditioned stimulus to evoke similar responses
after the response has been conditioned.8 For example, if a dog has been conditioned to salivate
at the sound of a bell, the animal may also exhibit the same response to stimuli that are similar to
the conditioned stimulus.

In John B. Watson's famous Little Albert Experiment, for example, a small child was
conditioned to fear a white rat. The child demonstrated stimulus generalization by also exhibiting
fear in response to other fuzzy white objects including stuffed toys and Watson's own hair.

How Stimulus Generalization Influences Learning

Stimulus Discrimination

Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli
that have not been paired with an unconditioned stimulus.9

For example, if a bell tone were the conditioned stimulus, discrimination would involve being
able to tell the difference between the bell tone and other similar sounds. Because the subject is
able to distinguish between these stimuli, they will only respond when the conditioned stimulus
is presented.

Understanding Stimulus Discrimination

Classical Conditioning Examples

It can be helpful to look at a few examples of how the classical conditioning process operates
both in experimental and real-world settings.
Fear Response

John B. Watson's experiment with Little Albert is a perfect example of the fear response.10 The
child initially showed no fear of a white rat, but after the rat was paired repeatedly with loud,
scary sounds, the child would cry when the rat was present. The child's fear also generalized to
other fuzzy white objects.

Prior to the conditioning, the white rat was a neutral stimulus. The unconditioned stimulus was
the loud, clanging sounds, and the unconditioned response was the fear response created by the
noise.

By repeatedly pairing the rat with the unconditioned stimulus, the white rat (now the conditioned
stimulus) came to evoke the fear response (now the conditioned response).

This experiment illustrates how phobias can form through classical conditioning. In many cases,
a single pairing of a neutral stimulus (a dog, for example) and a frightening experience (being
bitten by the dog) can lead to a lasting phobia (being afraid of dogs).

Taste Aversions

Another example of classical conditioning can be seen in the development of conditioned taste
aversions. Researchers John Garcia and Bob Koelling first noticed this phenomenon when they
observed how rats that had been exposed to a nausea-causing radiation developed an aversion to
flavored water after the radiation and the water were presented together.11

In this example, the radiation represents the unconditioned stimulus and the nausea represents the
unconditioned response. After the pairing of the two, the flavored water is the conditioned
stimulus, while the nausea that formed when exposed to the water alone is the conditioned
response.

Later research demonstrated that such classically conditioned aversions could be produced
through a single pairing of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.