Classical Conditioning Vocabulary

Flashcards on Classical Conditioning

Habituation

A simple form of learning where the response to a stimulus weakens with repeated presentation.

Associative Learning

Learning where something is associated with something else, such as in classical or operant conditioning.

Ivan Pavlov

A Russian physiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1904 for his work on the digestive system, which led to the discovery of classical conditioning.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that involuntarily elicits an unconditioned response.

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

An innate or unlearned behavior in response to an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A stimulus that initially does not elicit the unconditioned response, but, when paired with the unconditioned stimulus, overtime elicits a conditioned response.

Conditioned Response (CR)

A learned response to a conditioned stimulus, occurring because the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus were paired together.

Phobia

An excessive and irrational fear of an object, place, or situation, often classically conditioned.

Reinforcement

The pairing of the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned stimulus.

Acquisition

The initial stage of learning in which the conditioned response is developed through pairings of the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli.

Extinction

The reduction and eventual disappearance of the conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous Recovery

The reappearance of a conditioned response after extinction has occurred, showing that the original learning was not permanently erased.

Generalization

The tendency, after classical conditioning, for similar stimuli to elicit the conditioned response.

Discrimination

The ability to differentiate between the conditioned stimulus and other similar stimuli, responding only to the specific conditioned stimulus.