Vanessa Smith
Introduction to Psychology: Chapter 5
Monday March 3rd,2025
Classical Conditioning:
Learning: a relatively permanent change in behavior that is brought about by experience
The Basics of Classical Conditioning
Pavlov
A type of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to bring about a response after it is
paired with a stimulus that naturally brings about that response
Terms:
Neutral stimulus: a stimulus that, before conditioning, does not naturally bring about the
response of interest.
Condition response (CR): a responses that after conditioning, follows a previously neutral
stimulus (e.g., salivation at the ringing of a bell).
Stimulus generalization: a process in which after a stimulus has been conditioned to
produce a particular response, stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus produce the
same response.
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): a stimulus that naturally brings about a particular response
without having been learned.
Extinction: a basic phenomenon of learning that occurs when a previously conditioned
response decreases in frequency and eventually disappears.
Stimulus discrimination: The process that occurs if two stimuli are sufficiently distance
from one another that one evokes a conditioned response, but the other does not, the ability to
differentiate between stimuli.
Conditioned stimulus (CS): A once-neutral stimulus that has been paired with an
unconditioned stimulus to bring about a response formerly caused only by the unconditioned
stimulus.
Spontaneous recovery: the reemergence of an extinguished conditioned response after a
period of rest and with no conditioning.
Operant Conditioning:
Learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened, depending on the
response’s favorable or unfavorable consequences.
Terms:
Reinforcement: The process by which a stimulus increases the probability that a preceding
behavior will be repeated.
Reinforcer: Any stimulus that increases the probability that a preceding behavior will occur
again.
Positive Reinforcer: A stimulus added to the environment that brings about an increase in a
preceding response.
Introduction to Psychology: Chapter 5
Monday March 3rd,2025
Classical Conditioning:
Learning: a relatively permanent change in behavior that is brought about by experience
The Basics of Classical Conditioning
Pavlov
A type of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to bring about a response after it is
paired with a stimulus that naturally brings about that response
Terms:
Neutral stimulus: a stimulus that, before conditioning, does not naturally bring about the
response of interest.
Condition response (CR): a responses that after conditioning, follows a previously neutral
stimulus (e.g., salivation at the ringing of a bell).
Stimulus generalization: a process in which after a stimulus has been conditioned to
produce a particular response, stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus produce the
same response.
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): a stimulus that naturally brings about a particular response
without having been learned.
Extinction: a basic phenomenon of learning that occurs when a previously conditioned
response decreases in frequency and eventually disappears.
Stimulus discrimination: The process that occurs if two stimuli are sufficiently distance
from one another that one evokes a conditioned response, but the other does not, the ability to
differentiate between stimuli.
Conditioned stimulus (CS): A once-neutral stimulus that has been paired with an
unconditioned stimulus to bring about a response formerly caused only by the unconditioned
stimulus.
Spontaneous recovery: the reemergence of an extinguished conditioned response after a
period of rest and with no conditioning.
Operant Conditioning:
Learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened, depending on the
response’s favorable or unfavorable consequences.
Terms:
Reinforcement: The process by which a stimulus increases the probability that a preceding
behavior will be repeated.
Reinforcer: Any stimulus that increases the probability that a preceding behavior will occur
again.
Positive Reinforcer: A stimulus added to the environment that brings about an increase in a
preceding response.
