| Term | Definition |
|---|
| learning | a relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to experience. |
| associative learning | learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning). |
| classical conditioning | a type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli. A neutral stimulus that signals an unconditioned stimulus (US) begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for the unconditioned stimulus. Also called Pavlovian or respondent conditioning. |
| behaviorism | the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2). |
| unconditioned response | in classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US), such as salivation when food is in the mouth. |
| unconditioned stimulus | in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers a response. |
| conditioned response | in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS). |
| conditioned stimulus | in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response. |
| acquisition | the initial stage in classical conditioning; the phase associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus comes to elicit a conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response. |
| extinction | the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced. |
| spontaneous recovery | the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response. |
| generalization | the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses. |
| discrimination | in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus. |
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