conditioned stimulus
Quick Summary
In psychology, a conditioned stimulus (CS) is a neutral stimulus that, after being repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to elicit a conditioned response (CR). This process is known as classical conditioning, pioneered by Ivan Pavlov.12
Initially, the CS does not trigger the response of interest. However, when it is consistently presented just before the US (which naturally elicits an unconditioned response, UR), the organism learns to associate the two. Eventually, the CS alone can trigger a response similar to the UR, which is then called the CR. For example, a bell (CS) paired with food (US) can lead to salivation (CR) in response to the bell alone.12
Ask Britannica AI about this topic
Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.
conditioning…bell is known as the conditioned (or sometimes conditional) stimulus, abbreviated as CS. The dog’s salivation upon hearing this sound is the conditioned response (CR). The strength of conditioning is measured in terms of the number of drops of saliva the dog secretes during test trials in which food powder…
Read More…bell is known as the conditioned (or sometimes conditional) stimulus, abbreviated as CS. The dog’s salivation upon hearing this sound is the conditioned response (CR). The strength of conditioning is measured in terms of the number of drops of saliva the dog secretes during test trials in which food powder…
Read More- animal learningClassical and instrumental conditioning
…of the metronome is a conditional stimulus, because its ability to elicit salivation (now a conditional response when it occurs in reaction to the conditional stimulus alone) is conditional on a particular set of experiences. The elicitation of the conditional response by the conditional stimulus is termed a conditional reflex,…
Read More…of the metronome is a conditional stimulus, because its ability to elicit salivation (now a conditional response when it occurs in reaction to the conditional stimulus alone) is conditional on a particular set of experiences. The elicitation of the conditional response by the conditional stimulus is termed a conditional reflex,…
Read More