What is classical conditioning?

What is classical conditioning?

• A. It's when the MWD learns emotional and reflexive responses through the formation of mental associations between environmental stimuli. (Not under the MWD's voluntary control).
• B. It's the strengthening of behavior through reinforcement.
• C. It's learning by observing others.
• D. It's extinction of a response.

Answer: (D)

Classical conditioning is learning that happens when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a stimulus that naturally triggers a reflex. After repeated pairings, the neutral stimulus alone can evoke that reflex. This involves emotional and reflexive responses that are not under voluntary control, built from forming mental associations between environmental stimuli and automatic reactions. Extinction is a real aspect of this process: it occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus, causing the conditioned response to gradually fade. So, the defining idea is forming associations that produce reflexive responses; reinforcement and observation describe other types of learning, and extinction is the fading of the learned response within this framework.

Classical conditioning is learning that happens when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a stimulus that naturally triggers a reflex. After repeated pairings, the neutral stimulus alone can evoke that reflex. This involves emotional and reflexive responses that are not under voluntary control, built from forming mental associations between environmental stimuli and automatic reactions. Extinction is a real aspect of this process: it occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus, causing the conditioned response to gradually fade. So, the defining idea is forming associations that produce reflexive responses; reinforcement and observation describe other types of learning, and extinction is the fading of the learned response within this framework.