Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 17, 2026

Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Training in Rats
Published on: February 4, 2016
Redefining Pavlovian conditioning
1Department of Psychology, UCLA, 502 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
None:
Pavlovian conditioning is typically defined as a form of learning in which a neutral stimulus, through repeated pairing with an unconditional stimulus (US) that elicits an unconditional response (UR), comes to evoke a conditional response (CR) that is related to the UR. I argue that each substantive element of this common definition is empirically and conceptually flawed and that it obscures conditioning's central role in everyday adaptive behavior. I develop an alternative framework in which Pavlovian conditioning is the process by which organisms learn to recognize biologically significant objects (e.g., foods, mates, predators, toxins) and generate phylogenetically appropriate responses via functional behavior systems organized along imminence continua. Within this view, CSs and USs are features of objects, with the difference that a US serves to tag the object as belonging to a specific behavior system. CRs consist of behavior system mode-specific behaviors and broad changes in reactivity (Pavlovian sensitization). This reconceptualization provides new definitions of CS, US, CR, and UR and situates Pavlovian conditioning as a pervasive mechanism for immediate adaptive action rather than a narrow laboratory phenomenon.
Related Concept Videos
Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov observed that dogs salivated...
Principles of Classical Conditioning
During the...
Behaviorism
The core premise of behaviorism is its focus on observable behavior rather than internal thoughts or feelings. This approach argues that true scientific...
Real-World Application of Classical Conditioning
Higher-order, or second-order, conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an already established conditioned stimulus through repeated pairings. For instance, if a dog has been...
Associative Learning
Classical conditioning, also known...
Classical Conditioning in Daily Life
John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner famously demonstrated the development of fear through classical conditioning in their experiment with Little Albert. They paired the...

