Classical Conditioning: Definition, Examples, & Theory

By Jillian Weeks, Ph.D
​Reviewed by Tchiki Davis, M.A., Ph.D.

Classical conditioning forms the basis of many learned behaviors in humans and animals. Learn about classical conditioning and its impact on behavior here. 

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I work from home most of the time, which means that I get to spend the day with our sweet dog Addie while my partner goes to the office. Despite all of the quality time we spend together, my partner is Addie’s favorite, so she’s understandably ecstatic to see him whenever he returns home from work. But the joy doesn’t just start when he opens the front door. Once daylight starts to wane and it gets closer to 6:30 PM, Addie is alert and ready to play. If she hears the front gate to our apartment creak open, she’s waiting by the door, tail wagging at full speed as if he’s already there. ​

To anyone who’s ever owned a dog, this probably doesn’t sound unusual. But what’s happening here is a great illustration of a much deeper psychological phenomenon: classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a learning process that forms the basis of many physical and emotional responses. Understanding the fundamentals of classical conditioning can offer new insights into our own behaviors as well as those of other people and animals. It’s a simple phenomenon with complex and wide-reaching implications. 

​In this article, we’ll outline what exactly classical conditioning is, the history, seminal experiments in the study of classical conditioning, and how it plays out in everyday behaviors.

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What Is Classical Conditioning? (A Definition)

To begin, let’s break down the definition of classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a form of learning originally studied and conceptualized by Ivan Pavlov (more on his work later) in the late 19th century. In this process, an unconditioned stimulus, an inherently salient stimulus that elicits an automatic behavior, and a previously neutral stimulus are repeatedly paired together in a subject’s experience. Over time, the subject is then conditioned to produce the same automatic behavior, the conditioned response, upon experiencing the previously neutral stimulus. 

A popular introductory psychology textbook broke it down like this: 

​“​​The essential operation in conditioning is a pairing of two stimuli. One, initially neutral in that it elicits no response, is called the conditioned stimulus (CS); the other, which is one that consistently elicits a response, is called the unconditioned stimulus (US). The response elicited by the unconditioned stimulus is the unconditioned response (UR). As a result of the pairing of the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (US), the previously neutral conditioned stimulus comes to elicit the response. Then it is called the conditioned response (CR).” - (Morgan & King, 1966)

In the case of my dog, the emotionally salient stimulus is my partner, whose arrival has been repeatedly paired with the neutral stimuli of evening light and the sound of the apartment gate opening. Because of this pairing and the resulting association, these previously neutral sights and sounds now elicit the same response as actually seeing my partner (excitement) even if he doesn’t actually appear. 
​
Broken down into formal terms: 

• Unconditioned stimulus (US) - Appearance of dad
• Unconditioned response (UR) - Excitement, tail wags
• Conditioned stimulus (CS) - Evening light, sound of front gate 
• Conditioned response (CR) - Excitement, tail wags

​Another important point to note is that the temporal proximity of the two stimuli is critical to forming the conditioned association. The conditioned stimulus effectively serves to predict the unconditioned stimulus—each time dad comes home, the sound immediately precedes his appearance. If the two events weren’t so close in time, the relationship likely wouldn’t form (Rescorla, 1988).

Classical Conditioning & Ivan Pavlov

Much of our initial understanding of classical conditioning came from the work of Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist of the late 19th and early 20th century. Even if you’ve never taken a psychology course, you’ve likely heard of Pavlov and his dogs. They’re an omnipresent cultural reference, from plotlines in cartoons to Rolling Stones lyrics. But how did they teach us about classical conditioning? 

Pavlov’s discovery of classical conditioning was actually discovered not through a study of learning, but through an experiment studying the physiological process of salivation in dogs (Mallea et al., 2019). After years of studying the production of gastric juices in dogs presented with food, Pavlov observed that their salivation started to occur before even seeing the food—the response came as soon as the dogs heard the footsteps of the experimenter who came to feed them. To a naive dog, the footsteps are essentially meaningless, generating no response. But after they reliably signaled the arrival of food, the dogs produced the same response (salivation) to the sound of footsteps as they had to the food itself. 

After witnessing this, Pavlov began to more deeply explore what he deemed “psychic secretions” caused by stimuli other than direct exposure to food and how they can be refined and changed. For example, Pavlov would set a metronome at a particular speed each time he fed a dog; from then on, hearing a metronome at any speed would elicit a response in the dog. However, if multiple speeds were presented but the food appeared only with one speed, the dog’s response would become more discerning—it could discriminate between meaningful vs. neutral stimuli (Specter, 2014). This was just the beginning of research seeking to understand the boundaries and possibilities of classical conditioning. 

Check out this video for a re-enactment of Pavlov’s discovery: 

Video: Pavlov’s Dogs

Classical Conditioning vs. Operant Conditioning

Classical conditioning can be contrasted with operant conditioning, another fundamental learning process. While the process of classical conditioning forms an association between an involuntary response (like salivation) and a stimulus, operant conditioning forms an association between a voluntary response and an outcome. Classical conditioning is passive on part of the learner and involves no incentives, while operant conditioning relies on the learner to actively perform a behavior (Silverman et al., 2016). 

Let’s bring my dog Addie back for an example. Addie has learned that if she sits down by the door after a walk so we can wipe off her paws, she will get a treat. She now does this action voluntarily after almost every walk because she knows it will result in a reward. However, when she doesn’t sit, she doesn’t receive a treat. 
​
However, operant conditioning isn’t just the association between an action and a reward. The outcome associated with the behavior can be positive or negative, a reward or a punishment. For example, operant conditioning can be vital in learning lessons of safety. If a child touches a hot stove, they will immediately form a lasting association between that action and the resulting painful burn, which will prevent them from repeating that action in the future. 
​
The outcome can also be the removal of an unpleasant stimulus. A good example here is the annoying beeping that many cars produce when a passenger hasn’t put on their seatbelt. Once the passenger puts on the seatbelt (behavior), the beeping stops (outcome). In the future, knowing this (in addition to the important safety benefits of seatbelts) will lead the individual to wear their seatbelt right away to avoid the beeping. 

While a further breakdown of operant conditioning research is beyond the scope of this article, understanding this process can be both interesting and helpful for understanding behavior. Both classical and operant conditioning can be leveraged in behavioral change and learning, but the parameters of each differ.

Classical Conditioning Examples in Everyday Life

We’ve explored a number of examples of classical conditioning in dogs, but it’s easy to find examples in your everyday life. Here are some scenarios where classical conditioning impacts human behavior: 

• When he’s watching TV, Ibrahim has started using commercial breaks to head to the kitchen for a snack. Now, even if he’s not really hungry, seeing commercials between parts of his favorite shows makes him think about having a snack. 
• Marisol has been a smoker for 10 years, nearly always having a cigarette when she gets home from work. She’s now working hard to quit smoking, but it’s challenging to break that habit—every day when she arrives home from work, she really craves a cigarette.
• One night, Sam is driving to his friend’s house and gets into a car accident at a major intersection. He’s ultimately okay, but very shaken up. Now, whenever he sees that intersection or tries to drive his car, his heart races and his palms get sweaty. 

Perhaps you can think of some examples of classical conditioning in your own life.

Classical Conditioning & John Watson

Another influential classical conditioning researcher was the American psychologist John Watson, who worked at Johns Hopkins University conducting studies on infant development in the early 20th century. Watson established the psychological school of Behaviorism, which posits that nearly all behavior is a product of environmental influence rather than innate or inherited factors and that the mind is, initially, a blank slate (Watson, 1913). His most notable project exploring this theory in infant development was known as the Little Albert experiment.

Classical conditioning experiment: Little Albert
“Little Albert” was an average, healthy baby studied in Watson’s lab from the age of 8 months. In 1919, Watson sought to determine if a fear response could be conditioned to previously neutral stimuli. He began by observing Albert’s baseline responses to a number of stimuli: a marble, a fire, a dog, a monkey, and (most importantly) a white laboratory rat. While he was curious, none elicited fear. 

When Albert was 11 months old, Watson began pairing the appearance of the white lab rat with a loud clanging sound, which startled Albert. After only 7 pairings, the previously innocuous rat now produced a fearful reaction in the baby. Additionally, this response appeared to generalize: Albert showed a similar, but less intense, fear response to a dog, a rabbit, a fur coat, and even a Santa Claus mask. To Little Albert, “white and furry” was now associated with the loud and frightening sound (Beck et al., 2009). 
​
Unfortunately, Albert and his mother lost contact with the lab after the final session, and his identity is lost to history. The Little Albert experiment raised pertinent ethical questions about this type of psychological manipulation, as there was no way to determine if this conditioning produced a lasting distress associated with these stimuli. 
​
This video offers an interesting overview of the experiment: 

Video: Classical Conditioning, Pavlov, and the Little Albert Experiment

Classical Conditioning for Phobias & Fear

As demonstrated by the Little Albert experiment, classical conditioning processes can form the basis of many fears. In fact, fear conditioning experiments are a fundamental paradigm used to study the neural basis of learning and memory. Many experiments will pair neutral stimuli such as lights, sounds, or even smells with an electric shock or a startling noise, observe humans’ or animals’ conditioned responses, and then manipulate that conditioning. 
​
For humans, a single emotionally salient experience or even an observation can condition a persistent and irrational fear of a specific situation or object, known as a phobia. For example, if someone experiences extreme weather while flying in a plane and is frightened by the feeling of turbulence, they may develop a lasting fear of flying, thinking of that scary experience any time they’re on a plane. For many people, phobias can be extremely distressing and interfere with normal activities. ​

Classical Conditioning: Extinction

Fortunately, conditioned associations don’t necessarily last forever. The conditioned stimulus and response can lose their association through a process called extinction. After repeated exposure to the conditioned stimulus in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned stimulus will no longer elicit a response. Importantly, research has suggested that extinction is a form of new learning rather than an “unlearning” or forgetting process (Myers & Davis, 2007). 

This process can be leveraged to help individuals overcome fears in a therapeutic setting. For example, one study used exposure to a virtual reality flying simulator or an actual plane to help patients overcome a fear of flying. After 8 sessions of exposure to a plane or simulator without distressing or dangerous occurrences, subjects rated their willingness to fly and anxiety during a posttreatment commercial flight. Exposure to both real and simulated planes significantly increased willingness to fly and decreased flight anxiety, and these effects persisted at a 6-month follow-up (Rothbaum et al., 2000). 

Articles Related to Classical Conditioning

​Want to learn more? Check out these articles:

• Behavioral Psychology: Definition, Theories, & Examples
• Habituation: Definition, Examples, & Why It Occurs
• 8 Types of Learners: Definitions, Examples, and Learning Strategies​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Books Related to Classical Conditioning

If you’d like to keep learning more, here are a few books that you might be interested in.

• The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Operant and Classical Conditioning
• Classical Conditioning in Theory
• The Essentials of Conditioning and Learning

Final Thoughts on Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is much more than an experimentally observable psychological phenomenon—it forms the basis of many of our behaviors and attitudes. It can help to explain the development of behaviors that may harm your physical and mental health, but understanding classical conditioning can also be leveraged to improve your habits. Importantly, research on classical conditioning also shows that while these learned associations are potent, behavior can change, which is a valuable lesson to anyone looking to make a shift in their life. ​

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References

• Beck, H. P., Levinson, S., Irons, G. (2009)."Finding Little Albert: A journey to John B. Watson's infant laboratory. American Psychologist, 64 (7): 605–614.
• Mallea, J., Bustamante, J., Miguez, G., Laborda, M.A. (2019). Classical Conditioning. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham.
• Morgan, C. T., & King, R. A. (1966). Introduction to psychology (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
• Myers, K., Davis, M. (2007). Mechanisms of fear extinction. Mol Psychiatry 12, 120–150.
• Rescorla, R. A. (1988). Pavlovian conditioning: It's not what you think it is. American Psychologist, 43(3), 151–160.
• Rothbaum, B. O., Hodges, L., Smith, S., Lee, J. H., & Price, L. (2000). A controlled study of virtual reality exposure therapy for the fear of flying. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 68(6), 1020–1026.
• Silverman, K., Jarvis, B. P., Jessel, J., & Lopez, A. A. (2016). Incentives and motivation. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 2(2), 97–100.
• Specter, M. (2014, November 24). Drool. The New Yorker. 
• Watson, J. B. (1913). Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological Review, 20, 158-178.

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