Definition: An early form of behaviorism, pioneered by Ivan Pavlov, that pairs a neutral stimulus with a stimulus that causes a response. Over time, the neutral stimulus will begin to cause the response.
Pavlov demonstrated this technique using dogs. The dogs instinctively salivated when meat was presented. Every time the meat was presented, Pavlov rang a bell. Eventually, the dogs learned to associate the bell with the meat. When the bell was rung, the dogs would salivate, even when no meat was present.
Other researchers expanded Pavlov’s work to include human conditioning. While the principles are still considered scientifically accurate and used in some situations, pure classical conditioning is rarely used in clinical work today.
