Which learning method involves conditioning new stimuli to existing responses?

Which learning method involves conditioning new stimuli to existing responses?

• A. Reinforcement
• B. Classical Conditioning
• C. Shaping
• D. Extinction

Answer: (B)

Classical conditioning is about learning to associate a new stimulus with a response that is already produced by another stimulus. Through repeated pairings, the new stimulus comes to evoke the same response on its own. This is the classic idea behind Pavlovian learning: a neutral cue becomes capable of triggering a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally elicits that response. The other options describe different processes: reinforcement strengthens a behavior after it occurs, shaping builds a desired behavior by reinforcing closer and closer approximations, and extinction is the reduction of a response when reinforcement stops. So, conditioning a new stimulus to an existing response fits classical conditioning.

Classical conditioning is about learning to associate a new stimulus with a response that is already produced by another stimulus. Through repeated pairings, the new stimulus comes to evoke the same response on its own. This is the classic idea behind Pavlovian learning: a neutral cue becomes capable of triggering a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally elicits that response. The other options describe different processes: reinforcement strengthens a behavior after it occurs, shaping builds a desired behavior by reinforcing closer and closer approximations, and extinction is the reduction of a response when reinforcement stops. So, conditioning a new stimulus to an existing response fits classical conditioning.