True or false? A neutral stimulus can become a conditioned stimulus, following classical conditioning.

New Mexico Highlands University

A neutral stimulus (NS) is a stimulus that does not naturally elicit the target response before conditioning begins. This is because the organism has no prior learned association with the stimulus that would trigger that specific reaction. For instance, before Pavlov's experiment, the sound of a tone was a neutral stimulus to the dogs, as it did not cause them to salivate.

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

Which of the following would be considered a neutral stimulus for a dog?


A conditioned stimulus (CS) is a previously neutral stimulus that, after being repeatedly associated with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response. For example, in Pavlov's experiments, the tone was initially a neutral stimulus, but after being paired with meat powder over and over again, it became a conditioned stimulus that caused the dogs to salivate.

Learn Before

Related

Learn After