Field Guide · Glossary
Classical conditioning
Learning scienceLearning in which something neutral comes to produce a reaction because it reliably predicts something that already produces one.
How it works
It works by pairing, not by consequence. The dog does not have to do anything for it to happen: a sound, a sight or a place is followed by something meaningful often enough that the dog starts reacting to the predictor itself. Ivan Pavlov described it with dogs salivating to a signal that had come to predict food. The same process gives a marker word its meaning, makes a leash exciting and a parking lot worrying, and builds most of the feelings a dog has about ordinary objects. It runs constantly in the background whether or not anyone intends it, and it shapes emotion more than action.
What it looks like
Every time the treat cabinet opens, the dog gets something. Within a week the click of that cabinet door brings the dog running from the other end of the house, with no training session ever having happened. The same pairing could equally have been built with a nail clipper and a held paw, in the other direction.
Commonly confused with
- Operant conditioning
- Classical conditioning links two events the dog has no control over, and changes how the dog feels about the first one. Operant conditioning links what the dog does to what happens next, and changes how often the dog does it.
Related terms