conditioning - a learning process in which an organism's behavior becomes dependent on the occurrence of a stimulus in its environmentlearning, acquisition - the cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge; "the child's acquisition of language" experimental extinction, extinction - a conditioning process in which the reinforcer is removed and a conditioned response becomes independent of the conditioned stimulus classical conditioning - conditioning that pairs a neutral stimulus with a stimulus that evokes a reflex; the stimulus that evokes the reflex is given whether or not the conditioned response occurs until eventually the neutral stimulus comes to evoke the reflex operant conditioning - conditioning in which an operant response is brought under stimulus control by virtue of presenting reinforcement contingent upon the occurrence of the operant response counter conditioning - conditioning in which a second incompatible response is conditioned to an already conditioned stimulus; "counter conditioning lies behind many of the procedures used in behavior therapy" |