conditioned response, an automatic reaction learned through training to a stimulus that does not normally elicit such response. Such responses can be physical or psychological and are produced by repeated association of some physiological function or behavioral pattern with an unrelated stimulus or event. In Pavlov’s classic experiments, dogs learned to associate the sound of a ringing bell with feeding time so that they salivated at the sound of the bell, regardless of whether or not food was given to them. Also called acquired reflex, behavior reflex, conditioned reflex, trained reflex. Compare unconditioned response. See also classical conditioning, operant conditioning.
