Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
A domesticated carnivorous mammal that typically has a long snout, an acute sense of smell, non-retractable claws, and a barking, howling, or whining voice.
The process by which an organism learns to associate two stimuli when one stimulus consistently predicts the occurrence of the other. For example, if John was bitten by a dog (unconditioned stimulus) and experienced fear (unconditioned response), he may now fear all dogs (conditioned response) due to the association between dogs and fear.
The tendency to respond in a similar way to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus. In this case, John may generalize his fear of dogs to include other animals or even objects that resemble dogs.
The diminishing of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without being followed by the unconditioned stimulus. If John were exposed to friendly dogs without any negative experiences for an extended period of time, his fear response may gradually diminish.