The Pavlovian Response

The Pavlovian response, also known as classical conditioning, is a learning process where an individual develops an automatic response to a previously neutral stimulus after it is repeatedly paired with a stimulus that naturally causes that response. For example, Pavlov's dogs learned to salivate when they heard a bell after the sound was consistently paired with the presentation of food. Over time, the neutral stimulus (the bell) alone triggered the response (salivation), demonstrating how associations are formed in the brain to produce automatic reactions to certain cues.