Conditioned and unconditioned responses are behaviors that result from specific stimuli. An unconditioned response is behavior that occurs naturally due to a given stimulus. However, a stimulus prompts a conditioned response only when someone has come to associate that stimulus with another.

As you may recall, an unconditioned stimulus is something that naturally and automatically triggers a response without any learning. After an association is made, the subject will begin to emit a behavior in response to the previously neutral stimulus, which is now known as a conditioned stimulus.

In classical conditioning, the conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus. The previously neutral stimulus will then evoke the response all on its own. At this point, the response becomes known as the conditioned response.

An unconditioned response is an automatic response to a stimulus. The dogs salivating for food is the unconditioned response in Pavlov’s experiment.

In respondent conditioning terms, the dog bite is an unconditioned stimulus that produces the unconditioned response of pain and fear. Following such an incident, the next time the person approaches a dog, their fear and anxiety rises as the stimulus (the dog) gets closer.

Anxiety can be learned through a type of learning called classical conditioning. This occurs via a process called paired association. Paired association refers to the pairing of anxiety symptoms with a neutral stimulus.

To minimize the toddler’s distress when presented with the dog, a conditioned stimuli such as candy or the child’s favorite toy should be given to the child. The toy or candy would act as a conditioned stimuli which would hopefully, over time, create a conditioned response of calmness around dogs.

With classical counterconditioning, we can shift a dog’s emotional response so that he no longer feels the need to aggress. For example, a dog who is dog reactive, may be fearful or he may be guarding his treats, ball, or person.

The process of classical conditioning can explain how we acquire phobias. After an association has formed, the dog (now a conditioned stimulus) causes a response of fear (conditioned response) and consequently, we develop a phobia.

Systematic desensitization is a type of behavioral therapy based on the principle of classical conditioning. It was developed by Wolpe during the 1950s. This therapy aims to remove the fear response of a phobia, and substitute a relaxation response to the conditional stimulus gradually using counterconditioning.