conditioned response: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples

No. A reflex (e.g., jerking your hand from heat) is innate and unlearned. A conditioned response is learned through experience (conditioning). An unconditioned response is the innate reflex that becomes associated with a new stimulus during conditioning.

Yes, metaphorically. It is often used in sociology, marketing, and everyday language to critique or describe predictable, habitual behaviors that seem automatic, e.g., 'a conditioned response to advertising' or 'a politician's conditioned response to criticism'.

They are largely synonymous in psychology. 'Conditioned reflex' is the older term, strongly associated with Pavlov. 'Conditioned response' is a more general term used in behaviorist psychology and can encompass a wider range of learned reactions, not just physiological ones like salivation.

In psychological terms, a conditioned response is extinguished by repeatedly presenting the conditioned stimulus (e.g., the bell) without the original unconditioned stimulus (e.g., the food). Over time, the learned response (salivation) weakens and disappears.

A learned, automatic behavior or reaction to a specific stimulus, developed through repeated pairing of that stimulus with another event.

Conditioned response is usually formal, academic, technical in register.

Conditioned response: in British English it is pronounced /kənˈdɪʃənd rɪˈspɒns/, and in American English it is pronounced /kənˈdɪʃənd rɪˈspɑːns/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.