Conditioning

Conditioning is how experience wires associations into behavior, in two classic forms. Classical conditioning (Pavlov) links two stimuli: ring a bell every time a dog is fed and, before long, the bell alone makes it salivate — a neutral cue has borrowed the meaning of a meaningful one.^[1] Operant conditioning (Skinner) links behavior to its consequences: a rat that gets food for pressing a lever presses more — reinforcement makes a behavior more likely, punishment less.^[2] Between them, these two mechanisms account for a huge amount of how habits form, how fears are learned (and unlearned), and how animals — including us — are trained.