[kuh
n-dish-uh-ning] 
| 1. | Also called operant conditioning, instrumental conditioning. a process of changing behavior by rewarding or punishing a subject each time an action is performed until the subject associates the action with pleasure or distress. |
| 2. | Also called classical conditioning, Pavlovian conditioning, respondent conditioning. a process in which a stimulus that was previously neutral, as the sound of a bell, comes to evoke a particular response, as salivation, by being repeatedly paired with another stimulus that normally evokes the response, as the taste of food. |
| classical conditioning n. Psychology A process of behavior modification by which a subject comes to respond in a desired manner to a previously neutral stimulus that has been repeatedly presented along with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits the desired response. |
conditioning con·di·tion·ing (kən-dĭsh'ə-nĭng)
n.
A process of behavior modification by which a subject comes to associate a desired behavior with a previously unrelated stimulus.