A neutral stimulus is a

stimulus A stimulus is something that causes a physiological response. It may refer to: *Stimulation **Stimulus (physiology), something external that influences an activity **Stimulus (psychology), a concept in behaviorism and perception *Stimulus (economi ...

which initially produces no specific response other than focusing

attention Attention is the behavioral and cognitive process of selectively concentrating on a discrete aspect of information, whether considered subjective or objective, while ignoring other perceivable information. William James (1890) wrote that "Atte ...

. In

classical conditioning Classical conditioning (also known as Pavlovian or respondent conditioning) is a behavioral procedure in which a biologically potent stimulus (e.g. food) is paired with a previously neutral stimulus (e.g. a triangle). It also refers to the learni ...

, when used together with an unconditioned stimulus, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus. With repeated presentations of both the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus, the neutral stimulus will elicit a response as well, known as a conditioned response. Once the neutral stimulus elicits a conditioned response, the neutral stimulus becomes known as a conditioned stimulus. The conditioned response is the same as the unconditioned response, but occurs in the presence of the conditioned stimulus rather than the unconditioned stimulus.

Pavlov's research in digestion

Ivan Pavlov Ivan Petrovich Pavlov ( rus, Ива́н Петро́вич Па́влов, , p=ɪˈvan pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈpavləf, a=Ru-Ivan_Petrovich_Pavlov.ogg; 27 February 1936), was a Russian and Soviet experimental neurologist, psychologist and physiol ...

conducted multiple experiments investigating

digestion Digestion is the breakdown of large insoluble food molecules into small water-soluble food molecules so that they can be absorbed into the watery blood plasma. In certain organisms, these smaller substances are absorbed through the small intest ...

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

s in which neutral, unconditioned, and conditioned stimuli were used. In these experiments, the neutral stimulus was the sound of a bell ringing. This sound was presented to the dogs along with food, which acted as an unconditioned stimulus. The presentation of a neutral stimulus does not result in any particular response, but the presentation of an unconditioned stimulus results in an unconditioned response, which was the dogs salivating in Pavlov's experiments. After conditioning, the bell ringing became a conditioned stimulus. Pavlov later used the sound of a metronome as a neutral stimulus in studies on

cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. The cerebral cortex mostly consists of the six-layered neocortex, with just 10% consisting of ...

activity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neutral Stimulus Experimental psychology Behavioral concepts History of psychology Behaviorism Learning

Pavlov's research in digestion

See also

References