Final answer:
In classical conditioning, a stimulus is used to evoke a response that it didn’t elicit naturally before conditioning, turning a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus.
Step-by-step explanation:
In classical conditioning, a stimulus is used to provoke or elicit a response that it didn’t elicit naturally before conditioning occurred. During the classical conditioning process, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) once it is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), which naturally elicits a response (unconditioned response, UCR). The classic example is Pavlov’s experiment with dogs, in which the sound of a bell (initially a neutral stimulus) became the conditioned stimulus. This was after the bell had been paired repeatedly with the presentation of food (the unconditioned stimulus), to which the dogs' natural response was salivation (the unconditioned response). After conditioning, the dogs began to salivate in response to the bell alone, demonstrating a new behavior known as the conditioned response (CR).