Final answer:
Before conditioning has occurred, conditioning cells will not be strongly excited by the unconditioned stimulus, as they have not yet been conditioned to associate it with a conditioned stimulus.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks about the response of conditioning cells, which relates to the concept of classical conditioning, more specifically the reaction to an unconditioned stimulus (US) and a conditioned stimulus (CS) before conditioning has begun. When classical conditioning has not yet occurred, a US would typically evoke a strong unconditioned response (UR), whereas a CS, often a neutral stimulus at this stage, would not provoke any specific response. Therefore, before conditioning, conditioning cells will not be strongly excited by the US, as they have not yet been conditioned to associate the US with the CS. After conditioning, the cells may respond to the CS alone, but the response will diminish over time if the US is no longer presented with the CS, resulting in the disappearance of the conditioned response.