Final answer:
In classical conditioning, organisms learn through associations between a reflexive response to a usual stimulus and a new, neutral stimulus that eventually also triggers the reflexive response.
Step-by-step explanation:
In classical conditioning, organisms learn through associations between two stimuli. This form of learning occurs when an organism learns to connect two events that repeatedly happen together. For instance, the classic example of Pavlov's dog shows us that the ringing of a bell, when consistently paired with the presentation of food, led to the dog salivating just to the sound of the bell, even in the absence of food. The bell in this case is the conditioned stimulus that, after association, elicits the conditioned response of salivation. This contrasts with operant conditioning where the focus is on learning through the consequences of voluntary behavior. Here, behaviors are strengthened or reduced based on the consequences they produce, like a dolphin receiving a fish for performing a flip. According to the information provided, classical conditioning involves the automatic association between a reflexive response to a usual stimulus (unconditioned response to unconditioned stimulus) and a new, neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus), which eventually triggers the reflexive response on its own.