Final answer:
In classical conditioning, higher-order conditioning is when a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus after being paired with an existing conditioned stimulus, leading to the neutral stimulus elicting the conditioned response on its own.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of classical conditioning, the procedure in which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus by being paired with an already established conditioned stimulus is known as higher-order conditioning. This process represents a form of associative learning where the neutral stimulus, after repeated pairings with the conditioned stimulus, starts eliciting the same conditioned response, even without the unconditioned stimulus being presented.
For instance, if Pavlov's dog, which salivates to the sound of a bell (the conditioned stimulus), is then exposed to a light that precedes the bell, the dog may eventually salivate in response to the light alone.
This is distinct from acquisition, where an association is first being established, and different from extinction, which describes the diminishing of the conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is no longer followed by the unconditioned stimulus.
In contrast, extinction occurs when the conditioned response decreases after repeated presentation of the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus. Stimulus discrimination is when an organism learns to differentiate between the conditioned stimulus and other similar stimuli, not responding to the latter.
Finally, stimulus generalization takes place when an organism starts responding to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus. Using the earlier examples, if Pavlov's dog started salivating to other sounds that resemble the bell, that would be an instance of stimulus generalization.