posted on 2023-06-08, 22:45authored byDavid A Booth
A conditioned reaction is an acquired increase in the cue's tendency to elicit approach (or retreat) towards the cue (sign-tracking) or the consequence (goal-tracking) and the resulting maintenance of contact (or escape). Often, part of the same pattern of reactions to the conditioned cue is a complex of consummatory or defensive physiological reactions (e.g. cardiovascular and adrenal activation, or salivation, gastric relaxation and insulin secretion). Where the complex response can be professed verbally or there is reason to attribute such activity, the individual privately experiences aspects of the same reaction as pleasurable or distressing sensations and mood. In the simple analysis presented here, the behavioural, physiological and experiential reaction pattern is simply either appetite or aversion. The nature of the conditioning consequence (the unconditioned stimulus) determines the valence of the reaction to the conditioned stimulus. The exact form of the approach or retreat is also constrained by the momentary environmental circumstances and by the locale of the unconditioned stimulus.