A stimulus component of a conditioned reflex; a formerly neutral stimulus is called what?

• A. Conditioned Stimulus
• B. Conditioned Reinforcer
• C. Unconditioned Stimulus
• D. Confounding Variable

Answer: (A)

In this context, the key idea is how a neutral thing becomes a trigger for a learned response through pairing with something naturally provoking a reaction. After repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus, that formerly neutral stimulus gains the power to evoke the same response on its own. That acquired trigger is known as the conditioned stimulus. It’s distinct from the unconditioned stimulus, which naturally elicits the response without any learning; a conditioned reinforcer, which gains reinforcing value through association with a primary reinforcer in operant conditioning; and a confounding variable, an extraneous factor that can muddy results rather than be part of the conditioning process. So the described stimulus is the conditioned stimulus.