Pavlovian conditioning: it's not what you think it is
Abstract
Current thinking about Pavlovian conditioning differs substantially from that of 20 years ago.Yet the changes that have taken place remain poorly appreciated by psychologists generally.Traditional descriptions of conditioning as the acquired ability of one stimulus to evoke the original response to another because of their pairing are shown to be inadequate.They fail to characterize adequately the circumstances producing learning, the content of that learning, or the manner in which that learning influences performance.Instead, conditioning is now described as the learning of relations among events so as to allow the organism to represent its environment.Within this framework, the study of Pavlovian conditioning continues to be an intellectually active area, full of new discoveries and information relevant to other areas of psychology.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Conditioning depends on expectations based on knowledge of the relations between events at large.
“Rather, it has been proposed that conditioning depends on expectations based on knowledge of the relations between events at large (Rescorla, 1988).”
From Active Inference, homeostatic regulation and adaptive behavioural control (2015) · cites this paper as Rescorla, 1988
Cites
Rescorla, R. A. (1972) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 7,268 · see citing works
Self-citationMcClelland, J. L., Rumelhart, D. E., & AU (1987) · doi:10.7551/mitpress/5237.001.0001 · Cited by 3,315 · see citing works
A theory of attention: Variations in the associability of stimuli with reinforcement
Mackintosh, N. J. (1975) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/h0076778 · Cited by 2,733 · see citing works
Relation of cue to consequence in avoidance learning
García, J., & Koelling, R. A. (1966) · Psychonomic Science · doi:10.3758/bf03342209 · Cited by 1,999 · see citing works
Petry, L., Robinson, E., & Kirk, V. (1958) · Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service · doi:10.2307/3118552 · Cited by 1,491 · see citing works
Two-process learning theory: Relationships between Pavlovian conditioning and instrumental learning.
Rescorla, R. A., & Solomon, R. L. (1967) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/h0024475 · Cited by 1,487 · cited 1× · see citing works
“In fact, two-process theories of instrumental performance are built on that proposition (e.g., Mowrer, 1947; Rescorla & Solomon, 1967; Trapold & Overmier, 1972).”
Self-citationConditioning and Associative Learning
Hill, W. F., & Mackintosh, N. J. (1984) · The American Journal of Psychology · doi:10.2307/1422540 · Cited by 1,323 · see citing works
Probability of shock in the presence and absence of cs in fear conditioning.
Rescorla, R. A. (1968) · Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0025984 · Cited by 1,067 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The insufficiency of contiguity for producing Pavlovian conditioning can be illustrated by results that have been available for almost 20 years (e.g., Rescorla, 1968) but that have apparently failed to be integrated into the view of conditioning held by many psychologists.”
Self-citationContemporary Animal Learning Theory.
Abrahamson, D. (1981) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · Cited by 945 · see citing works
Information processing in animals : conditioned inhibition
Miller, R. R., & Spear, N. E. (1985) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 624 · see citing works
Classical Conditioning, Drug Tolerance, and Drug Dependence
Siegel, S. (1983) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-3626-6_6 · Cited by 394 · see citing works
Associative Structures In Instrumental Learning
Colwill, R., & Rescorla, R. (1986) · The Psychology of learning and motivation/The psychology of learning and motivation · doi:10.1016/s0079-7421(08)60016-x · Cited by 242 · see citing works
Self-citationPavlovian conditioned stimulus effects upon instrumental choice behavior are reinforcer specific
Kruse, J. M., Overmier, J., Konz, W., & Rokke, E. (1983) · Learning and Motivation · doi:10.1016/0023-9690(83)90004-8 · Cited by 226 · see citing works
Masters, J. C. (1981) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.ps.32.020181.001001 · Cited by 189 · see citing works
Conditioned defensive burying in rats: Availability of burying materials
Pinel, J. P. J., & Treit, D. (1979) · Animal Learning & Behavior · doi:10.3758/bf03209691 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
An Introduction to Psychology.
Boggs, L. P., & Brierley, S. S. (1922) · The Journal of Philosophy · doi:10.2307/2939429 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder
Ehlers, A., & Clark, D. M. (2000) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(99)00123-0 · Cited by 6,147 · see citing works
What is the role of dopamine in reward: hedonic impact, reward learning, or incentive salience?
Berridge, K. C., & Robinson, T. E. (1998) · Brain Research Reviews · doi:10.1016/s0165-0173(98)00019-8 · Cited by 4,127 · see citing works
Implicit learning and tacit knowledge
Reber, A. S. (1989) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/0096-3445.118.3.219 · Cited by 1,581 · see citing works
Mineka, S., & Zinbarg, R. (2006) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.61.1.10 · Cited by 929 · see citing works
The neuroscience of placebo effects: connecting context, learning and health
Wager, T. D., & Atlas, L. Y. (2015) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn3976 · Cited by 844 · see citing works
The importance of behaviour in the maintenance of anxiety and panic: A cognitive account
Salkovskis, P. M. (1991) · Behavioural Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s0141347300011472 · Cited by 780 · see citing works
Benedetti, F., Pollo, A., Lopiano, L., Lanotte, M., Vighetti, S., & Rainero, I. (2003) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.23-10-04315.2003 · Cited by 788 · see citing works
Uncontrollability and unpredictability in post-traumatic stress disorder: An animal model.
Foa, E. B., Zinbarg, R., & Rothbaum, B. O. (1992) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.112.2.218 · Cited by 787 · see citing works
Fear Extinction and Relapse: State of the Art
Vervliet, B., Craske, M. G., & Hermans, D. (2013) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050212-185542 · Cited by 671 · see citing works
Active Inference, homeostatic regulation and adaptive behavioural control
Pezzulo, G., Rigoli, F., & Friston, K. (2015) · Progress in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2015.09.001 · Cited by 650 · see citing works
“Rather, it has been proposed that conditioning depends on expectations based on knowledge of the relations between events at large (Rescorla, 1988).”
Baayen, R. H., Milin, P., Đurđević, D. F., Hendrix, P., & Marelli, M. (2011) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/a0023851 · Cited by 595 · see citing works
A new perspective on the role of the orbitofrontal cortex in adaptive behaviour
Schoenbaum, G., Roesch, M. R., Stalnaker, T. A., & Takahashi, Y. K. (2009) · Nature reviews. Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2753 · Cited by 585 · see citing works
Flagel, S. B., Akil, H., & Robinson, T. E. (2009) · Neuropharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2008.06.027 · Cited by 561 · see citing works
What the orbitofrontal cortex does not do
Stalnaker, T. A., Cooch, N. K., & Schoenbaum, G. (2015) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn.3982 · Cited by 531 · see citing works
Placebo and the New Physiology of the Doctor-Patient Relationship
Benedetti, F. (2013) · Physiological Reviews · doi:10.1152/physrev.00043.2012 · Cited by 492 · see citing works
Classical conditioning and the placebo effect
Montgomery, G. H., & Kirsch, I. (1997) · Pain · doi:10.1016/s0304-3959(97)00016-x · Cited by 468 · see citing works
Placebos and painkillers: is mind as real as matter?
Colloca, L., & Benedetti, F. (2005) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn1705 · Cited by 465 · see citing works
Atlas, L. Y., & Wager, T. D. (2012) · Neuroscience Letters · doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2012.03.039 · Cited by 463 · see citing works
How Placebos Change the Patient's Brain
Benedetti, F., Carlino, E., & Pollo, A. (2011) · Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1038/npp.2010.81 · Cited by 446 · see citing works
How prior experience shapes placebo analgesia
Colloca, L., & Benedetti, F. (2006) · Pain · doi:10.1016/j.pain.2006.04.005 · Cited by 443 · see citing works
Response expectancies in placebo analgesia and their clinical relevance
Pollo, A., Amanzio, M., Arslanian, A., Casadio, C., Maggi, G., & Benedetti, F. (2001) · Pain · doi:10.1016/s0304-3959(01)00296-2 · Cited by 442 · see citing works
Neural and cellular mechanisms of fear and extinction memory formation
Orsini, C. A., & Maren, S. (2012) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.12.014 · Cited by 429 · see citing works
Robinson, T. E., & Flagel, S. B. (2009) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.09.006 · Cited by 416 · see citing works
Fear is only as deep as the mind allows
Diekhof, E. K., Geier, K., Falkai, P., & Gruber, O. (2011) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.05.073 · Cited by 413 · see citing works
The role of learning in nocebo and placebo effects
Colloca, L., Sigaudo, M., & Benedetti, F. (2008) · Pain · doi:10.1016/j.pain.2008.02.006 · Cited by 411 · see citing works
Hofmann, S. G. (2008) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2007.04.009 · Cited by 397 · see citing works
The nature of intrusive memories after trauma: the warning signal hypothesis
Ehlers, A., Hackmann, A., Steil, R., Clohessy, S., Wenninger, K., & Winter, H. (2002) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(01)00077-8 · Cited by 392 · see citing works
Relations between Pavlovian-instrumental transfer and reinforcer devaluation
Holland, P. C. (2004) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes · doi:10.1037/0097-7403.30.2.104 · Cited by 388 · see citing works
Model-based and model-free Pavlovian reward learning: Revaluation, revision, and revelation
Dayan, P., & Berridge, K. C. (2014) · Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/s13415-014-0277-8 · Cited by 357 · see citing works
Somatotopic Activation of Opioid Systems by Target-Directed Expectations of Analgesia
Benedetti, F., Arduino, C., & Amanzio, M. (1999) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.19-09-03639.1999 · Cited by 350 · see citing works
How placebo responses are formed: a learning perspective
Colloca, L., & Miller, F. G. (2011) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0398 · Cited by 323 · see citing works
How the number of learning trials affects placebo and nocebo responses
Colloca, L., Petrovic, P., Wager, T. D., Ingvar, M., & Benedetti, F. (2010) · Pain · doi:10.1016/j.pain.2010.08.007 · Cited by 300 · see citing works
Affective learning: Awareness and aversion
HAMM, A. O., & VAITL, D. (1996) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.1996.tb02366.x · Cited by 282 · see citing works
De Pascalis, V., Chiaradia, C., & Carotenuto, E. (2002) · Pain · doi:10.1016/s0304-3959(01)00485-7 · Cited by 249 · see citing works
Associative representational plasticity in the auditory cortex: a synthesis of two disciplines
Weinberger, N. M. (2007) · Learning & Memory · doi:10.1101/lm.421807 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Rosen, J. B. (2004) · Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews · doi:10.1177/1534582304265945 · Cited by 219 · see citing works
Foa, E. B., Franklin, M. E., & Moser, J. (2002) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(02)01552-4 · Cited by 219 · see citing works
The role of cognition in classical and operant conditioning
Kirsch, I., Lynn, S. J., Vigorito, M., & Miller, R. R. (2004) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.10251 · Cited by 192 · see citing works
Jacoby, R. J., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2016) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2016.07.001 · Cited by 188 · see citing works
Trace Conditioning and the Hippocampus: The Importance of Contiguity
Bangasser, D. A., Waxler, D. E., Santollo, J., & Shors, T. J. (2006) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.1742-06.2006 · Cited by 185 · see citing works
Learning potentiates neurophysiological and behavioral placebo analgesic responses
Colloca, L., Tinazzi, M., Recchia, S., Le Pera, D., Fiaschi, A., Benedetti, F., & Valeriani, M. (2008) · Pain · doi:10.1016/j.pain.2008.04.021 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
The placebo effect: advances from different methodological approaches
Meissner, K., Bingel, U., Colloca, L., Wager, T. D., Watson, A., & Flaten, M. A. (2011) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.4099-11.2011 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Placebo psychotherapy: Synonym or oxymoron?
Kirsch, I. (2005) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.20126 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Fear acquisition requires awareness in trace but not delay conditioning
Weike, A. I., Schupp, H. T., & Hamm, A. O. (2007) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2006.00469.x · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Learning to predict and control harmful events: chronic pain and conditioning
Vlaeyen, J. W. S. (2015) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000107 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Fuertig, R., Azzinnari, D., Bergamini, G., Cathomas, F., Sigrist, H., Seifritz, E., Vavassori, S., Luippold, A., Hengerer, B., Ceci, A., et al. (2016) · Brain, Behavior, and Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2015.12.020 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Classical conditioning of analgesic and hyperalgesic pain responses without conscious awareness
Jensen, K., Kirsch, I., Odmalm, S., Kaptchuk, T. J., & Ingvar, M. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1504567112 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Yager, L. M., & Robinson, T. E. (2013) · Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1007/s00213-012-2890-y · Cited by 123 · see citing works
An integrative review of the influence of expectancies on pain
Peerdeman, K. J., Laarhoven, A. I. M. V., Peters, M. L., & Evers, A. W. M. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01270 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
The origin of meaning in animal signals
Seyfarth, R. M., & Cheney, D. L. (2017) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.05.020 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Exposure therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder: an optimizing inhibitory learning approach
Arch, J. J., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2015) · Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jocrd.2014.12.002 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Weike, A. I., Hamm, A. O., Schupp, H. T., Runge, U., Schroeder, H. W. S., & Kessler, C. (2005) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2032-05.2005 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Grillon, C. (2009) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.04.017 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Placebo-Induced Changes in Excitatory and Inhibitory Corticospinal Circuits during Motor Performance
Fiorio, M., Emadi Andani, M., Marotta, A., Classen, J., & Tinazzi, M. (2014) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3931-13.2014 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
A review on mental imagery in fear conditioning research 100 years since the ‘Little Albert’ study
Mertens, G., Krypotos, A.-M., & Engelhard, I. M. (2020) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2020.103556 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
d-Cycloserine as an augmentation strategy for cognitive behavioral therapy of anxiety disorders
Hofmann, S. G., Wu, J. Q., & Boettcher, H. (2013) · Biology of Mood & Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1186/2045-5380-3-11 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
A Comprehensive Model of Homework in Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Kazantzis, N., & Miller, A. R. (2022) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-021-10247-z · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Forsyth, J. P., & Eifert, G. H. (1996) · The Psychological Record · doi:10.1007/bf03395189 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Systemic alarms in fear conditioning I: A reappraisal of what is being conditioned
Forsyth, J. P., & Eifert, G. H. (1996) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7894(96)80026-8 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Ehlers, A. (2015) · Clinical Perspectives On Autobiographical Memory · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139626767.007 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Resendes, T., Benchimol-Elkaim, B., Delisle, C., René, J.-L., & Poulin-Dubois, D. (2021) · Cognitive Development · doi:10.1016/j.cogdev.2021.101117 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Kaczer, L., Klappenbach, M., & Maldonado, H. (2011) · European Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1111/j.1460-9568.2011.07830.x · Cited by 15 · see citing works
The Functions of Dopamine in Operant Conditioned Reflexes
Maiorov, V. I. (2019) · Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology · doi:10.1007/s11055-019-00815-y · Cited by 10 · see citing works
- Authors
- Rescorla, R. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Corresponding author
- Rescorla, Robert A.
- Venue
- American Psychologist
- Published
- 1988
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 151-160
- ISSN
- 0003-066X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-990X
- OpenAlex
- W4245186252
- Cited by
- 1,542
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 27 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 64 · 2021: 73 · 2020: 74 · 2019: 74 · 2018: 59 · 2017: 51 · 2016: 51 · 2015: 62 · 2014: 53 · 2013: 38 · 2012: 45
- FWCI
- 23.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Psychologist (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › General Psychology › Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology
- Keywords
- classical conditioning, paired stimulation, environmental representation, learning and performance
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Behavior, Animal, Conditioning, Classical, Learning, Columbidae, Probability, Time Factors, Rats
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
