AP Psychology Practice Test

In classical conditioning, when a conditioned stimulus no longer follows an unconditioned stimulus, this process is known as extinction. Extinction occurs when the association between the conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) weakens and eventually disappears after repeated presentations of the CS without the US. For example, if a bell (CS) is repeatedly presented without food (US), the conditioned response (CR) such as salivation will gradually diminish.

Generalization refers to the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus, while discrimination involves the ability to differentiate between similar stimuli and respond only to the specific conditioned stimulus. Acquisition is the initial stage of learning when the association between the CS and the US is established. In summary, extinction is specifically about the loss of that conditioned response due to the lack of reinforcement from the unconditioned stimulus.