what is a conditioned stimulus

A conditioned stimulus is a previously neutral stimulus that, after being repeatedly associated with an unconditioned stimulus, evokes a conditioned response. In classical conditioning, the conditioned stimulus starts as a neutral stimulus and eventually triggers a conditioned response after becoming associated with an unconditioned stimulus. For example, in Pavlovs famous experiment, the sound of a bell was initially a neutral stimulus, but after being repeatedly paired with food (the unconditioned stimulus), it became a conditioned stimulus that elicited a conditioned response, which was the dogs salivating. This process is a fundamental concept in classical conditioning, where neutral stimuli become associated with unconditioned stimuli to produce learned responses.