Higher Order Conditioning:

Higher Order Conditioning refers to a form of classical conditioning in which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus, eliciting a conditioned response, through its association with a previously well-established conditioned stimulus.

Overview:

In higher order conditioning, a new neutral stimulus, also known as the second-order stimulus, is paired with an already established conditioned stimulus, referred to as the first-order stimulus. Over time, the second-order stimulus acquires the ability to elicit a conditioned response, even in the absence of the first-order stimulus.

Process:

Higher order conditioning involves multiple stages:

1. First-order Conditioning: The initial phase of classical conditioning where a neutral stimulus (NS) is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US) to evoke a conditioned response (CR).
2. Second-order Conditioning: The second phase where the previously neutral stimulus (now referred to as the first-order conditioned stimulus or CS1) is paired with a new neutral stimulus (second-order stimulus or CS2) that has no previous conditioning. Eventually, the CS2 alone can elicit a conditioned response (CR) similar to the one produced by the CS1.

Examples:

An example of higher order conditioning is:

A person develops a fear response (CR) to the sound of a bell (CS1) due to its repeated pairing with an electric shock (US) in the first-order conditioning. Later, when the person sees a flash of light (CS2) consistently followed by the sound of the bell (CS1), they begin to exhibit the fear response (CR) when they see the flash of light alone, even without the presence of the original electric shock.