Animal Learning Theory and Behavior Science
Core framework
Every training decision rests on a small set of learning processes. Classical (respondent) conditioning pairs a neutral stimulus with a biologically meaningful one until the neutral cue elicits a reflexive response; Pavlov's dogs are the classic case. Operant conditioning shapes voluntary behavior through consequences. Know the four contingencies cold: positive reinforcement (add something the animal wants), negative reinforcement (remove something aversive), positive punishment (add something aversive), negative punishment (remove something desirable). The words "positive" and "negative" mean add and remove, not good and bad.
Concepts examiners test
Reinforcement increases behavior; punishment decreases it. Extinction is the weakening of a behavior when reinforcement stops, and it often produces an extinction burst before decline. Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of a response after a rest period. Generalization and discrimination explain why cues transfer or narrow. Habituation is declining response to a repeated harmless stimulus; sensitization is the opposite. Desensitization and counterconditioning are therapeutic procedures, not simple exposure. Premack principle uses a high-probability behavior to reinforce a low-probability one.
Traps
Questions love to swap terms: habituation versus extinction, negative reinforcement versus punishment, desensitization versus flooding. Flooding forces full-intensity exposure; it is not the same as gradual desensitization. Also watch for learned helplessness and one-trial learning (taste aversion) appearing as distractors.
Rule of thumb
Name the consequence, then ask whether the target behavior rises or falls. If it rises, it is reinforcement; if it falls, punishment. Then ask what was added or removed. That two-step check resolves most contingency questions.