Classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs both in animals and humans alike when two stimuli are
repeatedly paired (such as the
bell ringing and the feeding, or a particular behavior and the electric shock), so that the response originally elicited by the second stimulus (the secretion of saliva that originally occurs in the presence of food or the unpleasant sensation that follows an electric shock) is eventually elicited by the first stimulus alone (meaning that after a number of repetitions, the sound of the
bell is enough to make the dog salivate like it does in the presence of food and the engagement in unwanted behavior is enough to make you feel the same discomfort an electric shock would cause).