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Classical Conditioning and Survival Animals quickly learn the signals that predict the approach of a predator. In classical conditioning terms, they learn to associate the approach of a predator (the unconditioned stimuli) with particular sounds, smells, or sights (the originally neutral stimuli that become conditioned stimuli). To survive, animals that are vulnerable to predators, such as this alert deer, must be able to use environmental signals to predict events in their environment. A rustle in the underbrush, the faint whiff of a mountain lion, or a glimpse of a human tells the animal that it’s time to flee.
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