Neutral stimulus: what it is, how it works, and examples

The term "stimulus" is often used within the field of psychology to designate any event in the physical world that has the potential ability to excite any of the receptor apparatus of the organism, so that this stimulus would be at the origin of a response concrete.

In this article we will see what the neutral stimulus consists of and what its role is within behavioral psychology, also seeing how a neutral stimulus can be converted into a conditioned one.

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What is a neutral stimulus?

Psychology's use of the word stimulus is closely related to that of physiology., and more specifically with the experiment carried out by the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov to be able to demonstrate the existence of conditioned reflexes, so that a stimulus classically serves to designate all those events that they are capable of triggering a reflex, and that is that with a neutral or natural stimulus a certain response or reaction can be provoked involuntary. The theory developed by Pavlov is known as classical or Pavlovian conditioning.

On the other hand, the neutral stimulus is one that does not have the capacity or property by itself to provoke a defined unconditional reaction, nor is it proper to become a conditioned stimulus through conditioned association. In other words, a neutral stimulus is a type of stimulus that initially does not produce a specific response in the organism, beyond focusing attention.

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How does a neutral stimulus become a conditioned stimulus?

As we said, a neutral stimulus does not initially produce a concrete response other than focusing attention; however, in classical or Pavlovian conditioning, when a neutral stimulus is used together with an unconditioned stimulus, that neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus.

When repeated presentations of both the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus occur, that neutral stimulus will also be able to generate a response, this being commonly known as a response conditioned.

This theory of classical conditioning was developed as a result of the multiple experiments that Pavlov carried out when he was researching about digestion in dogs with which he used the neutral stimulus, the conditioned and the unconditioned as well. In these experiments, the neutral stimulus was the sound of a bell being shaken., this sound being presented to the dogs at the same time as their food, which was present as an unconditioned stimulus.

What Pavlov discovered with these experiments, which became one of the foundations of the behavioral sciences, is that after giving food to the dog, it began to secrete saliva through certain glands, coming to be called this phenomenon by the researcher as a "reflex of salivation".

After repeated trials, Pavlov was able to observe that when he was present with the dog, he caused the dog to start salivating without that there was food present, and this was because he had learned that he was going to receive food when Pavlov appeared in front of him.

In a third stage of investigations, Pavlov began to use a neutral stimulus on several occasions and varying the stimulus source (visual or auditory), although in all cases it was neutral, just before serving the food to the dog. As a result, he was able to detect that, after several trials, the dog associates the neutral stimulus with food, which then converted the neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus. Then Pavlov called the salivation that was produced in the face of the previously neutral stimulus (which had become conditioned), as "conditioned reflex".

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Examples that explain the operation of the neutral stimulus

In order to be able to explain in greater detail what the neutral stimulus consists of, we consider it convenient to present some examples that we can meet us in everyday life, and also some laboratory experiment carried out in this regard, where this type of stimulus plays a role important.

1. case of little albert

An experiment that caused quite a bit of controversy was the one carried out by John Watson and Rosalie Rayner with an 11-month-old baby (Albert). when they wanted to investigate whether the presence of an animal could be conditioned when it was associated with a loud noise that could provoke a fear response.

In this experiment they were able to observe that by associating the noise of the blow of a hammer on a metal table (unconditioned stimulus) together with the presence of a white rat (which was previously a neutral stimulus and after association the aversive sound became a conditioned stimulus), came to provoke in the baby a fear response (conditioned response) on subsequent occasions in the presence of the mouse alone, so they could see that fear could be learned through classical conditioning. This type of mechanism is one of the most common in the acquisition of different phobias in humans.

It should be noted that this experiment was carried out more than 100 years ago, since in our days, of course, it would be illegal and would also exceed the limits of scientific ethics.

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2. Anxiety attacks

According to some theories of behavioral psychology, the symptoms of anxiety present in phobias, obsessions or panic attacks, among others, are a clear example of abnormal behavioral reactions, since they are considered from this perspective as responses learned in the early stages of childhood and adolescence of people through processes of Pavlovian conditioning or classic.

In these cases we can see some of the examples of neutral stimulus within the field of psychology, and it is that the reaction that comes to appear in combination with a neutral stimulus (p. g., having an anxiety attack on public transport), may have given rise to a conditioning phenomenon in which that kind of reaction will tend to be repeated in the face of a series of stimuli similar to that neutral stimulus, so on future occasions, the subject will try to avoid said neutral stimulus by means of a conditioning mechanism that is useful to him.

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3. Advertising

In the field of marketing or neuromarketing and advertising, experts know that classical conditioning can be a strong tool when trying to influence the emotions of potential consumers with their advertisements. This can be done, for example, by creating an association between a product they want to sell (stimulus neutral) and an event that can evoke a series of pleasant emotions in potential consumers.

In this sense, the theory of Pavlovian or classical conditioning has come to have notable effects in the field of advertising (p. For example, some famous athletes advertising a product, which would be a neutral stimulus prior to being announced, and representing a scene where they demonstrate their athletic virtues represent a stimulus conditioned; while positive emotions or a positive attitude towards the message that is intended to be conveyed in said advertisement would be the unconditioned response).

In these cases, the fundamental thing would be to make a fusion of the brand that is intended to be advertised with the use of said brand (which would be a neutral stimulus previously and then conditioned), with the content of the advertisement (unconditioned stimulus) so that the unconditioned response becomes on a positive conditioned response to that brand.

If the ad does its job, the brand's advertisers will successfully merge the brand and its use. that come to evoke the same positive emotions that were intended when devising the ad and will also suggest the same attitude.

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4. fear of injections

The fear of injections is a type of specific phobia that is quite common among the population, having been seen an increase in the number of cases at the epidemiological level of this phobia as a result of mass vaccination against COVID-19.

In this type of case, confirmation has been found in many cases of the theory of classical conditioning, since a neutral stimulus (p. g., the white coat of health personnel) was associated with another that had provoked a specific reaction.

So, if the health personnel, who usually wear a white coat, are the ones in charge of give an injection that has generated "pain" or a series of momentary side effects in some cases (p. a slight fever the next day), then the sight of a white coat might evoke adverse stimuli in the patient even though he is not going to receive another injection.