Suzanne has a cat and uses a pet carrier to take her cat to the veterinarian. After a few years, the cat runs away and hides every time Suzanne gets the carrier out. Which best describes the cat’s behavior?

The cat has learned to associate the carrier with going to the veterinarian, so seeing it triggers the learned response of running away and hiding. A behavior learned through experience and association is conditioned behavior. It is not an instinct or reflex, which are unlearned, and imprinting refers to a specific kind of early-life learning.

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