What process describes the loss of the ability to elicit conditioned responses?

The process of extinction refers to the gradual weakening and eventual loss of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus. In classical conditioning, when an originally neutral stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, the association between the two diminishes over time. For example, if a dog that has been conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell (the conditioned stimulus) is repeatedly exposed to the bell without being given food (the unconditioned stimulus), the dog will eventually stop salivating at the sound of the bell. This loss of the conditioned response is what constitutes extinction, making it the correct answer in this context.

On the other hand, the other processes mentioned—generalization, conditioning, and discrimination—serve different roles in the learning process. Generalization involves responding similarly to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus, conditioning refers to the overall process of learning associations between stimuli, and discrimination is the ability to distinguish between different stimuli and respond appropriately based on those differences.