What would happen to a conditioned response over time without reinforcement?

The conditioned response would become extinct over time without reinforcement due to the principles of classical conditioning. When a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus that initially created the association, the strength of the conditioned response diminishes. This process is known as extinction, where the learned behavior is not reinforced and eventually fades away.

For example, if a dog is trained to salivate at the sound of a bell because it is associated with food, but the bell is rung multiple times without presenting any food, the dog will gradually stop salivating. Over time, the connection between the bell (the conditioned stimulus) and the food (the unconditioned stimulus) weakens, leading to a decrease in the salivation response. This phenomenon illustrates how the absence of reinforcement can lead to the extinction of learned behaviors.