Ma'anar ƙamus na kalmar "amsa mai sharadi" yana nufin amsa koyo ga takamaiman abin ƙarfafawa wanda a baya ya kasance tsaka tsaki amma yanzu ya zama alaƙa da wani lamari ko aiki ta hanyar maimaita bayyanarwa ko sanyaya. Irin wannan amsa yawanci ba na son rai ne kuma ta atomatik, kuma yana faruwa ne sakamakon haɗar wani abu na tsaka-tsaki na baya (maganin sharadi) tare da ƙaramar sharadi mara sharadi wanda a zahiri ke haifar da amsa ta musamman (amsar da ba ta da sharadi). A tsawon lokaci, sharadi mai sharadi kadai ya isa ya ba da amsa iri ɗaya kamar abin ƙarfafawa mara sharadi. Wannan tsari muhimmin ra'ayi ne a cikin yanayin yanayin zamani, nau'in koyo wanda Ivan Pavlov ya fara bayyana shi a farkon karni na 20.