Conditioning is a term derived from psychology where players learn or are deliberately conditioned to expect certain behaviors from their opponent. A thoroughly conditioned player will come up with a predictable response to certain situations. The opponent can then counter or exploit said player's predictable response.
While there are common scenarios in which most players can be conditioned into doing something, it is important to remember that conditioning is in the realm of mindgames and so fulfilling criteria for proper conditioning can vary greatly from opponent to opponent. In particular, new players with only a partial understanding of a particular game may be very resistant to conditioning since they may not fully understand the consequences and interactions of certain behaviors.
Steps Involved in Conditioning an Opponent
1. Observation of opponent behavior
The purpose of this step is twofold: it helps to identify obstacles to you/your character's gameplan and also determines how easy or difficult it will be to condition the opponent. Getting a sense of what habits of the opponent you want to change and knowing how quickly the opponent adapts will help greatly in evaluating what and how to condition them.
2. Repeating certain actions to condition an opponent
3. Exploiting expected opponent behavior
Common Examples of Conditioning
Scenario 1: