Which of the following concepts illustrates the distinction between learning and performance by demonstrating that learning can occur without reinforcement?

Instinctive drift is a phenomenon where learned behaviors revert to innate or instinctual behaviors over time, often due to the influence of natural instincts. This concept relates more to the limitations of learned behavior rather than the capacity for learning to occur without reinforcement, making it less relevant to the distinction between learning and performance.

Higher-order conditioning involves the process of associating a new stimulus with a conditioned response that has already been established. While it expands on classical conditioning, it primarily focuses on the relationship between stimuli and responses rather than illustrating the capacity for learning to occur independently of reinforcement, which is central to the concept of latent learning.

Classical conditioning entails learning through associations between stimuli and is heavily reliant on reinforcement to establish a conditioned response. It emphasizes performance directly tied to reinforcement, contrasting with latent learning, which highlights that learning can happen without immediate reinforcement or observable behavior.