AP PSYCHOLOGY

LEARNING

OPERANT CONDITIONING

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
A researcher conditions a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell. This is then followed by food. After some time, the sound of the bell alone (that is, without food), no longer leads to salivation.The conditioning principle demonstrated here is:
A
spontaneous recovery
B
extinction
C
acquisition
D
stimulus generalisation
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -The dogs salivating for food is the unconditioned response in Pavlov’s experiment. A conditioned stimulus is a stimulus that can eventually trigger a conditioned response. In the described experiment, the conditioned stimulus was the ringing of the bell, and the conditioned response was salivation.

Detailed explanation-2: -Classical conditioning is learning through association and was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov showed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell if that sound was repeatedly presented at the same time that they were given food.

Detailed explanation-3: -Stimulus generalization is the tendency for a conditioned stimulus to evoke similar responses after the response has been conditioned.8 For example, if a dog has been conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell, the animal may also exhibit the same response to a sound that’s similar to the bell.

Detailed explanation-4: -During conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus (food) is presented repeatedly just after the presentation of the neutral stimulus (bell). After conditioning, the neutral stimulus alone produces a conditioned response (salivation), thus becoming a conditioned stimulus.

Detailed explanation-5: -The behavior caused by the conditioned stimulus is called the conditioned response (CR). In the case of Pavlov’s dogs, they had learned to associate the tone (CS) with being fed, and they began to salivate (CR) in anticipation of food.

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