AP PSYCHOLOGY

LEARNING

OPERANT CONDITIONING

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Once Pavlov’s dogs learned to salivate to the sound of a bell, the bell was a(n)
A
unconditioned stimulus
B
neutral stimulus
C
conditioned stimulus
D
unconditioned response
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: -Bell ringing became a conditioned stimulus (CS) and the salivation induced was a conditioned response (CR). Even without the presence of the unconditioned stimuli, automatic associations allow the conditioned stimulus in Pavlov’s experiment to produce the same response2.

Detailed explanation-3: -Because the bell has become associated with the sight of customers needing assistance, the bell has become a conditioned stimulus. Lunch bell: Students hear the sound of a bell right before they are released for lunch. Eventually, just the sound of the bell alone causes the students to become hungry.

Detailed explanation-4: -In behaviorist terms, food is an unconditioned stimulus and salivation is an unconditioned response. (i.e., a stimulus-response connection that required no learning). In his experiment, Pavlov used a metronome as his neutral stimulus.

Detailed explanation-5: -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.

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