If a dog that has been classically conditioned to salivate when shown a square also salivates when shown a rectangle, the dog's behavior illustrates
A) stimulus discrimination.
B) response discrimination.
C) stimulus generalization.
D) response generalization.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The dog's behavior of salivating when shown a rectangle even though it was only conditioned to salivate to a square demonstrates stimulus generalization, where the dog responds to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus. This is different from stimulus discrimination, where the animal learns to respond only to certain stimuli and not to others. Response discrimination and response generalization are not relevant to this scenario.

If a Dog That Has Been Classically Conditioned to Salivate