You decide that you are going to condition your dog, Bob, to salivate to the sound of a metronome. You sound the metronome and then several minutes later you give Bob a biscuit. You do this several times but no conditioning seems to occur. This is probably because __________.
A) the metronome was not a distinctive sound
B) the metronome should have been sounded after Bob ate the biscuit
C) you should have had an even longer interval between the metronome and the biscuit
D) the biscuit was given too long after the sound of the metronome

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The principle of classical conditioning suggests that for conditioning to occur, the conditioned stimulus (in this case, the sound of the metronome) and the unconditioned stimulus (the biscuit) need to be presented close together in time. A long delay between the two, as described, would likely prevent the association from being formed.

You Decide That You Are Going to Condition Your Dog